XM-Ready Radios Hit Retail Shelves

March 1 -- XM Satellite Radio, Inc. announced today that XM-ready radios produced by Pioneer, the nation's largest car stereo manufacturer, are now available for sale by a number of retailers, including Circuit City, Best Buy, Sears, RadioShack franchisee dealer stores, Crutchfield and many others.
"XM's retail partners are thrilled to begin promoting and selling XM-ready hardware, giving them a chance to convert current car stereo buyers into XM Radio subscribers later this summer," said Dan Murphy, XM's Vice President of Retail Marketing and Distribution.

Consumers can buy several different models of Pioneer's XM-ready head units - which also receive AM and FM signals -- at retailers now. They can buy XM tuner modules and antennas later this summer. That package will allow them to receive XM's satellite radio service, which is scheduled to begin this summer.

XM tuner modules will be compatible with head units sold by Alpine and Pioneer during the spring and summer car stereo selling season. In addition, some XM-ready tuner modules offer backward compatibility with previously sold head units. Pioneer has announced that its XM tuner module is backward- compatible with more than 3 million Pioneer head units sold over the last few years.

XM will transform radio, an industry that has seen little technological change since FM, almost 40 years ago. XM will create and package up to 100 channels of digital-quality sound and provide coast-to-coast coverage of music, news, sports, talk, comedy and children's programming. XM won several awards at the International Consumer Electronics Show in January, including "Best of CES" in the automotive category.

XM's strategic investors include America's leading car, radio and satellite TV companies -- General Motors, American Honda Motor Co. Inc., Clear Channel Communications, DIRECTV and Motient Corporation (Nasdaq: MTNT), the company's largest shareholder. XM has a long-term distribution agreement with General Motors to integrate XM-ready radios into its vehicles commencing in 2001. XM-ready radios will be manufactured by such household names as Sony, Alpine, Pioneer, Clarion, Blaupunkt, Delphi-Delco, Visteon and Panasonic, and Sanyo, and sold by automotive and retail outlets such as Best Buy, RadioShack, Circuit City and Sears. For more information, please visit their web site: http://www.xmradio.com.

SOURCE XM Satellite Radio Holdings, Inc.
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