Panero: XM Is Satellite Radio ‘Big Dog’

“We are the big dog in satellite radio.”
That’s according to XM Satellite Radio President/CEO Hugh Panero who peppered his remarks at a CES press conference with jabs at competitor Sirius.
XM surpassed its expectations with 3.2 million subscribers at the end of 2004, and Panero predicts the company will reach 5.5 million subscribers this year.
The company introduced new portable XM2go products from Pioneer and Tao as well as a new chip that it says would make any device XM-compatible.
Programming-wise, XM has lured Dr. Laura Schlessinger, Tony Kornheiser and G. Gordon Liddy to its ranks of on-air hosts. All three have signed with XM exclusively for their satellite radio outlet and begin their shows on XM next month.
XM’s new baseball channel, including programming co-created by XM and Major League Baseball, debuts in February, said Panero.
Panero also took a jab at broadcasters. Speaking of the petition introduced and then withdrawn by NAB to have the FCC declare satellite radio a national-only service, Panero said the petition was “an empty gesture” and that XM is prepared to deal with NAB’s efforts to slow down its competitor.
“ NAB’s job is to be hostile” to new competitors, Panero said to RW Online. This kind of thing “normally happens around show time for NAB. They have to show their members they’re doing something.”
He does not believe NAB will re-submit the petition; at the time, the trade group said the withdrawal was “temporary.”