Sirius Calls 3 Million A Subscriber Milestone -- Seriously!

Satellite radio broadcaster Sirius got a nice present this holiday season, setting a new subscriber milestone, but it still wasn't enough to overstuff anyone's media stockings. Sirius this morning crowed that it has signed up its 3 millionth subscriber. Considering the hype, the marketing and programming deals Sirius has cut in recent months would not seem to be enough to send media analysts into orbit.

By comparison, Sirius rival XM Satellite Radio has already signed up 5 million subs, meaning the entire satellite radio marketplace is still only about 7 percent of U.S. households. While that might seem paltry by the standards of most national, ad supported media, the satellite radio business is still primarily a subscription-based business model, though expectations have grown that it will become more of a sponsorship or advertising phenomenon. Madison Avenue has become especially piqued by the launch next month of shock jock Howard Stern's radio show on Sirius. Since announcing the deal, Sirius' subscriber base has grown five-fold from 600,000.

But as strong as that growth is, it still pales in comparison to the growth of other consumer electronics devices during the holiday season. In a report distributed to clients last week, Nielsen Media Research made no mention of satellite radio, but predicted big sales for DVD players, dual-deck DVD/VHS players, DVD recorders, video games and DVS satellite TV systems.

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