Sirius XM Makes Smart Marketing Move with Howard Stern Offering

Whether you like him or hate him, one truism exists about Howard Stern. He is popular and likely the biggest draw in satellite radio. Bearing that in mind, Sirius XM (SIRI) radio has rolled out a promotion that will give the subscribers to the XM side of the service a taste of Howard for free from May 18th through May 25th.

It is a great idea, and one that promises to help XM’s subscriber base experience the content available on Sirius. Howard is typically available to XM subscribers through a “BEST OF SIRIUS” package that comes at a cost of about $4 per month.

The company recently announced that roughly 500,000 XM subscribers buy the “BEST OF SIRIUS” Package. This is in contrast to about 200,000 Sirius Subscribers who pay $4 extra to receive the “BEST OF XM” deal. It will be interesting to see how these numbers balance out in future quarters. In my opinion, the biggest differentiators between the two “BEST OF” packages is Howard Stern, and it appears that the company will capitalize on that.

In all, the BEST OF packages represent about $2,800,000 in additional monthly revenue for Sirius XM radio. While some people have been critical of Sirius XM’s marketing, this promotion has true merit. The company is marketing to those that already subscribe and understand the value of the service. With only about 5% of the subscriber base participating in the “BEST OF” programming, marketing dollars and promotions such as this represent a good growth target.

The next issue on the plate needs to be a similar promotion for Sirius subscribers to get exposure to XM. Perhaps this will happen with baseball, which has been rumored to be coming soon to the “BEST OF XM”. Kudos to Sirius XM for making what is a very sensible marketing decision on this one.

Position - Long Sirius XM Radio

Comments

[SiRi - Hope:]

or they can quit the bs and offer all xm users howard so there is a bigger push. come on siri!

May 11 01:40 PM

[Spiderman4:]

Siri will be a $1.00 or more come year end........!!!!!!!!

May 11 02:24 PM

[Roadman08:]

I signed up for Sirius a week ago, and my buddy at work just bought a full subscription. Watch this one climb right back into prominence soon. Setbacks don't imply failure.

May 11 02:49 PM

[krusty43:]

SIRIUS should drop the price to the original monthly rate of $9.99 per subscriber. It is a marketing play that is more digestable to the subscriber paying less than $10 a month for this service. If you are interested in the extra add-ons you could then pay for the premium service for $2.95 per month. KISS marketing is more effective than all this a la carte pricing programs that people don't really want. Some people grow out of that "Howard Stern" phase of life.

May 11 03:27 PM

[User 292014:]

Relax and stop worrying so much. I know how much everyone wants to be a winner and how frustrating this endless ride has been. Sirius will climb again and inevitably drop again. I is obvious to sell when the iphone app is released and buy back when the sp tanks once again. Sirius is no more than a crap shoot. That is a fact. Holding this stock long will probably pay off in the end, but not until your guts are shredded many more times. Frankly, I am no longer even phased by the behavior of this stock.

May 11 08:24 PM

[Mr. Stupid:]

I agree totally......I am riding this thing out and feel this company will have the last laugh in the end. When we get through this recession those that stuck with this company will surely be rewarded. I agree that taking profits on the pops is ok as long as your focused for the long run.

Frank


On May 11 08:24 PM User 292014 wrote:

> Relax and stop worrying so much. I know how much everyone wants to
> be a winner and how frustrating this endless ride has been. Sirius
> will climb again and inevitably drop again. I is obvious to sell
> when the iphone app is released and buy back when the sp tanks once
> again. Sirius is no more than a crap shoot. That is a fact. Holding
> this stock long will probably pay off in the end, but not until your
> guts are shredded many more times. Frankly, I am no longer even phased
> by the behavior of this stock.

May 11 08:39 PM

[Mr. Stupid:]

I think the iphone app will be huge down the road. if you think about how much people are paying for their cell service already...

An extra $15 a month is nothing to people that already pay $85 to $150 a month for cell service.

Frank

May 11 08:46 PM