Satellite radio signs sports deals
The satellite radio competition just got more interesting with the underdog, Sirius announced that it had signed an exclusive 3-year deal with the NHL to broadcast their games in a move that followed its earlier deal with the NBA, as it attempts to use sports to bring in new subscribers according to this Wall Street Journal story (subscription required). With the dearth of decent radio stations in the San Francisco Bay Area the $12.95 per month price for quality radio stations sounds increasingly tempting...and should be starting to worry the existing radio conglomerates.
With the sports strategy, Sirius is aiming to replicate the success of satellite-TV broadcaster DirecTV in using sports to attract new subscribers. DirecTV's sports deals, especially a longstanding arrangement to air National Football League games, was considered important to the service's ability to attract customers in its early days.
...XM Satellite Radio Wednesday reported having more than 929,000 subscribers at the end of the third quarter, and said it expects to reach 1.3 million by year end. Sirius says it had about 105,000 subscribers as of June 30, and expects to have 300,000 subscribers by Dec. 31.