Bmw And Sirius Satellite Radio Extend Exclusive Relationship

New York and Woodcliff Lake, NJ - September 13, 2005...

SIRIUS Satellite Radio (NASDAQ: SIRI) and BMW of North America, LLC today announced an agreement that extends SIRIUS' exclusive relationship with BMW through August 2008. All BMW models are covered by the agreement.

"Satellite radio continues to rapidly grow in popularity, and SIRIUS' unique programming is a complement to the exceptional driving experience BMW owners enjoy," said Tom Purves, Chairman and CEO of BMW (US) Holding Corp. "We are pleased to continue to make the SIRIUS service available to current and future BMW owners."

"We are very pleased that BMW has decided to extend its exclusivity with SIRIUS, thereby making SIRIUS' unique mix of commercial-free music and talk programming available to future BMW owners," said Mel Karmazin, CEO of SIRIUS. "We look forward to working with BMW to continue to provide their customers with the best radio programming available, to ensure that BMW drivers experience the best in-vehicle entertainment anywhere."

Factory-installed SIRIUS satellite radios will continue to be available on the BMW
3 Series Sedan and Sports Wagon, and the BMW 5, 6 and 7 Series, with a one-year bundled subscription included in the price of the option.

Other BMW models, including X3, X5, Z4, M3, 3-Series Coupe and 3-Series Convertible will continue to have SIRIUS available as a dealer-installed accessory. MINI will continue to offer SIRIUS as a dealer-installed accessory as well.

In addition to providing satellite radio service, SIRIUS has partnered with BMW as a sponsor of a variety of BMW consumer events throughout the US. These include the Formula BMW USA Championship, The Ultimate Drive® for Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, The Ultimate Driving Experience®, BMW Team PTG M3 race cars, and The BMW Golf Cup.

Sirius also played a key role in the launch of the all-new 2006 BMW 3 Series Sedans, including daily support of the 44-day "3 Across America" tour, which culminated with an 18-hour marathon broadcast that aired on a special SIRIUS BMW Channel.

Why does BMW not allow the market determine which satellite radio it prefers? Audi allows you to get Sirius or XM as a factory option. I am wondering what are the benefiits to BMWNA to have this "exclusive" relationship other than the sponsorships mentioned in the press release.

Originally Posted by LDV330i

Why does BMW not allow the market determine which satellite radio it prefers? Audi allows you to get Sirius or XM as a factory option. I am wondering what are the benefiits to BMWNA to have this "exclusive" relationship other than the sponsorships mentioned in the press release.

My guess is that Sirius gives them some kind of a deal

Probably a reduced license fee and/or some sort of profit share on subscription renewals.

sirius is pretty damn good. I listen to sirius all day every day, while my friend with XM leaves his receiver at home all the time and doesn't even use it

any satellite is better than standard radio, but sirius has superior programming in my opinion

Will Sirius work in Europe when I do my ED?

Originally Posted by westwest888

Will Sirius work in Europe when I do my ED?

Service is limited to the lower 48 United States.

Originally Posted by whiskey.org

sirius is pretty damn good. I listen to sirius all day every day, while my friend with XM leaves his receiver at home all the time and doesn't even use it

any satellite is better than standard radio, but sirius has superior programming in my opinion

I agree... Sirius programming is far superior then XM.

Originally Posted by beewang

I agree... Sirius programming is far superior then XM.

In the matter of taste everybody has their opinion (I do not believe the god of taste have revealed an opinion on this one.) .

I chose XM over Sirius because there were specific channels that I was interested in that were not available on Sirius. Although BMW did not support the ability to make that choice, it was available to me. Now there is no alternative choice. Million of XM subscribers can't be wrong.

The point I was trying to make was that people should be able to vote with their pocket book, specially when it is technically feasible to provide those options at no additional cost.

anyone know the current numbers of how many sirius and XM customers...tried searching and all I could find was old stuff from 2003, but a bunch of forum discussions saying that Sirius had better quality

Originally Posted by zentenn

My guess is that Sirius gives them some kind of a deal

If you only knew what was in it!!

Originally Posted by SARAFIL

If you only knew what was in it!!

So basically BMW sold out.

Originally Posted by BMWenthusiast

anyone know the current numbers of how many sirius and XM customers...tried searching and all I could find was old stuff from 2003, but a bunch of forum discussions saying that Sirius had better quality

The XM board XMFan.com claims that there are 5,044,644 XM subscribers.

Per Sirius press release dated August 2: As of June 30, 2005, SIRIUS had 1,814,626 subscribers.

