Satellite Radio

For many people, driving and music are inextricably linked. Cruising down a boulevard with the top down and the radio blaring is a classic American pastime. But that wasn’t always the case. Often, AM and FM broadcasts would fade in and out, or you’d have to listen to endless commercials while you were trying to enjoy your favorite song.

Enter satellite radio. It was conceived as the answer to all of the things that were irritating about terrestrial broadcast radio. Satellite radio offers a clean digital signal with no static, near CD quality sound, and the ability to transmit text (such as stock quotes or sports scores) along with musical signals. It also has a much broader geographical coverage area than AM and FM broadcasts.

Sirius and XM (now SiriusXM) each launched two satellites into orbit and sold radio receivers that could pick up their signals. They charged a monthly subscription fee to access their programming. Both companies faced resistance from consumers who didn’t want to pay for something they could get free by just tuning their AM and FM radios.

In addition to the satellites and radio receivers, each company needed to develop a system to deliver the programming that would allow their customers to enjoy satellite radio in their cars. They had to make sure that the technology worked reliably. That was a challenge exacerbated by the fact that they had to convince car manufacturers to install satellite radio receivers in their cars.