After nearly a year and a half in the making, the XM/Sirius Satellite merger looks like it will finally become a reality. The merger was first announced back in February of 2007, but has faced a number business and regulatory hurdles.
The U.S. Department of Justice gave the merger the green light in March, leaving only a Federal Communications Commission approval in the way of the deal. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin publicly announced that he supports the merger, likely giving the deal the momentum it needs to finally come to fruition.
“I am recommending that with the voluntary commitments they’ve offered, on balance, this transaction would be in the public interest,” Martin said in a statement. The voluntary commitments include 24 channels reserved for noncommercial and minority programming, a plan to cap pricing and the availability of “a la carte” programming, according to Automotive News.
The auto industry has a vested interest in the merger as more and more buyers are opting for satellite radio in new cars.
06/16, 4:15 PM
posted by:
mayer_ray_nagin
Satrad is for idiots.
06/16, 5:22 PM
posted by:
nickkop
” a la carte” channel selection sounds like a pretty sweet idea as long as they stay reasonable as far as pricing
06/16, 5:56 PM
posted by:
NoNameDenton1
Wouldn’t this make them a monopoly? What other sat, radio service is out there to compete?
06/16, 6:33 PM
posted by:
A4
idiots eh? its brilliant and it kicks the **** out of anything else in your car, a month of service is cheaper than a single CD.
06/16, 6:33 PM
posted by:
A4
and i believe they count things like HDRadio as competition, it is another option in the marketplace.
06/16, 7:58 PM
posted by:
Richard
mayer_ray_nagin wrote (No.1): Satrad is for idiots.
Have you ever used it. If you had, then you would know that satellite radio has programming available nowhere else. Before the merger, customers of either service can choose from virtually every music genre. When the two services are combined, customers will have available every Major League Baseball game, every NFL game, every NBA game, every NHL game, every NCAA Division I-A basketball game, every Division I FBS football game, and so much more.
In this most interesting political year in decades, XM Radio’s POTUS-08 (Channel 130) is a godsend.
Idiots? I think not.
06/16, 8:20 PM
posted by:
NoNameDenton1
I think I would rather have commericals then pay for a subsciption.
06/17, 10:25 AM
posted by:
Need4SSpeed
I barely listen to the regular radio or CD’s. Although I like the whole MP3 player jacks and USB ports that cars are getting now a days. I’m always listening to my XM which I’ve had now for three years. Although I always hear Sirius has better stations if they were to merge the stations and offer like double the choice that would be awesome too.
06/17, 10:32 AM
posted by:
mayer_ray_nagin
Richard, I have used it. I’ve had it in several car rentals.
Again, for the record, satrad is for idiots.
06/17, 1:27 PM
posted by:
JoshyLofty
I like it. I have sirius in my car, came with it. I support this merger. But does it mean that everyone that has an XM player can listen to all Sirius stations as well (when it happens) & vice versa?
06/17, 2:50 PM
posted by:
hateful83
This obviously creates a monopoly, similar to how the cable companies are in this country. Hopefully it doesn’t go to ****, but I wouldn’t be suprised.
06/17, 4:18 PM
posted by:
frankhoffy
Baba Booey!
06/17, 4:29 PM
posted by:
Richard
hateful wrote (No. 11): This obviously creates a monopoly, similar to how the cable companies are in this country. …
Not quite. Look at the situation now. If you buy a car from GM or some Japanese brands, then you get XM. You may want to listen to Howard Stern, but you are SOL unless you buy an aftermarket Sirius radio. If you buy a Ford or Chrysler, the you get Sirius. Again, you may want to listen to Major League Baseball, but you are SOL unless you buy an aftermarket XM radio. With cable, your choices of wired connections are limited by where you live although there places where you have a choice of cable providers. However, your choice of TV set does not tie you in to anyone.
Satellite radio post merger promises the same content available to everyone. This is a far better situation than you have now. And there will be choice. Just as satellite TV, IPTV, free broadcast TV, and even DVDs and Blu-ray compete with cable, so too will satellite radio have competition. It will come from the remaining life of analog radio, digital broadcast radio, iPods, CDs, and other technologies still in the planning stages.
06/17, 5:59 PM
posted by:
hateful83
Way to make me look stupid Richard, and I can see where you’re coming from. Although, I don’t see the proposed “competition” actually being competition. Cd’s, iPods, analog radio, digital radio, they don’t offer the same content. Who will be able to offer anything remotely close to what this new super satellite radio company is offering? By having this hold on the content and currently the technology, what’s keeping them from jacking up prices? I’m not saying they will, but one would think it’ll come to that.