CD Radio Adds 'Car Talk' to Program Lineup
12 October 1999
CD Radio Adds 'Car Talk' to Program Lineup NEW YORK, Oct. 12 -- CD Radio, the satellite-to-car radio
broadcaster, today announced an exclusive agreement to add National Public
Radio's Car Talk to the CD Radio program lineup. Car Talk, one of the most
popular radio programs in the country, is a unique blend of advice, car-lore
and irreverent humor hosted by two MIT-educated mechanics, Tom and Ray
Magliozzi (a.k.a. "Click and Clack, The Tappet Brothers"). CD Radio will not
only broadcast the weekly show on one of its two NPR-produced channels but
will develop the show's extensive archives of past programs for use on several
of CD Radio's non-music entertainment channels.
"CD Radio is going to open up an amazing new world for people who love
radio, talk and music, and we want Car Talk to be part of that," said Car Talk
producer Doug Berman. "CD Radio has made a significant commitment to the
public radio audience nationwide, and we're happy to add to that commitment by
making available thousands of hours of Car Talk shows."
The Magliozzi brothers have been described as America's funniest auto
mechanics -- "the Marx Brothers meet Mr. Goodwrench." They've been featured
on "20/20" and "60 Minutes," and have appeared on "Late Night with David
Letterman" and "The Tonight Show." Car Talk's weekly NPR broadcasts are
complemented by a Car Talk column that appears in 300 papers as well as a web
site dedicated to the show. Car Talk has been broadcast on NPR stations since
1987 and is currently carried on 500 NPR stations.
"Our seamless coverage of the US will bring the unique humor of Click and
Clack to markets that have never heard them before," said Joe Capobianco, CD
Radio's senior vice president for content. "This is a great addition to our
lineup. It furthers our strategy of offering subscribers unique, high quality
content created specifically for the audio environment."
CD Radio is building a digital satellite radio system that will broadcast
up to 100 channels of music and other programming to motorists throughout the
continental United States. The company plans to offer 50 channels of
commercial-free music and up to 50 channels of news, sports and entertainment
programming for an anticipated monthly subscription fee of $9.95. CD Radio
has an exclusive agreement with Ford Motor Company to install CD Radio
receivers in Ford vehicles as early as fourth quarter 2000. CD Radio has also
announced numerous content agreements, including agreements with National
Public Radio, Bloomberg and the BBC, as well as manufacturing agreements with
Panasonic, Alpine, Delphi Delco Electronics Systems and Recoton. Operations
are scheduled to commence at the end of the fourth quarter of 2000.
Any statements that express, or involve discussions as to, expectations,
beliefs, plans, objectives, assumptions, future events or performance are not
historical facts and may be forward-looking and, accordingly, such statements
involve estimates, assumptions and uncertainties which could cause actual
results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking
statements. Accordingly, any such statements are qualified in their entirety
by reference to the factors discussed in CD Radio's Annual Report on Form 10-K
for the year ended December 31, 1998. Among the key factors that have a
direct bearing on CD Radio's results of operations are the potential risk of
delay in implementing CD Radio's business plan; increased costs of
construction and launch of necessary satellites; dependence on satellite
construction and launch contractors; dependence on Lucent Technologies; risk
of launch failure; unproven market and unproven applications of existing
technology; unavailability of CD Radio receivers; and CD Radio's need for
additional financing.