Billboard Radio Monitor has a curious point about the looming "Content War" between XM and SIRIUS. Sure, deals like Martha are great PR, but create an "uneasiness among investors that the nascent industry is still in the midst of an expensive programming content investment battle."
The rest is pretty much Analyst babble-speak by Banc of America Securities analyst Jonathan Jacoby, but other interesting points are the "hardware wars" that inevitably will be coming down the pipe (woohoo!).
Here's how I see it. There's 3 main factors that make people choose XM vs SIRIUS - price, hardware, and content. The price question got solved when XM upped their rates. Hardware? Well, Sirius is catching up with the Starmate and the upcoming ReGo, but XM is definitely still in the lead in that department, especially with the Tao XM2go and the Pioneer AirWare arriving in stores in the upcoming weeks. But most customers are so damn confused between what's good and what's not, that it takes someone who's already accustomed with Satellite Radio to even know the different between a Roady and a Sportster. Personally I think the "Hardware Wars" will have more to do with price than they will with technology - others probably disagree.
But Content. That's where it's at, and that's where it'll always be at. Big names bring big recognition, but with big pricetags. And when we have the Sports and Politics categories flip-flopping between each provider (and more flip-flopping to come I'm sure), then that makes it all that more fun to watch. :)
Leave a comment