In what might be a sign of things to come, “connected-car” company, USTelematics announced this morning that they will be making Sirius programming available through their Voyager product line.  Voyager provides live and downloaded wireless mobile internet protocol TV (IPTV) and audio programming for rear-seat passenger vehicle infotainment, and integrates a broad suite of features and functions, including the creation of a mobile Wi-Fi internet hotspot to enable online computer usage in the car and on the road, as well as DVD, movies, TV, Xbox and other computer games, and more.

In what some are seeing as a surprise move, the US Copyright Royalties Board actually ruled against SoundExchange, and in favor of Sirius and XM in deciding not to re-open a hearing on the royalties that the satcasters pay for the playing of music.  As you may remember, the CRB had previously ruled that Sirius and XM should pay 6-8% of ”gross revenues” (narrowly defined) to SoundExchange.  This latest ruling is in response to SoundExchange wanting the CRB to broaden the definition of gross revenues to include some items that the judges felt were unsupported by any evidence.

Ruling is here.

Coverage from BetaNews is here.

Sirius and NPR announced earlier today that they have created a new channel, only available on Sirius Internet Radio, that collects select NPR programming and makes it available to SIR subscribers. http://www.sirius.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Sirius/Page&c=Channel&cid=1186052421026

Sirius describes the channel as follows…

NPR SIR-1 offers in-depth news, features, and entertainment produced and assembled by NPR for SIRIUS Internet Radio. Featuring public radio favorites like Talk of the Nation, Day to Day, Marketplace and the Diane Rehm Show as well as new productions from independent producers and public radio stations nationwide.

This is a great add for users of wi-fi enabled radios like the Stilletto (although early reports are some are having trouble getting it on the Stilletto).

Thanks to member, dlnester for the find!!

Don’t miss the following scheduled guests * on SIRIUS Satellite Radio! All interviews, performances and special programs (listed chronologically by date and time, below) are exclusive to SIRIUS. For more details, go to www.sirius.com. All times Eastern.

GUEST INTERVIEWS / PERFORMANCES:

LIL MAMA, will guest DJ (HOT JAMZ channel 50, Rebroadcast June 11^th @ 12 am ET)

AMY WILSON, star on the one-woman show “Mother Load” and family therapist RACHEL SUSSMAN discuss how NOT to become a Mom-zilla Morning Living (Martha Stewart Living Radio channel 112 @ 9am ET)

SARAH WAYNE CALLIE, interview with the Prison Break star (BBC Radio 1 / 11, June 11 @10 am ET)

ROB HALFORD, interview with the frontman of Judas Priest on Breuer Unleashed (Raw Dog Comedy Uncensored channel 104 June 11 @ 4 pm ET)

PETER BJORN AND JOHN, interview and performance on World Café and LUKE TEMPLE on World Café Next (Disorder channel 32, June 11 @ 6 pm ET)

PAULA COLE interview and performance on World Café (Disorder channel 32, June 12 @ 6 pm ET)

FABOLOUS, performance and interview on Studio40: The Backstage Pass (HIP-HOP NATION channel 40 Rebroadcast: June 13^th @ 6 pm ET)
(more…)

A few more tidbits for the curious minded:

In the not too distant past, SIRIUS was known as Satellite CD Radio Inc.. They changed their name to SIRIUS Satellite Radio Inc. some time after paying $83 mil in an auction for the broadcast orbital frequency bands from the FCC in 1997.

They came up with the name from the star SIRIUS, sometimes referred to as the Dog Star, the brightest star in the night-time sky.

It’s been noted on various websites that the dog in their logo is unofficially named “Mongo”.

On February 19, 2007, SIRIUS announced a merger deal with XM Satellite Radio. Upon government approval, the merger would combine the two radio services and create a single Satellite Radio network in the United States.

A major focus for SIRIUS has been to execute exclusive deals with (more…)

Broadband Instruments recently unveiled Slacker, a “Personal Radio” service to deliver content online and through a WiFi and Satellite-capable portable player. After recruting executives from MusicMatch, Rio, and iRiver; Slacker was ready to expand Personal Radio services, introduced by internet-only Last.fm and Pandora, to the portable market. Their satellite bandwidth will be leased from the Ku band, and is rumored to deliver 10,000 tracks/day (7 tracks/minute) to be archived on the portable receiver while docked. Slacker’s Portable Player will cost between $150-$350, dependent upon storage capacity desired. It will support MP3, subscription-based WMA, WMA, and MPEG-4/AAC-encoded audio files, and play WMV video on a 4-inch screen. You can try out the Slacker Jukebox online at Slacker.com. The online service is free, but for $7.50/month you’ll get a player without video ads and the ability to skip more than 6 songs per hour per channel.

