Key Competitors
Traditional AM/FM Radio
Many traditional radio companies are substantial entities owning large numbers of ratio stations or other media properties. The radio broadcasting industry is highly competitive. HD Radio Many radio stations now broadcast digital signals, which have clarity similar to Sirius XM. These stations do not charge a subscription fee for their digital signals but do have commercials and advertising. Sirius XM has a hard time competing with the digital clarity that HD Radio has to offer because it's cheaper and virtually the same audio quality. Advanced In-Dash Infotainment Systems Almost all automakers have deployed or are planning on releasing integrated multimedia systems in dash boards, such as Ford's SYNC, Toyota's Entune, and BMW/Mini's Connected. Direct Broadcast Satellite and Cable Audio These services are typically targeted for in-home use, but this radio service is often included as part of a package of digital services usually including video. Video customers generally don't pay an additional charge for the audio service which causes them to be a competitor. DirecTV and Dish Network do carry Sirius XM radio channels in their packaging, which is an example of Vertical Integration. But since Sirius XM doesn't have their radio channels featured on all sources of TV, this is still a competitor. |
Internet Radio and Internet-Enabled Smartphones These internet broadcasters have a huge advantage when it comes to offering radio programming across the country and the globe. Clear Channel, CBS and Pandora offer customers high quality digital streams online for free or for a much cheaper price of subscription than Sirius XM has to offer. Smartphones can usually play recorded or cached content and access Internet radio through specific applications or browsers. These applications are typically free to the user and they can get the content as long as they stay subscribed to a sufficiently large mobile data plan. Just some of the smartphone radio applications include Pandora, last FM, Slacker, iHeartRadio and Stitcher. Some of these applications allow a huge amount of personalization, such as skipping songs and allowing the customer to access large libraries of content on demand. Spotify launched its music streaming service in the United States in 2011, which allows its users unlimited, on-demand access to a gigantic library of songs, allowing them to share playlists with other listeners through Facebook. This is offered for free, and available to listeners smartphones with a subscription. This is a huge competitor, because they offer personalization and may become integrated into cars in the future. |
Where is Sirius XM headed?
Sirius XM may be headed into serious trouble if they don't change something quickly. With so many other opportunities customers have that are either cheaper or free, I don't see how Sirius XM plans to stay afloat. They have plans to release a personalized online music service to combat Pandora and Spotify, but CEO Mel Karmazin said that they are doing this service, "not because we think it's good business," but because the customers wanted it. Karmazin also stated that companies that can grow users and provide good customer experience typically have terrible business models. Whether this is true or not, those companies are killing Sirius XM. It seems to me that almost everything they offer is better than traditional AM/FM radio, but that's about it. There are so many other cheaper and free choices for customers that I don't see Sirius XM staying a legitimate competitor in the digital music and radio business.
Recent news have discovered that CEO Mel Karmazin will step down, and I think that will be beneficial to the advancement of this company. Liberty Media Corporation is looking to take full control of the satellite radio broadcaster, and I think this can only help technology advance. Sirius XM isn't doing any Globalization (other than a bit in Canada), and most of their competition is showing them up. It's time for something to drastically change or to say goodbye to Sirius XM.
Recent news have discovered that CEO Mel Karmazin will step down, and I think that will be beneficial to the advancement of this company. Liberty Media Corporation is looking to take full control of the satellite radio broadcaster, and I think this can only help technology advance. Sirius XM isn't doing any Globalization (other than a bit in Canada), and most of their competition is showing them up. It's time for something to drastically change or to say goodbye to Sirius XM.