SIRIUS Satellite Radio Selects WSI Corp. for Marine Weather

Rod Neff

Sorry with this..Very Very Late timing. Looks like XM Weather going to have a fight with the dog. Who Knows....Rodney

SIRIUS Satellite Radio Selects WSI Corp. for Marine Weather Data
New Marine Weather Service Expected to Begin on SIRIUS Late This Year

NEW YORK, March 15, 2005 -- SIRIUS Satellite Radio today announced that WSI Corp., a leading provider of premium weather services and precision forecasts, will provide SIRIUS with a full suite of marine weather content for a new service, which is expected to begin late this year.

SIRIUS plans to create a special marine weather service that will include a variety of graphical and text information, including water surface temperatures, lightning strikes, coast-to-coast U.S. and Canadian weather radar, storm tracking, winds and wave heights.

This new service will be the first premium SIRIUS data service, and pricing will be announced later this year.

"SIRIUS is already the 'de facto' standard for satellite radio content in the boating industry, and we intend to extend this market position to include a wide array of marine specific services," said Larry Pesce, Senior Vice President of SIRIUS Services. "Our goal is to offer the gold standard of marine services, beginning with this WSI agreement. WSI is known for its high quality, precision forecasts and offers the most comprehensive suite of market specific weather information services in the world. We're very excited about the value this service will bring to SIRIUS subscribers boating throughout North America, offshore waters and the Caribbean."

SIRIUS will broadcast the marine weather data at the highest level of quality and data resolution. The result will be more detailed mapping of critical weather information. SIRIUS also plans to introduce a new data receiver for use in conjunction with this service.

"We view SIRIUS as the clear leader in satellite radio in the marine industry, and we're delighted that they have selected us to be their marine weather partner," said Lynne Wilson, Executive Vice President of WSI. "Together we can provide a compelling weather information service for boaters across the U.S. and Canada."

About WSI Corporation

WSI Corporation is the world's leading provider of weather-driven solutions for professionals in the media, aviation and energy markets, and also serves multiple federal and state government agencies. Today, WSI is the number one choice of the majority of the nation's broadcasters and major cable networks, hundreds of airlines throughout the world, professional pilots, energy traders, and utilities. WSI is headquartered in Andover, Massachusetts with offices in Birmingham, England, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Landmark Communications.
 
I actually think this may be a good thing. While the hardware pricing for things like WXWorx may not go down, the price per month, may in fact go down.

It'll be interesting to see what Baron does in the next few months, and if WSI/Sirus will do a mobile/chaser type setup.
 
I remember hearing about that announcement last spring but I have not heard anything since. I have occassionally visited WSI's and Sirius' websites but I have not been able to find any updates or details. Has anyone else heard anything since that initial announcement?
 
I already have Sirius, so I was hoping to have heard some more news on this by now. But, like you guys I have not since the original announcement.
 
I just got some information back from Sirius...Rodney

"SIRIUS plans to create a special
marine weather service that will include a variety of graphical and text
information, including water surface temperatures, lightning strikes,
coast-to-coast U.S. and Canadian weather radar, storm tracking, winds
and wave heights. This new service will be the first premium SIRIUS
data service. Currently we have no information on pricing and
availability. Please visit our website for further updates
."
 
Im not sure how useable this system will be for chasing since it is designed with only Marine in mind. WSI's other parternship with the Sattelite delivered Weather Channel Marine, has a lot of good text and winds/isobars products but lacks in other departments. At the very least though hopefully this will bring down the price of WxWorx.
 
I may be wrong..I think there going to start out with Marine and then make other packages.
 
Just as an FYI, the Sirius Marine package is now available. I ran across some new information regarding the Sirius / WSI deal for aviation weather... From WSI to Provide Aviation Weather over SIRIUS Satellite Radio -->
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE("WSI")</div>
ANDOVER, MA, February 8, 2006 - WSI Corporation today announced that it is developing a system that will enable aircraft to receive WSI's leading aviation weather information over SIRIUS Satellite Radio (NASDAQ: SIRI), and SIRIUS' audio programming for passengers. The new WSI InFlight system will be available over SIRIUS for aircraft flying in the SIRIUS satellite coverage area.

...
Pricing and Availability
Certified WSI InFlight systems compatible with SIRIUS Satellite Radio are expected to be available in the fourth quarter of 2006. Pricing and feature options will be set early in the second quarter. [/b]

The marine package is currently available, though there doesn't appear to be an option for using a laptop to display the data. You can read more about this offering HERE. The cheapest plan is $29.95/mo. I'm not sure of the resolution of the data, however, since the only screenshots I've seen are HERE (click on Interactive Product Tour) and are pretty low-res. It'll be interesting to see what products are included in their aviation package, since I'd assume they would include winds aloft, severe thunderstorm / tornado warnings, etc.
 
I fervently hope that Sirius can provide, at some point, some good quality chaser-usable data. They mentioned they would be covering Canada, too, which got me a bit excited. With current weather data products, if you're north of the 49th, you might as well be on the moon.
 
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