Satellite Radio in Fiscal Trouble

prostoalex writes "It looks like Sirius Satellite Radio is going through its worse times. From the same article XM Satellite does not seem to be doing well either, even with 200K customers. Will it signify the end of the satellite radio?"

Yeah

[GigsVT]

Under the new plan, which is subject to regulatory and shareholder approval, current holders of Sirius common stock will together hold 8 percent of the new common stock.

Uh, yeah, I know I'd vote for that. :)

Re:The best damned service I've seen in a long tim

[OrangeSpyderMan]

I'd pay twice as much for the service just to keep it alive.

Not wanting to speak on their behalf, but I'm fairly sure that if you offer they'll accept :-)

Digital Radio

[chicagothad]

The FCC just announce standards for Digital Radio: fcc.gov [fcc.gov]

If "clear signal" is one of the key benefits of satelite radio, I would call this a major killer of the industry. Can you say "I-R-I-D-I-U-M"? I plan to be operating XM Radio in 6 months after I pick it up on EBay for $50.

Post-bubble economic model

[Daeslin]

Nah, they'll probably do the same thing as satellite phones. Declare bankrupcy, ditch their debt, and then take off. Heck, WorldCom's doing it and other bankrupt telecoms, why not everyone else?

People used to joke that new startups were following the following model:

1) Create a website

2) ?

3) Profit!

But I posit that the today's companies have revised that to:

1) Create something unprofitable

2) Run up massive debt to pay for massive capital costs

3) Declare bankrupcy

4) Profit!

What?

[secondsun]

I thought all satellites had radios since sputnik.

Oh wait, you mean satellite RADIO... thats out?

or have a bake sale?

[loveandpeace]

Maybe it's time for satellite radio to adopt the Spring and Fall Fund Drives that plague avid listeners of public radio.

Re:Costs vs Benefits

[Anonymous Coward]

Until the industry come out of the innovation rut it's been stuck in, I won't be purchasing anything new.

You sound like an old man whose had the same haircut and worn the same style of clothes for 50 years: "It ain't gotten better goddamnit, so I'm stickin' with the best!".

Re:too damn expensive

[foistboinder]

Not a good business model when your competiton is free.

I dunno... It seems to work for Microsoft.

Why I don't have satellite radio

[CrayzyJ]

I refuse to put that ugly shark fin on my new sports car! Too bad they could not figure out a way to just replace/reuse/recycle the old antenna. Since the shark fin has to be at the highest point of a car, where would you mount such a thing on a Jeep Wrangler or VW Cabriolet anyway?