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gaoltender: we had a run up now for a breather until the subs are announced. The 1,000,000th sub should be a fairly good day, when it is announced!
So far the stock is acting one hellava lot better than last years Skyrocket, then Falling Stone action.
4th quarter is where 70% of all electronics are sold so that should be good for us.
Good Luck!
Walley what do you do with the stock while youe gone, limits??
New issue with Legg + Honda Accord OEM installation of XM is helping.
The new issue with Legg (highly regarded firm on the street) will pay for the 04 bird.
DFIB:Cardiac Sciences: starting to take off: very recent GE deal for worldwide product distribution,numerous recent government contracts, state and federal, breakeven this year 4th qtr, according to CEO, over 72 patents, and the only FDA approvals for its mdedical product in the market, Russell 3000 member, Forbes Small Company fastest growing list 2 yrs running, positive projection for EPS 04. etc,. Starting to go, although it will likely consolidate a bit due to recent run, unless more news breaks then it will fight $5.
Great little company especially for 12-24 months. Pls. do your own DD and you will see that the little I have posted is valid.
May sound like a pump, but I am a long holder so it is definitely not a dump. I don't usually even trade this one.
jmhollen: happy to have you assist, how is it set up?
CMF: No problamo senior, ole DFIB is headed to $5, very likely before your return.
Best of luck fishin! U should have fun, got the new boat yet??
Walley: how's the new boat, you got with DFIB stock gains???
Can't wait for the 1,000,000 sub hang on for that one, should be a pop when that happens. Good Luck!
Gotta Love DFIB: this one's a keeper, especially with the GE tie in!
SB Lexus sorry. XM should announce the 1000,000 sub before long, nice landmark.
If you listen to XM listen for new advertisers. Advertising is targeted to make up 20% of XM revenues and new advertisers are a sign of a nicely growing audience. More subs, more advertisers, more revs and more earnings!
Lexius is adding XM! Toyota Solara has it as OEM factory installed!
XM is going into Canadian market soon. The Canadian market is estimated to be about 1/10th of the US market and reception when I travel in Quebec is great.
OT CMF: XMSR is one which I have about 16000 shares of. It is a duopoly with 90% market share. I own it at various levels, anywhere from $1.85 to $13. I have a good amount of faith in the company and I own the product, I have had the product and the stock since Nov 01 when they went national.
I think it should go to a $25 stock in 12 months or less. If you can nibble at it here and there it should work out. It varies entry wise but if you can get it on a dip and pay $12.50-13 it should work well for you with a year or less anyway.
I really love the product CD quality Digital radio with 100 channels 40 of which have no commercials at all.
Skee: gotta look now! later eom
Walley/Cmf: had me wondering. Do you have XM??
CMF: what is your alias on RB dfib board?? eom
TIA
Simon: I have owned DFIB for going on 2 years. I think it is a phenominal small company. Ranked by Forbes 2 yrs running as one of the fasted growing 200 companys in the US. It is in the Russell 3000 2 yrs running.
It has over 70 patents and the only manufacture approved by the FDA.
They have the only dfibs accepted by the FDA for kids 8ys and below. And the only FDA dfibs for adults.
Legislation is taking hold in many states to have dfibs in schools
Dfib is putting product on the airlines as well as hospitals and rescue even the USA's blackhawk choppers. It is being tested in Vet Hospitals.
GE: is going to make a phenominal partner for distribution and promotion world wide. imo, The reason why DFIB tripled its manufacturing capactity earlier in the yr., although they have increased the sales force very substantially and have an estimated 50 distributors worldwide within the last twelve months.
Breakeven/ by year end and projected positive EPS for 04.
Don't be shocked to see GE gobble this company up within 36 months. jmho
Glad you started the board, I was going to if you hadn't. KUDOS
Take a look at XMSR when you have a chance. Although it will likely pull back for a while, it is # 1 in a duopoly with 90% market share on a brand new technology. imho a $30 stcck in 2 years.
Good luck!
