XM Radio . . . the Beginning and the End!

As I write this, it’s the beginning of February … within three weeks from now, I expect to be moving “home” to Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Sorting and packing is well under way, and my collection of XM Radio promotional booklets, newspaper stories and other memorabilia will not make the trip, rather be handed off to XM Radio’s official historian. So, before it goes, I thought I’d do one more “show and tell” session … spanning the early years of the 21^st century.

This ad, which appeared in the Washington Post Sunday magazine section in November 2000, was a combination promotional ad for the new service as well as a solicitation for employment applications. While most of the programmers and technicians were being brought in from all corners of the nation, the plan was to fill out the personnel ranks from the local labor pool.

To build awareness and excitement about this new radio service being launched from “ground zero,” where not only were you required to pay a subscription fee, you also had to buy a new radio … this phrase was created and pushed hard in the early days.

Somewhere along the way, this Frisbee with the logo on it appeared. Where it was used and who was targeted with them, I do not know – I don’t remember how I even came into possession of this one. Then, within the first couple of months of 2001, when enough of the technical facility was completed, photos were taken for this ad, which I believe appeared primarily in trade journals.

Meanwhile, the programmers for several of the 68 non-commercial music channels created samples of their respective formats, which were assembled on two CD’s for use in a variety of promotional ways, including at the 2001 Consumer Electronics Show.

After a last-second abort of the launch of our first of two satellites in January, the second attempt in March went off without a hitch … as reported in this story in the Washington Post.

As Hugh and Gary were leading the way and managing all aspects of this ground-breaking endeavor … we in programming were being challenged to create the ultimate in audio content with which to fill our respective channels. “AFDI” was an internal code term for stop talking, take action and charge forward, we are a new invasion force where the resistance is well dug in — so guerilla warfare is called for! To make sure we were all on the same page, every few weeks we would go off-campus for a day-long “boot camp” under the leadership of our “fearless leader,” Lee Abrams … seen here in our 2002 boot camp badge!

As seen here, it would take us two years to break the one-millionth subscriber mark, not bad considering we started with Subscriber #1 in September 2001.

Then, 2004 brought explosive growth, with XM passing the three-million mark before the end of the year. As more and more Americans bought new cars and discovered the amazing choice of unequaled music and other programming which we were offering, the number of subscribers continued growing at a dramatic pace.

However, while we in programming were delivering entertainment and information in a manner and with unique content never before heard, all was not good in the big picture … our competitor Sirius had finally launched and were gaining their own subscribers, although not to the level of XM, yet neither company seemed to be able to achieve profitability. Hence, a merger was proposed and eventually approved, and was completed in the Summer of 2008. Somehow, though, even though XM was the larger of the two companies with a larger subscriber count, upon completion of the merger the Sirius management team, led by Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin, was leading the merged entity.

Sayonara!

P. S. If you’ve found any of this an enjoyable read and haven’t yet read my memoir, RADIO … My Love, My Passion, I believe you’ll enjoy it as well — details right here on the website or Amazon if you prefer!

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