Oh sure, Sirius owned XM by luring NASCAR away, but XM is letting us all know that they still have NASCAR coverage. And it's revving up soon.
First up is Jimmie Johnson's "Not What You Expected" who makes his second-season debut on February 15th at 7pm ET, with encores airing at 10pm ET, on XM Sports Nation (ch 144). Every week, the defending Nextel Cup champ gives his personal perspective on the sport with co-host Marty Smith.
Then there's "Dale Jr.'s Unrestricted" which kicks off its second season the same night at 7:30pm ET (replays: 10:30 pm ET) also on XM Sports Nation. Earnhardt and best buddies Josh Snider and Steve Cris offer a candid look at what's happening on and off the track each week.
Fan favorite Claire B. Lang has her three-hour racing show "Dialed In" weekdays on XM Sports Nation from 4-7pm ET. Next week, Claire will be live in Daytona, to report on the official start of the season. Following Claire's show is "Power Shift" with Joe Castello airs weeknights 8-10pm ET (together, along with other motorsports coverage, is known as the "Engine Block" on XMSN).
But wait, there's more.
XM Sports Nation has added the popular Performance Racing Network (PRN) show "Sunday Drive" to its lineup, along with returning PRN favorites "Fast Talk" and "Alltel Pit Reporters." (Interesting side note: PRN is also partnered with Sirius for their NASCAR content.)
"Sunday Drive" airs Sunday nights at 8-9pm ET on XMSN. The one-hour call-in show is straight from Lowe's Motor Speedway and features host Stephanie Durner who is joined by driver analysts including John Andretti, Geoff Bodine, Mike Wallace and Buddy Baker.
"Fast Talk," is a one-hour NASCAR-themed motorsports call-in show, returns to XM Monday nights, 7-8pm ET. The show is co-hosted by Doug Rice along with some of the biggest honchos in racing.
"The ALLTEL Pit Reporters" with veteran broadcaster Brett McMillan features some of the nation's top racing media in an hour-long roundtable discussion of the issues facing the sport. McMillan's show airs Wednesdays at 7pm ET through March 21st, and then makes the move to Fridays at 7pm ET.
This will only help mitigate the damage if XM promotes it to retain subs. For some, this may be enough if they prefer watching the races on weekends.
The way I see it, XM came out FAR better in the deal than Sirius. XM keeps all the popular shows people were use to listening to, Sirius shells out big bucks for the races (most fans watch on tv!)and I guess they get those 'classic races' as well. Tony Stewart now has a Sirius show. But basically, XM made out really well here.
It still surprises me that after all of this time people still don't understand what Sirius is doing. They made out far better than XM in this deal. Not because they are expecting a HUGE number of people to leave XM for them, but because they have added yet another sport to their lineup. One that Xm no longer has. It goes a long way to show that Sirius is the premium service with all the music, talk (with much larger names), and sports programming you could ever want. This is what will drive people. They already do it in the stores now. Go by a retail location and act like you don't know anything about satrad. Let the guy try and sell you on something. He will almost always ask you "Do you like Howard Stern. What sports do you like? Well Sirius has NASCAR, NFL, NBA, Some colleges, as well as a few other things. XM has MLB. Which do you prefer?" That is what Sirius paid for. That is what is making them win in retail. That is why they are moving faster than XM right now.
Kudos to Sirius for making a smart business decision. Spend money now to make money later!
jkdillard1; your responding to people you think xm has better oem deals, better music, baseball is somehow the king of radio, oprah is amazing, o&a is second only to baseball. it doesn't matter what sirius does, they made a bad choice. will xm make back its 650 million it spent on baseball?
So XM will still have all the good stuff all sirius has is the live races Whippie doo. I dont need to hear speeding cars go ZOOM@!!!! I can look at my sports ticker...... Sirius just wasting some more money like thats nothing new!
I think XM's "GEAR" for NASCAR is reverse.
jkdillard1, Sirius overpays for everything. Howard Stern is easily the most overpaid radio personality in history. This is one guy easily getting more then 500 million from one company. I believe he has actually been paid over 800 million. XM is actually paying less for MLB, which consists of thirty teams and over one hundred game per team a year. Yet Sirius pays Howard Stern over 800 million dollars for his four to five hour show four days a week. The contract is only for a few years as well. A desperate deal made by Sirius but I it has worked for them to a point. XM has MLB signed for 9 more years. How about that Martha Stewart deal Sirius made. What a catch! By the way the music on Sirius borders on dreadful. I know that’s an opinion based thing but jkdillard1 makes it sound like it’s a fact. If I had to pick between FM radio and the music selection of Sirius I’d take FM radio any day, pretty much the same thing without the commercials. At least on the channels I have heard. By the way XM also has NHL games and exclusive NHL channel but I think Sirius has NHL games for a certain period of time too.
NASCAR isn't the story here.
XM is building a sub-brand with XMSN, like what Disney has with ESPN. It's a single channel with all the sports you can imagine all the while fostering in-house programming at a much cheaper cost.
SIRIUS can spend all they want for the big names. They need to because they don't have the OEM advantage.
jkdillard1, Sirius HAS built a good marketing ploy with Stern, and maybe NASCAR. But the problem is what it cost them to do so. IMHO there is NO WAY NASCAR was worth 120M. The reason? It's not going anywhere. It's still all over FM and television, especially in every market where it matters...the south. Had it gone exclusive to Sirius (taken off other venues) then it would have been worth more. Sirius has (had) a habit over overspending to get subscribers. Content is important, but getting content at reasonable prices to attract the subs is something neither service has been able to do. Hell, it's 2007 and neither company will be in the green for another 2 years at this rate, and with HDRadio pending (with better sound quality), it may be too late.
Also it should be noted that MLB is not the only sport XM offers. They will be exclusive to the NHL next 10 seasons as well. Obviously, NHL on the radio isn't that important, but its value is no better/worse for RADIO than NASCAR.
bingo, do you do any research before spitting out your crap? xm has no oem advantage, period.
http://media.seekingalpha.com/article/25606
nascar was not a 120 million dollar deal, it was worth 107 million, with the bulk coming at the end of the deal. this also includes busch series and craftsman truck series. they also get to advertise on these channels. i know advertising won't bring in much, but it is also and overlooked plus.
Fafa, someone else used that chart, and it unfairly skews to Sirius because it breaks down the Ford and VW manufacturers, but doesn't break down Honda or GM in the same matter.
Also of note, Ford and Chrysler are being overtaken by Toyota, and maybe Honda could even overtake them. GM may also be overtaken at the rate these companies are going.
Let's also not forget that factory installed units are much more desirable than dealer installed. Factory installed SDARS will work with other factory installed devices, such as NAV.
satradfan, i don't understand what you mean about the chart. aren't numbers numbers? please point out its error in detail; forgive my lashing bingo if i'm mistaken.
XM made a big mistake when they lost Nascar. Do they not realize that the backbone of satellite radio subs are over the road truckers? Truckers love Nascar, and many of them have to be out on the road on race day. I've ran into several drivers that have already made the switch to Sirius, and once Nascar gets into full swing, more and more will make the switch. What good would it be if Sirius started a baseball talk channel, but didn't broadcast any games?