Have 2 apologize 2 this board: I started the board for discussion a while back but never realized it created a mailbox for me simultaneously, until I noticed it today. Wow,
certainly had some old mail. Sorry for not replying!
My apologies,
john
Razal:KUDOS, looks like your March 03 post of breach $6, then on to 10 and 15 was pretty much on. Sorry for just reading it. I usually just view the board, but I missed your post and just read it today believe it or not. If you are still lurking " GREAT CALL"
Rock just post#157 not sure why I got a partial on 156. sorry! eom
Rock: the $300/min/rev. for *national radio was an estimate made 2 yrs ago when XM first went public. It was not put out by XMSR that I am aware of, just a post by someone in the broadcasting business. I believe the estimate was a result of what Clear Channel would have for resultant charges for national type ads, since it owns over 100 stations across the country, but I am not positive about this.
Long story longer: at the time of the original estimate XM had no advertisers, and hardly any subs. The two #s obviously have a very direct relationship with each other, no audience= no advertisers.
I will see if I can get it confirmed somehow, though XM has estimated that 20% of all revenues will be from advertisers, believe that is in the annual report.
Relative to charts, I study them too, but XM is mostly a buy & hold for me. I owned it from $13 down to $1.85 pps sold off 2/3 around 11+ a while ago, and now have a 1/3 position left.
When you have time, let me know what you see in the charts.
My take thus far is: quiet til news, ie., subs, OEM installs, insurance settlement( that could be a $4 pt gain if the 400 mil was in our favor). Its only competitor SIRI seems to be really struggling with subs at a 7 to 1 ratio favoring XM. When the MIl mark for subs is attained it will be big news!
XMs expansion into Canada should be lucrative if approved by the Canadian Govn't. As you probably know, Canada's diverse markets are usually measured at about 1/10 of US markets for any given widget, due to population.
Rock: the $300/min/rev. for *national radio was an estimate made 2 yrs ago when XM first went public. It was not put out by XMSR that I am aware of, just a post by someone in the broadcasting business. i
Long story short, at the time of the original estimate XM had no advertisers and hardly any subs. The two #s obviously have a very direct relationship with each other, no audience, no advertisers.
I will see if I can get it confirmed somehow, though XM has estimated that 20% of all revenues will be from advertisers, believe that is in the annual report.
Relative to charts, I study them too but XM is mostly a buy & hold for me. I owned it from $13 down to $1.85 pps sold off 2/3 around 11+ a while ago, and now have a 1/3 position left.
When you have time, let me know what you see in the charts.
My take thus far is quiet till news, subs, OEM installs, insurance settlement( that could be a $4 pt gain if the 400 mil was in our favor). Its only competitor SIRI seems to be really struggling with subs at a 7 to 1 ratio favoring XM. When the MIl mark for subs is attained it will be big news!
The old news of the solar degradation on the Sats gave us a good dip. The insurance claim which XM has in on the issue is being denied, and now the court fight insues. Bet it is 3 yrs+, what a pain for XM.
XM warned of this back likely scenario in the 1st qtr-2nd qtr of 02 when the issue first became public.
The new bird from Boeing is supposed to be free of the problem and be launched in 04 at a cost of 160 mil.
XM seems to be taking off nicely as a concept and the subs are climbing sb over 1.2 mil this yr..
Nation ad time is estimated to be worth $300 per minute so while XM may only have 6 mins per hour eventually of ad time on 60 channels 24/7 the math is phenominal 300 x 6 x 24 x 7 x 60 =$18,144,000 x 52=
$943,488,000 in potential ad revenues per year so be conservative and take 1/2 = 1/2 billion $ in ad revenue.
Then the total potential market of an estimated 48 million subs at 9.95 x 12= done by their original independent market study.
2-3 yrs should be great!
Good luck for now!
Hi Guys: looks like we are filling the gap created by the Barrons article 2/14 to 2/16. The support at the 4.05 t0 4.30 is ranked extremely well. So we need to hold.
