Hey fella's, I just renewed my XM account and wanted to to let everyone know NOT to pay the regular price. I was reading on-line trying to find a coupon code to save a couple of bucks when my free trial period was up and ran across a pretty good deal. Instead of the yearly regular $150 service, just ask for the $77 deal. This is not including tax and what they call a $21 royalty fee on either deal. If you are persistant and push it to the limit, i have read that people have had the royalty waived. Also, I read you might be able to get another $12.95 off if you set up annual payment on your credit card.

If you wantto read up on it, here is the coupon site: http://www.retailmenot.com/view/xmradio.com

 

I will be amazed if SIRI/XM is around in a year or two. They seem to be on the path to bankruptcy.

 

I wouldn't count them out yet. They are tapping into the success of the iPhone/iTouch now. This makes for a move that could win them more subscribers.

 

The iPhone connection sounds like a last gasp effort. I can't see a person with gigs of music on a pod wanting to go overhead for a music feed. It's sad. The stock is at 65 cents which means its being prepped for the formaldehyde.

A few years ago, XM and Sirus had a shot. But I think it's gone now.

 

I hope they make it, I primarily listen to talk shows and they have some really good ones. Also, I'll be able to get the college games that don't broadcast in my area...FARK YEAH!!!

 

Since I've got the XM folks on this thread can someone please explain how XM traffic works? I just activated the free 3 month XM radio feed and have no clue if I got set up for XM traffic correctly or not. I live in Chicago where traffic reports are all the rage on regular radio stations so why isn't my GPS screen glowing with red lines or whatever it's suppose to look like?

BTW, does the deal above contain the "Best of"?

Thanks for the tip on the price break. I'm really digging XM and have yet to use the regular radio anymore.

 

Check your Nav settings and the Nav manual. It has to be turned on in the settings menu. I got it with my 3 month trial, but I live in an area with no traffic info, but my nav did acknowledge I had the service at the time.

 

My guess (and it is just a guess...) that XM/Sirius survives for a while longer, but perhaps not under it's current guise. There's a lot of debt to be dealt with, and the company has been grossly mismanaged for quite some time. It may take a bankruptcy and/or an ownership change to provide new direction. The way I see it, the satellites are already up there and the technology is proven; its a matter of finding a set of economic numbers that work. I don't know that they will be able to offer huge contracts to guys like Stern, but if they can find a way to get the debt off the books and come up with a realistic cost model, they could potentially survive. The current state of the economy is the real wild card: sat radio is definitely a luxury for most people and its hard enough to get customers to buy into the idea of paying for radio when things are good.

I for one hope they make it. I've been playing around with my free trial for a few days now and I kind of like it. I probably would spring for the cheaper subscription because I can get content I simple can't get over the air. I have close to 30 Gigs of music on my iPod, but sometimes I want the sports, news, comedy, etc. and its nice to have an option. I can live without the big name content.

People have been predicting the demise of XM/Sirius for some time, and while the stock is at around 0.65, that is actually up considerably from the low of something like 0.055 in February. It peaked at around 0.72 just a few days ago. I realize these are still horrible numbers in the grand scheme of things, and could be nothing more than a "dead cat bounce".

We shall see....

 

Thats strange i have had my MAx now for 7 months, my XM still works. thats weird? The sad part is i rarely use it. Wheni push the button for xm traffic it say XM subscription required. How is this possible?

 

Not sure about the traffic thing: I suspect it's a different type of subscription maintained in another database/list. Regardless, I've read numerous posts regarding XM's sloppy operations at times, so it just may be a case of them not getting around to purging/deactivating the trial accounts.

Another thing to consider is that, given XM's current financial peril, it may be in their best interest to keep the trials active so that they can show them as subscribers "on the books". I've seen things like this before; they aren't making money off of you, but to a potential buyer/investor, it means something. Companies play games like this with market share numbers all the time - if you have share, that is valuable. Even if you aren't profitable, a prospective buyer at least sees the potential to make money. These wouldn't be share numbers per se (only one sat radio company now, so they have 100% of "share" in that market), but they could be used to put a positive spin on revenue potential longer term.

Or not...

 

They use DishNet aka Echostar for satellites.

 

Yes, and Echostar isn't exactly piling up the good numbers these days either. They took on something like $300 million in XM/Sirius debt, which is only around a third of what XM/Sirius actually owe. Many believe that this is an attempt by Echostar to position itself for a takeover, especially if XM/Sirius winds up in bankruptcy.

