Sirius-XM merger approved

The companies said last year that they would be willing to offer a so-called "a la carte" price plan where consumers could pick certain packages ranging from $6.99 a month to $16.99 a month. The two companies have also maintained that a combined service offering the best of both companies' offerings will cost less than the $25.90 a month that a consumer would currently have to pay to subscribe to both Sirius and XM.
 
Heard that today. Sirius is buying out XM for 5 Billion dollars. Only thing keeping it from happening is the FCC (I think) and that is widely thought of as a fore gone conclusion.

So much for griping about which is better. I hope the cost of the new service isn't much more than what they were individually
 
Ace13 said:
What would this mean to people who have sirius/xm radios already? Would one have to switch to the other? Or would they just broadcast the same programming to both 'feeds'?
Click to expand...

This whole thing is more confusing than the digital TV deal. Lots of people think their old TV is going to go out next February...

If the FCC approves the merger there will still be XM and Sirius. They each have there own part of the satellite spectrum. They use different types of coding. Thus they are not compatible with each other. In other words you can not pick up Sirius with your XM radio or vise versa...

FCC has said they can not render existing radio obsolete so there will continue to be XM and Sirius.

With that being said, in order to save money the new Sirius will eliminate duplicate programming. For example, instead of having two 70s music channels they will only have one. That channel will be on both platforms.

They will try to save money by reducing the amount they pay to outside program providers. Right now XM and Sirius each pay CNN, FOX, ESPN, ect for the right to carry their programs. The new Sirius would only have to pay once.

If you believe Mel Karmazin a year or so after FCC approval you will be able to buy a dual band radio. Then you will be able to buy 'a la carte' programming. If you choose you can get Howard Stern and Major league Baseball or Martha Stewart and Oprah.

These dual band radios don't currently exist. If you have a GM car with XM built in or a Chrysler with Sirius built in you would still need another radio to pick up the other service.

We will have to wait to see how this all pans out. I have heard that some program providers are not happy. They want more money not less if their programming is going to made available on both services...

Plus...The FCC has made noise that they will put conditions on the merger that will force the new Sirius to lease up to 20 percent of their bandwidth to an outside source that would provide minority or public service programming. Right now both services are full so they would have to eliminate some programming to make room...

Testing123
 
Sirius 26 had better survive the shakeup or I'm canceling.

There is no equivalent on XM.
 
Test123 said:
This whole thing is more confusing than the digital TV deal. Lots of people think their old TV is going to go out next February...

If the FCC approves the merger there will still be XM and Sirius. They each have there own part of the satellite spectrum. They use different types of coding. Thus they are not compatible with each other. In other words you can not pick up Sirius with your XM radio or vise versa...

FCC has said they can not render existing radio obsolete so there will continue to be XM and Sirius.

With that being said, in order to save money the new Sirius will eliminate duplicate programming. For example, instead of having two 70s music channels they will only have one. That channel will be on both platforms.

They will try to save money by reducing the amount they pay to outside program providers. Right now XM and Sirius each pay CNN, FOX, ESPN, ect for the right to carry their programs. The new Sirius would only have to pay once.

If you believe Mel Karmazin a year or so after FCC approval you will be able to buy a dual band radio. Then you will be able to buy 'a la carte' programming. If you choose you can get Howard Stern and Major league Baseball or Martha Stewart and Oprah.

These dual band radios don't currently exist. If you have a GM car with XM built in or a Chrysler with Sirius built in you would still need another radio to pick up the other service.

We will have to wait to see how this all pans out. I have heard that some program providers are not happy. They want more money not less if their programming is going to made available on both services...

Plus...The FCC has made noise that they will put conditions on the merger that will force the new Sirius to lease up to 20 percent of their bandwidth to an outside source that would provide minority or public service programming. Right now both services are full so they would have to eliminate some programming to make room...

Testing123
Click to expand...

You're making the assumption that they are going to continue to operate seperately. The way I see it, they will merge the programming and the company and broadcast the same thing to both existing receiver types, as one company, and then continue to sell only one receiver type from the merge point forward.
 
hope they hurry get everything on one bill before a year is up. Have xm still left on 9 month subscription in a vehicle and sirius in another. I know why with xm you can always get half off a paid year with xm....because it sucks.
 
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