4th qtr 02 coming out 3/27
Special Authorization meeting 3/27
Visited a Circuit City largest strategic partner company for after market.
Spoke to the sales mgr in auto. He said that the volume for xm is 10x what it was 1 yr ago.
He said he sell himself about 20 per month and he is only one of 5 in the auto department.
The momentum is gathering for the product. Still plenty of time to get the stock though.
I have it for 3-5 yr hold and it is like ping pong
EZ : gotta tell me how you get the Santa thing like that, it is cool! TIA
Hey Larry! fancy meeting you here!
Nice Barron's Article Feb 17th 03 Cover Page
XM Satellite, satellite radio catching on -Barron's 2/16/2003 6:02:56 PM
NEW YORK, Feb 16 (Reuters) - XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. (XMSR) is poised for growth as satellite radio is catching on and drawing favorable reviews from subscribers, Barron's reported in the cover story of its Feb. 17 issue.
CBS MARKETWATCH TOP NEWS
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Europe: Insurers, tech lead as NATO reaches deal
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Energy bill begins to show up
XM is leading its rival Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. (SIRI) , which got a later start and has less than one tenth the subscriber base of XM, Barron's said.
General Motors Corp. (GM) is aggressively pushing satellite radio, and fans of the service see it becoming standard in new cars, Barron's said.
Bear Stearns' satellite analyst recently upgraded XM to a rating of "peer perform" from "underperform" and raised his price target to $9 per share, Barron's said.
XM expects to have more than a million subscribers at the end of the year, Barron's said. If it has 10 million by 2007, it could earn $1.50 per share, supporting a $30 to $40 share price, the publication said.
© Reuters 2003. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.
EZ : u see the AVIS announcement yesterday? 50,000 new XM equiped at the Avis lots nationally 1st qtr 03.
USA today article
and http://www.usatoday.com/tech/columnist/edwardbaig/2002-12-10-baig_x.htm
1,000,000 chip produced for XM radio also announced
News COrp and Direct TV in talks
Starting to go again finally!
XM said it would not have the same package thank god, however we have to wait til Jan 03, I guess.
ez: XM is in 25 gm models now. It is part of an option package usually. According to Hugh Panero's recent conference call they have experienced 70% xm activations of service for those vehilces which are xm ready.
The problem is not operations, they are knocking the cover off the ball, it is FUNDING. They have enough to get them thru Q1 of 03 . If they receive the funding which they expect or hope for, the stock should take off like a rocket into the teen, imo. The subs are great the track record is supberb for hitting the targets but they need the funding thru 04 which is now their breakeven year.
The Honda news is also working for us!
Rumor of Clearchannel buy out has helped the stock!
Good news for XMSR satellites - problem may be tapering off.
It seems that PANAMSAT's Boeing 702 satellite is stabilizing in its power generation
degradation. They are now forecasting that it will last its entire 15 year expected
lifespan.
This bodes well for the XMSR satellites and means that they are highly likely to last
through their projected lifespan as well.
http://www.space.com/spacenews/spacenews_briefs.html
PanAmSat More Confident About Galaxy 11’s Longevity
PanAmSat Corp. officials are growing increasingly confident that the company’s Galaxy
11 satellite, which was launched in late 1999 and has a defective solar array, will last for
15 years as originally expected. The rate at which the power-producing capacity of the
flawed solar array is degrading has slowed in recent months, PanAmSat officials said.
Galaxy 11 is one of several Boeing 702 satellites whose solar arrays are losing their
effectiveness at an abnormally high rate. Boeing has changed the design of its 702
satellites to correct the flaw.
Have we settled yet? I hope so. I bought some more trading shares at 5.70, guess we will see.
Judging from the past we should be within a point or so of history, hope so.
The sub #s are good.
The satellite premature degradation fear looking much better this week, seems once again that it is a non issue.
They need to be coming out with some funding news before very long.
The fall with the 23 new GM models with XM installed is getting close.
Effectively they now control the aftermarket as Sirus is yet a very small factor, not even announcing its subscriber #s in its financials.
