Orbitcast had an updated post about the new look of Worldspace. Worldspace isn’t something I mention a whole lot and probably deserves more mention, since XM Satellite Radio has a $25 million stake in Worldspace. For those who aren’t familiar with Worldspace Satellite Radio. they are an international provider of Satellite Radio, which XM has a substantial investment in. They are now up to 100,000 subscribers. In their short period of existence that isn’t too bad.

I wish I was able to listen to Worldspace or knew more about them than their web site provides. But being that the service is not available in the US that might be kind of hard for me. If there is anyone out there who has any info on Worldspace I’d love for them to pass it on to me. The service looks like its off to a good start though. However I would like to see them adopt some new and more update technology. The only offer 1 receiver at the moment. In any event, if anyone is a Worldspace subscriber I’d love to know more about the service.

The last XM2Go2 device I waited to talk about because it was such a big hit @ CES. It won The Peoples Choice Award @ CES. This is really big news and will add alot of exposure to the satellite radio market as a whole as well as XM Satellite Radio. Here’s the skinny on the Pionner Inno:

XM Press Release is here

XM Product Page is here

Features:

- Full-color, 180 X 180 pixels TFT display
- 50 hours of recordable programming
- Flash memory storage for MP3/WMA files and XM content
- User Friendly Interface
- Personal playlists using a mix of XM content and tracks from their own digital music collection
- Memory buffer to make it easy to store an entire track heard in XM, even if the user starts storing it in the middle of a song
- Ticker and Tune Select

MSRP for all you early adopters out there is $399, but WOW….this thing looks amazing and winning the people’s choice is no small feat. There were some excellent products this year @ CES. This device is sooooo cool. The only thing I think they really missed is not integrating XM Passport with the device, but with a device like this what else do you really need. This device will no doubt this will be very hot commodity when its released and for quite sometime. The CES has really shown the world what a great product line XM has come out with as well as showing everything XM has to offer. I think that 9 million subscriptions by years end is not out of the question at all.

Once again congrats to everyone @ XM Satellite Radio for everything they’ve shown us the past week I cant even fathom the amount of work that has gone into all the work they’ve done and also for making the XM Nation a better place.

Another addition to XM2Go second generation receivers. Here’s the skinny:

XM Press Release is here

XM Product Page is here

Features:

- Live XM Satellite Radio when docked in a home or car docking station
- Memory storage for XM content, MP3s, and .wmas for portable listening; NEXUS 25 stores up to 25 hours of XM content, and NEXUS 50 stores up to 50 hours of XM content
- XM + Napster feature that allows users to bookmark the names of songs heard on XM, connect the Helix player to the PC, and purchase the bookmarked tracks instantly from the XM + Napster online service.
- Easy-to-use interface, which lets users save and delete content, create personal playlists, and find and play back their favorite songs
- The ability to store XM content by song, by channel, or by scheduled session
- Ability to create unique playlists with a mix of XM content and personal music collection
- Category list for saving and accessing favorite channels
- TuneSelect, which alerts the listener to a favorite artist or song whenever it is played on any XM channel
- Integrated, wireless FM transmitter for beaming XM to any FM radio frequency.

Dimensions are approximately 4.5 ounces and measures approximately 3.7 inches high, 2.2 inches wide, and 0.6 inch deep. The unit will also include the new XM Passport mini-receiver so with one subscription you can play on multiple units. It will retail for $249 if you want to gold 50 hours of content or 25 hours will run $199. Car kit sold separately.

The Nexus looks like a pretty cool unit. My only complaint about what I’ve seen thus far is that the Nexus does not include TuneSelect or the tickers. It’s still a very impressive feature set as well as being very economical. The thing this is perfect for is someone who wants a portable unit as well as a nice receiver desktop receiver @ home that pull from one subscription. I can totally see myself doing this. I’m absoultely drooling over the new Crosley Receiver I think this may be the unit for me but let’s see what else comes down the pike !!!!

Here’s some more info yet another XM2Go2 unit. This one is by Samsung called Helix.

XM Press Release is here

XM Product Page is here

Features:

- Stores your favorite XM channels at home, in the car or on the go
- Mix stored XM with your MP3s and CDs
- Compatible with XMNapster Service
- Color and larger screen
- 50 Hours of storage !!!
-Price $399

All I gotta say is WOW !!!! (again) This unit is has everything one could ever want in a portable Satellite Radio and more. The big question I have that I guess can’t sufficiently be answered until this is out there (which will be by Spring) is what will the reception be like on the go. With the size of the antenna I would think it would be pretty darn good and the dimensions of the unit are like cell phone size as well. This unit doesnt seem to be lacking too much. I’m sure these will be flying off the shelves. Very very impressive !!!!

