Loading...
Symbols:
Authors:

Sirius XM at Work - Largest Pool of Potential Subscribers

by: Brandon Matthews September 29, 2008 | about stocks: SIRI    

Brandon Matthews

About this author:
Become a Contributor Submit an Article
  • Font Size:
  • Print

Radio is really not a very complicated business. You want to offer something that no one else can, to attract as many listeners as possible. Sirius XM (SIRI) has certainly nailed this part down! The biggest problem that Sirius XM seems to have not figured out is where and when people actually listen to radio.

I know from personal experience that I rarely listen to radio at home. I always listen in my car, yet the time spent in my car is minimal. Sirius XM has, up to now, primarily sought subscribers from those people who listen in their cars.

Most people, in my opinion listen to radio AT WORK. Over the past two weeks, one observant reader of SiriusBuzz has pointed several times that Mad Dog Radio is not available on the Internet, and that many people are not in their cars between 2 to 5 P.M. Which brings me back to this subject that I am adamant about.

There are over 11 million construction workers in the United States. Carpenters, Painters, Electricians, Plumbers, Sheet-rockers, Masons and Landscapers.  Do you know what these people do all day, every day? They listen to RADIO! They don’t listen to iPods. Instead they listen to the cheapest radios produced and sold at the highest possible price because they are made for a construction environment. Milwaukee, DeWalt and Bosch all make specific work-site radios for tradespeople, yet none of them are equipped with Satellite Radio. Can you guess what auto mechanics listen to at work? That’s right, radio.

Most of America does not have the luxury of sitting at a desk all day or driving in their cars. They work! In my opinion, this is the largest pool of potential subscribers and they have been ignored for the most part.

There are nearly 70 million full-time employed adults at work during an average work day. That’s nearly 6 times the combined annual US Auto Sales. At 5 PM more than 28,500,000 are still working.  At 6 PM 16,100,000 are still working.

Rather than all this talk of iPods and high-tech devices, I think Sirius XM should reach out to the working man and woman. The middle class, rather than the BMW buyer. This was Stern's audience. Not the Mercedes Benz buyer. And people who work are the ones who can afford Satellite Radio. These are also the people that advertisers want to reach.

Position: Long SIRI

Related Articles

This article has 221 comments:

  •  
    Sep 29 06:13 AM
    Why does'nt Mel come out with any good news?? Is there nothing good for him to say? Why not tell us where we are at up to this point with the synergies? Are they saving 100 million yet because of the merger? 200 million? A sneak peak or some good news about new receivers or programming options...SOMETHING!! ANYTHING! How are doing in our search for financing? I'm holding 40,000 shares at an average of .97. Get out of your office Mel...take 5 minutes of your time and tell us what our fate looks like.
    Reply
  •  
    Sep 29 06:36 AM
    Great observation! How about night workers: fire fighters, security men, policemen, hospital and medical workers, etc.?
    Reply
  •  
    Sep 29 07:37 AM
    One problem they need to clean up DJ's mouths so that some channels don't offend clients in the work place including construction.
    Reply
  •  
    Sep 29 07:49 AM
    What I can see is the price is always falling falling and falling!
    Reply
  •  
    Sep 29 08:13 AM
    Someone is thinking in apossitive mode.The hard working man is the backbone to USA.I agree! SIRIUS should get aman that is connected to the average worker to work for sirius in marketing! gsmw
    Reply
  •  
    Sep 29 08:15 AM
    Great point!! I work in the construction admin field... so when I am on site I know that those guys out there doing the work have that radio on all day. This is a great observation and should be taken advantage of. Plus the times I am in the office - the radio is on here. I stream Sirius online - I just can't go back to FM....and won't.
    I hope the advertising/marketing guys at Sirius are reading these posts..... I for one am getting sick of watching this stock get pummeled....
    Reply
  •  
    Sep 29 08:23 AM
    I agree manufacturing a radio, or implementing sirius service into an existing device providing service for the markets described would put them one step closer to capturing their projected goals.

