Can satellite radio sustain two orbits?
  
EdmontonJournal.com
Sunday, April 13, 2008


Sometimes, the foibles of Canadian commerce seem as nonsensical and counter-productive as what goes on regularly in government corridors.

Witness the case of national satellite radio operators XM Canada and Sirius Canada. Each firm has lost a bundle in startup costs over the past 30 months. XM, traded publicly, has bled more than $200 million here and has yet to post a profitable quarter. Sirius, owned in part by the CBC, is privately held and does not have to disclose financial information, but analysts reckon its story is similar.

Simply attempting to sell the concept of subscription satellite radio to Cana-dian consumers was a steep climb in itself. But also having to compete with each other rendered profitability an even more distant goal. For example, the two services went mano-a-mano in lining up exclusivity contracts with automakers.

Finally, XM and Sirius U.S. have all but agreed to throw in the towel and merge, pending approval from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, which will almost certainly oblige. It only makes sense. Satellite radio is a terrific product, but there clearly isn't room for two competitors at this point.

Given that, and the fact that only one unified American programming package will be available here, you would think XM Canada and Sirius Canada brass would also be locked in earnest discussions on the future. There will be a mess to sort out, both corporately and to consumers, who have been sold non-compatible hardware.

But according to an official at Canadian Satellite Radio Holdings, which owns XM Canada, "it's a little too premature to talk about that." While the U.S. mother networks are coming together, their little Canadian cousins will continue to duke it out on the boards, leaking more cash.

We humbly suggest a weekend rental of Titanic for these Toronto boardrooms, paying special attention to life raft distribution.

http://www.canada.com/edmonton.....03-9690-249e95922207