Satellite radio may be growing rapidly, but new Internet-enabled competitors are coming fast and furiously from all sides--and many of them are free, whereas satellite's customers are doling out $150
a year to hear commercial and censor-free radio. Wireless broadband Internet is making it possible to listen to radio on MP3 players, cell phones, and any other Internet-enabled device, which is
worrying to satellite providers, especially if Internet radio makes its way to cars, where Sirius and XM reach most of their listeners. And, as MSNBC points out, satellite growth has been "far from
meteoric"--penetration is now close to 10 million after about three years. But then again, it all comes down to programming: Howard Stern, Sirius' high profile new recruit, was recently awarded 34
million shares of stock after Sirius announced that it had added 2.2 million subscribers last year, more than double its total in 2004.
Read the whole story at MSNBC.com »