Comments on: Sirius XM's latest blunder: Its iPhone app

Satellite radio provider finally launches its long-awaited application for the App Store. But with some major channels missing, it's more a mistake than anything else.

[QuetzalcoatlUSA]

No one, repeat NO ONE, listens to Oprah Radio. Making it available without Howard Stern is a total crock.

[ospideyo]

No Howard Stern = Huge Fail

[Wtf0ver]

This is BS. im a loyal sirius subscriber, mostly for the stern show and ive been waiting for this app for quite a while. when you pay for a subscription, you shouldnt have to pay extra to listen online or over a phone. YOUVE ALREADY PAID FOR YOUR SERVICE!. to top it off you dont even put the best channels available in your app? way to go sirius with a worthless app.

[RickyBones777]

Bloomberg.com spoke with a Sirius XM customer service rep who stated that "mature programming," was the reason for no Howard. They do provide Playboy, however. Makes no sense!

As for MLB: has it's own Iphone app.
NFL: has mobile deal with Sprint.

[iphoneapps]

The Toy Lounge does not think that this is that big of a blunder - not everyone listens to Howard Stern - other than that the app seems to be ok functionally. Sirius/XM can also upgrade the app at any time they can arrange to add in any additional content - it's not a one shot deal. The Toy Lounge - http://thetoylounge.com - creates custom iPhone apps for radio stations, TV stations, newspapers and more.

[joeFlatland]

The only reason I have for subscribing to Sirius is Stern. period.
The other channels are nice to flip through when I'm tired of Stern for a day or so, but they're not enough of a draw away from podcasts to be worth it on their own.

Further, I was an S50 owner. Sirius bricked by S50 with a failed firmware update right around the time they were ordered to pay royalties for each S50 out there (because it could record). It was an unsettling cooincidence, but never the less their hardware story was bad - and any swap out required a couple hundred dollars on my part to reinstall cleanly. Rather than cancel when my S50 broke, I waited patiently for the iPhone app.

Now I have the iPhone app and I don't have Stern, but I've been subscribed for over a year in 'wait-and-see' mode.

I'm not sure whose nephew is making hardware decisions over at Sirius, but I am holding Junior accountable for my disappointment with the company and for my bailing on the whole debt-burdened, over-capitalized enterprise. Eat it, Sirius.

[crutnacker]

They just keep failing. First, the merger, which should have allowed all of us who had multiple radios to merge them onto one account, has never been completed, meaning you have to pay double if you have a combination of XM or Sirius in your cars or at home. Then, they started charging for "best of content" if you chose to go with one over the other. Now, they somehow don't have "mobile rights" for a man they're paying 100s of millions of dollars for?

This would seem to be the perfect solution for people who want to listen at work but cannot get a signal at their desk. Now, not so much.

[Constable Odo]

And so the decline of satellite radio continues. Who would have guessed that Sirius/XM would continue to lose money after all these years. I suppose all the hopefuls that thought there would be a rapid rise of S/XM share price once Apple got it's hands on it, will be quickly dumping the stock. Dreams of wealth are dashed again.

[andyengle]

Maybe if they hadn't scrapped some of my favorite channels on there, I'd be a little more inclined to listen to the XM I do have, and wouldn't need to stream it via the iPhone.

[iTuner99]

Amazing how a purchase of WunderRadio gives me all my XM content for free and these bozos want to charge $36/yr with this bogus app. Doomed again Sirius/XM....Heads should roll, but they probably won't.

[deaniodice]

That's nothing new and I don't believe it will affect anything. Subscribers of the service already know that all the channels do not play on the Internet portion of the service because of licensing issues. And to be totally honest it is not really an issue because you can listen to all the stations that XM and Sirius own like the music channels and the best channel they have the NFL channel.

[drbyte]

The Artie Lange show aside, what other exclusive content is worth listening too for the non sports fan?.

[Mudman Dude]

To answer your question, maybe you should start here http://www.sirius.com/music and compare the content to the other music applications for the iPhone and iPod. Does Pandora or Slacker broadcast the BBC? NPR? CNN?

[whitesauce]

"Does Pandora or Slacker broadcast the BBC? NPR? CNN?'

No, but these stations are available for free on the iPhone through other applications. That brings us back to drbyte's questions.

