[[email protected]]

New York, NY -- Sirius Satellite Radio, the satellite radio broadcaster, today began the first phase of its national service rollout in four metropolitan markets, Denver, Houston, Phoenix and Jackson, Mississippi. To commemorate the start of its satellite radio service, Sirius broadcast inaugural programming and treated Jackson to a special live concert featuring Randy Travis and a host of country artists. "This is an important day in Sirius' history and we are thrilled to bring our premier satellite radio service to listeners in Denver, Houston, Phoenix and Jackson," said Joseph P. Clayton, Sirius' President and CEO. "This will be a big year for Sirius as we roll out our service nationwide, and embark on our mission to bring the Sirius experience directly to listeners everywhere. We believe that once people visit our 'Rhythm of the Road Tour' in their hometown and listen to music the way it was meant to be heard, completely commercial free, people will be lining up to get Sirius," Mr. Clayton said.

The First Broadcast

This morning, during the first official Sirius broadcast for consumers, ABC News anchor Sam Donaldson served as the first voice heard on Sirius, ushering in a new era of in-vehicle entertainment. Listeners then heard Al Jarreau, who inspired the new Sirius musical signature, introduce a special musical overture performed by the National Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Leonard Slatkin.
This was followed by a montage of artists and celebrities including Shaggy, Sting, Nelly Furtado, Pink, Nickelback, Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Bennett, Travis Tritt, Emmylou Harris, Ray Manzarek Jason Alexander, Nathan Lane, Bill Cosby, Dan Aykroyd, Grandmaster Flash, MC Lyte and others.
The broadcast led into special "first songs" that were heard across Sirius' 60 commercial-free music channels, with many of these being exclusive live performances recorded at the company's New York City studios.
Special Valentine's Day shows with celebrity guest DJs, including Darius Rucker, Stereophonics, Sevendust, Brian McKnight, Freddy Jackson, Ann Hampton Callaway, Michael Feinstein, Richard Marx, Dave Koz, Al Jarreau, The Oak Ridge Boys, Leslie West, and legendary rapper, Dana Dane, are also planned throughout the day.
Excerpts from the first day of Sirius programming will be donated to the Museum of Television and Radio's permanent collection and will be available as part of the museum's historic archives.
Launch Event in Jackson Features Randy Travis Concert

Sirius also kicked off its launch festivities with a gala event in Jackson, Mississippi, held at retailer Cowboy Maloney's. The event featured special appearances by Jackson Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. and Speaker of the House Tim Ford, live performances by country music superstar Randy Travis, Bluegrass legend Earl Scruggs with acclaimed songwriter Tom T. Hall, country artist Tracy Lawrence, and Rhonda Vincent & the Rage, International Bluegrass Music Association's 2001 "Entertainer of the Year" and "Female Vocalist of the Year."

About Sirius
From its three satellites orbiting directly over the U.S., Sirius (www.siriusradio.com) broadcasts 100 channels of digital quality radio to motorists throughout the continental United States for a monthly subscription fee of $12.95. Sirius delivers 60 original channels of completely commercial-free music in virtually every genre, and 40 world-class sports, news and entertainment channels. Sirius has agreements to install AM/FM/SAT radios in Ford, Chrysler, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar, Volvo, Mazda, Dodge and Jeep vehicles. Kenwood, Panasonic, Clarion and Jensen satellite receivers, including models that can adapt any car stereo to receive Sirius, as well as home and portable products, will be available at retailers such as Cowboy Maloney's, Circuit City, Best Buy, Good Guys, Tweeter, Ultimate Electronics and Crutchfield.

Any statements that express, or involve discussions as to, expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, assumptions, future events or performance with respect to Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. are not historical facts and may be forward-looking and, accordingly, such statements involve estimates, assumptions and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements. Accordingly, any such statements are qualified in their entirety by reference to the factors discussed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2000. Among the key factors that have a direct bearing on our results of operations are our dependence upon third parties to manufacture and distribute radios capable of receiving our service; the risk of delay in implementing our business plan; the unproven market for our service; and our need for additional financing.

 

[Evolvo]

It's a shame that Sirius is lagging behind XM in rolling it out to other markets. They really need to get this service on the East Coast where you'll find a lot more potential buyers per mile.

 

[T5 Dave]

Has anyone checked to see how this works when one drives under an overpass or into a tunnel? My big question is why would anyone sign up for subscription for this when their FM radio works pretty much just as well? OK, for the cross-country folks, this would come in handy. But the basic fact of the matter is that the majority of drivers are in the major cities that have adequate FM coverage. So are these satellite folks shooting themselves in the foot?

Remember that the Motorola Iridium space-borne telephone system was supposed to be a major breakthrough, and it went bankrupt because not enough folks signed up. Why? Their cel-phones worked just fine in their local markets, were a lot cheaper, and the vast majority of folks didn't have to talk to Africa.

If, on the other hand, the sat-music folks offered something that wasn't available otherwise, like updated traffic reports and highway conditions shown on a decent sized screen, they might sell more subscriptions. But if it's just music, the buyer can just opt and say 'no,' grab some CD's and plop them into the player. You'd be talking about $150 a year for the service plus the cost of the receiver. Unless there's something of value that's not offered by FM/AM, a lot of folks are going to balk.

I know I would (balk, that is). I'm just not in the car long enough and when I take long trips, I'll use my airplane.

[This message has been edited by T5 Dave (edited 03-12-2002).]

 

[[email protected]]

I think the idea here is that it is like Cable Television. You have more choices if you subscribe, and if you live in Podunk, you have better selection and better reception.

Spending a lot of time on the road, I would consider it, but it'd be cooler if I could use that subscription in both my cars and my home radio as well.

 

[T5 Dave]

quote:

Originally posted by [email protected]:
I think the idea here is that it is like Cable Television. You have more choices if you subscribe, and if you live in Podunk, you have better selection and better reception.

Spending a lot of time on the road, I would consider it, but it'd be cooler if I could use that subscription in both my cars and my home radio as well.

Yikes, you mean you need a separate subscription for each receiver? Even my dish TV lets you add a 2nd receiver for 20% of the nominal subscription fees. I'm surprised they don't hand out the radios free and make their money on the subscriptions, otherwise their business strategy is doomed. (My opinion, of course.)

 

[[email protected]]

I don't know their pricing structure. That was an assumption.