Things never get dull for the country's lone satellite-radio provider. Shares of Sirius XM Radio (SIRI +0.00%) moved higher on the week, inching up 1.5% to close at $3.39. The move was slightly better than the Nasdaq's 1.3% dip.
There was more going on beyond the share-price gyrations, though. It teamed up with Ford (F 0.69%) to offer longer trials of its premium non-radio offerings. Sirius XM also joined forces with Howard Stern to make a video of this year's birthday bash available to the public. On the streaming front, Pandora received a kind analyst note and iHeartRadio hit a milestone.
Let's take a closer look.
Ford tough
Ford is giving Sirius XM's push to grow beyond satellite radio a big boost, offering five-year subscriptions to SiriusXM Traffic and SiriusXM Travel Link to select vehicles starting with 2015 models that are equipped for navigation.
Traffic, fuel prices, weather, and even movie listings will be available during the five-year subscription. It's a pretty big deal, as it locks in drivers for a long time while also educating the market on the services.
Stern warning
Howard Stern's Birthday Bash was a star-studded four-hour event that was broadcast live on Sirius earlier this year. Now, an uncensored video of the event is being made available at SiriusXM.com. Fans of Stern won't have to dig deep into their pocketbooks to check it out. Sirius XM is making it available for free starting on Monday through next month.
It may not necessarily be a big draw now that the event is over, but you can't blame the media giant for trying to milk more value out of the broadcast. This should help promote satellite radio.
Streaming along
Pandora was on the receiving end of some kind words by B. Riley, suggesting that the Internet radio leader's new native ad unit is tracking well in terms of usage by active listeners and pricing. B. Riley feels that the new monetization push will help Pandora's financial performance if it is expanded.
In other streaming news, Clear Channel's (NASDAQOTH: CCMO) iHeartRadio recently announced that it had crossed the milestone of 50 million registered users last month. It also had 97 million visitors in May. Clear Channel's CEO said in an interview that iHeartRadio is already generating hundreds of millions in revenue, but investors will probably want a little more light on that juicy revelation.
Satellite radio is never boring.