[donbondio]

Sirius XM should take a cue from Netflix and let existing online subscribers add new devices at no charge. At a time when satellite radio is hanging in the balance and losing market share to internet content providers, you would think they would reward their exiting online subscribers with a freebie instead of a DOA offering for $3/month. Goodbye satellite radio!

[missingxtension2]

Well i don't see what the big deal is.
The issue is very clear, why would you want to pay licensing for stuff i don't listen to?
Why would i pay for cell phone towers in NY when i am in California?
Apple ATT and Sirius are a rip off.
Internet streaming is obviously the better option, after all that's how a lot of subscribers get their sat radio fix.
Thats actually silly!
"I listen to my satellite radio on the stream"
If they have a package where i don't pay for what youre not listening to (football, baseball, classic rock, rock, country,hip hop, r&b, etc.), Then the service would be free, like regular radio.
You only pay for what you consume, and when you consume.
But you deal with the menu, if you like a certain dish in the menu.
Then you can support the real author (or maybe RIA) by buying their music.

[awaybbl]

I hope Howard addresses this issue on Monday. Maybe since he personally decided to get a BlackBerry Bold instead of an iPhone, he doesn't give a sh*t about the iPhone (obviously that's not the reason).

More than likely his agent Don BUCKwald (BUCK highlighted to emphasize his love of money) sees a potential to screw Sirius shareholders out of some more money by asking Sirius to pay Stern more for this app.

As noted in other comments, access to the Stern show has been available on iPhone for a while through other applications, and therefore the market has already determined that it wants the content.

Kudos to those developers, and I hope all this free publicity for their apps makes them millionaires.

Stern... you've said in the past that you don't want to ***** yourself out, but this totally smells like a major about face, with a royal screwing for your fans (we're getting f*cked out of content that we love and are willing to pay for).

peace and love, peace and love ya *********

[whitesauce]

I don't understand the accusations of bias here, but let's say Stern doesn't attract 60% of Sirius' subscribers. How many is it. 50%? 40%? Let's say it's 20%-30%. That is a lot of people. If you haven't been to iTunes app store to read the reviews for the app, you're in for a shock. People hate it, not just because of the Stern ommission, but also because of the cost structure. Existing customers are frustrated that they have to pay extra -- even if in the past they got internet streaming for free.

Here's the bigger point. Sirius XM is a weak company. It has no room for failure. Their shares were worth $.34 on Friday -- more or less. We're in a recession and iPhone users have many free options for listening to music. I think the bias here is from commentors who are defending Sirius. If Stern fans left the company -- regardless of the correct percentage -- it would devastate the company. Stern could easily find investors, start his own internet stream and be successful. How would -- how could Sirius succeed without Stern?

Hoping Stern comes to Sirius's stream is hopeful at best (they'd probably lose money trying to make it happen).. Professional sports are already experimenting with internet streams and are not likely to cooperate with Sirius.

Satellite radio is a dinosaur. The internet has made it obsolete. Unlike television, which is protected by conflicting interests, satellite radio is on an island. Those of you who are married to Sirius XM are in for more disappointment.

[drbyte]

I think Stern knew this business model was temporary and is just riding it out, stacking $. Its a sweet deal. 3 day weekend + monthly vacations + extra promo plug money. Nice for Stern.

[jmaggot75]

ohh, boo hoo hoo, so the hook nosed old lady in a wig stern isnt on the app. who cares. stern is out of touch. maybe if her actually worked a full week, and didnt INFLATE' the number of his listeners, no, he still sucks. ALL THAT MATTERS IS THAT OPIE AND ANTHONY ARE ON THE APP...for you stern losers, go screw!

[bugsy3333]

You write: "According to Howard Stern on his radio show Tuesday, 60 percent of Sirius XM's subscribers--about 20 million, at last count--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."
Well, let's hope not.
That assumes that the 160 plus channels of programming are worthless to Stern listeners.
Let's give them a little more credit than that.

And if you pay the monthly rate to listen to Howard Stern and nothing else, why should anyone care about your iphone problems?

[roachcoach1186]

You miss the point.

You can't have all the channels for 2.99 because then people wouldn't buy the radios, the premium service for the car. They would add the Aux-In to the iphone and pay 1/5th of what the regular cost was.

[DodgerKing]

For those wanting to listen to MLB Play by Play on your iPhone or iPod Touch, remember you can always download the MLB APP. It is a one time $10 fee and you get all of the games and both radio feeds (on XM you only get the home team feed). Plus you can watch up to 2 games a day.