In classic Peter Lynch style, we decided to take their free preview for a spin and tuned into the Howard Stern show for a few hours. The service was very fast and the sound quality was superior to that of the majority of internet radio streams. Sirius was very well prepared for the traffic surge from a technical standpoint.
More interesting though, was the wide geographic differences between listeners dialing in to The Stern Show, with calls coming from countries such as Germany, China, and England. These callers demonstrate the global potential for Sirius Internet Radio. The market for Stern is not confined to the United States. Their stable of sports content should also have demand outside of the United States, with growing global interest in the NBA and NFL and the popularity of soccer worldwide.
As the end of their free trial approaches, this looks to have been a positive event for Sirius. However the two day spike in traffic will be meaningless if traffic levels return to their previous levels once the trial expires. The next week’s traffic data should give a much clearer look at exactly how effective this campaign really was.
Disclosure: The Marley Group does not have a position in Sirius.
SIRI 1-yr. chart
