Sirius Radio Talking to Agencies

NEW YORK — Sirius Satellite Radio is talking to several agencies about its creative advertising account, the client confirmed. Jim Collins, a client representative said, “It’s part of an overall review to get creative ideas.” He declined to name the agencies involved. The account is currently at McCann-Erickson in New York, which is not participating, a source said. No consultant is involved in the search, a source said.

Sirius, which is based n New York, last month announced that it completed the national launch of its 100-channel subscription radio service, which includes 60 music channels and 40 news, sports and entertainment channels. Sirius originally planned to launch its service by late 2000 and be first to market, but a number of problems with its technology delayed the launch of the service. DaimlerChrysler and Ford have stakes in Sirius.

McCann-Erickson won the account in September 2001, wresting it from Goodby, Silverstein & Partners in San Francisco. Sources said MRM, the direct marketing agency of McCann-Erickson WorldGroup, will continue to handle that part of the business. Collins said he had no knowledge of whether the ad review affects other parts of the business.

Omnicom’s OMD handles media buying.

The only media expenditures available from CMR for Sirius are for the first five months of 2002, in which the client spent less than $1 million in media.