Today was certainly a huge day for XM Radio. Talk about unloading some great news on the XM Nation. I was wowed by all the announcments coming out of CES today.

There were big announcements on 2 fronts. One was related to the next generation of XM2Go units and the other was a subscriber update:

The new receivers:

The Pioneer Inno - sports mp3 playback as well as recording capabilities that will store 50 hours of XM content as well as being compatible with XM + Napster

The Samsung Helix - formerly called Nexus sports mp3 playback as well as recording capabilities that will store 50 hours of XM content as well as being compatible with XM + Napster

I’ll post more info on the receivers later. I’m reading some conflicting information on the units and I want to make sure and report what I’m hearing as accurately as possible as well as detailed info the XM Passport which is essentially a mini tuner that will allow you to have one subscription and broadcast to several devices.

The 2nd announcement was that XM Radio now has 6 million subscribers…w00t !!!! That’s huge and Hugh Panero also stated that XM will be @ 9 million subscriptions by year end.

This was a very big day for XM and the Satellite Radio industry as a whole. I want to hit the highlights in separate posts and sort through the facts, but I just wanted to quickly outline this amazing day. Once again XM has really earned my respect and really proved what an amazing company they are and what incredible technology is possible

Now that the whole Howard thing is coming to fruition I feel compelled to hop up on my soap box and give my 2 cents. There are really 4 sides to this whole thing. You have to look @ this from the standpoint of Sirius, XM, Howard, and Opie & Anthony. Yes these sides overlap in many ways, but lets take a look at each of these separately and then tie it altogether.

Suppose for a minute you’re Mel Karmazin (CEO of Sirius Satellite Radio), I think you see Howard as the savior and the thing that will not only save Sirius, but save Satellite Radio. Sirius has absolutely nothing to lose. It’s no secret how the company has been suffering financially. This is more or less a go for broke move and Karmazin knows it. At $100 million a year there is really no other way to think about it. So right now I gotta think Sirius is very very happy . They have got their name out into the mainstream and they haven’t even paid Howard 1 penny yet, but the question still remains, how do you justify yet actually pay Stern $100 million a year? Extend yourself beyond belief is the first thing that enters my mind.

Now lets think about this from the XM side. If you are Hugh Panero (CEO of XM Satellite Radio) right now what do you think of all this. Well here’s what I think is going through Hugh’s mind right now. I’d say he’s smiling like the cat that swallowed the canary right now. Look at all the free press XM is getting from this. Almost every segment on TV that Ive seen with Howard mentions XM as a competitor and not just a competitor, but a competitor that has a heck of a lot more subscribers than Sirius. On top of that the way XM counts subscribers are very different from the way Sirius does. For those unfamiliar with this. Sirius counts a subscription for every car that rolls off the assemblyline, where XM doesn’t count the subscription until it is actually activated. With the subscriptions aside. To put the Howard thing in perspective from a financial side. XM will have exclusive rights to the NHL starting next season, although this season the NHL is being broadcast on both XM and Sirius. That deal is costing XM $100 million over a 10 year period. With the edition of XM Canada and the NHL doing all they can to improve the league as well as their game. Its hard not to see the ROI here. Oh and of that $100 million XM isn’t even paying all of that. XM did have a shot @ getting Howard, but passed. I don’t think Hugh is looking back on this one at all. I’d have to say at this point XM has to be happy with the way things are going.

No matter what happens in the future I think Howard is in the worst situation out of anyone here….and here’s why I say that. There are 2 sides to this. The first being if he succeeds. Let’s say he does pull in a ton of subscriptions and Sirius does catch up to XM or even dominates the Satellite radio market. With the current financial state of Sirius how long can they afford to flip a $100 million bill because if Howard is successful, he’s obviously going to get incentives and I think the more successful Howard is the deeper Sirius will fall. Let’s say he fails, where does he go from here, back to terrestrial radio? I don’t see that happening somehow or if that did happen I don’t think it would last long.But I must say that Howard’s biggest downfall was refusing to go XM because Opie and Anthony were there, which can only lead me to believe that he’s scared or intimidated by them because of his bullying tactics in the past or he’s just plain scared of them, why else would he refuse to be on the same network they are…it makes no at all.

