C'mon Sirius XM satellite radio, I'm tired of apologizing for you and making excuses and hoping against hope that you'll somehow find a way to survive during the economic downturn which has seen much of your client base -- new car installations -- flatline while other subscribers drop away for better, cheaper and easier services on the Internet and the iPhone. I'm tired of making excuses dammit!
A couple months ago
I wrote a column for DemystifyingDigital.com about the impending release of a new app from Sirius XM that would let you play satellite radio stations on your iPhone. Sounds simple right? Maybe not a panacea or a magic bullet for Sirius XM but something that's desperately needed to compete with the Pandoras, Slackers, and Last.FMs of the world, right? Well,
the app is here and I can say without excuse or apology that it's a complete and utter failure.
First off, though it's billed as a "free" app in the iTunes App Store there's really nothing free about it. Of course, I didn't really expect them to give the Sirius XM channels away for nothing since, like cable TV, you need to pay a monthly subscription fee to listen. But I'm already a Sirius XM subscriber and I can't even listen to it!
Though I pay about $13 a month for a "basic" subscription apparently that's not good enough for Sirius XM. In order to use the new iPhone app I would have to pay an extra $3 per month to become a "premium" member. Want to know what's even more insulting? Even if you pay the fee you still will only be able to get some of the channels including
no Howard Stern, no Major League Baseball, and no NFL. WTF?
Yes, it's a very sad state of affairs. I was able to try out the app during a "free" 7-day trial and think it's fine, in terms of functionality and sound quality. As far as being something that can save Sirius XM, it's more of a nail in the coffin than a ray of hope. Prediction: when Howard Stern's contract with Sirius ends next year, that will be the end of satellite radio.
Print | posted @ Tuesday, June 23, 2009 6:46 AM