I keep seeing people posting that Sirius has better quality. Could someone please explain how they are defining quality in this context?

Originally Posted by LDV330i

The XM board XMFan.com claims that there are 5,044,644 XM subscribers.

Per Sirius press release dated August 2: As of June 30, 2005, SIRIUS had 1,814,626 subscribers.

I keep seeing people posting that Sirius has better quality. Could someone please explain how they are defining quality in this context?

I suppose it depends on what metrics you use.

And I wonder if that XM number is accurate - for example, I had 5 XM receivers at one point, but they're all deactivated (and some have been sold off) and I'm on Sirius now, for
a number of reasons.

1) XM had a *very* high repetition rate for tracks on some of their channels. For example, their "Top Tracks" channel 46 might have been programmed by loading a CD changer with one of those "best of the x0's" sets and pressing "Random". The Guess Who's "No Sugar Tonight" never got that much airplay back when it was on the charts...

2) Their receiver modules are buggy (both Sirius and XM sell canned tuner modules to radio manufacturers). The Sony Plug-n-Play would just lock up, while the newer version units such as the XMPCR and XM Direct will lose authorization and drop to the preview randomly after extended periods of use.

3) Their repeaters are poorly placed - I live about 10 miles from an airport. My XM antennas didn't have good satellite reception (0 signal strength), so I relied on their terrestrial repeaters. Whenever a plane flew on a particular approach to the airport (several times an hour) I'd get an dropout where I had good terrestrial signal strength but no audio. In other words, their repeater's input antenna looked to the sky across an airport approach. I also got lots of dropouts in downtown NYC. By contrast, I get 10/10 satellite/terrestrial signal at home with Sirius, and in the car I don't get dropouts downtown.

4) They change policies and are unfriendly to developers. Look what happened to the XMPCR and free replacement software for it.

5) Their partners can't deliver desired XM Direct adapters for many vehicles. There still isn't an adapter for BMWs with navigation, and the latest on their website said that there might never be one. Similarly, owners of other car brands are making the same complaint.

Originally Posted by LDV330i

So basically BMW sold out.

Well, I take my original statement back. I have no clue what (if anything) BMW gets from Sirius. I do know that there is an incentive out there for some dealers to order lots of cars with Sirius, though.

Originally Posted by Terry Kennedy

I suppose it depends on what metrics you use.

And I wonder if that XM number is accurate - for example, I had 5 XM receivers at one point, but they're all deactivated (and some have been sold off) and I'm on Sirius now, for
a number of reasons.

I would have some comments on your observations.

1. I would question both XM and Sirius numbers since neither was independently audited using the same standard. I would imaging both would count each receiver as a subscription and not the number of accounts since they are both trying to impress investors.
2. I have XM Direct and XM2Go and have not experienced loosing authorization. I wonder if that is related to not having a strong enough signal?
3. Here in Houston they appear to have a fair amount of repeaters. I onlly loose signal in areas of dense high rises even with my car antenna not being in an optimum place, inside the car on the rear deck. The antenna for my home kit for my XM2Go is about 10 feet away from a window and have no problem with reception.
4. My understanding was that XMPCR was yanked from the market because of outside pressures from music royalty organizations when it became common knowledge that recorded tunes could be ripped through hacking software. I wonder if someone is working on that for the XM2Go?
5. I do not think that Blitzsafe is an official partner for XM Direct. If you look at the officially supported adapters for XM they are much cheaper ($50), better quality, and better looking. In the case of BMW Nav I think it was more of a case of trying to hack into BMW proprietary software. The communications system was changed on the E90 to make it even more proprietary and XM Direct has been locked out. I think it is the case of manufacturers trying to protect their cozy relationships. Blitzsafe developed an adapter for GM vehicles and was ready to go to market when it got a letter from GM lawyers "advising" Blitzsafe that their adapter would interfere with the GM radio ability to be a MID and ultimately with the OnStar system. If Blitzsafe insisted in marketing their module and GM got sued because of the OnStar system's inability to provide assistance, GM would name Blitzsafe as a party to the suit. That kit never made it to market.

Originally Posted by LDV330i

The XM board XMFan.com claims that there are 5,044,644 XM subscribers.

Per Sirius press release dated August 2: As of June 30, 2005, SIRIUS had 1,814,626 subscribers.

I keep seeing people posting that Sirius has better quality. Could someone please explain how they are defining quality in this context?

just because more people are subscribed to XM doens't mean it's better

hell more people buy toyotas than BMW's and that certainly doesn't make toyota a better car than a BMW.

