Karmazin Declares Sirius ‘Fastest Growing Company’ in Satellite Radio

While Sirius doesn’t have the subscribers of competitor XM, it says those it does have are more satisfied with the service and it’s growth rate is faster. Those were two points executives made at the press event here at CES.
Model size for Sirius radios has shrunk 43% and Sirius radios are sold in 25,000 retail locations, said Joe Clayton, the outgoing leader of the company, as he prepares to pass the baton to Mel Karmazin.
Executives said Howard Stern would join Sirius “no later than early 2006” which new company CEO Karmazin clarified by saying no discussions are taking place with either Stern or Viacom/Infinity to release Stern to the satcaster sooner.
Sirius SVP Product Development Larry Pesce said the company is on its Gen 3 receiver chipset which allows for more features on the satellite radios. Sirius branded Sportster radio to be introduced this year has 44 minutes of internal buffering capability and the ReGo allows for four hours of recording. Those are two of several plug and play models to be introduced for the satcaster this year.
Karmazin said Sirius is the “fastest growing company in the satellite radio space,” including being number one in “oh wow” programming.