Satellite radio

Satellite radio is a radio service broadcast from satellites primarily to cars, with the signal broadcast nationwide, across a much wider geographical area than terrestrial radio stations.^[1][2] It is available by subscription, mostly commercial free, and offers subscribers more stations and a wider variety of programming options than terrestrial radio.^[3]

Satellite radio technology was inducted into the Space Foundation Space Technology Hall of Fame in 2002.^[4]

History

United States

Sirius Satellite Radio was founded by Martine Rothblatt, David Margolese and Robert Briskman.^[5][6] In June 1990, Rothblatt's shell company, Satellite CD Radio, Inc., petitioned the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to assign new frequencies for satellites to broadcast digital sound to homes and cars.^[1] The company identified and argued in favor of the use of the S-band frequencies that the FCC subsequently decided to allocate to digital audio broadcasting. The National Association of Broadcasters contended that satellite radio would harm local radio stations.^[2]

In April 1992, Rothblatt resigned as CEO of Satellite CD Radio^[5] and former NASA engineer Robert Briskman, who designed the company's satellite technology, was then appointed chairman and CEO.^[7][8] Six months later, Rogers Wireless co-founder David Margolese, who had provided financial backing for the venture, acquired control of the company and succeeded Briskman. Margolese renamed the company CD Radio, and spent the next five years lobbying the FCC to allow satellite radio to be deployed, and the following five years raising $1.6 billion, which was used to build and launch three satellites into elliptical orbit from Kazakhstan in July 2000.^{[8][9][10][11]} In 1997, after Margolese had obtained regulatory clearance and "effectively created the industry," the FCC also sold a license to the American Mobile Radio Corporation,^[12] which changed its name to XM Satellite Radio in October 1998.^[13] XM was founded by Lon Levin and Gary Parsons, who served as chairman until November 2009.^[14][15]

CD Radio purchased their license for $83.3 million, and American Mobile Radio Corporation bought theirs for $89.9 million. Digital Satellite Broadcasting Corporation and Primosphere were unsuccessful in their bids for licenses.^[16] Sky Highway Radio Corporation had also expressed interest in creating a satellite radio network, before being bought out by CD Radio in 1993 for $2 million.^[17] In November 1999, Margolese changed the name of CD Radio to Sirius Satellite Radio.^[6] In November 2001, Margolese stepped down as CEO, remaining as chairman until November 2003, with Sirius issuing a statement thanking him "for his great vision, leadership and dedication in creating both Sirius and the satellite radio industry."^[18]

XM’s first satellite was launched on March 18, 2001 and its second on May 8, 2001.^[19] Its first broadcast occurred on September 25, 2001, nearly four months before Sirius.^[20] Sirius launched the initial phase of its service in four cities on February 14, 2002,^[21] expanding to the rest of the contiguous United States on July 1, 2002.^[20] The two companies spent over $3 billion combined to develop satellite radio technology, build and launch the satellites, and for various other business expenses.^[4] Stating that it was the only way satellite radio could survive, Sirius and XM announced their merger on February 19, 2007, becoming Sirius XM Radio.^[22][23] The FCC approved the merger on July 25, 2008, concluding that it was not a monopoly, primarily due to Internet audio-streaming competition.^[24]

Canada

XM satellite radio was launched in Canada on November 29, 2005. Sirius followed two days later on December 1, 2005. Sirius Canada and XM Radio Canada announced their merger into Sirius XM Canada on November 24, 2010.^[25] It was approved by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission on April 12, 2011.^[26]

Africa, Asia and Europe

WorldSpace was founded by Ethiopia-born lawyer Noah Samara in Washington, DC, in 1990,^[27] with the goal of making satellite radio programming available to the developing world.^[28] On June 22, 1991, the FCC gave WorldSpace permission to launch a satellite to provide digital programming to Africa and the Middle East.^[1] WorldSpace first began broadcasting satellite radio on October 1, 1999, in Africa.^[29] India would ultimately account for over 90% of WorldSpace’s subscriber base.^[30] In 2008, WorldSpace announced plans to enter Europe, but those plans were set aside when the company filed for Chapter 11 in November 2008.^[31] In March 2010, the company announced it would be de-commissioning its two satellites (one served Asia, the other served Africa). Liberty Media, which owns 50% of Sirius XM Radio, had considered purchasing WorldSpace’s assets, but talks between the companies collapsed.^[28][32]

