Looking at a post here, it compares the ratings of XM's Watercolors vs. Sirius' Jazz Cafe.

To my surprise, Watercolors does much better in the ratings. I think this is quite surprising, as Jazz Cafe has a format more similar to terrestrial radio.

Ratings:

Watercolors (XM):

• Rating/Rank: 39.55/5th
• AQH: 17,700
• TSL: 24.79 quarter hours

Jazz Cafe (Sirius):

• Rating/Rank: 13.11/22nd
• AQH: 5800
• TSL: 20.24 quarter hours

So, with Sirius and XM now officially merged, could Watercolors survive the merged service? While it was Sirius who bought out XM, I think it would be stupid to drop Watercolors in favor of Jazz Cafe, due to Watercolors' much higer ratings. Should both channels survive the merged service, Jazz Cafe IMO should be renamed Smooth AC.

I am not surprised that Watercolors has a much higher rating - it's a very strong concept with first rate programming by a storied smooth/contemporary jazz programmer who knows the music inside and out and cares about quality.

Ken

hmmm- therein lies the problem for Jazz Cafe... "a format more similar to terrestrial radio".

I don't have satellite radio, but a good friend does. However, this person stands no chance of listening to either show....too stuck in pop and country.

I'll have to look into XM, Ken- if you think that highly of it, it must be good! I'll also pass along your recommendation. Who knows...maybe another convert.

Later
Tony

I don't know if anything can be correlated from these ratings.

GM, Honda & Toyota have factory installed XM, while Nissan switched from Sirius to XM. Ford & Chrysler have Sirius.

The increase in satellite subscribers has more to do with what's in the car. Thus go the ratings.

It's statistical inference to try and derive which format is more popular - without a breakdown of the subscribers.

However, if you look at how they rank within their subscriber bases, Watercolors ranks 5th out of all XM channels in ratings, while Jazz Cafe ranks 22th out of Sirius' channels.

Therefore, it is safe to assume that Watercolors is performing much better for XM than what Jazz Cafe is doing for Sirius.

As a math minor, I disagree with your analysis, but you seem to enjoy misleading polls and statistics.

The numbers within each offering... have more to do with the demographic of the subscriber base and the variety which is offered to them. Again - it is misleading to derive anything without understanding the distribution and demographics.

To fully analyze between the 2 services, the statistics should be normalized. These numbers are raw data on the services and not normalized.

Personally, I think both Jazz Cafe and Watercolors are boring and examples of poor programming. New music about once every 6 to 8 hours does not cut it.

I have DISH network, which has Sirius plus many of its own stations. I prefer the DISH network station called "City Lights" over Siriuis's "Jazz Cafe." Peace and goodwill.

I see your point, however, what I fail to see is why do you seem to think Jazz Cafe is outperforming Watercolors? Is there really any difference in demographics between XM and Sirius? I would think the difference in demographics would be very minor.

I didn't say that, merely pointed out that the raw numbers are not normalized to make an accurate comparison.

As for demographics, yes it makes a difference. Ford and Chrysler are not selling well.... Honda, Toyota and Nissan are and have been.

That makes sense to me. I enjoy listening to Watercolors and can see why it's popular.

Ken