News and musings on Sirius, XM, DirecTV and the DISH Network.

XM, Sirius Score New Auto Deals

XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. clinched a key victory Wednesday in securing future growth for the emerging industry when Hyundai Motor Co. agreed to plug in XM’s receivers as a standard feature in all its models.

The deal marks the first time a major auto manufacturer has agreed to offer satellite radio right along with automatic windows and power steering. But, more importantly, the agreement marks a turning point for a fledgling industry desperate to grow its subscriber base to match its spending habits.

Both XM Satellite Radio and smaller rival Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. have each committed to shelling out millions of dollars on programming contracts with the likes of shock jock Howard Stern, NASCAR, and Major League Baseball. But, with only 4.4 million subscribers combined since they went on air a few years ago, Wall Street has been waiting for a major subscription deal that demonstrates they can make ends meet.

This entry was posted on Friday, March 25th, 2005 at 3:20 pm and is filed under General, Satellite Radio, Sirius, XM. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.