XM Satellite Radio’s CEO says the company is in active discussions with mobile operators about offering some type of its service over mobile networks. The clear implication would be that since XM is talking to operators — not handset manufacturers — it’s mulling over some version of its online streaming service as opposed to building satellite radio functionality into handsets.
Seems like this would be a pretty easy market for XM to move into, given they’ve already got streaming infrastructure in place. But their online service doesn’t include many popular channels, just XM’s own music stations: gone are its exclusive sports broadcasts, talk channels and rebroadcasted TV stations (ie Headline News, ESPNews, etc), presumably because of rights issues. So what happens when somebody like Yahoo or Napster steps into the space offering a more personalized service to mobiles — not to mention competition from free sources? Just porting the existing streaming service to mobile and charging a premium for it, simply because it is mobile, doesn’t stand a great chance.
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