Sirius XM's latest blunder: Its iPhone app

Sirius XM is at it again. The company that has faced numerous financial issues over the past few years has finally released its much-anticipated app for the iPhone and iPod Touch. There's just one problem: it leaves out much of the good stuff.

The Sirius XM app (and its missing channels).

(Credit: Sirius XM)

The new app allows users to access some of the service's sports, talk, comedy, and music channels. The available channels include, Oprah Radio, MLB Home Plate, NFL Radio, NHL Home Ice, Mad Dog Radio, The Foxxhole comedy channel, and NPR.

Users will also have access to a variety of Sirius XM music channels, including E Street Radio, The Grateful Dead Channel, Eminem's Shade 45, Radio Margaritaville, Siriusly Sinatra, and others. All told, users will be able to listen to 120 channels. Any music track can be purchased in iTunes while listening to it in the Sirius XM app.

But it's the omissions that will undoubtedly sway public opinion. According to Sirius XM, "some select programming, including MLB Play-by-Play, NFL Play-by-Play, Nascar Radio, and Howard Stern, will not be available on the iPhone and iPod Touch."

In its press release, Sirius XM didn't provide any reason why some of its most popular channels aren't included. But after some digging, I found that those omissions may be due to "mobile-performance rights."

"Sirius and XM offer all of the channels for which we have mobile-performance rights," the company wrote on its iPhone app's FAQ page. "For that reason, certain channels which may be available on your satellite radio or online radio service may not be available on a mobile device like the iPhone."

Sirius XM is giving users a free seven-day trial with the app. After that, it's charging a fee to access the content. I called a Sirius XM customer service representative to see how much it would cost to get that service. He told me that as a current Sirius XM subscriber, I would need to pay an additional $2.99 per month after the seven-day trial. Those who currently do not subscribe to the service will be forced to pay $12.95 per month for access.

According to Howard Stern on his radio show Tuesday, 60 percent of Sirius XM's subscribers--about 20 million, at last count (PDF)--listen to Stern's two channels. That means 12 million people who currently have satellite radio won't have any use for its streaming app.

And considering that subscribers won't be able to listen to games or races from the three most popular sports leagues in the U.S.--Nascar, Major League Baseball, and the National Football League--where's the "must-have" channel that would make us want this app?

The main problem with Sirius XM's app isn't that it doesn't provide good content; indeed, a lot of great music channels are included. Rather, it's that nothing is really so uniquely compelling that it would make us want to pay for it. Will Chris "Mad Dog" Russo get you to pay more every month for a Sirius XM app? Does Oprah Radio really justify that additional cost? I don't think so.

We also can't forget that there are countless free apps already in the App Store that will play the same songs as the Sirius XM app, with added personalization. Pandora, Last.fm, Slacker, and many other mobile-music apps provide our favorite music at no cost. (Disclosure: Last.fm is a part of CBS Interactive, which also publishes CNET News.) We can listen to Bruce Springsteen on Pandora. We can catch all our favorite Jimmy Buffett tunes in Slacker. Furthermore, all the songs we really like are probably already sitting in our iTunes library within the iPhone or iPod.

So what's the catch? What's the Sirius XM app's redeeming quality that would make us want to pay $2.99 or $12.95 more a month to have it? Without Howard Stern and live sports commentary, I just don't know.

I had high hopes for the Sirius XM iPhone app. And now I'm disappointed. Its programming isn't compelling enough to make me want it. It leaves out many of the channels most subscribers care about. And for what it's offering, it's a bit overpriced.

Sorry, Sirius XM. This app isn't the way to profitability.

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[getwired]

I never had high hopes for this app. The management team at SiriusXM is showing themselves to be as out of touch with the current media climate as "Terrestrial Radio", as Howard Stern likes to call it. There are several other apps for the iPhone that feed off of the standard Internet feeds of Sirius and XM - much more logical.

[umbrae]

Whats funny is I saw Howard Stern on David Letterman and he said the same thing...

[kangaroolipstick]

This App is a joke!!!!!!! I downloaded another app for $10 "POCKET TUNES" and it plays Howard Stern's Channel. So how does that company that he works for, and is the only reason that it is even in business not make it onto this App. Howard Stern should own that stupid company. Who listens to the crappy radio??? No good music anymore. You can get music for free. We only pay for Sirius because of Howard... Get with it Sirius or you are going to have a ton of pissed off subscribers wanting to revolt against you. Come on Howard get your stations on this blasted worthless thing Sirius calls a App...

