News

Satellite radio services appear to be gaining sufficient market momentum to get them over the startup hump.

On May 14, Sirius Satellite Radio, Inc. posted its first quarterly net profit, thanks to a sharp rise in subscriptions and a life-saving deal that converted most of the company's debt to shareholder equity. Sirius reported net income of $140.1 million, compared with a net loss of $78.9 million for the same period a year ago. Those clever accountants: The "profit" was partly due to accounting sleight-of-hand that counted $256.5 million of the company's recapitalized debt as a gain. Subtracting the gain, and counting a $79.5 million dividend paid to eliminate its preferred stock, Sirius would have posted a first-quarter operating loss of $99.1 million, according to the financial press. Net revenue was $1.6 million, a huge leap from the $33,000 reported a year earlier.

Sirius claims approximately 68,000 subscribers, and projects a total of 100,000 by the end of its second fiscal quarter. The company hopes to have recruited 300,000 subscribers by the end of the year. Rival XM Satellite Radio, which got a head start with a 2001 launch, already claims more than a half million subscribers.

Technical difficulties stall IBOC: On May 15, the National Radio Systems Committee (NRSC) temporarily suspended its standards-approval process for iBiquity's "in-band-on-channel" digital AM/FM radio technology. Poor AM band audio quality was blamed for the delay; iBiquity promised to deliver a software upgrade for its audio codec as soon as possible. FM quality was said to be unaffected by the glitch, but the delay could hold up deliveries of IBOC-capable tuners and receivers from several manufacturers. iBiquity and its consumer electronics partners expect a full rollout of the system by 2004. Early generation IBOC receivers have been available since 2001. The problem won't affect broadcasters, according to iBiquity executives.

Teac's Esoteric audio product line returns to the US marketplace this month. The Montebello, CA–based company is shipping a new $7000 high-end CD transport, a matching outboard DAC ($6000) , and a $5000 universal disc player. Additional Esoteric products will be introduced in 2004, according to an early May announcement. Teac Esoteric has been absent from the US for the past decade; the new products follow successful launches of retro-styled radios, DVD and CD receiver combos, and home-theater-in-a-box systems sold under the much-more-affordable Teac "Reference" label.

Houston, TX–based Threshold Audio, Inc. has announced its newest high-end product, the S/5000e stereo power amplifier. Rated at 250Wpc, the S/5000e is the first Threshold amplifier priced below $3000 to be introduced in almost a decade, according to executive vice president Kevin Lee.

Although priced well below Threshold's flagship product, the $8000 Stasis 8.0, the S/5000e shares much of the Stasis' circuit topology, stated vice president of manufacturing Billy Curtis. Highlights include "a massive toroidal power transformer, premium resistors and capacitors, and solid build quality that says made-in-America." A 12V on/off trigger has been included for home-theater systems. Introductory retail price is $2500.

Audiophiles eager to hear the S/5000e at the upcoming Home Entertainment Expo in San Francisco will be disappointed, unfortunately. Threshold won't be participating in the show, due to demands of a stepped-up product development program, Lee explained.