With luck we will be back in the low-mid teens by year end, if terror doesn't bite us again, imho anyway.
Atleast they have no accounting issues
Sorry for the Hiatus. Vacation, business, and golf.
XMSR is a news stock and I think it will take until 4th qtr for the next real news OEM subscribers.
Unless the 2nd qtr sub #s are really fantastic, and I hope they are.
In general it should be a quiet summer,imo. I think the stock may sink down to 5-7 range, if so it is a great time to buy. The fall should see it in the mid to high teens.
Good news for XM!
Street Praises XM Results
While XM Satellite Radio's first quarter subscriber report offered no big surprises (during
the first week of April, the company said it had more than 76,000 customers at the end
of the three-month period), analysts still praised the service for its efforts.
Last week, XM released final first quarter results, which included a report that at the end
of the period it had 76,242 paying listeners. After reviewing the results, James Marsh of
Robertson Stephens said the company "continues to make substantial progress and
leaves us confident that our 2002 subscriber estimates will be achieved."
Marsh maintained his 2002 subscriber estimate of 348,307 and $18 price target. He also
reiterated the firm's "Buy" rating on XM shares.
Armand Musey of Salomon Smith Barney said XM continues to demonstrate strong
execution for its months-old service. He cited the company's new distribution
agreements with Volkswagen, Nissan, Wal-Mart and DirecTV as key positives, along with
XM management guidance suggesting that the satellite radio service will be in 6,000
points of sale by the third quarter.
Also last week, Merrill Lynch raised its rating on XM to "buy" from "neutral" after the
company reported "on-track" first-quarter results. "XM remains focused on execution,
which we view as the most sensible approach to removing the most meaningful
uncertainty, subscriber growth," a research note from the firm said.
http://www.skyreport.com/
EZ_ good find. This is a small and profitable niche being attacked by both services.
Taken from another service which I use all the time this poster says:
keep in mind the Direct TV's current relationship with XM. DTV is already promoting XM to a Satellite TV audience of 10,000,000 subs to DTV.
Got my DirecTV bill today -- and there, towards the back of the monthly flyer with TV
specials, is a certificate good for $50 towards "purchase of an XM Radio and Installation
at Circuit City".
We've been looking for the GMH/XM synergism. It'll be interesting to see how well this
DirecTV-supported ad campaign does.
IMHO It's going North within 6 months. Now a trading range of 11-14
CARANDDRIVER.COM, MAY 2002 MAGAZINE EDITIONA
Is Satellite Radio the Next Big Thing?
Or will it go the way of highway hi-fi, quadraphonic eight-track, and AM stereo?
BY FRANK MARKUS
MAY 2002
http://www.caranddriver.com/xp/Caranddriver/features/2002/may/200205_feature_satellite_radio.xml
It's described as cable for your car, promising 100 channels of CD-quality digital music, variety, and
talk programming beamed seamlessly into your car, anywhere in the continental U.S. The music
variety is infinitely broader than the bland, homogeneous, focus-grouped pap that fills the
corporate-owned FM airwaves today. You can hear the "F" word, just as on cable TV, but parents
can also block adult content. And the technology promises to deliver even more and different kinds
of personalized messaging and infotainment in the future. For a monthly fee of $10 to $13.
Sound heaven sent? Well, it is beamed from the heavens, just like that couch-potato godsend known
as satellite television. Its purveyors—two rival satellite-radio upstarts—have bet well over a billion
dollars each that a nation of commuters, road trippers, long-haul truckers, and would-be "car
potatoes" would be willing to pony up for 100 channels of audio variety.
We're talking about Digital Audio Radio Service (DARS), which is broadcast over a narrow slice of
spectrum along the S-band from 2320-2345 MHz. The Federal Communications Commission earmarked
these airwaves for DARS in 1992, got around to auctioning them off five years later, and now, 10
years later, the top bidders—XM ($89.9 million) and Sirius ($83.3 million)—are open for business,
offering two strikingly dissimilar broadcasting technologies and philosophies. Let's start with the tech.
