Ford gets Sirius

Brian Cooley Editor at Large

Brian Cooley is CNET's Editor at large and has been with the brand since 1995. He currently focuses on electrification of vehicles but also follows the big trends in smart home, digital healthcare, 5G, the future of food, and augmented & virtual realities. Cooley is a sought after presenter by brands and their agencies when they want to understand how consumers react to new technologies. He has been a regular featured speaker at CES, Cannes Lions, Advertising Week and The PHM HealthFront™. He was born and raised in Silicon Valley when Apple's campus was mostly apricots.

Expertise Automotive technology, smart home, digital health. Credentials

5G Technician, ETA International

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Brian Cooley

Aug. 1, 2005 3:53 p.m. PT

Ford announced it will finally offer Sirius satellite radios in some of its cars this month. And by 2008, Ford expects 90 percent of its vehicles to offer the service.

Satellite radio is a true success story--even if it fails. By that, I mean that even if the two sat radio companies cease to exist in their current form in the next few years, the appetite for a different kind of radio programming has been undeniably established: A lot of us crave better radio and are willing to pay for it. That surprised a lot of people--many of whom run terrestrial radio stations.

At the same time, $13 a month just for radio is keeping the vast majority of consumers away. We need to see carmakers offer a bundle of navigation, live traffic data, and sat radio for $995 on the option sheet and $9.95 a month before we see the next big gulp of users bite.

And it still bothers me that consumers have to choose one sat radio service or the other. It's time for "universal" sat radios that allow me to flip my listening allegiance at a whim, just like on terrestrial radio.

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