Should SiriusXM count Dish and Directv subscribers?

tsave31

Member
Dec 16, 2008
165
4
18
So today I was talking to an older relative of mine. She knows that I have had Sirius for quite a few years now. Just the other month she said her and her husband switch to Dish Network and she has fallen in love listening to Sirius on Dish. I asked her if she is going to get it for her car and she said "No, I don't travel enough to really have it, so why would I pay for it when I get it included for free?"

Very valid point. I am sure there are plenty of other people in this same boat that use the service but don't pay for it (directly, at least). When SiriusXM is factoring in subscriber totals, do they do anything with the Dish/Directv users of the SiriusXM service?

On a fairly related topic, does anyone know how the partnership works? Is Sirius providing the service free of charge to Dish (and XM with Directv) or is there some sort of financial agreement worked out? I sure hope Sirius is getting paid for it.
 

hexagram

Medicinal & Recreational.
Oct 11, 2008
2,760
97
48
Seattle, WA
There has to be a contract... You think SIRIUS is going to let DirecTV/Dish broadcast their channels to their subscribers without getting a small taste of the monthly satellite TV bill? That's how it works with MusicChoice and cable providers.

As for whether or not they count DirecTV/Dish subscribers as subscriptions to satellite radio, I don't think so. In fact, I'm almost certain they don't (otherwise they would have 20 million+ from DirecTV ALONE).
 

ClubSteeler

Member
Oct 16, 2008
416
11
18
SiriusXM should not count those people because they really have no way of knowing how many people use the service.

Plus in my opinion, they likely get very very little $$$ persubscriber. I say this because my cable company was just in negotiations with Viacom. We almost lost the following channels: Nick, Noggin, MTV123, Spike, Comedy Central, and a dozen other channels simply because Viacom wanted a 25 cents per customer increase which was supposedly a HUGE increase based on what my cable company already pays for these 18 channels.

That said, Sirius probably gets pennies per subscriber from DirecTV/Dish.