Japan and Korea

MobaHo! was a mobile satellite digital audio/video broadcasting service in Japan, whose services began on October 20, 2004, and ended on March 31, 2009.^[33]

System design

Satellite radio uses the 2.3 GHz S band in North America for nationwide digital audio broadcasting (DAB).^[34] In other parts of the world, satellite radio uses the 1.4 GHz L band allocated for DAB.^[19]

Satellite radio subscribers purchase a receiver and pay a monthly subscription fee to listen to programming. They can listen through built-in or portable receivers in automobiles; in the home and office with a portable or tabletop receiver equipped to connect the receiver to a stereo system; or on the Internet.^[35]

Ground stations transmit signals to the satellites, which are orbiting over 22,000 miles above the earth. The satellites send the signals back down to radio receivers in cars and homes. This signal contains scrambled broadcasts, along with meta data about each specific broadcast. The signals are unscrambled by the radio receiver modules, which display the broadcast information. In urban areas, ground repeaters enable signals to be available even if the satellite signal is blocked. The technology allows for nationwide broadcasting, so that, for instance US listeners can hear the same stations anywhere in the country.^[19][36] The strong signals from the satellites and repeaters may offer superior sound quality to that of AM and FM radio.^[37]

Content, availability and market penetration

Satellite radio in the US offers commercial-free music stations, as well as talk, news and sports, some of which include commercials.^[38] In 2004, satellite radio companies in the United States began providing background music to hotels, retail chains, restaurants, airlines and other businesses.^[39][40] Sirius XM Music for Business is a cheaper alternative to the costlier Muzak, and it doesn’t come with a long-term commitment.^[40][41] On April 30, 2013, Sirius XM CEO Jim Meyer stated that the company would be pursuing opportunities over the next few years to provide in-car services through their existing satellites, including telematics (automated security and safety, such as stolen vehicle tracking and roadside assistance) and entertainment (such as weather and gas prices).^[42]

As of April 2013, Sirius XM had 24.4 million subscribers.^[43] This was primarily due to the company’s partnerships with automakers and car dealers. Roughly 60% of new cars sold come equipped with Sirius XM, and just under half of those units gain paid subscriptions. The company has long-term deals with General Motors, Ford, Toyota, Kia, Bentley, BMW, Volkswagen, Nissan, Hyundai and Mitsubishi.^[44] The presence of Howard Stern, whose show attracts over 12 million listeners per week, has also been a factor in the company’s steady growth.^[44][45] As of 2013, the main competition to satellite radio is streaming Internet services, such as Pandora and Spotify.^[42]

Satellite radio vs. other formats

Satellite radio differs from AM or FM radio and digital television radio (or DTR) in the following ways. The table applies primarily to the United States.

² The sound quality with both satellite radio providers and DTR providers varies with each channel. Some channels have near CD-quality audio, and others use low-bandwidth audio suitable only for speech. Since only a certain amount of bandwidth is available within the licenses available, adding more channels means that the quality on some channels must be reduced. Both the frequency response and the dynamic range of satellite channels can be superior to most, but not all AM or FM radio stations, as most AM and FM stations clip the audio peaks to sound louder; even the worst channels are still superior to most AM radios, but a very few AM tuners are equal to or better than the best FM or satellite broadcasts when tuned to a local station, even if not capable of stereo. AM does not suffer from multipath distortion or flutter in a moving vehicle like FM, nor does it become silent as you go behind a big hill like satellite radio.

³ Some satellite radio services and DTR services act as in situ repeaters for local AM/FM stations and thus feature a high frequency of interruption.

⁴ Nonprofit stations and public radio networks such as CBC/Radio-Canada, NPR, and PRI-affiliated stations and the BBC are commercial-free. In the US, all stations are required to have periodic station identifications and public service announcements.

⁵ In the United States, the FCC regulates technical broadcast spectrum only. Program content is unregulated. However, the FCC has tried in the past to expand its reach to regulate content to satellite radio and cable television, and its options are still open to attempt such in the future. The FCC does issue licenses to both satellite radio providers (XM and Sirius) and controls who holds these licenses to broadcast.

⁶ Degree of content regulation varies by country; however, the majority of industrialized nations have regulations regarding obscene and/or objectionable content.

See also

• Digital Multimedia Broadcasting
• List of United States radio networks
• Ripping music from satellite radio broadcasts
• Sirius XM Radio
• MobaHo!
• Satellite subcarrier audio

References