Today during the Sirius XM Radio Inc. Q2 earnings call (live blog notes here), CEO Mel Karmazin announced that they will be launching "Satellite Radio 2.0" in retail stores for the 2011 holiday season."Our next generation of satellite radios are expected to offer more choices for the consumer and contain functionality that does not exist today."
There were little specifics other than that the new satellite radio receivers are expected to be allowing for more channels and more capacity.
Sirius XM seemed very optimistic of the new initiative, adding that they will help to improve sales at the retail level.
"The biggest driver [in retail sales] will be Sirius XM 2.0 and a redefine of the features that make it unique," said Jim Meyer during the conference call with investors.
This new initiative isn't just for the retail channel though. The new Satellite Radio 2.0 radios will also roll out to new vehicles as soon as auto manufacturers are able to incorporate the technology into their production schedules, the company said.
A representative from Sirius XM was not able to comment further when contacted. Understandably so, since this the launch of this is more than a year away and details are scant.
"Satellite Radio 2.0" (or "Sirius XM 2.0" whichever they are labeling it as) seems to be the most aggressive technology initiative we've seen in years from the company. Look for much more information on this as it arises.
Sirius XM seemed very optimistic of the new initiative, adding that they will help to improve sales at the retail level.
"The biggest driver [in retail sales] will be Sirius XM 2.0 and a redefine of the features that make it unique," said Jim Meyer during the conference call with investors.
This new initiative isn't just for the retail channel though. The new Satellite Radio 2.0 radios will also roll out to new vehicles as soon as auto manufacturers are able to incorporate the technology into their production schedules, the company said.
A representative from Sirius XM was not able to comment further when contacted. Understandably so, since this the launch of this is more than a year away and details are scant.
"Satellite Radio 2.0" (or "Sirius XM 2.0" whichever they are labeling it as) seems to be the most aggressive technology initiative we've seen in years from the company. Look for much more information on this as it arises.
This move is potentially huge for consolidating the brand and simplifying programming options in people's minds. New customers should be treated to one set of radios and one menu of programming packages, rather than two similar but confusingly different programming options that are tied to particular bits of hardware. At least that's my hope.
Also, what's the likelihood that antenna technology has progressed to the extent that GPS unit antennas have? It would be very attractive to have a car install without a fixed antenna. They could even merge the receiver with a GPS unit for a very desirable unit.
I don't know, the lack of details on this "2.0" thing makes it highly suspect. It's been years since the company's done ANYTHING positive, or even remotely interesting, for the subscriber.
Why do I have a strange feeling down in my stomach that this Sirius/XM 2.0 will mean my "Lifetime" subscription will not be able to access all the new features or channels of Siirius/XM 2.0.(whatever they may be)
Scott take it easy buddy. Vehicles right now don't have the best of siri/xm it doesn't take rocket science to figure out that the radio will be the first portable siri/xm radio with the best of both. Also the new oem deals will have the 2.0 and if the car manufacturers hop on this train they are only helping themselves!!!
I know you have to be thrilled with this move for retail growth Ryan. I know you have been waiting forever for something like this.
No from the way Mel was talking on the earnings call today this was something much more then that.
I could care less about a dual Sirius XM Radio (which has already been done BTW) as most of the stations are available on both services anyways.
Take a look at Ryan's report of the earnings call from this morning...
I just have a bad feeling about this as a lifetime subscriber... I can see him saying now your lifetime subscription was good for Sirius / XM 1.0 however it does not include the new Sirius/XM 2.0. Its just something I can see him pulling.
Telematics.
Sirius is mismanaged...They are late with execution and information on everything. All the things they do and plan to do should have been taken care of already. They should have used the hype before to get the word out and start innovating. It took them so long just to come up with a shitty iphone app. They could do so many things to improve revenue, but for some reason do not.