[eps916]

Leaving out any of the popular channels is a terrible move for SIRI. Like kangaroolipstick, a month ago, I downloaded Pocket Tunes and have access to all SIRI channels available for streaming online. Worth the $10.

[thebasa]

Pocket Tunes Radio plays them all! Don't buy this lame Sirius restricted app.

[ikramerica--2008]

Is Pocket Tunes legal? Seems as if it is doing something that it technically doesn't have the right to do, if the contract information above is true...

[ddhboy]

Legal? Of course it is. Pocket Tunes is only a UI head for Sirius Online, and since you HAVE to have an internet connection to use Sirius's app anyway, their nt having mobile rights is a laughable excuse, especially when you try to figure out what exactly mobile means. I mean, the car radios, and hand held one with the built in MP3 players are certainly mobile. A laptop is mobile, so does that mean that it shouldn't be licensed to play sirius.<br /><br />What this is is Sirius lawyers being extra careful legally, though it does raise the question as per why Opie and Anthony made it to the app when they have a "mobile" publishing deal with Audible.

[thebasa]

Good question. As ddhboy said, Pocket Tunes merely reuses Sirius' web app interface preventing violation of their TOS, unlike NiceMac's StarPlayr which used their data but had a completely different interface tailored to the iPhone's touchscreen, and was totally sweet I might add. It was a sad deal to have had that app go down in flames ala Sirius' lawyer pressure several months ago, even more so that now they've released an inferior one which on top of that does not offer all their content.

[C.K.C.]

I doubt that yankee pile of crap has half that many listners.Theres no way 60% of the suscribers listen to his junk,no way.He's crazy. OPIE and ANTHONY rule *******

[ellunchboxo]

is the Virus available on this app?

[jettaandy]

You are obviously a hick! Opie and Anthony who???? Laugh my a-s off.

[ddhboy]

Yes, The Virus is available on the Sirius app. As I said earlier this means that Sirius's excuse for not having Howard Stern because of mobile rights is full of crap since Opie and Anthony and Ron and Fez have mobile publication deals with Audible.

[dd7979]

Howard Stern is a liar. First off XM is more than half the subcribers. So he's saying XM listeners who don't even get him, all subscribe to the best of sirius package. And all of Sirius users listen to him. Stern is a pathological liar, it seems, and it's a shame that some blogger would quote him and take it as fact, when he's known to exaggerate and or/mislead. <br /> <br />I have a Sirius subscription because I recently bought a car that has Sirius installed. I haven't once entertained the thought of listening to him and I was a fan for ten years from 94-2004. He's washed up. The only thing I can say is that I"m too lazy to call Siruis and specifically block the channel. I guess it's assumed that you're going to listen to his channel for one second and then you'll be counted as a listener. <br /> <br />Meanwhile I listen to XM online to Opie and Anthony using my windows mobile phone, and then use the bluetooth in the car to hear it in my car or my stereo bluetooth headphones. I live in an area where I never lose 3G data access. I'm tempted to get an Iphone now that O and A are on it, but it seems the third party Sirius/XM apps for Windows Mobile as more channels available, like ESPN radio.

[kangaroolipstick]

How about this C.K.C guy??? Ha!!! He listens to Opie and Anothony!!! Must be one boring drive to work man... sucks for you..

[fmcentire]

Opie and Anthony are great because they are funny, famous and controversial sometimes! Oh wait I'm thinking of Howard Stern. Opie and Anthony are F***ing nobodies.

[juice2009]

I'm getting real tired of Sirius and their nickle and diming. First they cut off the free version of online listening for subscribers. Now I just got a notice that they need to jack up their monthly fee by $1.98 to cover some new U.S. Music Royalty Fee. This is getting crazy. I may have to look in to what HD radio offers in my area instead.

[ewsachse]

You are tired of Sirius "nickel and diming" you, but you have no issues with Apple and AT&#38;T "nickel and diming" you for their services.<br /><br />Go to HD radio and listen to all their commercials, plus you can enjoy hunting for radio stations when you go on a road trip.

[purcell429]

No thanks ewsachse... I'll listen to the couple of thousand songs on my iPhone, and use Simplify to stream the 20,000 songs I have on my home computer, and then use Pandora if I don't know what to listen to. Seriously, who still listens to the radio? And a better question, who would pay for it?

