As a Business Gets Bigger, Its Radios Get Smaller

This satellite radio from SX(一个美国电台) displays stock quotes. Some receivers store songs to play later.

参考资料：
继卫星移动通信、卫星电视直播之后，卫星音频广播又悄然兴起。世界上第一座卫星数字广播服务站是由总部位于美国华盛顿市的XM公司于2001年在美国建成的，听众通过数字收音机可直接收听到100多个波段的节目。2002年投入运营的纽约Sirius公司也利用3颗人造地球卫星进行广播传输。目前，美国已有几家风险公司投巨资组建面向美国和全球的卫星数字音频广播系统。现在，世界各地听众只需花几百美元购买设备，在美国的听众每月再交9.95美元，就可随时接收卫星频道的CD音乐、新闻和体育广播节目。

抢先进入这一广阔市场的是世广国际有限公司、美国XM公司和Sirius公司等。前者是从事美国市场外的全球数字音频广播业务的卫星公司，后两者主要从事美国当地汽车市场的数字音频无线电广播业务，依照美国市场专家的预测，大约到2005年的时候，美国的卫星收音机使用人口大约会在3400万至4300万之间，市场规模约20亿美元，XM和Sirius这两家公司就是准备来分食这块大饼的。

With fee-based satellite radio(收费卫星音频广播) gaining a foothold in the United States, the two companies that offer the service are hoping to expand their customer base by selling smaller after-market receivers with a range of new capabilities.

Sirius and XM are the only companies authorized to deliver satellite radio, which provides more than 100 channels of music, talk and sports in a digital format to subscribers with special receivers. XM is the market leader, reporting 2.1 million subscribers as of the end of June; Sirius reported 480,000.

While more automobile manufacturers are offering Sirius and XM as factory-installed options, both companies are concentrating on improving their after-market receivers, which customers can mount on a car's dashboard or use in the home. The after-market business still accounts for about 50 percent of all units sold, and include manufacturers like Audiovox, Clarion, Delphi, Kenwood and JVC.

Most of the receivers range from $100 to $160.

Later this week, XM is set to introduce receivers capable of storing up to 30 minutes of any live broadcast to play back at a later time. With a function that works much like the pause control of a digital video recorder, the units will also be able to replay the last 30 minutes of the channel to which the unit was most recently tuned.

The earliest plug-and-play satellite receivers were bulky, but both companies have succeeded in shrinking(使变小) their units. XM's newest and smallest-ever unit, the Roady2, released last month, is 3.4 ounces, half the weight of its predecessor model.

Even the antennas are shrinking. Aware that many customers mount the antenna on the dash(=dashboard) rather than the roof, both companies are using microantennas not much bigger than a quarter.

Both companies also offer models that let users store the names of favorite artists and titles. When one of those is playing on another channel, the receiver beeps to alert the listener. In XM's case, the unit will also automatically switch to that other station.

"We've learned from our customer base(消费客户群) that information is a very valuable component of our services, as much as audio," said Steve Cook, XM's executive vice president of sales and marketing.

Next month, Sirius will introduce its Sportster model, designed to complement its introduction of NFL Radio, which is a new talk channel, and several channels to transmit every NFL game. The radio can be programmed to jump automatically to the correct station when one of the user's favorite teams is playing.

To appeal to investors, XM's Roady2 can display continuously updated stock quotes(股票报价) across the screen. Sirius plans to introduce a radio with a similar feature.

Beginning this fall, XM will offer NavTraffic, giving owners of the Acura RL and the Cadillac CTS the ability to combine XM's continuously updated traffic information with the car's navigation system(导航系统), producing color-coded maps showing traffic delays, allowing drivers to obtain alternate routings.

To make it easier to receive satellite radio in the home, Sirius will introduce a $129 accessory antenna(附加天线) that, mounted on the roof, will transmit a signal through the walls into a secondary unit attached to the receiver.

And by the beginning of next year, Sirius will offer a receiver that can download Sirius programming from the Internet for later playback in areas where signals cannot reach.

"We want to get you our signal wherever you want to listen, even if that's in the shower," said Larry Pesce, a Sirius senior vice president. "We're working on shower solutions now."