The basics are pretty simple. Programming is beamed directly at the satellites via X-band (7025-7075
MHz), converted to S-band, and beamed back at a target area that includes the continental U.S.
plus a couple hundred miles. Unlike local FM radio waves, the distant DARS signal cannot penetrate
buildings, tunnels, heavy tree coverage, and the like. To minimize gaps in coverage, each company
uses two satellites broadcasting identical information over slightly different frequencies so that if the
signal from one is blocked, the receiver can continue playing the signal from the other. Satellite
radios also buffer four seconds of programming to prevent brief lapses when driving under bridges and
the like. To fill in long gaps in tunnels and urban canyons where neither satellite is in view,
ground-based repeater stations receive and rebroadcast the satellite's signal over a third frequency
range. Satellite-subscribed vehicles are equipped with a small antenna and a processor that
combines the signals and decodes the digital channels for playback.
Now for the differences. XM employs two satellites (dubbed "Rock" and "Roll") that are parked in
geostationary orbit about 22,500 miles above the equator. Rock orbits roughly in line with Atlanta,
Roll is due south of Las Vegas. This type of orbit allows the Directv satellite dish on your roof to be
aimed at a particular spot in the sky and left alone. Ground-based repeaters receive their incoming
signal in exactly the same way, so the geostationary orbit makes for cheap, simple repeater stations.
But there is a downside. The equator is way down south, which means the incoming signals
arrive at a pretty shallow angle, (kind of like the sun's rays in winter). In Seattle, the signal beam
comes in just 35 degrees above the horizon and can therefore be easily blocked by mundane things
such as a tall truck in the next lane. For that reason XM will install upwards of 1000 signal repeaters
in 75 markets.Sirius diminishes the low-angle problem by placing three satellites in a very high
elliptical orbit that peaks 29,000 miles above central Canada. This orbit means the satellites are
always moving relative to the earth, but each is in view of the U.S. for 16 hours a day, and two are
in view at all times. As a result, the incoming signal always arrives from a higher angle in the sky,
making it harder to block—like summer sunshine.
Moving satellites pose a problem for the ground repeater network. Motorized antennas that track the
satellites are used for beaming the signal up, but it would be prohibitively expensive to use similar
antennas for all the ground repeaters. Omnidirectional antennas don't work because they can be
overpowered by the rebroadcast signal. So Sirius buys time on other geostationary communications
satellites in order to beam content (over the Ku-band) to its network of about 90 fixed-dish
repeaters in 56 markets.
Sirius also claims that its fancier broadcasting system permits better quality by continuously varying
the amount of bandwidth used for each station. In other words, a channel broadcasting a
symphony's grand finale is allotted more bits of data to ensure full sound quality, but when the
announcer comes on to deconstruct the performance, the data stream shrinks, freeing up bandwidth
for another channel.
The XM and Sirius strategies for pricing and programming have also diverged in recent years. Five
years ago both companies were touting 100 commercial-free stations for $10 a month. Economic
woes and growing pains have conspired to break that promise. XM stuck to its $9.95 price but
introduced commercial programming—and rather a lot of it. Only 34 of XM's 69 music channels and
two of its 31 talk and variety offerings are free of huckstering. To be fair, however, XM's commercial
time is way below the 21 minutes per hour many FM stations carry.
Sirius remains commercial-free on all 60 of its music channels and seven of its news stations, but
that cleaner air costs $12.95 a month. See our sidebar on XM's programming content, and stay
tuned for more on Sirius, which was only launching its service in select markets as we went to press
but should be widely available this summer.
Which to choose? If you're buying a new car, the decision will probably be made for you, as most
manufacturers have lined up under one or the other of the satellite providers. (For now, no single
radio can process both signals, although such a radio is in the works.) GM was first to market last fall
with XM, offering it as a $295 option on Cadillac DeVilles and Sevilles. This fall, XM will be available
on 23 models across GM's domestic lines. Honda, Suzuki, Isuzu, and Peterbilt are also aligned with
XM. Betting on Sirius are the DaimlerChrysler and Ford brand families, BMW, and Sterling heavy
trucks. Porsche and Freightliner will sell both services. Most will offer deals to roll the monthly fee
into the lease or loan payment.
