What Good Will the iPhone App Do for Sirius XM? 40 comments
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By Brandon Matthews
Everyone, it seems, has written an opinion in regards to Sirius XM’s (SIRI), soon-to-be-released iPhone application. As a result, I have received dozens of e-mails asking me for my own opinion on the subject. In the past, I had been skeptical that the new Satellite Radio application for Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone would be anything more than a value-adding proposition to Sirius XM’s existing subscriber base.
I have also gone on record as stating that no Internet Radio based service such as Pandora would ever replace Satellite Radio. When critics point to free vs. paid models I am quick to point out the content differences by asking them what channel on Pandora gets the NFL, Mad Dog Russo, Bubba, Opie & Anthony, CNBC, Oprah, Martha Stewart and of course the end all, be all of radio, Howard Stern? This silences those critics immediately.
Critics always leave out the exclusive content of Sirius XM and seem to forget that even the music channels themselves offer exclusive content. “E Street” Radio, The Grateful Dead Channel, Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville plus special artist channels each month. This total content package is what undoubtedly has drawn Apple into accepting a Satellite Radio partnership of sorts.
What can this application do for Sirius XM, however? It all comes back to Howard Stern! I know the company well enough to know that if they were forced to give up every channel but one, that one would be Howard 100. Howard Stern WILL sell iPhones. Howard Stern WILL drive subscribers to Sirius XM via the iPhone application.
As the self-proclaimed “King Of All Media,” the “smartphone” is a new media vehicle that Howard will need to overcome to retain his title. When Howard came to Sirius, the subscriber ranks swelled. When Sirius XM offered the “best of Sirius” package to XM subscribers, XM subscribers signed up quickly.
As a radio company, it stands to reason that Sirius XM will not seek to reinvent the wheel in this case. In my opinion, Sirius XM will focus its marketing attempts on the time-tested and success-proven marketing power of Howard Stern.
Position: Long SIRI
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Still, he's not the reason everybody subscribes which is what he'd like you to believe. Most research has Stern with anywhere from 1.75 million to 2.5 million listeners, an impressive number, but far below the TOTAL number of subs Sirius/XM has.
And you can't deny the fact that the $500 million that he gets paid is crippling the company that watched it's stock plummet to penny stock levels. He works just 4 days a week and takes vacation for almost half the year. And if you look up how some of his hardcore fans feel about the show, you'll see that this entire experiment has been a huge disappointment for many of them. To put salt in the wound, he refuses to re-sign with Sirius/XM unless he gets a pay raise (!!!) or the same deal as he signed in 2005.
Next, let's dispel the myth that Opie & Anthony had 0.0 ratings. That was one station in Texas that they were quickly booted from anyway. Most of the markets they were in, they did very well in their key demos during their 3-hour timeslot. They can't be held responsible for the 21 hours of failed programming to keep up the rating they established.
O&A were not a good fit for a Top 40 pop station, just like Howie wouldn't have been. I love how Howard brushes off how "he won't go back to terrestrial radio even though he could conquer it all over again because it's not even a challenge." That's a cop out. He knows damn well that 90% of his arsenal (sex talk, racist callers, dick jokes, fart humor) can't fly in this radio environment.
If you're going to go the "Howard RULEZ; O&A blow" route, at least prepare to bring facts to the table. That's what O&A preaches to their fans - the importance of being honest. Let's see how honest Howard is about his failed pay-per-view service, his awful attempt at a sitcom that almost sank a fledging network (F/X) or his use of hacky paid-for bits from radio service companies like electriceelman.
On May 18 12:10 PM frankz00 wrote:
> I guess "Howie math" lead to the 0.0s that got O&A kicked off
> of every terrestrial station in the country. Sirius went from 600,000
> subscribers and significantly behind XM before he signed to reaching
> parity at 3 million within a year after he signed. To say there was
> no "Howard effect" is ridiculous and ignornant.
2. If apps. works well,it makes Sirius very portable and more main stream. Just play apps. to Sirius anywhere anytime, just plug ear buds in and listen.