[juice2009]

I don't have an IPhone so I can't speak to AT&#38;T nickle &#38; diming me on that front. My issue is with Sirius.<br /><br />Seriously man, think about this. Sirius' rates were hiked in March if you have more than one receiver. They took away free streaming radio for subscribers soon after. Now in July they want me to pay for some Music Royalty Fees each month. And in 2010 they will have the ability to raise their base subscription rates again. It's just one blow after another for subscribers. The content may be good but it may be getting to that point where I decide I can listen to a few commercials to save a wad of cash.

[scottyb74]

I still have free version of online listening

[greggeaton]

NFL and MLB are no surprise. They aren't available as part of the online streaming - never have been. <br /> <br />But Stern??? Perhaps one of the biggest blunders I've ever seen. I was so excited about this launch so I could listen to Stern wherever I may be. This would be so great in an office for example! <br /> <br />Here's hoping it gets fixed quickly and Howard had nothing to do with it.

[ibeetle]

Five little words missing from the SiriusXM explanation as to why certain programs and/or personalities are not available through the iPhone App. Those five little word are: We are working on it. <br /><br />If they had said we know, and we are working on securing those rights, and adding channels and personalities I would have felt much better. If they had said Howard is coming as soon as we can renegotiate his contract. If they had said more sports are coming in the fall... If they had said... if, if, if. <br /><br />I reactivated my online account for this app. I will give it a couple of months to see what if anything is added, but I am afraid these first impressions of today are correct and I will be canceling the internet service and deleting this App.

[reedyj45]

Hard to spend $2.99 more a month to use a "free" app. Slacker and Pandora apps give the content you want on the go for nothing. I didn't expect to be able to listen to all the XM channels on the app, it's the same line up as the web based player. I would cancel my XM sub if not for Baseball while on road trips.

[ewsachse]

How is this a blunder? Did you really expect them to stream everything?<br /><br />If you "Seriously" (pun intended) want to listen to Sirius on the go, then by a Sirius Stiletto portable radio.<br /><br />The overall long term costs are cheaper, and you will not clog up the Internet streaming audio when you can receive it anywhere in the US on a hand held radio. Plus you can get a docking station to connect it to you home stereo or car stereo.

[Dan_Ackerman]

This might be the most ridiculously fanboyish comment I've ever seen -- and I'm usually on the receiving end of Apple fanboys' wrath, so that's saying something... (and I'm a four-plus year Sirius subscriber).

[ospideyo]

I smell someone on the Sirius XM payroll!

[puterhead]

First of all there is no way that "12 million people have no use for this app" simply because of no howard stern. If anyone pays for an Sirius XM contract to listen to howard stern 24/7 and have no other use for the service then they are even dumber than that guy is. A lot of people pay for that service and NEVER listen to howard stern. We have XM radios in both mine and my wife cars and a home reciever. plus my brother-in-law and my wifes parents all have them in all but one of their vehicles and not one of us would ever waste a minute of our lives that we could never get back listening to stern.

[ospideyo]

I use my Sirius for 2 reasons Howard Stern and Football. This app is a huge failure!

[flywithsean]

This app does what its supposed to. If you stream there channels online you cant get NFL or MLB thats because the NFL and MLB would never allow it. It takes money out of their pockets. The only misstep is no Howard since that is something you can listen to online.

[elgianne]

If you don't think that there are that many Howard fans, go take a look at iTunes and read the thousands of comments. The Sirius app is rated a 1star and that's probably because you can't go lower than that! <br /> <br />This app is worthless without Howard. I'm going to get "Pocket Tunes" and hope it works. <br /> <br />Sirius has a lot of problems, but this one really tops all others.

[guruzim]

"That means 12 million people who currently have satellite radio won't have any use for its streaming app." <br /> <br />The problems with this statement should be obvious to anyone. Just because Howard reports that 60% of the listeners access his channels (I am not willing to grant this based on Stern's baised reporting of the number) it clearly does not imply that they ONLY access his channels. <br /> <br />To put it differently, almost half of Sirius/XM customers won't care at all that Stern is not present, as he doesn't even appear on their radar. <br /> <br />See how spinning sounds? <br /> <br />I agree that it would be better for SiriusXm if Stern were available on the mobile app. I hope they get the rights worked out to provide this. I suspect that Stern does not want to concede this without more money sent his way, or else it would already be worked out. Hopefully the $2.99 stream fee for the early adopters justifies any outlay of cash needed to bring Stern and andy sports that are missing onto it. <br /> <br />The interesting thing I see is that this would give us yet another data point to see how important Stern is to the company. If they bring him online in two months but no one new signs up for the mobile service, does it indicate a failure of the mobile service - or is it in an indicator of Stern's importance? <br /> <br />I own a small amount of SiriusXM stock, for the record. I'd stil think this was biased and poor reporting if I didn't.

