Sirius iPhone Application

Sirius announced plans today for an application to stream its satellite radio service to the Apple iPhone and iPod touch. Sirius XM CFO David Frear made the comments on its earnings conference call, which covered Sirius's fourth quarter results. The company reported a fourth quarter net loss of $245.8 million on revenue of $644 million.

Back in 2006, we asked if satellite radio could survive the onslaught of iPods and podcasting. Pods and podcasting threaten the future of satellite radio. A large portion of both companies subscribers has come from people that purchase cars with pre-installed satellite radio. More and more cars have iPod support, which cuts into XM and Sirius subscriber growth. Internet audio in the form of podcasts and streaming audio also offers a free alternative to the services.

Satellite radio's value was based on its coverage and its range of content. At this point, people are overwhelmed by the range of content that's available on the Internet. Devices like the iPhone can bring podcasts and Internet radio to you wherever you take your phone. Is the Sirrius iPhone app too little, too late?