3. Could bring in new subscribers if they get the right programing for a new generation and not what the old gray heads think it should be.
4. Could have done Coachella festival ,or Stagecoach Fest. or SXSW fest in Austin, or Cannes film. Sirius needs to get a little
hipper for music scene and arts.
Should I SELL now and save what I have left or keep holding?
Frank
2 more weeks is the apps I am staying in and hoping it will drop a little more to buy more stocks / I didnt put in 100k like everyone else did so 2 to 300.00 is not breaking me if it drops
On May 18 01:03 PM Mr. Stupid wrote:
> uh oh, Siri is going down for some reason. Don't know why. Is there
> some bad news out there that hasn't hit the public. Just speculating
> but this company seems to surprise in negative ways.
>
> Should I SELL now and save what I have left or keep holding?
>
> Frank
tell him to add Sirius XM as Prepaid for the life of the Vehicle and
not a 3 month Promo: Tell him/her that maybe having a radio worth
listening to will be a safety feature, by keeping John Q Public off their
Cell Phones while driving.......Just a thought.
They have no interest in that kind of stuff
Frank
On May 18 06:48 PM itsjust$ wrote:
> Call your Congressman: Since we are all owners in GM and Chrysler
>
> tell him to add Sirius XM as Prepaid for the life of the Vehicle
> and
> not a 3 month Promo: Tell him/her that maybe having a radio worth
>
> listening to will be a safety feature, by keeping John Q Public off
> their
> Cell Phones while driving.......Just a thought.
as a stock holder i am glad for this diversity for those of you who listen to these other shows, but seriously ... there are millions out there that would pay for the service to hear NOTHING but jazz and classical without having to wait through the pledge drives on the public radio. i see no reason to pay stern rather than using that money as stock dividends. how many people REALLY want to hear him fart more than once? i'd rather be listening to miles davis or js bach.
Frank
i love SIRI, gladly pay for it; but, stockwise, SIRI has 3.3b$ in debt right now? sales of 1.6b$ last year? imagine 20% profit, 320m$; how many years to break even? of course, the economy & cars WILL start moving again, maybe there is some upside we do not know about (foreign?), but this is DEFINITELY a long haul; this is a risky stock that should be a small part of a small high risk portion of your portfolio
Siri was up 2 today. Why? Did some great news hit the airwaves?
Looks like the start of something nice.
Frank
On May 19 04:32 PM jmsithy wrote:
> Ok Siri Investors dont let your guard down this could just a be a
> short squeeze because the market was down. so that means could be
> a sell off if the market is high tomorrow / especially when this
> sold at the end of the day
Frank
On May 19 04:34 PM Wisdom vs. Information wrote:
> you stearnaholics need some perspective. he is not what you think
> he is, no matter how much passionate you feel.
>
> i love SIRI, gladly pay for it; but, stockwise, SIRI has 3.3b$ in
> debt right now? sales of 1.6b$ last year? imagine 20% profit, 320m$;
> how many years to break even? of course, the economy & cars WILL
> start moving again, maybe there is some upside we do not know about
> (foreign?), but this is DEFINITELY a long haul; this is a risky stock
> that should be a small part of a small high risk portion of your
> portfolio
When will we see SIRI in Europe? Is it feasible to reposition the XM sats and broadcast both SIRI and XM content over both sets of sats? It certainly doesn't make sense to have 6 sats doing the same amount of work that can be accomplished with 3.
On May 18 06:48 PM itsjust$ wrote:
> Call your Congressman: Since we are all owners in GM and Chrysler
>
> tell him to add Sirius XM as Prepaid for the life of the Vehicle
> and
> not a 3 month Promo: Tell him/her that maybe having a radio worth
>
> listening to will be a safety feature, by keeping John Q Public off
> their
> Cell Phones while driving.......Just a thought.
So did Bret Farve!!!
On May 18 10:32 AM 510Hustla wrote:
> Stern has STRONGLY indicated that he will retire when his contract
> is up in 1.5 years.