The FCC, in a move clearly influenced by the Bush administration’s recent move to (even farther) right of center has been ruthlessly cracking down on what the administration calls “indecency in media”. The change in heart started by a national flashing by Janet Jackson has resulted in the CEOs of both Viacom (parent of CBS, MTV) and Clear Channel having to answer for their content to Congress.

Starting February 1, 2004, XM's Music Channels will be 100% Commercial-Free. XM's 2004 lineup also includes five new channels: Highway 16, The Blend, Fungus, Lucy and MSNBC. In addition to commercial-free music, XM Instant Traffic and Weather will offer listeners in-depth, up-to-date road weather conditions in 21 major metropolitan markets nationwide, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. XM will also add 32 channels of News, Sports, Talk and Entertainment, and 21 channels of Traffic and Weather.

It is hard to argue with the power of terrestrial (FM and AM) radio as a force in worldwide media. As XM touts its 1,000,000th subscriber and Sirius brags about 200,000 – terrestrial radio can stick its nose up at such tiny listener groups. Examine any large major market in U.S. and there can be more people actually listening to one popular FM radio station (perhaps syndicating Howard Stern) than all of the subscribers of XM and Sirius combined. Add to the volume of listeners the fact that terrestrial radio has fewer stations thus a more focused and consolidated audience than any of the new radio challengers. Consolidation has been both the best thing and the worst thing to ever happen to radio in its history. After Congress loosened the rules for station ownership in 1996, a handful of companies boomed and now three own the majority of stations around the country. ...

The National Football League and SIRIUS Satellite Radio have just announced a seven-year agreement for SIRIUS to broadcast all NFL games live nationwide, and for SIRIUS to become the Official Satellite Radio Partner of the National Football League, with exclusive rights to use the NFL "shield" logo and collective NFL team trademarks. Beginning with the NFL's 2004 season, SIRIUS will carry the entire NFL regular season as well as Wild Card Weekend and Divisional Playoff games, along with select pre-season contests and playoff games. Beginning with the 2005 season, SIRIUS will also broadcast the Conference Championships and the Super Bowl.

Never underestimate the power of the 12 volt, car audio market when it comes to launching a new audio-video technology. Right after XM Satellite announced its 1,000,000th subscriber, its competitor Sirius announced they have hit the 200,000. Much of this growth is driven by pre-installed automotive systems. XM is found in many GM cars while Sirius is just now making it into Mercedes Benz. Creative dealers are able to burry the cost of the service into a lease (or purchase) payment in a way that adds value to the car and potential profit to the dealer. And with more and more radio groups owning more bland traditional radio stations, consumers are willing to bet $12 per month to find some new tunes to listen to during their daily commute.