Strike up the S-band

It will be interesting to see how the competition between XM and Sirius plays out. Whether they will eventually merge, if one will fail, or if there will be room in the marketplace for both to succeed.

Sirius is making a definite play to attract listeners with its sports programming. They have the NFL, NHL, NBA, they just signed NASCAR away from XM in a big deal, they broadcast the NCAA tourney, and they broadcast English Premiere League soccer.

(I do wish XM had the NFL and the soccer. I'd like to listen to those.)

XM, in their effort to play in that sandbox, carries major league baseball, and just signed a deal with the PGA to broadcast golf tourneys. It is surprising that XM allowed NASCAR to slip away.

In my head, I know that at least in the near future, I probably wouldn't listen to a whole lot of NFL games, but in my heart I'd at least like the option.

So, it's not clear yet if Sirius has overpaid for all their sports. Or, if that will be a deciding factor in attracting customers.

Sirius also signed Howard Stern in a megadeal. That's one thing that turned me off about Sirius, that they were willing to give an uncensored forum to that filth jockey. (Of course, to compete XM now has Opie and Anthony, shock jocks in their own right but not as bad as Stern.) However, Stern does have a significant audience, so may be another factor in Sirius' rise.

Right now, XM has by far the larger number of listeners. The next year or two will be very interesting in this market.

Here is an interesting article on the technology involved.