How will the introduction of Slacker affect the Sirius/XM merger? Post in the comments section below.

[Via Wired, Orbitcast, Engadget, and CNet]

“It’s time for Howard Stern to podcast” says Mark Ramsey of the Hear 2.0 blog.

While Ramsey agrees that this week’s “free trial” event was a good first step, a weekly podcast would spur subscriber growth over the long haul.

This would be an easy way to create a SIRIUS iPod without Apple’s consent. By the end of the year, more than 67 million iPods will have been sold since its launch five years ago. That’s a huge niche to exploit.

A free daily Stern podcast is a good idea because it would remind people of what they are not hearing. In Stern’s case, Ramsey suggests that absence does not make the heart grow fonder. “Unless you know what you’re missing, right now, you don’t know,” he said. It would draw new subscribers to Sirius.

Ramsey said it’s inevitable satellite radio companies are looking to the Net for growth. “Who is better positioned to bring a national assortment of brands that are recognized in a way that’s easy,” he explained. “They’re both going to go in that direction. It’s going to be less about the bird and more about the Net.”

You can read excerpts and listen to his full interview with MarketWatch here.

Comment here.

Source: The Marley Group

Already leading the satellite radio industry in net subscriber additions for the past four quarters, Sirius Internet Radio should help bolster additions in the all important retail sales category, which has been dominated by Sirius since the signing of Howard Stern. It is reasonably optimistic to believe that this service could yield between 200,000 and 500,000 subscriber additions by the end of 2007. With a monthly fee of $12.95, that would translate to an additional $31,000,000 to $77,000,000 in annual subscription revenue.

200,000 subs from now until the end of 2007 seems realistic. Particularly if SIRIUS continues to add value, such as ways to stream to other devices in your home, and niche channels not available over the satellite network.

Read the full article.

Comment here.

Source: Satellite Standard Group

Mr. Rehr, perhaps your energies would be better focused on improving the content that you deliver. After all, the music you play is royalty free. This gives you a distinct advantage over satellite radio, which pays royalties on every song they play. Surely you can make that work to your advantage somehow (we wont get into all of the payola). Hopefully you will also begin to see that you are attacking millions upon millions of people who have made their listening desires clear.

Some powerful words from SSG in a letter to NAB head David Rehr. You can read the full letter here.

NAB president David Rehr recently sent letters to the FCC, calling for investigations of SIRIUS and XM over ground repeaters and free trial offers.

Comment here.

SIRIUS has hyped their 2-day “World Event” far and wide. While it has received good coverage on the internet news scene, what will the real impact be?

SIRIUS is not new to the Internet Radio scene, but they certainly have a long way to come in terms of interface, ease of use and the added value. Users have higher expectations than when they are in the car.
Will 2 days be long enough for listeners to get hooked?

I have reservations as to why this isn’t the best approach.

• Rhapsody offers a 14 day trial, in which you have access to their full 2,000,000 song catalog on demand.
• Sonos just launched the version 2.0 software, which features Rhapsody for your whole home audio system, all accessible via the iPod-like controller, free for 30 days
• Napster offers a 7 day free trial
• Yahoo! Music offers a 7 days trial
• Many streaming services offer a much more mature interface, for less money than SIRIUS Internet Radio.

The SIRIUS service is something that gets sticky over time. It also works great in the car, the one place the other internet radio providers can’t go. Yet it still takes a few days to figure out the lineup, to understand the formats and to discover new favorites.

The free “2 Day Global Event” sounds like a gimmick. If SIRIUS believed in their Internet Radio product that much, they would offer a month free and give the potential subscribers a real reason to fall in love with the service. SIRIUS is the new kid on the block in the internet radio niche, and they are using old world logic as an incentive.

This isn’t HBO, it’s internet radio. Two days is too few.

Comment here.