# Can satellite radio succeed? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 7, 2006, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-satellite-radio-succeed/338856 "2006-01-07T05:43:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2006, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-satellite-radio-succeed/338856/41 "2006-01-10T00:45:49Z")
> [@G.M.](#): > > The ‘uber device’ you describe is one that is in part already incorporated into many mobile phones. It’s in every new car (sat-nav). All this can be sent by mobile networks as they exist… Yes this does ‘exist’ but really hasn’t really come together yet, and is still limited in it’s applications. ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2006, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-satellite-radio-succeed/338856/42 "2006-01-10T00:53:32Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > Actually it is nowhere near $200/month, but still quite a bit more then current S.R… Verizon wireless offers this for IIRC $59/month for their unlimited 144kb/s service with a ‘qualified cellular plan’ and they are building a faster network, which this price also accesses where available. You’re right, I was going by my current plan’s rates. At that usage level, it’d be cheaper to get an unlimited plan. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2006, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-satellite-radio-succeed/338856/43 "2006-01-10T01:08:08Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > The difference is that radio capabilities piggyback on items people will possess anyway, rather than requiring a separate piece of equipment (and separate subscription). > > What’s the situation with digital radio in the states? Has it been rolled out, and if so what’s the choice like compared to the normal analogue fare? You can get digital radio in a few cities but of course you need a new head unit. What is available is the same as what’s available on analog, meaning you still get stuck with lousy playlists and lots of commericals. I’d rather either get a new head unit with XM or Sirius built in or do what I did, which was getting one with the FM transmitter behind the dash and the satellite radio receiver portable to car or inside. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2006, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-satellite-radio-succeed/338856/44 "2006-01-10T01:11:57Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > Another slight nitpick. It’s actually 100 million per year for five years, for a total of 500 million. Half a billion dollars. Seriously: > > [http://money.cnn.com/2006/01/09/news/newsmakers/stern.reut/index.htm?section=money\_latest](http://money.cnn.com/2006/01/09/news/newsmakers/stern.reut/index.htm?section=money_latest) > > Plus, he got over 200 million in stock for meeting some sort of subscriber goal. **HOLY CRAP!** So that means that Sirius needs 7 _MILLION_ subscribers **just to pay Stern**! ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2006, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-satellite-radio-succeed/338856/45 "2006-01-10T01:19:11Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > **HOLY CRAP!** > > So that means that Sirius needs 7 _MILLION_ subscribers **just to pay Stern**! I must be missing something… Sirius pays Stern, let’s say, $700 million. To make that money back over 5 years, they’ll need to bring in $140 million per year. That’s $11.7 million per month. Since a subscription is $12.95 per month, they won’t even need one million new subscribers (assuming the new subscribers stay for the whole 5 years). ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2006, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-satellite-radio-succeed/338856/46 "2006-01-10T01:40:25Z")
> [@Mr2001](#): > > I must be missing something… > > Sirius pays Stern, let’s say, $700 million. To make that money back over 5 years, they’ll need to bring in $140 million per year. That’s $11.7 million per month. Since a subscription is $12.95 per month, they won’t even need one million new subscribers (assuming the new subscribers stay for the whole 5 years). I must be having one of my narcoleptic moments. I have no idea how I got that figure but I’ll bet it was interesting. Apologies. Does anybody have any idea if Stern pays for Robin and staff and crew out of his $100 million? Are they getting the entire show or is that $700 MIL just Howard’s money? And with the $200 million in stock and $100 million contract does this make him the highest paid entertainer on Earth for this year? ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2006, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-satellite-radio-succeed/338856/47 "2006-01-10T02:37:42Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > I must be having one of my narcoleptic moments. I have no idea how I got that figure but I’ll bet it was interesting. Apologies. > > Does anybody have any idea if Stern pays for Robin and staff and crew out of his $100 million? Are they getting the entire show or is that $700 MIL just Howard’s money? And with the $200 million in stock and $100 million contract does this make him the highest paid entertainer on Earth for this year? Nope. That’s just his compensation. ---
