Elizabeth Edwards's public battle with cancer has inspired Hugh Panero to write a piece for the Washington Post providing insight into his wife's own struggle with leukemia.

It's an incredible read, especially for those who might not have known that Panero and his family were going through such a difficult time (during XM's 2001 launch even).

The strength to persist during such an emotional time - for Hugh, his wife Mary Beth Durkin and their children - is something that many can't truly understand. This article at least gives you a glimpse into that.

[Washington Post]
(And if you're inspired to help, visit marrow.org for info on the bone marrow donor registry)

XM is headed to the Augusta National Golf Club for some live play-by play coverage of the Masters golf tournament.

Tiger Woods and returning champion Phil Mickelson are among the top players in contention for the Masters title and the famous green jacket.

The tournament will air on XM's PGA Tour Network (ch 146) starting on Thursday, April 5th from 12-noon to 7pm ET all the way until the Masters ends on Sunday, April 8th. Highlights of each day’s action will air between 7pm and 8pm.

The on-site coverage begins on Tuesday, April 3rd, when a special Masters press conference show will air from 2pm to 8pm. The coverage continues on April 4th from 2pm to 7pm, with a tournament preview and interviews from the Masters' par 3 contest.

XM will have a team of nine broadcasters on the course covering the action. Jim Gray will be positioned at the 18th green to interview players. Jay Randolph, Jr. will host the daily broadcasts and Mark Carnevale will provide analysis from the 18th tower above the green.

...sadly, Marie and crew will probably not be there.

Garmin has unveiled the GRC 10, a handheld remote control designed specifically for use with the GDL 69A, which itself is a remote sensor that receives broadcast weather data from XM WX Satellite Weather and audio entertainment from XM Satellite Radio. Information obtained from the GDL 69A is displayed on aviation products such as the G1000 (pictured), the GMX 200 (not pictured), the GNS 530W (not pictured) and the GNS 430W (also not pictured).

Using the GRC 10 passengers in the rear seats/cabin of the airplane can scan through their favorite XM radio channels without disturbing the pilot. The GRC 10 controls the GDL 69A's XM entertainment features such as volume, channel selection by channel, channel selection by category and more.

Thanks to its strong 2.4 GHz RF link, the GRC 10 can control XM Satellite Radio from anywhere in the cabin no matter what direction you're pointing the remote. The bi-directional remote also receives and displays information from the XM unit directly on the remote, so you can see what song is currently playing right on the remote. It has a high contrast, 160x128 pixel backlit display that makes it viewable in all lighting conditions.

The GRC 10 communicates with the GDL 69A through the GRT 10 which is connected through a serial port (you follow that? The GRT 10 is actually a wireless transceiver installed in the airplane, which talks to the GRC 10 and relay the message to the GDL 69A... I know, alphabet soup).

Garmin's GDL 69A delivers both XM digital entertainment and XM WX Satellite Weather. The GDL 69A's comprehensive weather data suite includes NEXRAD, METARS, TAFs, TFRs and more (more alphabet soup!).

Garmin figures the GRC 10 and GRT 10 will be sold together at a suggested retail price of $590.00. And if all goes well, availability will be around June 2007.

As we learned yesterday, a federal judge has dismissed the class action lawsuit alleging securities fraud against XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc.

Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia said the suit, "failed to identify any materially misleading statements or omissions" by XM Satellite Radio that would support a lawsuit.

A group of XMSR shareholders argued that XM executives predicted in mid-2005 that their marketing costs for subscriber acquisition would decline or stabilize. But early last year it was revealed that XM's marketing expenses had significantly increased - causing shares to drop about 28% - and these investors sought to recover these financial losses they incurred for stock or stock options.

But Huvelle ruled that the company's projections of its marketing costs were "forward-looking statements...accompanied by meaningful cautionary language" and therefore shielded from lawsuits.

The plaintiffs also failed to show that XM's statements "lacked a reasonable basis when made," Huvelle wrote.

[AP] 

The Alabama House of Representatives has unanimously passed a resolution opposing the proposed XM and Sirius merger.

House Joint Resolution 144 was introduced last Tuesday, March 20th, and will now go to the Alabama Senate.

The resolution stated "that the Attorney General of the United States and the Federal Communications Commission are encouraged to disapprove the proposed merger between the only two national satellite radio companies."

The resolution also says: "that the merger will result in consumers, musicians, and other entertainers being subject to a single company with unlimited market power to impose anti-competitive terms, conditions, and prices;" "the combination of these two satellite radio companies will potentially restrict programming, reduce diversity, and diminish creativity; each result negatively impacting the public interest;" and "unquestionably, a government sanctioned monopoly is harmful to consumers and the public and should be avoided and denied."

In a statement, the NAB said that "It is our hope that similar resolutions will be introduced in other states."