Detroit's Big Three have each invested between $20 million and $100 million in their respective
satellite providers. GM has announced that its investment reserves the right to use some of the
available bandwidth to reach its customers directly and provide service reminders, end-of-lease
offers, recall notices, even on-demand information or entertainment (imagine pay-per-listen audio
books or National Park tours). Sirius claims to have similar capability.
For those who can't wait until the next new-car purchase to join the digital-audio era, converters
are becoming widely available at Best Buy and other electronics retailers (see Pioneer sidebar),
selling for between $350 and $400.
So is it the Next Big Thing? For long-haul truckers, satellite radio seems like a must-have, and indeed
both companies offer dedicated trucker channels. Similarly, folks living within earshot of only a
handful of broadcast stations will revel in the instant variety. Serious audiophiles with wide-ranging
musical interests will find much to love with either service, as practically every musical taste is
catered to, with one glaring omission: Neither firm offers Hawaiian music. Trust us, nothing
attenuates road rage like a hip-swiveling hula tune. And traffic-frayed nerves may be a problem for
satellite radio commuters. There is currently no way to get local traffic and weather info on satellite
radio. City commuters addicted to National Public Radio's Morning Edition and All Things Considered
programs will also be disappointed. Although Sirius broadcasts two NPR stations, neither will carry
these rush-hour favorites, and the other news options can't compare.
There are a few potential bugaboos. XM has announced that the power supplies in its satellites seem
to be discharging more quickly than anticipated, which could necessitate their early replacement.
Potential S-band interference from an efficient new microwave-based light bulb intended for street
lamps and from ultra-wide-band radar and collision-avoidance systems threatens to interrupt service
in the years to come. And the wireless industry is after the satellite radio folks to reduce the power
of ground repeaters they claim will interfere with future cellular equipment.
Still, industry cheerleaders peg the expected market at 45 million to 55 million people, and analysts
reckon XM and Sirius will break even if four million subscribers each find the service worth the price
of one cheap CD per month. 'Fess up: Did you get a whole month's worth of pleasure out of your last
CD? We think satellite radio's here to stay.
What About the Rest of the World?
As XM and Sirius spar in North America, Washington, D.C.-based WorldSpace plans to cover most of
the rest of the world using three geostationary satellites parked over Africa, Indonesia, and soon
South America and broadcasting over the L-band (1467-1492 MHz). Along with about 40 channels of
radio programming in multiple languages, WorldSpace provides limited Internet access and data
transmission. With no ground-based repeaters, this service is intended for stationary users only, but
the potential audience is estimated at 4.6 billion.
Free Radio Strikes Back!
How will AM and FM stations compete with all the new digital listening options? With In-Band
On-Channel (IBOC) digital broadcasting, set for launch in 2003. The idea is to take the AM or FM
spectrum that's currently allotted to a station and divide it three ways, with an analog signal in the
middle, surrounded by two digital side bands. Only new radios will be able to play the digital signal,
but old ones will continue to work, too. The end game is fully digital service, but the analog signal
won't disappear until 85 percent of all radios are IBOC capable.
Putting XM Radio to the Road-Trip Test
To get a real feel for XM radio's continuity of coverage, ease of use, and programming quality, we
took an XM-equipped Cadillac DTS on a 2500-mile drive, circling from Detroit down through Memphis,
Tallahassee, Atlanta, Cincinnati, and back home. We listened to each and every channel and wrote a
brief review of each station's content.
In general, we found much to like, especially on the commercial-free music stations, most of which
sprinkle valuable commentary and thematic sound bites in among the musical offerings. For example,
the '70s music station plays marvelous Archie Bunker one-liners, Nixon Watergate testimony, and
sit-com theme-song snippets to set the mood. Jazz fans will adore the six channels that segregate
traditional, contemporary, and modern jazz with programming oversight from Wynton Marsalis. One of
the more intriguing rock stations is devoted exclusively to new, unsigned talent. Among the "world"
listings are stations broadcast in Hindi and Mandarin Chinese—mighty hard to find this stuff on FM.
