Originally posted July 2009
Time’s list of the 10 biggest tech failures of the last decade places Sirius XM Radio alongside Microsoft Vista, HD DVD, YouTube, and Microsoft’s Zune player.
Sirius and XM ran low on money and accumulated millions in debt before finally gaining FCC approval (after the FCC spent more than a year reviewing their request) to merge in 2008. Subscriber growth slowed as the Apple iPod and multimedia cell phones gained popularity. Bruce Elving, FM Atlas publisher and FMedia! founder, commented that the sluggish auto market has not helped Sirius XM either, with car sales down and demand for satellite radio also down. Sirius XM’s subscriber base fell in the first quarter of 2009 to 18.6 million, down by 400,000 from the previous quarter.
However, the company’s financial woes haven’t hurt CEO Mel Karmazin’s salary. His five-year contract has been extended through Dec. 2012, and his base salary will increase (beginning Jan. 1, 2010) from $1.25 million to $1.5 million. He also gets options to buy up to 120 million shares of company stock at 43 cents per share. The details are listed in Sirus XM’s July 1, 2009, filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Time’s list of the 10 biggest tech failures of the last decade places Sirius XM Radio alongside Microsoft Vista, HD DVD, YouTube, and Microsoft’s Zune player.
Sirius and XM ran low on money and accumulated millions in debt before finally gaining FCC approval (after the FCC spent more than a year reviewing their request) to merge in 2008. Subscriber growth slowed as the Apple iPod and multimedia cell phones gained popularity. Bruce Elving, FM Atlas publisher and FMedia! founder, commented that the sluggish auto market has not helped Sirius XM either, with car sales down and demand for satellite radio also down. Sirius XM’s subscriber base fell in the first quarter of 2009 to 18.6 million, down by 400,000 from the previous quarter.
However, the company’s financial woes haven’t hurt CEO Mel Karmazin’s salary. His five-year contract has been extended through Dec. 2012, and his base salary will increase (beginning Jan. 1, 2010) from $1.25 million to $1.5 million. He also gets options to buy up to 120 million shares of company stock at 43 cents per share. The details are listed in Sirus XM’s July 1, 2009, filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
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