Avis Rent A Car and Budget Rent A Car will be the first rental services to offer XM Canada.

Starting now, XM will be included in full-size, premium, vans and SUVs GM vehicles, at Avis and Budget locations throughout Canada.

These XM-equipped vehicles will be available at corporate-owned rental locations across Canada and by late spring, a significant portion of the GM fleet will have the XM Canada service package.

The XM Canada service is available free of charge.

[Press Release] 

XM Canada is adding more channels to their lineup, including several music and talk channels - as well as additional Canadian channels - starting on April 1st.

With the new music channels, XM Canada can now boast that they are offering the most music than "any other satellite radio provider" in Canada.

The two Canadian channels will be sports channels: XM Scoreboard and Calendrier Sportif. These are being described as the "perfect addition" as the NHL will be going exclusive with XM in July, and XM will be carrying every single game.

Follow the jump to see the other new channel additions...

XM Canada has just announced that they've reached 237,500 subscribers as of the end of its second quarter ended February 28, 2007.

In what appears to be a media relations tit-for-tat, XM Canada's press release clearly highlights that they hold an 80% marketshare of factory-installed satellite radios in the automotive sector and that XM will be available in 115 different vehicle models in 2007.

Sirius Canada had highlighted that they commanded a 70% marketshare when they announced reaching over 300,000 subscribers.

Also, XM Canada has now changed how they are reporting subscribers, in an effort to align subscriber numbers "more closely with industry norms." XM Canada's subscriber numbers now include vehicles factory-activated when automakers have agreed to pay for a portion or all of the trial period service.

So what was 147,000 subscribers back in January, is now over 237,000 subscribers today. 

Bad blood? Nahhh. 

In what seems to be an odd move, and even odder timing, XM Canada has notified their customers that they will soon be paying for XM Radio Online.

XM Radio Online (XMRO) is currently a free service provided to both XM Canada and the US version of XM Satellite Radio. But starting on September 1st of this year, XMRO will cost new subscribers an additional $9.99 (Canadian) per month. Existing subscribers will start off by paying $1 extra a month in September and the full $9.99 per month in September of 2008.

So when all increases are said and done with, an XM Canada customers who used to pay $12.99/month, will be paying a whopping $24.98/month $22.98/month for essentially the same service.

In a time when Sirius Canada has the clear advantage in marketshare, and the uncertainty of the proposed merger is even more uncertain in Canada, raising rates - especially for a previously free service - just does not seem like a smart move.

XM Canada is in the content business, they need to understand that they have to promote the use of this content as much as possible... not punish it.

[Digital Home]