At the SES NYC last week I spoke with a pleasant Google rep who was telling about Google Ads for print, television and radio. Being a fan of Sirius, I asked her if we can look forward to Google Audio Ads coming to satellite radio (Sirius or XM) and she said she would find out. I received a follow up email the other day in which she wrote:

I wanted to let you know that I spoke to my colleague on the Audio team who told me that we don’t anticipate running ads on Satellite Radio in the near future, due to the
fact that their service is subscription based and make their own revenue
through the service and not through advertising. – Betsy Davidson, Google TV Ads

I think Google should take another look at that evaluation. Although they do create their own revenue with subscription fees they do run outside ads. Only the music channels boast commercial-free listening. All the other entertainment, talk, comedy, etc.. channels run ads.

Clearly with the on-going merger attempt (a year and counting) between Sirius and XM, they need more revenue than just the monthly subscription. Both companies are struggling a bit. From my understanding XM is hurting my than Sirius because XM subscriptions have been going down for a long time as Sirius’ continues to rise. Both companies were rising today in pre-market trading on the rumors that the FCC is nearing a decision. Sen. Arlen Specter mentioned on the Howard Stern show last week that he believed there would be a decision by the end of the month.

At the point Terrestrial radio is praying the merger doesn’t go through because satellite has the potential to knock them down to an even more sub-standard level of entertainment. Satellite is the future and Google should take another look.