    Great insight!
    Reply
  •  
    Sep 29 08:40 AM
    Question: Why can't the government come out with a bail out plan for us investors? We have lost alot in Bear Stearns, Lehman, Sirius, and other stocks. How about increasing the deduction from $3,000 to something like $30,000?
    Reply
  •  
    Sep 29 08:44 AM
    As a holder of SIRIUS-XM stock I am like others disappointed that the market price of the stock keeps going down. I do believe that soon we will hear more from CEO Mel who has an excellent track record as a former CEO of a celestial radio company. I hope soon we will hear from Mel so that we can see the stock market price of SIRIUS-XM well over $1.00 a share.
    Reply
  •  
    Sep 29 08:57 AM
    I beleive that chrisuwait has an excellent idea and would be interested to know if this person has contacted Sirius offices to suggest it? If not what are you waiting for?
    Reply
  •  
    Sep 29 09:03 AM
    Keep dreaming Edster, the last time Mel came out of his cave and spoke, the stock nose dived. You want that again? This stock will hit .50 before it hits $1.00, just ask Weinke from GS, he is the only one who has been right so far.
    Reply
  •  
    Sep 29 09:09 AM
    I was a Union Plumber for over 50 years, now retired and job site radio was our thing! This is a good way to get more subs!
    Reply
  •  
    Sep 29 09:30 AM
    One other thing they should think about is a nav system just for 18 wheelers. I have a friend who drives one and his tom tom gets him into trouble sometimes because it doesn't show if the road is suitable for a semi. They could have one that only uses routes that are legal for semi-trucks to be on. And there are a ton of big rigs in this country.
    Reply
  •  
    Sep 29 09:58 AM
    All of these ideas are exactly why this company will be successful. I don't think now is the time for Mel to be doing a lot of talking about new ideas before securing the financing necessary to relieve investor concerns.

    This is also end of the quarter "Black Out" for pumping from company officers, and the country is in a "Financial Crisis" and isn't listening for what to buy, at least this week. Oct 6th is around the corner and the launching of new products, and financial updates should happen during that week. Let's hope that the markets in general will stabilize and float all boats.
    Reply
  •  
    Sep 29 10:08 AM
    Brandon, your last article was a little more of the same (GS doestn't like siriusxm every one else does etc...) this article is very good reporting. Very insightful and clever. And if siri really wanted the stock to rise asap they would take yours and other posters advice and start making deals with Dewalt, Ryobi and all the other company's making drop proof radios for work sites. They would start marketing them for the christmas season and demolish the phony subscriber estimates for the end of the year.
    Reply
  •  
    Sep 29 10:27 AM
    -everytime Mel comes out w positive guidance, some DF anal yst comes out w neg. article or downgrade. What we need is a grass root campaign so to speak, where the investors, subscribes unite and form positive forums to help siri get past this difficult road ahead.
    Reply
  •  
    Sep 29 10:33 AM
    Dalinater,good point bringing up the big rigs.With the millions of big rigs in this country they are definately a viable resource for revenue. Drivers could listen to the same programming wherever they go, instead of whatever local terrestrial programming they could tune into. The people that keep downgrading this stock realize the true synergies but keep trying to sidetrack you with phantom fear.Sure there is a credit crises but a company that's bulldozing a path into everyday life is just the kind of secure loan these credit company's need to make.It's hard to stay sober watching siriusxm's stock rise and fall and then getting a blitzkreig of bad news then getting a string of good news and all the while watching the stock bounce around the same numbers. It's like groundhog day.If you were a long and kept averaging down as it dropped that's very smart, your buying into a great company with a great product. If you keep shorting and rebuying and selling at a higher price well I guess you see the manipulation and you have to make your money too.Either way the real potential of this product, no matter what the downgraders say, is astronomical.
    Reply
  •  
    Sep 29 10:33 AM
    TO SAVE YOUR INVESTMENT BUY A SUB TO SIRIUS XM!




    TELL YOUR FRIEND TOO!
    Reply
  •  
    Sep 29 10:56 AM
    I drive I-95 thru South Florida, 50 miles daily. The big rigs have Sirius. Everytime I pass one, my signal (I transmit through FM) gets over ran by the rig next to me. These guys are well aware of the product.
    Reply
  •  
    Sep 29 11:16 AM

    I WILL SAY THIS AGAIN AND AGAIN!


    TO SAVE THIS STOCK THEY NEED SUBSCRIBERS!

    BUY YOUR SELF A SIRI OR XM RADIO AND SUBSCRIPTION!