They need more contracts with hotels, airlines, cellphones. They should have internet software that is very advanced with scheduling and a guide for keeping track of shows or purchasing songs. They could bring in ad revenue here as well. They could team up with video game consoles like playstation/xbox just like netflix did. They could be making deals with airports and governement agencies contracting out their satellite space. They could finally move forward with BACKSEAT TV! They could make a radio with video capabillities and maybe sell content like music videos, concerts streamed via handheld, or some sort of exclusive content. They could create there own line of head phones with innovative tech. They could literally just hand out all the shitty obsolete radios on college campuses nationwide.
Scott, I don't think we lifers have anything to worry about. There are 30+ mil radios out there that will have to be accomodated. We may have to pay the $75 new radio charge if we want the new one. And I hope we do. That will mean it is much improved over today's models. Pray for Liberty to go belly-up so we can buy back our debt. Naw, that is too negative. We still have 60% of the pie.
Scott business is business and your radio will still work ,but the bottom line is you get what you pay for. We already know that the cost of the new portable radio will be in comparison for what they go for now. That's reasonable wouldn't you say? Although an even better service warrants a more expensive service plan. So my advice or my opinion would be to buy the stock and by then will not have to even phathom about prices in your lifetime subscription plan. You will have enough $$$$$$$$$ to buy a an entire small country satellite radio.
I'd bet that they'd leave the lifetime subscribers 'as-is'. When they added Best of Sirius and Best of XM the lifetime subscriptions didn't cover that. You had to pay extra. So -maybe- they'll make it so that you can pay $100 or so to upgrade to the new stuff.
My personal thought is that this is something that will fizzle out. SXM 2.0 is slated for Christmas 2011. That's a whole lot of 'boring time' between now and then. They're not going to force the Sirius guys over to XM by then nor will they force the XM guys over to Sirius (to free up bandwidth).
My guess: it's a standard radio technology/interface so that if you buy a PNP or a new car with a screen it'll act the same for Sirius or XM (so you'll get the icons and the backgrounds, etc. - much like the XPressRCi) The services will, fundamentally, remain the same. Just a new radio and the standard interface.
Of course, we have 1.5 years of downtime until then...
Exited that they're finally going to do something about retail but not until holiday season 2011? WTF. I'm still using my Inno, the best radio they've ever made and it came out in 4/06. This stinks.
Excited that they're finally doing something about retail but not until holiday season 2011? WTF? I'm still using my Inno, the best radio they've ever made, that came out 4/06. Over a year wait? This stinks.
How can 2.0 be so great when they can't even update the Sirius radios so we can have a correct channel list ie. "Koren Radio"=MSNBC
Perhaps finally some use for the long ago announced "hierarchical modulation" technology they developed? Or is that already being used? SIRIUS Backseat TV maybe? Perhaps abandoning that and using the bandwidth for additional channels?
They need to combine the benefits of satellite with the best of slacker. They should automatically cache a few of a person's most listened to music channels to avoid dropouts when the signal is spotty.
Ideally, you could tailor make your channels by banning or hearting songs too. It could be like slacker w/o having to wait for wifi to reload. You could even free up bandwith this way, too.
My guess is that this will be the first "true" hybrid radio - instead of essentially two separate radios in the same case like the Mirge, this will be a single chip, single tuner radio that can tune the entire sat-rad spectrum. To entice people to move to these new radios, Siri-XM will offer new content that will use the bits and pieces of spectrum leftover between the two services, and you will need a "Sirius-XM 2.0" radio to access it. As more and more subscribers move to the new radios, they'll move more and more standard content over to the new radios, freeing up more bandwidth for new stuff. Eventually, the legacy service will be rather barebones, but the new service will have tons of space for more content, because channels won't have to be duplicated.
XM was the innovator between the two and the merger surely caused a rethinking of everything that was going on technologically. It would have been like starting over as far as the tech strategy is concerned. So it is no surprise there has been a delay in new hardware development.
The future is bleak regardless of what they do because the service is basically impossible to listen to at this point.
I am still waiting for ala carte but I'm pleased to see the "rewind" feature has finally made it OEM receivers (what has it been, about six years getting it there?)
Oh, how I long for the early days of XM when the music was great and the sound quality was excellent. Today my iPod rules the roost.
