The media pundit's pundit. Written by NYC insider Jeff Jarvis, BuzzMachine covers news, media, journalism, and politics.
Reporting on XM and Howard Stern
: Engadget’s Pete Rojas is in Vegas covering CES and he asks the head of XM whether he wanted Howard Stern. The answer — in video — is that, yes, they spoke for years; the move is good for satellite; and whether it’s a good business decision “time will tell.”
The Dr. Laura/KKK question was so obnoxious, and I think she is a total c**t. Stern went with Sirius because they offered him more money – XM decided that he wasn’t worth to them what he is worth to Sirius, that’s all. XM is far ahead in subscriptions, technology, and financials and Christmas has helped them increase their advantage. Sirius had the NFL and nothing else so they needed a high profile like Stern to compete. They’ve risked alot of money on him at a time when they are struggling to pay their employees. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them merge in a few years if XM continues to dominate or if Stern is the magic bullet Sirius hopes he is.
>>> Sirius had the NFL and nothing else so they
>>> needed a high profile like Stern to compete
when was the last time anybody listened to the NFL on radio? getting the NFL is NOT as big as getting baseball.
baseball was made for radio
True enough – baseball is much better than football on the radio. I don’t think the NFL will help Sirius set the world on Steve’s shirt.
>>> I don’t think the NFL will help Sirius set
>>> the world on Steve’s shirt.
perhaps, the lil’ conner show would help sirius more than the stern show.
It’s already in the works, that’s why Sirius radios look like Raymarine fish finders…
ding, ding, ding…
Stern isn’t my brand of pogram, but I respect him. Sirius reminds me of Pets.com and other dot coms: All flash, and yes, some substance, but it’s not the superior company. The financials of both companies are dismal, but Sirius is really just spending like there’s no tomorrow. Is Howard Stern worth that much money? No, of course not, but he’s given Sirius alot of momentum.
Give me XM any day.
And XM continues it’s technological hegemony…
“XM “Connect-and-Play” Allows For Low-Cost Integration Of XM Radio Service into Leading Entertainment Devices
Las Vegas, Nev. and Washington D.C., January 05, 2005 — XM Satellite Radio (NASDAQ: XMSR), the nation’s leading satellite radio company, with more than 3.2 million subscribers, today introduced the XM “Connect-and-Play,” a revolutionary technology designed to integrate XM into a broad range of home entertainment devices.
The centerpieces of the technology are XM’s “Connect-and-Play” chip and data-port, a low-cost, mini-serial bus connector (Mitsumi part CAM-C16). For a low relative incremental cost, manufacturers of popular consumer electronics products, such as stereo and home theater receivers, DVD players, table top radios and portable media players, can now add the XM “Connect-and-Play” chip and data-port, making their device instantly “XM-Ready”. Through this new technology consumers simply plug an XM Connect-and-Play home antenna (MSRP: $49.99) into an XM-Ready audio product and activate the service to receive XM’s 130-plus digital radio channels. No additional accessories or installation are required.”
Maybe one day Sirius will make a radio that doesn’t require vacuum tubes.