Sirius, XM merger speculation, CEO says
by Marke Andrews
Vancouver Sun
Published: Friday, June 13, 2008

If Sirius has more than 70 per cent of the satellite radio market, as Sirius Canada Inc. president and CEO Mark Redmond claims, one wonders why the company would even consider merging with rival XM.

According to company figures, Sirius Canada hit the 750,000 paid-subscription mark this week, one-third of those added in the last eight months. If those figures are accurate, that means rival XM - which announced Canadian subscriptions of 395,000 in March - is considerably behind in listenership, and that almost two out of every three satellite radio subscribers in Canada are opting for Sirius.

In an interview, Redmond would not discuss a possible merger with XM, saying it is speculative at this point. However, both Sirius's and FM's parent companies in the U.S. have sought a merger for more than a year. In March, the U.S. Department of Justice approved the merger, but the Federal Communications Commission is yet to weigh in on the matter.

"Until they get the FCC approval, we don't really know what all the details of the U.S. merger will be, and once we see that we will determine what we think the right course of action will be in Canada," said Redmond. "At this point it's premature until we know the situation in the U.S."

Much of the subscription totals are due to the fact that auto makers include satellite radio on all new cars, either as a standard feature or an option, and this includes, in the case of Ford, a six-month free subscription to Sirius. Redmond stated that the company does not make public what share of its listeners are those who got the service with their car purchase, but he said at the auto level Sirius has at least 60 per cent of the market, at the retail level Sirius has more than 70 per cent of the market. Renewals of subscriptions obtained in car purchases in the U.S. are 40 to 50 per cent.

"I would say it's accurate that we're not far off that figure [in Canada]," said Redmond.

"Our retail business is still strong and our share of the retail market is running in the mid-70s [percentage]," said Redmond. "Our automotive business has really been strong over the last year, and in Canada we haven't felt the effects of the automotive slowdown in the States. Our two big partners, Ford and Chrysler, are chugging along nicely."

Sirius also partners with Audi, BMW, Dodge, Jaguar, Jeep, Kia, Land Rover, Lexus, Lincoln, Mazda, Mercedes Benz, ININ, Mitsubishi, Subaru, Toyota, Volkswagen and Volvo. In total, Sirius is available on more than 150 vehicle models.

When it launched in December, 2005, Sirius had 20 employees. Today, it has 75.

Within the next month, Sirius will add another 10 channels to its roster, bringing the total to 120. The new channels will include four or five music channels, at least two talk channels and a Canadian sports channel.

"This will effectively give us everything the U.S. has, except the traffic channels, which at this point we don't see a lot of value in," said Redmond.

John Bitove, chairman and CEO of XM Canada, did not return a call for this story.

mandrews@png.canwest.com

I have both satellite services, XM and Sirius.  I listen to Sirius 80% of the time, for the music, which is Boomer focused.  You get lots of familiar, feel-good music on Sirius.  XM has the deep cuts in various genres, but I'm not interested in music that never was a hit on the radio.  I keep XM for baseball and hockey, not the music.  It's going to be interesting to see how satellite radio evolves, or even if it survives -- I hope it does; I love it in my home.

Quoted from cdl

You get lots of familiar, feel-good music on Sirius.  XM has the deep cuts in various genres, but I'm not interested in music that never was a hit on the radio.  

That's the very reason why I listen to XM. I'm so sick of hits, if I want to hear that I'll just listen to regular radio.

For a few years...I've heard all about satellite radio...How awesome it is. How it's "way better" than "regular radio" I just bought a new car...it came with Sirius satellite radio. I've gotta be honest...when it comes to having un-interrupted music with no "jock talk" I'd rather stick to my iPOD.

There's not much difference in music between a CHR terrestrial station and what satellite offers...musically...and call me biased, because it's how I make my living, but I like Jocks...I turn it up when someone turns on the mike. I might be in the minority when it comes to radio listeners...but I like the talking.

As long as the person on the air is a person...and not a "jock"

You know...someone that adds an "H" to every "S" they say. Local radio will always be the way to go...as long as REAL people get a shot at hosting the shows...not some Rodney Radio drone...like we've all grown disgustingly used to.