Satellite Talk
One of the questions we’re often asked concerns paid advertising on satellite radio. “Does it work?” seems to be the most common. The answer is “yes.”
XM Radio launched its satellite service in September 2001. Sirius made it a two-bird race in July 2002.
Each service offers more than 70 commercial-free music channels for virtually every mood and taste. This enticing “endless jukebox” built XM’s early subscriber base and gave it a leg up on its upstart rival. Then, in October 2005, Sirius upped the stakes with a landmark $500 Million deal that brought The Howard Stern Show – and millions of new subscribers – to Sirius satellite.
Today, the two services boast a combined subscriber base of 15 Million plus listeners. Now, bear in mind, these 15 million people are not all listening at once. And most still listen to AM and FM radio, even though they pay for satellite. And when they do tune to XM and Sirius, their listening is split amongst more than 300 channels.
Each service has a deep variety of News, Talk, Information and Sports content that accepts commercial advertising. They run the gamut of audio streams from the most popular cable TV channels (CNN and CNBC) to foreign language programming in French, Spanish, Korean and “Canadian.”
There are talk channels for conservatives and liberals, religious and alternative lifestyles, truckers and women. Sirius has Howard. XM has Opie & Anthony. Sirius has Martha Stewart. XM’s got Oprah. Both have channels devoted to kids, major league sports and a block of comedy channels that dial it up from “G” to “X” rated. And ALL of the channels mentioned in these past two paragraphs will accept your commercial advertising.
Satellite radio advertising is affordable. It’s targeted. And, by definition, virtually of the people listening have enough discretionary income to afford a subscription radio service. Better still, the sales departments at XM and Sirius have beefed up their ranks with experienced, terrestrial radio veterans. This means they understand the importance of your advertising schedule delivering results and they now have a bit more flexibility to work with you to achieve those results than they did back in the world of AM+FM.
Don’t get me wrong. Well over 90% of U.S. adults still spend an average of roughly 20 hours per week with AM+FM radio. And the combined XM/Sirius subscriber base still equates to roughly 5% of the total U.S. population. But there are opportunities in both worlds to market your products and services.
If you haven’t tested the airwaves on satellite and worked the medium to profitability, you’re leaving money on the table.
Mark Lipsky, President & CEO