    THE HIGHER THE NUMBERS THE FASTER THEY WILL PAY OFF THE DEBT AND THE MORE SUBSCRIBERS THEY SEE, INVESTORS WILL SEE TOO!


    BUY A SUBSCRIPTION TO SIRIUS XM! IF YOU CARE ABOUT YOUR INVESTMENT! TELL ALL UR FRIENDS TO GET ONE!
    Reply
  •  
    Sep 29 11:33 AM
    Hey,
    Does anyone know what happened with the financing conference the other day... that no obvious news came out for??
    Reply
  •  
    Sep 29 11:37 AM
    Got Siri, I'm sure a lot of truckers have the product. What I'm suggesting is a market campaign designed to target a wider range of truckers.Maybe not a Super Bowl commercial, but highway signs,truck stop signs etc... Even getting 15% of those millions of truckers to sign up would help demolish those low ball estimates.
    Reply
  •  
    Sep 29 11:45 AM
    3/4 of my account disappear, owing to this stock. I am crying every day!
    Reply
  •  
    Sep 29 11:45 AM
    There is no reason to buy another subscription now if they are gonna come out with the intercompatible ones in a few months
    Reply
  •  
    Sep 29 11:53 AM
    You wanna talk about missing out on a market, how about the female market. Basically you've got the raunchy radio covered. I don't know a female that has a sirius radio, they own ipods. How about changing where you advertise, why not try to put displays in book stores and grocery stores (my grocery store probably devotes 40% of its retail space to crap that isn't groceries). For goodness sake why don't you get an elmo channel for the kids (the kid song channel is mediocre at best) and a lifetime channel for the wife or better yet that nancy grace sad bastard crap. As far as penetration goes you got the 18-35 male population covered. How about some ad sponsored programming, yeah that defeats the idea of sat rad,but, it beats death which is where this is headed. Management should be fired for offering such a vast selection of singularly targeted demographic programming.
    Reply
  •  
    Sep 29 11:54 AM
    still long siri, purely out of stubborness. Honestly, there is nothing in this model that pleases me.
    Reply
  •  
    Sep 29 12:29 PM
    As long as it's $13 a month to have 'background music' available at a construction site or in the office, SIRI/XM is dead in the water. RADIO IS FREE. RADIO IS EVERWHERE. When shareholders have to beg people to buy satellite radios and subscribe to this service, what does that tell you about consumer demand. Nobody had to cajole me into paying Comcast for their service. And they don't provide anywhere near the amount of programming that SIRI/XM does. I'll be just fine with FREE radio and Internet streaming. And when wi-fi is $13/month and available in cars, SIRI/XMm days are numbered.
    Reply
  •  
    Sep 29 12:52 PM
    WiFi is not a reliable streaming media form. So stop acting like it is. Cell phone signals are choppy and irregular, the reason people buy SATELLITE RADIO in the first place. They day WiFi is taking out Sirius is the day I fart on the moon. So load up your space suits, cause were going for A ROCKET RIDE!~!! YYYEEEHHHHHAWWWWWWWWWW...
    Lies, more lies, please, I need them. There like food to me.
    Reply
  •  
    Sep 29 12:57 PM
    I couldnt give a rats ass what construction guys listen too. I know that in my company when I put a sat radio in one of the trucks, I would get fights to see who got to drive that truck. Not one guy asked me if it was WiFi compatable, LOL LOL AT57, who do you work for? GS, or are you just naive and dont understand media? Or entertainment? Or technology? WiFi is not a competitor. Think of Sirius as a media company that provides entertainment, news, weather, gps, live concerts, amazing content, and something for everyone. Think of WiFi as a way to talk to your cell phone with a werid thing in your ear. WiFi is for downloading songs to your Iphone. Like saying, hey everyone, look out, Coaxial cable is going to take out Sirius.
    Hey everyone, did you hear, USB ports are going to take out Sirius?
    Did you hear? The sound of a volcano erupting is going to take out Sirius? When you say Wifi is going to take out Sirius, I hear...
    "Im dumb and dont know what Im talking about"
    Reply
  •  
    Sep 29 01:00 PM
    Charging $13 for Wifi? LOL LOL
    O come one, where do i start.
    Thats like saying, when they start charging $13 a month for my cable that goes from my car charger to my phone, im going to buy it and sell my sirius stock.
    When I get to pay $13 a month for my ability to acess my VCAST, which I already have, cause I pay $15 a month for it, im going to call up Verizon and offer an additional $13 a month for something I can already do.
