SIRIUS SATELLITE RADIO LURES NASCAR AWAY FROM XM Associated Press In the latest push to ramp up its programming slate, Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. reached an agreement to broadcast NASCAR races and related events over a five-year period for $107.5 million, luring the broadcast rights away from rival XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc.
The deal, announced Tuesday, calls for Sirius to become the exclusive satellite radio partner for NASCAR. The agreement was a coup for Sirius, the smaller of the two satellite radio providers.
Both Sirius and XM have been committing large sums of money to lock in programming as part of their drive to build up their businesses and attract customers.
Last fall, Sirius announced that it entered a five-year, $500 million deal to broadcast Howard Stern's show beginning in 2006, when his contract with Infinity Broadcasting ends. XM also signed up Major League Baseball to its service last fall.
Sirius reported last month that it ended 2004 with more than 1.1 million subscribers and expected to finish 2005 with more than 2.5 million. XM, which is based in Washington, D.C., reported that it had more than 3.2 million users as of the end of 2004.
Sirius also has an all-NFL channel and a deal with College Sports Television, which enables Sirius to air the games of 23 major-college teams -- including Southern California, Notre Dame and LSU. The company also signed a deal in November to air the men's NCAA tournament through 2007, and approximately 225 English Premier League soccer games through May 2005. |