[FMQB] 

UPDATE: XM Satellite Radio has issued a statement about the Alabama resolution:

"The NAB’s unprecedented campaign against the merger demonstrates that AM and FM broadcasters vigorously compete with satellite radio. The more the NAB does to oppose the merger, the more it weakens their credibility."

The Class Action lawsuit that was filed against XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc, on behalf of purchasers of XMSR common stock has been dismissed by the judge.

An SEC disclosure has been filed giving a bit more detail:

Securities Class Action Litigation Dismissed. On March 28, 2007, our motion to dismiss the previously disclosed securities class action litigation was granted and the case dismissed with prejudice. The court concluded that “plaintiffs have failed to identify any materially misleading statements or omissions that are actionable under Section 10(b)” of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. 

NPD Group's February sales data shows that satellite radio retail sales demand has risen slightly from January, but is still down in the annual comparison.

Year-over-year retail sales fell 33% in February, an increase from the 44% drop in January (and 46% drop in December). Remember that this time last year was when we were just beginning to slide down the Stern Effect, so YoY comparisons are going to get easier from this point forward.

The Quick Glance:

• Sirius February 2007 Retail Sales:
  Down 31% YoY
• XM February 2007 Retail Sales:
  Down 35% YoY

Marketshare:

• Sirius Feb '07 Retail Marketshare: 56%
• XM Feb '07 Retail Marketshare: 44%

Sirius continues its lead in retail marketshare, gaining a percentage point from January (if your math is rusty: Sirius had 55% retail marketshare in January, while XM had 45%). Still, considering the dismal retail sales numbers from December (particularly for XM) any signs of improvement is good news.

Baring any unforeseen hickups in production, we can easily expect retail sales YoY numbers to rise in the coming months.

Bridge Ratings has continued their study about the impact of the XM-Sirius merger on consumer interest. It's probably going to be an ongoing study because, well, it's great media bait (hell, I'm talking about it).

 

 

As with an earlier study released back in February, Bridge has found that a majority of potential subscribers (people who expressed an interest in subscribing to either one or both satellite radio providers) would rather hold out until the merger goes through before making the jump.

That majority who will wait to see if the merger passes before signing up equals 58 percent even - that's up from the 55 percent of respondents last month. A lower number of people said they'll subscribe within 60 days anyway (19% this month versus the 24% last month).

This trending says to me that XM-Sirius need to do a better job selling their current service to customers and at the same time selling the possible future service to regulators (a hard feat since media interest centers around the merger).

 

 

An additional aspect of Bridge's study is the interest in Howard Stern by current XM Satellite Radio subscribers (again, media bait.). The thing that confuses me is that the results are absolutely unchanged from the previous report. Bridge doesn't indicate a timeframe for when they polled the 1,000 XM subs, so it's hard to say for sure (I would assume it's a different set of respondents?). Either way, a whopping 88% of XM subscribers seem to care less about the ability to listen to Stern, which might explain why they subscribe to XM and not Sirius.

Read the full report on Bridge Ratings. 

Starting this Saturday, XM's real-time traffic data service for GPS nav systems - XM NavTraffic - is adding on six new coverage areas to its reptoire. For the first time, XM NavTraffic subscribers will be able to view real-time traffic info in three Canadian cities, with a total of 50 major markets across North American.

The six new XM NavTraffic markets include: Fresno, CA; Jacksonville, FL; Montreal, QB; Salt Lake City, UT; Toronto, ON; and Vancouver, BC. Of note: Portland, OR now has expanded coverage with traffic flow data available allowing you to see how fast traffic is moving. On top of these 6 markets being added on March 31st, XM NavTraffic is currently available in 44 other major markets.

XM NavTraffic feeds data on incidents, such as accidents and road construction, directly to a vehicle's GPS navigation system via XM's satellite pipeline. The driver is alerted to these blockages through the navigation screen, letting you route around a jam before you get caught up in the traffic snarl. In select areas, you can also view an overlay of color-coded traffic flow information indicating the average speed of travel along your planned route.

The traffic data is aggregated by NAVTEQ Traffic from data sources that include police and emergency services, commercial traffic data providers, road sensors, traffic cameras, eyewitness reports, and real-time aircraft surveillance reports.

XM says they expect XM NavTraffic to be available in 200,000 vehicles by the end of 2008.

Well, it was pre-announced last month, and now it's here: the ReachMD channel for medical professionals is now available on XM Satellite Radio (ch 233).

The ReachMD channel features roundtable discussion, breaking medical news and special programming - available 24/7. Since it's targeting the busy healthcare professional, the channel offers short-form programming, and provides new information every 15 minutes.

To coincide with the channel launch, ReachMD will be exhibiting at the American College of Cardiology's 37th Scientific Meeting, March 23-27th, 2007 in New Orleans, Louisiana.