[Swprograms] Competitor to satellite radio?

[Richard Cuff <rdcuff@xxxxxxxxx>]

Interesting blend of technologies...

Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA  USA



                                         SATELLITE WEEK

                                    January 09, 2006 Monday

        SECTION: TODAY'S NEWS

        LENGTH: 514  words

        HEADLINE: Motorola Says iRadio Service Cheaper than Satellite, with More
        Channels

        BODY:

           Motorola, making a foray into music, will offer a pay radio
service boasting
        more channels and a lower monthly fee than satellite, it said.
The iRadio
        service, unveiled with few details, will deliver more than 400
channels of music
        and talk radio through Bluetooth-enabled devices. That's about
3 times the
        number of channels carried by XM and Sirius. IRadio will cost
$7-$10 monthly,
        said a spokesman for Motorola. That compares with just under
$13 charged by the
        2 satellite rivals. Five types of iRadio compatible phones
were on display at
        CES, said the official. Officials at Sirius and XM had no
immediate comment.

           The service, to be available later this year, won't likely
be subject to FCC
        regulation. That's because content will be sent to devices
including Motorola's
        new ROKR headsets over a broadband connection, said the
company official. A
        cellphone will send the signal to a car radio, home stereo or
headphones. "It's
        much more along the lines of a portable music player and is
not a broadcast
        music service," said the spokesman. That tack partly mimics
Motorola's strategy
        of offering music on other portable devices. The company has unveiled a
        partnership with Apple to create a wireless jukebox of sorts,
albeit with less
        storage capacity than most iPods. Piggybacking on the success
of music download
        services may help iRadio sign up customers, said analysts.

           A lower price may be a prime selling point. "They're
leading with price,"
        said Jim Kelleher, an Argus Research analyst with a "buy"
rating on Motorola
        stock. "The other thing they're leading with is you can move
the product from
        your cell phone to your car," he said. Still, Kelleher and
counterparts were
        cautious about the service. "I think pay radio in general is
an uphill battle...
        radio by its nature is a broadcast medium that comes at you,"
he said. "It's an
        oar in the water to see if there is some traction here, but I
wouldn't be
        surprised to see if it belly flopped."

           Motorola was undaunted in its quest to get more money from
selling services.
        "Consumers expect more choice and more portability," said the
company spokesman.
        "The market is ready." Wireless providers can start "working
with us" on the
        service, which could be available as soon as June 30, he said.
Clear Channel
        will provide music for 75 channels, said Jeff Littlejohn, an
exec. vp for the
        firm's radio business. "Some details are still in flux," he
said. Clear Channel
        officials declined further comment. About 30% of iRadio's
channels will feature
        talk formats, said the Motorola spokesman.

           Robust growth of satellite radio subscribers may signal
success for iRadio,
        said an analyst. Sirius and XM have almost 10 million customers total.
        "Certainly XM Radio and Sirius have shown a level of
popularity," said Lawrence
        Harris, an analyst at Oppenheimer & Co. with a "buy" rating on
Motorola. "There
        are a large number of AM and FM stations... but there does
appear to be a high
        level of interest in different formats," said Harris: "Some of the older
        business models for not only radio but TV as well are starting
to break down."

        LOAD-DATE: January 20, 2006

_______________________________________________
Swprograms mailing list
Swprograms@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://arizona.hard-core-dx.com/mailman/listinfo/swprograms

To unsubscribe:  Send an E-mail to  swprograms-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=unsubscribe, or visit the URL shown above.