Date: Sat, 28 Jun 2003 01:21:49 -0400
Reply-To: caverat <caverat@ATTBI.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: caverat <caverat@ATTBI.COM>
Subject: Re: free satelite radio?
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
-- Also, from a different perspective, I would not be a bit surprised if
-- Sirius entered bankruptcy before the end of the year. They are just about
-- out of money and their customer base is far too small to support them.
Hi Kevin,
Sirius was in some financial difficulties due to some chipset issues that delayed their product rollout as well as the overall economy that slowed things down, but in March they completed a 1.2 billion dollar recapitalization deal that resulted in their note holders accepting stock in exchange for their debt and bankruptcy has been taken off the table and is not considered as an option for survival anymore. They have also raised a couple of hundred million in additional investments since then. They claim to have enough cash to take them to their breakeven point (current breakeven estimate is 2 million subscribers obtained in 2005), and are nowhere near being out of money. The worst part of the ride seems to be over for both companies, although it is by no means a guaranteed thing. However, their business has always been about the potential of large numbers of future subscribers once the auto manufacturers get on board and that partnership helps to generate exponential subscriber growth, and that part of the plan seems to be happening. Aftermarket radio sales that account for 95%+ of the current subscriptions were always intended to be gravy. According to several reports, satellite radio has become the fastest growing consumer electronics product of the last 20+ years (better then CDs, DVDs, satellite TV, etc.). No subscription-based business is expected to be profitable when they are first starting, since significant costs are usually required to get started. The 100K current subscribers won't pay for three satellite launches or NYC-based studios, but 2 million will and it starts becoming tasty gravy after that since no more big expensive outlays are required to go from 2 to 3 to 4 million and beyond. That's when the big money will be made, if it is to be made.
--XM likes to tell you how little time you will waste listening to commercials but their
-- DJs talk way too much in my opinion.
This is a difference between Sirius and XM that Sirius intends to exploit during their attempt to be known as the "premium service" (XM calls themselves the "most popular" service, but they have been around many months longer and had better initial equipment offerings). I've read many comments that say the DJs were at times annoying on XM and they talk a lot about stupid shit like normal DJs. The DJs on Sirius might tell you the next few concert dates of the band you just heard, but the few times that they do talk they keep their conversation short and strictly to the music or artist. Listen to them for yourself at the Listen Now link at www.sirius.com.
-- From what I have personally heard XM's sound quality is far and away
-- superior to Sirius.
IMO, it is hard to do a good comparison unless you are using the same system to hear both. Different speakers, subwoofers, tuners can make a difference. IMO, my converted-to-analog FM-modulated Sirius system in one car sounds better than my all digital headunit Sirius system in my Vanagon, primarily due to a better set of speakers, subwoofer, and better acoustics in the smaller car. I have also read from many different sources that the Sirius sound beats the XM sound hands down. However, unless you are in a lab with the same equipment to compare both equally, all that I have been able to tell on my own is like you said, it sounds better than FM. As you stated, it is not as good as a CD but to a non-audiophile like myself it is pretty close. Fortune Magazine and Sound and Vision Magazine recently compaired the two and choose Sirius over XM.
-- All in all, fm is so horrible what with commercials and repetitive formats
-- that satellite almost has to succeed.
That's a big part of the plan, satellite radio provides what FM radio is no longer able to, commercial free music (on Sirius, at least) and a large variety of non-repetitive formats.
caverat
89 westy
Satellite radio fan
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