Ford Expanding Sirius Radio Offering in More Cars
Things looked up for Sirius Satellite Radio -- dogged by its runner-up status to rival XM Satellite Radio -- when Ford Motors said Mon. it would expand the roster of vehicles with factory-installed Sirius receivers the next 2 model years and immediately increase availability of Sirius front-ends as a dealer-installed option. The support from Detroit was a coup for Sirius, which recently signed Howard Stern to a lineup that includes hiphopper Eminem and lad-mag Maxim, as well as the NFL and strike- bound NHL. Separately, in terrestrial digital radio, HD Radio proponent iBiquity said 10 more Detroit stations were broadcasting in its format, bringing the HD population in Motown to 13.
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Ford will add factory-installed Sirius receivers to as many as 20 car lines in the 2006-2007 model year, the company said. Meanwhile, the auto maker will make Sirius a dealer-installed option immediately on 4 more cars: the Ford Escape, Crown Victoria, Mercury Grand Marquis and the new Mercury Mariner. That brings to 13 the number of Ford models with Sirius as a dealer-option. The others are the Ford Explorer, Sport Trac, Expedition and Thunderbird, the Mercury Mountaineer, the Lincoln LS, Aviator, Navigator and Town Car.
With Ford’s planned lineup added to Daimler- Chrysler’s 25 Sirius-equipped models, Sirius will have 45 sets of rubber on the road compared to 57 for rival XM, which has an exclusive with financial backer General Motors. Sirius’s exclusive automotive partners are Daimler/Chrysler, Ford and BMW. Those represent more than 40% of new cars and light trucks sold yearly in the U.S. Automotive brands now offering Sirius radios in select new car models include BMW, MINI, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Nissan, Infiniti, Mazda, Audi, Ford, Lincoln-Mercury, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and Volkswagen. Other auto makers that have announced plans to offer Sirius in select models include Jaguar, Volvo, Land Rover and Aston Martin. Hertz has installed Sirius radios in its rental cars in 53 markets.
Despite its recent rubber-to-the-road boost, Sirius still trails XM in subscriptions about 5-1: XM claims 2.5 million subscribers at $9.95 per month while Sirius records 600,000 at $12.95. Sirius top-dog Joe Clayton, ex-RCA and principal architect of DirecTV’s successful buildout, said the addition of shock-jock Howard Stern will lift Sirius into profitability. He anticipates a million new subs for Stern’s show -- more than enough to cover expenses related to signing and producing him, Clayton said.
Meanwhile, in the terrestrial sphere, iBiquity today said its adherents rose to 13 in the Motown area. The company said its “HD Radio” terrestrial format has been adopted by 10 more Detroit-area AM and FM stations, bringing the Detroit total to 13. That’s in addition to plans by 3/5 of the U.S. radio group station owners to “rapidly expand” their terrestrial HD Radio rollout efforts, iBiquity said. The 10 new HD Radio converts join 3 already established in Detroit. In addition, iBiquity said 3 more local stations would transmit in HD Radio by Jan.