**Author:** ![Who\_me\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/958977/32.png) [@Who\_me\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Who_me_1)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2006, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-satellite-radio-succeed/338856/48 "2006-01-10T18:32:17Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > re: predicted future internet ‘radio’ devices. > > For one just say: > “Ipod, please access the 80’s music and play “I think we’re alone now” by Debbie Gibson” and getting a reply from the device. Nitpick: The device will probably say, “Requested song not found”, since Debbie Gibson never recorded that song. I believe you’re thinking of Tiffany. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2006, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-satellite-radio-succeed/338856/49 "2006-01-10T18:53:06Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > Without the ‘restrictions’ imposed on him he can go to the very limit of ‘trash talk’. Once there this can get old really fast. Just like how some see a scantily clad women more intriguing then a fully naked one. That’s a very good point. I bet a lot people tune in Stern to see how far the pushes the line. Is there still entertainment when there’s no line to push? He’s going to find out, perhaps the hard way. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2006, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-satellite-radio-succeed/338856/50 "2006-01-10T19:34:13Z")
It was amusing to see Stern quoted yesterday on how satellite radio would never have commercials. Just like cable TV, MTV etc… Inevitably, satellite radio subscription prices will climb and ads will increase. It’ll get harder and harder to distinguish it from broadcast radio. Enjoy while you can. ---
**Author:** ![pizzabrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2006, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-satellite-radio-succeed/338856/51 "2006-01-10T19:49:22Z")
“How far can Stern go?..Will it work…?” Jeez, you guys act like the headlining, news-making shock jocks at the leading satellite company _haven’t_ been operating for over a year, now, cussing up a storm. Like 'em or not, Opie and Anthony _exist_, and so far, their uncensored sex-related audio, unapologetic racism and misogyny, and harassment of celebrities being interviewed wins them friends in the XM executive office, and a growing audience. ---
**Author:** ![DougC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2006, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-satellite-radio-succeed/338856/52 "2006-01-10T20:01:41Z")
- - - At one point early on it was _informally_ considered among top-level people at both satellite radio companies that they might merge–but the idea was rejected at that point, because it was felt that the gov’t would not let them monopolize the media unless one of the two companies was certain to stop operating anyway. - One thing is for sure–radio has not yet had its “TIVO”-revolution, and _conventional broadcast radio will get left out of that entirely_. Conventional radio does not pre-publish their content schedules and is advertiser-supported. This means that they don’t have any interest in a system that helps people skip around on different stations to find songs the listener likes (or–more to the point, _avoids_ songs that the listener _doesn’t_ like!). So satellite radio could transmit data right before each song–and then you could have a digital radio that would work just like a TIVO for radio. It doesn’t matter to Sirius or XM if you skip around from one station to the other, they get paid anyway. ~ ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2006, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-satellite-radio-succeed/338856/53 "2006-01-10T20:14:11Z")
> [@DougC](#): > > So satellite radio could transmit data right before each song–and then you could have a digital radio that would work just like a TIVO for radio. This is exactly how it works already (at least Sirius). Each song title is sent a few seconds before the song actually begins, and if you have an alert set for that song, your tuner starts beeping in time for you to switch channels and hear it start. The only step that’s missing is automatically recording the song, but I doubt Big Content would be very happy if they added that feature. ---
**Author:** ![ombre3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/da6949/32.png) [@ombre3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ombre3)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2006, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-satellite-radio-succeed/338856/54 "2006-01-10T20:51:13Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > It was amusing to see Stern quoted yesterday on how satellite radio would never have commercials. > > Just like cable TV, MTV etc… > > Inevitably, satellite radio subscription prices will climb and ads will increase. It’ll get harder and harder to distinguish it from broadcast radio. > Enjoy while you can. I worry about that some too. I remember when cable TV was much less commercial free than it is today. I used to watch AMC mostly for the lack of commercials. Now it is as bad as commercial TV. Turner Classic Movies is still commercial free -------but I think the reason is that Ted Turner just flat out likes old movies and is subsidizing it. ----- —The History Channel I love tremendously but their 5 minute commercials can be seriously annoying. Aside here -------Sometimes I scratch my head and wonder why I even think of paying close to $40 a month for cable TV (talking $500 a year here)-mostly to watch the History Channel. (OK I also like the occasional football game I can’t receive on commercial TV.)-------But is it really worth $500 a year? Satellite radio may eventually have to go in the same direction. I hope not. Lack of stupid commercials is such a joy. And $13 a month for what I get is such a bargain. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-satellite-radio-succeed/338856.md?page=2)