Ondas Media was a Spanish company which had proposed to launch a subscription-based satellite radio system to serve Spain and much of Western Europe, but failed to acquire licenses throughout Europe. The satellites are now transmitting educational data and operate under the name of Yazmi USA, LLC. Liberty Media, which owns 50% of Sirius XM Radio, had considered purchasing WorldSpace’s assets, but talks between the companies collapsed. In March 2010, the company announced it would be de-commissioning its two satellites (one served Asia, the other served Africa). In 2008, WorldSpace announced plans to enter Europe, but those plans were set aside when the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November 2008.
India would ultimately account for over 90% of WorldSpace’s subscriber base. WorldSpace first began broadcasting satellite radio on October 1, 1999, in Africa. On June 22, 1991, the FCC gave WorldSpace permission to launch a satellite to provide digital programming to Africa and the Middle East. WorldSpace was founded by Ethiopia-born lawyer Noah Samara in Washington, D.C., in 1990, with the goal of making satellite radio programming available to the developing world. The company did not go bankrupt and Sirius XM Satellite radio continues (as of 2021 ) to operate. The new company had financial problems and was within days of bankruptcy in 2009, but was able to find investors. Of the three companies, WorldSpace went bankrupt in 2009 and Sirius and XM merged in 2008 to form Sirius XM. WorldSpace operated in the Africa and Asia region, whereas Sirius and XM competed in the North American (USA and Canada) market. There have been three (not counting MobaHo! of Japan) major satellite radio companies: WorldSpace, Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio, all founded in the 1990s in the United States. The first US broadcasts were in 2001 followed by Japan in 2004 and Canada in 2005.
The first satellite radio broadcasts occurred in Africa and the Middle East in 1999.
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