Here’s a report on the marquee value of stars for both Sirius and XM.
The conclusion: XM’s talent has more universal appeal, while the talent at Sirius is more polarizing. That doesn’t mean one is “better” than the other, I should add. It just means the strategies are, on balance, different.
Interestingly, this report makes the following point about the growth track of Satellite Radio:
Much of that growth will be determined by the lineup of big-name stars on each service, and how many new subscribers these stars attract.
This, of course, is the same point I’ve been making for years now about the critical importance of name brand talent to radio’s future – whether that future is satellite or terrestrial.
So just wait until 2010. There will be nearly 36 million competing reasons for the radio industry to put its money where the talent is.