NY -- Standard&Poor's CreditWire 8/13/98 -- Standard&Poor's today assigned its triple-'C'-plus corporate credit rating to CD Radio Inc. At the same time, a triple-'C'-plus rating was assigned to the company's existing 15% senior secured discount notes due 2007. The outlook is developing. The ratings reflect the substantial financial and business development risks that the company faces in the construction, launch, and marketing of its satellite digital audio radio service (DARS) for motorists. Considerable uncertainty attaches to the consumer demand, manufacture, and distribution of the necessary consumer electronic hardware, the required marketing costs, success of programming, and overall system technical viability. Additional risk stems from the planned November 1999 initial launch of three dedicated high-power S-band satellites,
