Sirius Hits 100,000

The numbers are up for Sirius Satellite Radio. On June 23, the New York–based digital broadcaster announced that it had exceeded 100,000 subscribers for its 100-channel music/news/entertainment service. Sirius offers 60 channels of commercial-free music and 40 channels of news, sports, talk shows, comedy, and other programming.

The 100k milestone is an encouraging development for the company, which expects to see further growth in sign-ups following the introduction of new "Plug and Play" digital satellite receivers this month and next. Kenwood's "Here2Anywhere" gear arrived at consumer electronics locations across the country in June; Audiovox will ship its "S.R.S." (Satellite Radio Shuttle) in July. The Kenwood and Audiovox units share a $99.95 retail price; Kenwood's car and home adapter kits are $69.95. Participating retailers include Best Buy, Circuit City, Crutchfield, Tweeter Group stores, Ultimate Electronics, the Good Guys, and mobile electronics outlets.

"We reached our subscriber milestone without the benefit of these new products in the market place," said Sirius president and CEO Joseph P. Clayton. "With the introduction of the 'Plug and Play' units this summer [and] home products this fall, and the roll-out of the balance of our OEM automotive programs this year with Ford, Mercedes, Audi and Infiniti, we believe that momentum will continue to build."

Clayton's prediction is likely to prove correct, both for his company and for competitor XM Radio, which now claims 600,000 subscribers and is projecting a total of one million by year's end. Sirius is getting a boost from a sweetheart deal with the Hertz rental car agency, which is owned by Ford Motor Company, a Sirius investor.

Unpaid personal endorsement: In June, I spent ten days in the Colorado Rockies, with a Sirius-equipped a Hertz rental car. The $5/day surcharge was money well spent. Sirius provides a fantastic array of music in every conceivable genre, all of it superbly programmed by knowledgeable DJs. There's enough obscure stuff to satisfy the fussiest music fan, and the control unit gives you the name of both song and performer for every cut. All that's missing is a button to memorize this data so you can retrieve it later. The sound quality is excellent and almost totally reliable, with the caveat that the signal cuts out when you drive through tunnels or under freeway overpasses.

Satellite radio is a panacea for music fans fed up with the narrow playlists, obnoxious commercials, and screaming DJs of homogenized conglomerate radio. Of course, it can't provide the local color that community radio stations once supplied in abundance, but that's a quality that has almost entirely disappeared from the American landscape with the advent of franchises and the interstate highway system. Provided that Sirius and XM don't cave in to the music industry's promotional pressure, satellite radio could make the automotive CD changer obsolete.

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