The folks who have to be salivating the most over this have to be Opie and Anthony. I think they will be the ones who reap the biggest benefit, but before I get into all that. You might be wondering why I don’t lump O and A together with XM. I can’t do that because of the history between Howard and the boys. From what I’ve heard the boys say Howard personally made it very difficult for them to work anywhere due to a gag order that they would have had to sign, which resulted in a 2 year plus layoff. With the presence of Howard on satellite now I think you’ll see Opie and Anthony bring their show up to a new level. The show right now in my opinion is doing well (better than ever actually) and I think will do better with Howard showing up at Sirius. There are going to be people now who are curious about satellite radio, but can’t stand Howard. There are just as many people out there that like Howard out there as hate him (I have to lump myself in the hate category). Those haters are going to flock over to XM and catch the virus. I cant think of a single reason why they wouldn’t.

Well that’s how see things for what its worth. The best thing about all this is that its really putting satellite radio out there in the mainstream. Even though its really been out there for some time. The one big question that I really can’t answer or even take a stab at right now is what will be the effect on terrestrial radio. I’ve spoken to this previously and I think that situation is bad and getting worse. I don’t see any light at the end of that tunnel at all. It’ll be interesting to see how that plays out as well, but to answer the question which I initially broached. I think ultimately Howard means a lot to XM right now and I can sum it up in 2 words…more subscriptions.

Well generally speaking I don’t engage or talk about XM Radio vs. Sirius stuff, but today is the definite exception this also may very well become a rule. In any event today was Howard Stern’s day in the sun, his last day @ terresterial radio. Anyone who halfway keeps up with Satellite radio knows about this. The O and A pests were in full force today. Nothing got out of hand from what I heard, but I did see alot of photos with XM Radio signs.

Here’s my slant on all this stuff. Yes today was huge for Howard and a little less huge for the boys on High Voltage XM 202. However, I think today was a bigger day for Satellite Radio. I think the question of Satellite Radio coming into the mainstream was answered today. It’s here and all Howard’s entrance will put Satellite Radio out there. There are just as many people out there that hate Howard as like him I think. I’ve never been a big Howard fan, but now that the parade is over and the confetti is being swept up. How the heck is Sirius going to flip that $500 million they are paying him. I need to write an article on this opposed to a blog posting, but my big takeaway from all this is that XM has really shown smarts with who they bring aboard. Opie and Anthony were a big part of those smarts, seems to me like a win/win situation there, but back to today’s events. I’m glad Sirius was the one to pay the marketing bill on this one for Satellite radio. My short term prediction is….watch Sirius numbers climb…however watch XM Radio’s numbers climb exponentially.

I just stumbled upon a very interesting tidbit on skyreport.com. The story doesn’t say a whole lot, but the tidbit is here

The blurb says:

Bernstein Research, in data released last week, points out the obvious: The primary market for satellite radio will be 230 million vehicles on the road today and 17 million vehicles sold each year.

However, don’t doubt that the two companies, Sirius and XM Satellite Radio, also won’t target the nation’s 113 million households as well as special markets, the Wall Street firm said. The special markets potential is represented by 3 million RVs, 2.3 million heavy trucks and 4 million boats, Bernstein said.

In its forecasts, Bernstein predicts that by 2010 there will be 44 million satellite radio subscribers in the United States, representing a penetration of 28 percent of U.S. households

The tidbit that interests me is the 28% penetration in homes. That is just huge and underlines my thoughts that Satellite Radio will bring radio back and well I won’t get into the whole XM vs Sirius thing…not in this post anyways.

The RIAA and Satellite radio are sitting down and negotiating. I really don’t think either party will come out a winner on this one. The RIAA wants $1 billion from Sirius and XM. Shouldn’t Satellite Radio fall under the same umbrella as FM radio? Well maybe not, but a cool billion is just ridiculous. I hope Satellite Radio doesnt back down off of this. I mean you’ve been able to record audio off of FM for how long now. I think this is just another case of people not knowing what to make of Satellite Radio. This just proves more and more wheather people want to admit it or not that Satellite Radio is a new medium and most people dont know what to make of it. My 2 cents anyways….whats yours?

Very Interesting read here, apparently Sirius is counting subscriptions on cars that hit the lot and not actual subscribers. Although, when someone buys a car with a Sirius receiver installed they do get a one year free subscription. The thing that makes this interesting is that XM doesnt even count those free new car subscriptions. I don’t know that anything will become of this, but it sure makes the Sirius subscription count look very suspect to me.