Will it fly?

The words should ring bell-clear to truckers tired of fading radio signals, banal talk-show banter, and way too much Avril Lavigne: a group led by Toronto entrepreneur John Bitove, Jr., plans to launch a joint venture with U.S.-based XM Satellite Radio Holdings, bringing satellite radio to Canadian subscribers.

The new company, called Canadian Satellite Radio, will file an application for a broadcast licence with the Canadian Radio-Telecommunications Commission this fall, XM Radio spokesman Chance Patterson told Today’s Trucking. A regulatory hearing could happen as soon as early next year. If the licence is approved, service would commence next spring.

“Coming to Canada is a natural opportunity to expand our subscriber base,” Patterson says. While XM will likely face questions about its ability to provide Canadian content, Patterson adds that the company would require little in the way of new infrastructure: its satellite signal already reaches into the most heavily travelled and populated areas of Canada, along the border.

Currently, XM boasts almost 700,000 subscribers in the United States. What they get are CD-quality sound and an unwavering signal across the country. Any of XM’s 100 channels of programming–70 music stations and 30 talk–comes in wall-to-wall, treetop tall most anywhere you go, and with few or no commercials. (Canadian residents who pick up the service are doing so illegally.)

The trouble for XM and its rival, Sirius, is that maintaining a network of satellites and producing distinctive programming is expensive. With little advertising revenue, XM estimates it needs four million subscribers in order to be profitable. Sirius is in similar straits: it topped the 100,000 subscriber mark in July, but has two million subscribers as its break-even target.

XM and Sirius do have a few things going for them. First, major audio equipment makers like Delphi, Clarion, and Pioneer are bringing more affordable satellite radio hardware to the aftermarket, including tuners that plug into your existing CD or tape deck (in the truck or at home). They’re showing up in electronics stores and in major truck stops.

Second, XM and Sirius are striking deals to have satellite radio units installed as options or even standard equipment in new cars and trucks. Almost half of XM’s subscribers are buyers of new cars that include the XM service (led by General Motors, which owns 15 per cent of XM stock.

And then there’s the content. The programming is wildly diverse–from a bluegrass channel to the BBC World Service. Both XM and Sirius have a channel for long-haul truckers. XM’s “Open Road,” has radio stalwarts like Dale Sommers (“The Truckin’ Bozo”), Midnight Cowboy Bill Mack, and Dave Nemo.

While Canadian pricing has not been set, for Americans XM service costs $10 a month, Sirius $13. Both companies offer discounts for multiple subscriptions and long-term agreements.

But for now, only one–XM–is poised to lift the gray-market veil for Canadians who want an alternative to right-wing blabbermouths and, well, left-wing blabbermouths from Tsawassen to Tallahassee. Contact www.xmradio.com;
1-800/852-9696.