Pink Floyd lodging public complaints about Pandora and Tavis Smiley moving into online radio are just two stories in this roundup of streaming radio news. Pandora announced that more than 100 car models offer smartphone integration to control its app. The service is offering free commercial-free listening to listeners using an integrated car stereo through […]
Tag Archives | Sirius/XM
SiriusXM and WWOZ deliver the music of New Orleans for Super Bowl weekend
For Super Bowl weekend SiriusXM’s Real Jazz channel 67 is featuring Radio New Orleans with music founded on the roots of jazz from the game’s host city. This special programming was put together in conjunction with community radio WWOZ, which focuses on Jazz and New Orleans heritage music. WWOZ is broadcasting live on Saturday from […]
Liberty takeover, new programming & Super Bowl coverage start the new year for SiriusXM
It’s been a while since we’ve reported on SiriusXM. The big news for the satellite radio provider is that Liberty Media, owner of Discovery Channel and other media interests, was approved for its majority takeover of Sirius by the FCC at the beginning of the year. Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin is no pal of Liberty […]
Liberty Media moves towards majority stake in SiriusXM – what does it mean for subscribers?
Things are staying eventful for SiriusXM. Liberty Media this week continued its ongoing campaign to take control of the satellite radio provider by buying up 40 million additional shares of the company, bringing its total ownership to 48.8%, up from its 40% stake back in March. Liberty’s intent here is clear. In a a recent […]
Sirius sound quality still sucks
As I’ve admitted before, I can be a stickler for sound quality when it comes to consuming audio media. Unfortunately, in so many ways the fidelity of plain old analog broadcast FM radio is rarely matched by digital media, where lower bitrates and lower sound quality are chosen for cost considerations, or to squeeze more […]
SiriusXM sees strong 1st quarter amid minor turmoil
SiriusXM announced positive first quarter results on Tuesday, with the number of subscribers growing to an all time high of 22.3 million. The company also said that its retaining 45% of subscribers who got a trial subscription with the purchase of a new satellite radio equipped car. Its stock (SIRI) price jumped a bit–from $2.26 […]
Will New Zealand get satellite radio?
North Americans can be accused of taking our selection of radio broadcasting for granted. Sure, I’ll be amongst the first to complain about the homogenizing effect consolidation has had on commercial radio. Yet even small cities in the US and Canada have a wide variety of commercial, college, non-commercial and public stations to choose from. […]
SiriusXM’s Karmazin pretty much admits it’s good to be a monopoly
Last Thursday, on the eve of the company’s tenth anniversary celebration with Bruce Springsteen, SiriusXM CEO Mel Karmazin appeared for a thirteen minute interview on Jim Cramer’s CNBC investment show Mad Money. There are two big questions on the mind of satellite radio watchers: will John Malone’s Liberty Media buy up more of SiriusXM, and […]
SiriusXM turns a profit, plans to offer on-demand programs and personalized radio
SiriusXM announced its 4th quarter 2011 results today, revealing that the company turned a profit and reached 8.7 million subscribers, with 1.7 net subscribers added last year. While those numbers apparently look good both to the company and investors, SiriusXM is only holding on to 44% of subscribers who get a free trial when they […]
SiriusXM to report 2011 earnings on Thursday, one month ahead of 10th birthday celebration
It’s almost hard to believe that satellite radio is a decade old this year. Actually the XM service launched in September, 2001 while Sirius launched service in four states in February 2002. I remember clearly the hoopla around the debut of this new radio service, and devouring a feature article about XM in Sound and […]