I was at the 2006 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) here in Vegas yesterday and was able to visit both the XM and Sirius booths. Here is what I found:

XM:

Large display area with about 30 reps on hand.

Working demonstrations of their products in both auotomobiles along with GPS systems.

Audience section where people could watch a live XM broadcast.

Thousands of XM bags handed out to people to store items from the show.

SIRIUS:

Small display area hidden in the corner of the north hall.

No freebies to give out.

Very limited demonstration of products (S50 was the main one being shown).

Only about a staff of 7.

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I love sirius, but their marketing at CES was horrible.

The main product was the S50? I thought the point of CES was to introduce new products. Heh.

The main product was the S50? I thought the point of CES was to introduce new products. Heh.

There was one new product:

http://www.shareholder.com/sirius/ReleaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=183236&cat=&newsroom=

However, the S50 was their main piece on display.

SIRIUS:

Small display area hidden in the corner of the north hall.

No freebies to give out.

Very limited demonstration of products (S50 was the main one being shown).

Only about a staff of 7.


Howard Stern!

That is SAAD we all know sirius is way behind XM I love Howard and a great portion of his fans are coming over but Sirius should also work to appeal to people in all aspects of the spectrum not just Howard's fans. I hope Mel sees this and starts getting on the ball with it.

My inside source at Sirius told me that Mel had a shit fit over the cost of last years CES show and he swung the budget axe.

Keep in mind that by 2007 the new satellite radios coming to the market have to be compatible to get both XM and Sirius. Maybe since Sirius is more focused on content and XM is more focused on technology, Sirius feels less compelled to invest in new technology like portability. They know they f'ed up on the S50 and probably will just wait it out until both companies use the same products.

Keep in mind that by 2007 the new satellite radios coming to the market have to be compatible to get both XM and Sirius.

says who?

Keep in mind that by 2007 the new satellite radios coming to the market have to be compatible to get both XM and Sirius.

If true, how would this work? You'd just buy whatever radio you want and then call whichever provider you choose to activate it with? Interesting.

People have predicted that Sirius and XM will merge at some point. But that will only happen if one is really dominating the other.

I think Sirius will be out of the hardware business entirely within the next few years. They're going to have to earn a living on subscription money. Let others sell the hardware.

Outside of having Howard Stern I am really not pleased with sirius... I am constantly seeing XM improving hardware and offering lots of neat features. I know it all comes down to content but the avergae joe probably would be inclined to go with XM..

Sirius lets get your act together....

I was at CES on Saturday. XM has sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much exposure at this convention. They had several booths and like 35% of the people there were walking around with XM Bags

I was really disappointed with Sirius. The booth was litterly a hole in the wall, and it was such a cluster fuck that I could not even take pictures.

I dont understand why Sirius did this ....?????? For CES 2001 or 2002 they had a stage with Blues Traveler and other bands playing. 2006 was a friggin JIP! :mad:

I was at CES on Saturday. XM has sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much exposure at this convention. They had several booths and like 35% of the people there were walking around with XM Bags

I was really disappointed with Sirius. The booth was litterly a hole in the wall, and it was such a cluster fuck that I could not even take pictures.

I dont understand why Sirius did this ....?????? For CES 2001 or 2002 they had a stage with Blues Traveler and other bands playing. 2006 was a friggin JIP! :mad:

Yeah...it was a big disappointment. I had to visit both XM and Sirius booths for work-related stuff and the XM people were even much friendlier and helpful. Sirius has Stern, but XM appears to be way ahead with marketing (and that does go a long way). Hope they do a better job at the 2007 show.