XM has more subscribers due to it's big headstart in the industry, sirius has been neck and neck with subscriber growth over the last few quarters, so they're basically growing at about the same rate, it's just that XM had a headstart.

please just try sirius, it's free on the internet to try for 3 days

what kind of music or talk do you find XM superior to sirius on?

Originally Posted by SARAFIL

Well, I take my original statement back. I have no clue what (if anything) BMW gets from Sirius. I do know that there is an incentive out there for some dealers to order lots of cars with Sirius, though.

the incentive is that when the customer wants to get sat radio later, the dealer doesn't have to explain to them that the customer can't have satelite radio because they were too cheap to spend 75 bucks for the prewire.

how mad would you be if you couldn't have a big feature, that spending 75 bucks would have allowed you to have.

a 75 buck prewire for navi, or xenons..................... would be on every car too

Originally Posted by whiskey.org

Artie's my hero

Mine too. I just wish he'd get back on the sauce.

Sirius is catching up with XM quickly, due to the buzz surrounding the Stern show's upcoming move. They were kind of on the verge of dying before that fantastic signing.

Originally Posted by LDV330i

I would have some comments on your observations.
My understanding was that XMPCR was yanked from the market because of outside pressures from music royalty organizations when it became common knowledge that recorded tunes could be ripped through hacking software. I wonder if someone is working on that for the XM2Go?

But the XM Direct is the same basic box, and all it needs is an adapter (to either serial or USB) to do the same thing.

I do not think that Blitzsafe is an official partner for XM Direct. If you look at the officially supported adapters for XM they are much cheaper ($50), better quality, and better looking. In the case of BMW Nav I think it was more of a case of trying to hack into BMW proprietary software.

See this press release. According to it, Blitzsafe and Terk are the official XM Direct partners.

The communications system was changed on the E90 to make it even more proprietary and XM Direct has been locked out. I think it is the case of manufacturers trying to protect their cozy relationships.

Actually, Blitzsafe posted a request for MOST-bus BMW owners in the NY/NJ area to test their new adapters for the new BMWs.

Originally Posted by beewang

I agree... Sirius programming is far superior then XM.

I'm with Bee on this one too.

Originally Posted by LDV330i

The XM board XMFan.com claims that there are 5,044,644 XM subscribers.

Per Sirius press release dated August 2: As of June 30, 2005, SIRIUS had 1,814,626 subscribers.

I keep seeing people posting that Sirius has better quality. Could someone please explain how they are defining quality in this context?

From teh posts I read they say Sirius radio is just like a "mp3 or cd quality" and they say that XM is much less

Originally Posted by BMWenthusiast

From teh posts I read they say Sirius radio is just like a "mp3 or cd quality" and they say that XM is much less

Neither Sirius nor XM use lossless compression, so neither is "CD quality". Further, depending on the particular program material being sent (and, to some extent, what is happening on the other channels) it may sound anywhere from excellent to poor.

I believe both Sirius and XM have a constant overall bitrate, but use variable bitrate on each channel (and there are differences between the channels).

The packaged tuners that Sirius and XM both provide to equipment manufacturers have 44.1KHz digital output (though not all receivers give you access to it) so any sonic differences indicate quality differences between the services (and not receiver differences).

I can't really say that one is "better" than the other - for channels where they aim for high quality (the music channels, as opposed to traffic/weather type stuff), I think they both perform better than FM broadcast, particularly in the area of channel separation. My subjective opinion is that Sirius has better bass, particularly on older tracks, but I think that is a function of their EQ settings when digitizing the old recordings and not a broadcasting issue.

I will not be too quick to declare XM the winner because they have more subscribers than Sirius. XM's exclusive contract with GM, the largest car manufacturer, virtually guarantees them more subscribers than Sirius. Almost all all GM vehicles sold come with XM and a 3 mont trial period.

I know this because I own an 04 Yukon and althouth I didn't opt for XM, I had it to try out for 3 months free. The question we should find an answer to is "How Many of XM's 5+ Million subscribers are actual paying customers, ie Plug-n-Play and after market application owners versus free trial GM vehicle accounts?" Almost all the 3+ Million Sirius subscribers are actual paying subscribers

I have had the chance to listen to both and I personally like Sirius Better. I think XM is a fine product, but Sirius has more variety in programming. Sound quality is subject to the stream or channel you're listening to. Exclusives like Stern, NFL, NHL just to name a few and OEM compatibility with BMW made it a no brainer.