Oh, and I think the reason this is rolling out next year is pretty obvious - the three year post-merger price freeze runs out next summer, so Mel will be able to charge people more for this new premium-level service. It's all about the Benjamins with Mel, after all.
Yep, that's the final straw. I'm dropping SAT radio because they can't change the name on a channel.....
OKAY LETS GET DOWN TO THE NITTY GRITTY. I BELIEVE SHADOW OF A DOUBT THAT WHEN CONSUMER LIKE YOURSELF AND I OF COURSE CALL IN TO THE CUSTOMER SERVICE THEY RECORD OUR CONVERSATION FOR BETTER QUALITY SERVICE. I BELIEVE THEY SATELLITE COMPANY ARE FINALLY LISTENING TO WHAT WE WANT I HOPE? THIS BRINGS ME TO THE NEW BUZZ SATELLITE 2.0 OR SIRIUSXM 2.0? ARE ANY OF READERS OR LISTENERS AWARE XM HD WHICH IS SUPPOSE TO BE MULTICHANNEL OR 5.1 WHICH MAKES ME TO BELIEVE IS ONE OF SUPPOSE SPECULATION TO IMPROVE SOUND QUALITY ON ALL MUSIC CHANNELS. YOU SEE LONG BEFORE THE MERGE XM WAS ON WORKS WITH THIS CONCEPT. THERE ARE TWO CHANNELS RIGHT NOW THAT ARE HD. THERE ARE XM POPS AND XM FINETUNING. BANDWIDTH WAS ALSO BROUGHT UP IN LATE EARLY 2008 AGAIN JUST BEFORE THE MERGE. ANOTHER SPECULATION FOR SATELLITE 2.0 OR SIRIUSXM 2.0 DEVICE THAT CAN BE BETTER THAN APPLE SINCE APPLE INC. INTRODUCED A DEVICE IN 2009 TO LISTEN ITUNES IN THE CAR? LISTENERS AND READERS WHERE YOU AWARE THAT APPLE INC WAS PLANNING TO GO SATELLITE RADIO?
OKAY LETS GET DOWN TO THE NITTY GRITTY. I BELIEVE SHADOW OF A DOUBT THAT WHEN CONSUMER LIKE YOURSELF AND I OF COURSE CALL IN TO THE CUSTOMER SERVICE THEY RECORD OUR CONVERSATION FOR BETTER QUALITY SERVICE. I BELIEVE THEY SATELLITE COMPANY ARE FINALLY LISTENING TO WHAT WE WANT I HOPE? THIS BRINGS ME TO THE NEW BUZZ SATELLITE 2.0 OR SIRIUSXM 2.0? ARE ANY OF READERS OR LISTENERS AWARE XM HD WHICH IS SUPPOSE TO BE MULTICHANNEL OR 5.1 WHICH MAKES ME TO BELIEVE IS ONE OF SUPPOSE SPECULATION TO IMPROVE SOUND QUALITY ON ALL MUSIC CHANNELS. YOU SEE LONG BEFORE THE MERGE XM WAS ON WORKS WITH THIS CONCEPT. THERE ARE TWO CHANNELS RIGHT NOW THAT ARE HD. THERE ARE XM POPS AND XM FINETUNING. BANDWIDTH WAS ALSO BROUGHT UP IN LATE EARLY 2008 AGAIN JUST BEFORE THE MERGE. ANOTHER SPECULATION FOR SATELLITE 2.0 OR SIRIUSXM 2.0 DEVICE THAT CAN BE BETTER THAN APPLE SINCE APPLE INC. INTRODUCED A DEVICE IN 2009 TO LISTEN ITUNES IN THE CAR? LISTENERS AND READERS WHERE YOU AWARE THAT APPLE INC WAS PLANNING TO GO SATELLITE RADIO?
Ron made the best comment ever. Sirius is NOT innovative, which is something that the market demands from nearly every company, particularly the entertainment device sector.
If they lose Howard, they will most likely go bankrupt.