The Death of Satellite Radio

I have to be honest here.  I have not closely followed satellite radio.  I have not studied the financials of Sirius nor do I know how many subscribers they currently have.  I do know that there used to be two head to head competitors in the US market: XM and Sirius.  In 2008, finding that competing wasn't a viable option, they merged.  On January 13th, 2011, XM was dissolved as a separate entity and merged fully into Sirius.  I don't like radio.  I like being in charge of my own music.  I also like listening to music and not annoying local advertisements.  This is also the reason I use Rdio rather than Pandora.  Let me quickly compare the three services.

Sirius Satellite Radio
Annual Cost: $199
Ability to choose your own music: Channel selection only
Ads: Very few
Mobile: Yes

Pandora
Annual Cost: Free or $39
Ability to choose your own music: Channel selection only
Ads: Yes
Mobile: Yes

Rdio
Annual Cost: $120
Ability to choose your own music: Yes
Ads: No
Mobile: Yes

Satellite Radio, as it is currently offered, will not survive.  This is my prediction and hopefully this won't end up being claim chowder.  In a world without smartphones, Satellite Radio makes a lot of sense.  It has a MUCH wider variety of channels than normal radio and it has a lot less ads (hence the annual cost.  Nothing is free.  Everything is either paid for with the user's money or paid for by advertisements.  Or, in the case of Hulu Plus, it is paid for by both.)  However, we DO live in a world of smartphones and internet everywhere.  The rising generation doesn't like to pay for things as it is, let alone for radio.  The music scene has already changed and matured a lot in the past few years and I think it will continue to evolve.  Pandora will survive and hopefully Rdio (and other subscription based services like Mog, Spotify, and Rhapsody) does as well.  Satellite Radio however will not.