    Hey did you hear? Cable companies are going to start charging you per inch of cable used. Crazy!!!!
    Reply
  •  
    Sep 29 01:00 PM
    WiFi allows you to use your phone online. VCAST charges you for that service, you dipshit.
    Reply
  •  
    Sep 29 01:01 PM
    Ooops, can i edit that bad word, sorry, lol. I take it back, ur not a dip****, ur a pleasantly funny fella!!
    Reply
  •  
    Sep 29 01:03 PM
    I have some swamp land in Florida to sell you too.
    I want someone on here to tell me the best and most reliable wireless media format? Most accessible across this country, with the least breaks in service? Now I want you to tell me how your gonig to listen to your car internet radio camping in the rockies. Or driving to LA even. Go ahead, Ill wait.
    Reply
  •  
    Sep 29 01:12 PM
    RRegan Edster is not dreaming. At the ripe old age of 78 I have very little concern. The stock may drop to 50 cents which is possible in time of crises. But if you have no faith in CEO Mel and his staff then it is over for SIRIUS-XM but then maybe all is over for the entire US market. Maybe the world is comming to an end. If it does then there is nothing we can do about the fate of even the good old once blessed America.
    Only time will tell. I even at the age of 78 do have HOPE for the nation that I love and all true believers. Sorry if I mix politics and religion. It is about time this nation reverses course and returnsto God for his blessings.
    Reply
  •  
    Sep 29 02:03 PM
    Edster, over the years, would you say the end result has been little difference"in the countries direction" regardless of if its a republican or democrat? Wouldnt you think this country would have learned by now that these two parties are being controlled by the same forces? Whats your take... O and to make this about Sirius, GO SIRIUS!!!
    Reply
  •  
    Sep 29 02:07 PM
    Right on with your thinking...... and don't dismiss those of us at home who will listen more if satellite reception improves with the projected launch of new birds or the availability of better antennas.
    Reply
  •  
    Sep 29 02:12 PM
    Get those 20 million idle radio's turned on!!! With Oct 6th's "Best Of Both" Sirius Xm should power up all the 20 Mil. radios as a promotion to get back past listeners with the new added content and also give the other part of the idle radios w/ new owners of these used cars a taste of the great content! Turn them on for a short period of time and let them hear what they are missing. It would cost far less than the $100 or so it cost Sirius Xm to put a radio in a new car. But it has to be done now & with fanfare. Get your talent on the streets of Mahnhatten to get the free press. Get Stern & others to make the circuit of talk shows. Don't they have a stake in the company? Mel, You won the merger war, so why not have a party of celebration for all to see and hear. I'm outside looking in, and your silence is sending a negative signal to Wallstreeet. Beat them at their own game, outdo teir negativity with your HUTSPAH!(hope i spelled that right). 10% of 20 mil. alone would get you what you expect for all of 2009!
    Reply
  •  
    Sep 29 02:26 PM
    Relmor I agree with your comment. In the time of the forefathers the elected officials voted what is good for the country regardless of pary affiliation. For too many years elected officials are more concerned about getting reelected then what is best for the country. Keep the faith there may be CHANGE comming only time will tell. I am glad you are still a SIRIUS-XM fan.
    Reply
  •  
    Sep 29 02:58 PM
    I was pumping gas at a station in MA and over the gas pumps you hear music from XM.

    Well Mr MEL, how many other gas stations have your Rep guys / gals reached to be new subs.

    Or if they are lazy, may be mailing to all gas stations who play music over head 24/7, you may get few 100,000 subs and free advertizing for SiriusXM to all those people with cars pumping gas and have radios in there not activated yet
    Reply
  •  
    Sep 29 03:34 PM
    oh my god !!!! we are screwed, does anyone have anything to say about this market today and siri stock? the last thing I am worried about is where to pump in music
    Reply
  •  
    Sep 29 03:34 PM
    We are taking another beat down today, I keep buying and it keeps going down further. I think I am bad luck, everytime i buy, it goes to another 52 week low. An Eagles loss last night and a another 10% loss on Sirius, looks like a long week ahead
    Reply
  •  
    Sep 29 03:35 PM
    make that 20%
    Reply
  •  
    </