TORONTO, (April 4, 2005) — For many long-haul truck drivers, the radio is sometimes their only friend for long periods of time.

But in vast areas of North America, many major radio stations are difficult to pick up. And if the CD collection has been played one too many times, the hum of the truck’s engine is about all a driver may get to listen to. That may soon change.

Pending approval by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), Canadians, and particularly truckers, should soon have access to subscription radio services. In fact, three different license applications are currently under consideration by the CRTC, which recently held public hearings on the matter. If approved, the services will be launched this year.

Satellite radio is a subscription-based digital audio radio service offering round-the-clock access to commercial-free music, information, sports, and entertainment programming. The proposed services would provide Canadian truckers with hundreds of different channels wherever they are in the land — from urban areas to the most remote regions of the country.

In just a few short years, satellite radio has become a very popular feature for truckers in the U.S. To date, there are an estimated four million satellite radio subscribers in North America, including approximately 600,000 commercial drivers – mostly American and Canadians using “grey market” service (hardware purchased in the U.S. and programming paid by U.S. credit card or PO box).

In partnership with XM Satellite Radio, Canadian Satellite Radio Incorporated (CSR), has applied for a broadcasting licence to offer a multi-channel subscription radio service to be delivered by satellite and terrestrial transmitters. The proposed service would initially offer 101 channels, four of which would be produced in Canada by CSR, for a basic monthly fee of $12.99.

CSR was founded in mid-2002 to provide subscription-based satellite audio service to Canadians from coast-to-coast-to-coast. The plan being proposed by CSR and XM would offer a wide range of music as well as programs in a variety of languages. CSR will offer listeners a choice of more than 100 channels, including commercial-free music from hip hop to opera, classical to country, bluegrass to blues, and news and comedy programming.

“XM Satellite Radio has committed to offering almost 1,872 hours of Canadian content per year,” notes Stephen Tapp, president and COO of CSR. “Satellite radio represents a tremendous opportunity to expose and promote Canadian cultural diversity across the country and to American radio listeners.”

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) in partnership with SIRIUS Satellite Radio and Standard Radio has also applied for a licence to operate a satellite and terrestrial transmitter-based subscription radio service in Canada. This proposed service would be available for a monthly fee of $12.95.CBC/Radio-Canada and SIRIUS first announced their intention to “Bring Satellite Radio To Canadians” in December 2003. In February 2004, Standard Radio of Canada announced that it would join the venture.

The partners’ application proposes a new Canadian-controlled company that will offer subscribers approximately 100 digital audio channels, including over 60 commercial-free music channels and an array of information, sports, and entertainment programming.

This new subscription-based service will be available to Canadians across the entire country, says Robert Rabinovitch, president and CEO of Canada’s public broadcaster. Interestingly, four CBC/Radio-Canada services will be added to the SIRIUS line-up in the U.S., including two new music channels (one English, one French) featuring a mix of new Canadian music and emerging artists, live concerts, and studio sessions.

Another type of subscription radio service to be delivered across Canada by terrestrial transmitters is being proposed by CHUM Limited, the private radio network that already broadcasts in several dozen Canadian cities. CHUM’s application calls for a service that would initially offer 50 to 100 channels, all of which would be produced in Canada, for $9.95 per month.

“Rather than relying on foreign-owned satellites, it is based on terrestrial transmitters,” says Peter Miller, vice-president of planning and regulatory affairs, radio and television, at CHUM. “We are currently expecting a CRTC decision some time in early summer and would expect to launch within a year of the release of CRTC’s decision.”

Most recently, Canadian Satellite Radio (CSR) and CKUA Radio Network announced a content agreement that will see CKUA produce original, specialized programming for CSR’s proposed originally produced Northern Lights channel. The CKUA Radio Network, founded in 1927 on the University of Alberta campus in Edmonton, is Canada’s first educational and public broadcaster. CKUA’s radio signal is carried province-wide on AM and FM through a network of 17 transmitters located throughout Alberta.

Propelling some of this growth in the satellite radio industry are new hardware packages from service providers targeted specifically at truckers, including new and improved fixed-bracket mounted antennas.

Fleet operators are now beginning to install fixed satellite radio hardware in trucks, in part to help recruit and retain drivers. In response to this demand by truckers and trucking companies, OEMs have begun offering factory installation of satellite radio systems in new models.

Freightliner Trucks, for example, says that vehicles equipped with a factory-installed Delphi stereo system supplied by Pana-Pacific and a SIRIUS Satellite Radio tuner and antenna will include one full year of SIRIUS Satellite Radio service on most models.

Kenworth and Peterbilt also announced that its heavy-duty truck customers would have a choice of two satellite radio compatible systems as a factory-installed option in Class 8 models.

International Truck & Engine currently offers only satellite-ready radio at the moment, but plans to offer a full satellite radio system for Class 8 vehicles in the near future.

Right now, Volvo is offering satellite-compatible radios, requiring that the satellite components be added to the truck, however, they are working on getting true satellite radios into their order system.