Clearly there are people who have an interest in making this work. Even if XM/Sirius can't solve their own problems, I'm betting that Echostar takes a run at it. If they fail, all bets are off, but I still think someone out there is going to find a way to put perfectly good satellites to work. There is a market for the technology (Sat TV and radio); it may just not be as large as people thought and the cost model may have to be drastically different.

I'd really like to hear from someone who works in the industry and knows the intricacies better than I do. I'm just going with my gut

 

XM/Sirius is a great example of gross mismanagment. Both companies spent hundreds of $millions on crazy programming - Howard Stern, Major League Baseball, NFL Football, NHL Hockey, etc. How many subscribers in the Atlanta metro are interested in hearing a Cleveland Indians baseball game? How about zero? The music, comedy, and news/information channels would have been sufficient to generate a profitable business. When they finally got government permission to merge it was too late due to the crushing programming debt. Harvard, and other MBA schools will have a very useful case study from this debacle.

 

Agreed, for the most part. I don't know if I'd say "zero"; I think one of the ideas was that fans would have access to their team no matter where they were. But I would definitely say "very few", and as far as in-car audio is concerned, how much time do these people spend in their car? Enough for a whole game? If their driving locally? Of course, a portable XM radio solves that problem, but still - that's a tiny market. Even in my own market, if I want to listen to my team, I just go with the local broadcast.

I think the key to sat radio is offering unique programming; something I have a hard time getting anywhere else. I'm not talking about Stern; until he signed with Sirius, you could get him lots of places, and his market demographic is far too limited for what they pay him IMO. (I'm not bashing Stern, BTW; I used to listen to him when he was a nobody just starting out.) What I'm looking for is largely what XM already has, and has had since the beginning: commercial free music, music I can't get on my radio dial, specific "theme" music (80's, 90's, metal, blues, jazz, etc.), news when I want it, sports news when I want it, talk when I want it, comedy, etc. In a word: variety. Stuff that I either can't find locally at all, or is locked into specific time slots when I do find it.

Example: we don't have a blues station in my market. I can get two hours of blues on Sunday night... or... I can get it on XM any time. There's value in that for me. I'll pay something for that. Or the fact that I love Jazz, and my local Jazz station splits time with NPR, which I hate. Its half jazz, half pledge drive. I'm willing to pay for an uninterrupted, all-jazz-all-the-time option.

As far as sports are concerned, I can see having a game of the week/night, or maybe a couple of options, but paying for the rights to broadcast EVERY game??? That seems extreme and expensive to me, regardless of the sport. I don't need the big name acts, either. They're nice to have, but XM can only pay them what their worth based on the revenue they generate.

It's business 101, and it always surprises me how many seemingly well educated people still manage to screw it up.

(and now we're so far off the original topic that the moderator should probably lock it )

 

For you XM lovers, you may find this forum very useful.

http://www.xmfan.com/index.php

I have been a member there for many years. It will give you some inside track of pricing and programming info. If there is something about the programming that you don't like, it also gives you a chance to have your voice heard.

 

Just renewed XM on my wife's Acadia and got $138\1 year when I called to cancel. The XM sub in my 09 Maxi is up for renewal in October.

If anybody gets a good deal please post.

Americans seem to get a much better deal than Canadians!

 

Just before my 3 month free trail was over, they sent me an offer for 6 months at $29.95 (total), which I took them up on. I added Stern for an extra $5. The 12 month extension was more per month and didn't make sense, aside from having not to be in touch with them at the end of the extension.

 

Has anyone had to set up the XM unit themselves? My Maxima did nto come with the antenna and does not have it set up in the system. I have ordered my "free" XM radio and haven't hooked one up before. My last ride already had XM in the system so I have subscription already paid up until next March.

 

thx

 

Might want to see if they still have the lifetime deal. It cost me around 300 but you get it for "life" or up to 3 radios whichever comes first
I bought that 3 years ago

 

IDK, they are still around.

 

Although their stock is not very good, they still do good business. It's hard for me to drive without XM. Sure I can hook up my ipod maybe even pandora but there is a larger amount of stations to choose from. If you like sports and listening to new music from every genre like myself, its worth it. I think the majority of my friends and co-workers have satellite radio.

I just a got a new XM unit to install but I am debating on having it professionally done to make sure all wires are plush and it is hooked up to receive the best sig.

 

Any other info on the general renewal rate if you speak with a CSR? Are you still able to "negotiate" with them?

A friend also has satellite and he recently (6 mos.) called and said he was no longer interested in the service and they immediately offered him a discounted rate.

Thanks,
GB