We found less joy in the news channels, where many of the syndicated offerings tended toward
short-attention-span, inch-deep/inch-wide coverage. Of these, Fox News is hands-down the worst.
It's an audio feed from the cable-TV channel, so there are frequent and aggravating references to
things the viewers are seeing. BBC World Service was our favorite news channel, but its intense
European focus eventually resulted in drooling boredom. At that point, a dose of XM Comedy or
Laugh USA always brought us around.
As a road-trip companion, the XM programming was terrific. We defy anyone to tune in every
channel and conclude that there's nothing worth listening to. On the open road, we experienced few
gaps in transmission (a five-minute interruption occurred in the middle of Alabama, when the XM
system went down briefly). In town was another story. Ann Arbor's 10-to-20-story skyscratchers
stymied it often, as did the north-facing overhang in front of Tallahassee's airport. Commuting
through a concrete-canyon expressway in Detroit also presented several brief lapses in coverage.
Our Cadillac used a carryover radio adapted for XM, and as such the ergonomics suffered. With 100
channels of programming, the ability to tune a station directly (by pressing 1-4-4 for NASCAR Radio,
for example) should be considered vital, but this requires a 10-key pad, and Cadillac's has only six (to
which 18 XM station presets can be assigned). Station tuning is therefore done by skipping between
genres (Kids, News, Sports, etc.) until you get to the one you want, then seeking up or down the
channel listing within that subgroup. Sounds easy enough, but the unit doesn't seek instantly as it
does with AM and FM. Rather, it seems to need a second or two to establish a lock on one station
before allowing a jump to the next, which makes tuning a time-consuming chore. Finally, the
Cadillac's 16-character readout does not scroll text, so many artists' names and titles are truncated.
At least OnStar's new "virtual adviser" can provide traffic, weather, and news in major markets in
response to simple voice commands.
Most of our reasonably minor complaints with the system will likely be addressed quickly as newer
radios are designed and additional ground-repeater stations installed. These are, after all, the
frontier days of satellite radio.
Bringing Your Car into the Satellite Age
Our very first taste of XM radio came in a rented Chevy equipped by Pioneer Electronics with a $250
GEX-FM903XM aftermarket XM radio converter and a $100 AN-90XM magnet-mount antenna. (Best
Buy charges another $90 to install this system.) The converter mounts beneath the driver's seat and
rebroadcasts XM content over the original stereo at low power on an unused FM channel. A small
faceplate affixed to the dash is used to tune XM stations and display the first 10 characters' worth
of artist and title information.
This digital-to-analog setup theoretically degrades the sound quality, but we were impressed with
the audio fidelity. Owners of Pioneer aftermarket radios dating back to 1994 can hook up an XM
receiver unit through the input for a CD changer and control XM from their existing head unit, and of
course all new Pioneer stereos are XM-upgradable. Other manufacturers offer units that will play
back through a cassette-tape adapter, and Sony offers one that can be removed from the car and
docked in the house (using a second, outdoor-mount home antenna) to help take full advantage of
the subscription price.
The tiny head unit mounted in our Chevy provides four tuning buttons arranged in a circle for
navigating between genres (left and right) and then between stations (up and down). They were
easier to use than the Cadillac's widely spaced tuning buttons, but with only six preset buttons
(providing 18 presets), direct station tuning is impossible. (As yet, no aftermarket XM radio offers 10
buttons for tuning by station number.)
We only used the Pioneer system in town and found that it dropped the signal in exactly the same
spots as did our factory-equipped XM Cadillac. For the gotta-have-it-first crowd, this seems a great
way to tune in to satellite radio.
Web Exclusive
We listened to every channel so you won't have to. Click on the image above for our capsule reviews
of all 100 stations.