[killnfool]

I'm pretty sure that if you already have internet streaming of Sirius as part of your plan that there is no extra fee to use this app. It's only a fee for people without the streaming already.

[polaris20]

I think the author has some serious logic issues. <br /><br />"According to Howard Stern on his radio show Tuesday, 60 percent of Sirius XM's subscribers--about 20 million, at last count (PDF)--listen to Stern's two channels. That means 12 million people who currently have satellite radio won't have any use for its streaming app."<br /><br />So because there are 12 million listeners of his crap channels, they will have no other use for this app? Those 12 million people ONLY have Sirius for Stern? Really? <br /><br />I guess anyone can get a blog on CNET these days. It sure seems that way.

[jchanski21]

I noticed the same thing about that statement - I believe that's called an inductive logical fallacy. <br /> <br />60% of people listen to Howard Stern. Therefore without Howard Stern, 60% of people will have NOTHING to listen to. Because Howard Stern is ALL that they listen to currently. <br /> <br />Eh, no.

[ospideyo]

Yes, Sirius is for Howard Stern and Football.

[imrational]

Lot of spin in this article. Just because Stern reported that a majority of subscribers listen to him doesn't mean that is all they listen to, or that he is the reason why they subscribe. Sounds like a Stern fan is trying to help him out by getting people riled up as Stern negotiates for a deal on his mobile rights.

[clynx]

It seems like everything that goes with this IPhone and it's service provider comes with a game against their customers. Why bother.

[C0mmanderB0nd]

Wow I remember when XM let you stream for free, of course I used that feature so little I didn't even notice they started charging for it. <br /> <br />Sirius/XM is on the way down, they need to find ways to make money so they add all these fees. Enjoy satellite radio while it last because soon they are going to be out of money.

[SiriusBlewItAgain]

I was so excited about this. What a big let down. Not only can I not get Howard(the only thing that makes sirius worth while) I am also in Canada. I can't even get the app at all. So I just went and got pocket tunes for $9.99. I get Howard, plus every thing else. No wonder this company is almost bankrupt. That would have been $9.99 they could have gotten from me for the app plus I would be willing to pay monthly for it. Sirius management is a joke.

[usualsuspect87]

how about the blunder of getting rid of Fungus 53 and whatever punk station sirius had... stupid ace-holes... give me some punk rock, and don't try to tell me that faction has punk rock, it's a constant barrage of poppy bullshart that major labels try to sell as punk.... Marky ramone as a host? seriously? that's like asking ringo to do, welll anything.... bring back skanorrhea, cowabunga uber alles, and hee haw hell.... oh, and don't charge me 10 f'ing dollars when i pay a subscription fee already! not that i'm going to anymore...

[madsmooth]

This app is great as long as you are not a low class loser who listens to howard stern

[DaShooter1]

Frankly this app pisses me off to no extent. I am seriously considering canceling my xm radio. XM already streams all channels to the internet and you need pay nothing extra to listen. However since the internet play is written in flash and the Iphone does not support flash, you cant listen from the website. Streaming to the internet is streaming to the internet the client bandwidth is ATT's problem not XM's. There is no reason for xm to charge extra for a service like this. I could see charging for the app to cover R&#38;D but even that is a stretch. I encorage all of you to complain to XM for this fee, it is just a fleeting attempt for a failing company to try and make a little money. This app however is going to cause them to lose my bussiness.

[poterala]

Incorrect. XM does NOT stream all channels on the net without cost. They stream MOST channels on the Net, but if you're an XM subscriber and want ALL channels available, you pay $2.99/month. As for who has to pay for the bandwidth, you're also wrong. MANY bandwidth providers charge the providers of content for the bandwidth consumed. Think ABC or Hulu doesn't get a bill for providing all of those shows over the net? <br /><br />If you're already paying the $2.99 fee for streaming all XM channels, there is NO additional fee to use this app.

[TommyGun65]

When did XM start streaming all channels to the internet? I have not used streaming since they raised the prices but they were missing several channels back then. Also, I would never listen to Stern. Now for those who are complaining because they don't have Stern; stop your childish complaining and send a letter (or email), start a petition or do something else useful to change the situation.