News

If you haven't seen much in the mainstream press about the new satellite radio services from XM and Sirius, both poised to launch before the end of the year, you soon will. First out of the chute with the big media bucks, XM Satellite Radio unveiled last week its national advertising campaign called "Radio to the Power of X."

XM says it plans to spend $100 million in a national advertising push and "multimedia effort" anchored by a television campaign featuring musicians BB King, David Bowie, and Snoop Dogg. XM is also targeting traditional radio, magazines, newspapers, direct mail, outdoor, and online advertising beginning August 10, after the debut of a 60-second promo scheduled for 19,000 movie screens across the United States.

The company says that following the first month of ads, on September 12, XM will launch commercial service with a multimedia marketing effort in two markets, Dallas/Fort Worth and San Diego, in an effort "to gain valuable customer service, marketing, and retail sales experience, much as DirecTV did when it launched." XM says the rollout will continue in mid-October with a major regional launch in the Southwest, covering a population of 55 million people and including major markets such as Austin, Houston, Denver, and Los Angeles. In early November, XM says, it will begin its national television campaign and launch service across the rest of the country.

After launch, XM says, its 100-channel lineup will feature 71 music channels, more than 30 commercial-free, for a monthly service fee of $9.99. The company claims that its carefully constructed channel lineup is "designed to satisfy every imaginable musical taste as well as introduce a stellar lineup of news, talk, sports, and entertainment programming from the most popular and well-known media brand names today."

XM's president, Hugh Panero, announcing the impending launch of the new service, said that his company "intends to change radio the way cable and DBS changed television, by providing compelling entertainment choices to consumers. Twenty years ago, MTV launched with the song 'Video Killed the Radio Star.' We are here to tell you that XM will bring radio back to life."