SiriusXM has had two main business drivers, literally in one case. The first and biggest coup for satellite radio was nabbing the inimitable Howard Stern, who turned out to be the Pied Piper of satellite. The second was automobiles — millions of listeners became acquainted with satellite radio through a free SiriusXM trial in their cars, and they just couldn’t give it back when the monthly charge kicked in. Now Sirius and Stern — the so-called “King of All Media” but also the absolute Emperor of Satellite Radio — have a new friend who might be as terrific as cars have been: Alexa.
Alexa, Amazon’s fast-growing voice-activated recommendation platform (and digital assistant), will be a gateway to SiriusXM — and it could be a game changer. Now someone in need of a dose of humor or a good interview can just say, “Alexa, play Howard Stern” and voila! (Alexa should probably have been called Voila!) You can also now ask Alexa to play any of the hundreds of SiriusXM channels from Tom Petty Radio to The Catholic Channel to the Pittsburgh Penguins channel. And just as in the cars, the Alexa SiriusXM exposure comes by way of a free trial for non-subscribers.
