XM Canada is likely to outpace the subscriber growth of XM in the U.S., the company said yesterday.
"We believe the Canadian market will surpass the growth predicted for the U.S., given the U.S. is in its sixth year of business and we're still in our early stages of growth cycle here in Canada," Michael Moskowitz, the company's new president and CEO.
XM Canada reached 350,000 subscribers as of the end of their first quarter (ending Nov. 30th), a growth rate of 86% over the same period the prior year.
Moskowitz said XM Canada has benefited from the promotional campaigns and product penetration in the United States. The awareness helped prepare Canadians for the rollout of the service.
"We're really at the infancy stage here," Moskowitz said. "We still have a low percentage of cars that come with XM, so I think there's tremendous opportunity."
"The best years are to come because we're at an earlier stage in the whole development of satellite radio in Canada," he added in an interview after the meeting.
As for the merger, Moskowitz said it's still business as usual up north. "Even if there was a merger it would take several months - upwards to a year - because there's (Canadian) government regulations that would have to come into play as well," he said.
[The Canadian Press]
Thanks Lee!
How much of this growth can be directed at the NHL on XM?
Translation XM US is not doing good.
As far as the merger what say would the Canadian government have if XM turned into Sirius?
This guy is just blowing hot air.
maybe the W0.0W 'Virus" is spreading in canada!sure is hell isn't in the states
hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo
Get your hat.
Canada 360 always wins in the end !!
"what say would the Canadian government have...?"
Ummm... canada does not equal the USA..
Both Sirius and XM in Canada are not owned in whole by their USA counterparts..
Foreign ownership restriction ensured that this could not occur..
Both have individual licenses to offer sat radio services in Canada.
Both have individual licenses and agreements with their USA counterparts.
So, I am thinking, he knows a bit more than you on this subject.. and he's not the one 'blowing hot air' in this thread..
Canada is the perfect environment for SatRad- a continental nation with large, sparsely populated areas- not even WiMax will do here.
If XM us is Gone XM Canada has no XM satellites only Sirius satellites.
It does depend on how Sirius would do it.
I do think they will keep XM for a time and give people that time to get the radios turned on for Sirius.
Hey John, where do you think xm is going? You think its going to disappear?
Outpacing growth is not what you think it means. If xm canada grows from 350k to 410k in 2008, thats growth of 17.1%, but if xm in the u.s. grows from the expected 9 million to 10.5 million, thats growth of just 16.6%. Sure, xm canada outpaced xm in the u.s., however they only added 60k during the whole year while in the u.s. they added 1.5 million. Does that look like xm in u.s. is dead?
Outpacing does not mean out "adding".
If company A goes from 1 to 2 customers, thats 50% growth. But if company B goes from 10 to 14 customers, thats only 40% growth. Company A grew at a larger pace, but Company B added way more customers. You have to be careful when looking at growth using percentages. It doesnt always paint the full picture.
Xm canada is not going anywhere and neither is sirius canada. Xm and sirius only have minor ownership in each, as dictated by the crc. Sirius is allowed to hold ownership in both and allowed to supply programming to both, just not more the 32%. However since xm is still going to exist after the merger (just owned by sirius), sirius will continue to supply programming to sirius canada while xm will continue to supply programming to xm canada.
pink socks for every new xm canada subscriber.
I drive everyday 80k (Both ways) on the 401 from Whitby to East Toronto and I see tons of satellite radios on the commuters dashboards. I can honestly say that I have only seen 1 or 2 XM radios and the rest have been Sirius. Sirius is kicking XM's arse in Canada.