With satellite radio seeing a take rate of nearly 70 percent in new car sales, the merger between XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio is proving to be an important one for the auto industry. The merger has been over a year in the making, but it looks like an end might finally be in sight.
At the Bear Stearns 21st Annual Media Conference, U.S. Federal Communication Commission Chairman Kevin Martin indicated that the FCC would likely rule on the case by the end of this month.
While a stamp of approval isn’t quite a slam dunk, Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin is optimistic about the merger. “The fact that it has lingered this long, it has been interpreted … as good news,” Karmazin told Automotive News.
Karmazin also reported that “Talks with the FCC had recently accelerated.” XM Chairman Gary Parsons validated Karmazins claim, saying that the review was moving forward “in a timely manner.”
Barring any unforeseen setbacks, it sounds like the $4.2 billion deal should be a done deal by late March.
03/13, 10:39 AM
posted by:
A4
XM sucks, im sticking with sirius channels
03/13, 10:45 AM
posted by:
RicardoHead
satrad is for morons
03/13, 11:02 AM
posted by:
frankhoffy
The FCC needs to be eliminated
03/13, 12:15 PM
posted by:
planet_drive
You have to be a complete moron to pay a monthly fee to listen to the radio! We got enough monthly expenses, why the hell would you want to spend money to listen to the radio?? Local radio is more than enough for the news and some music, you want music that you like, hey thats what downloading MP3’s is for. And I’m talking about free downloading, not those losers who actually pay $1 per song lol. If I paid for every song I downloaded, I would have spent almost $7000!
03/13, 12:20 PM
posted by:
edgeguy
I got the free 6-month subscription of Sirius in my new Ford Edge. I absolutely love it. I had XM in my old Dodge Neon and I absolutely hated it. Programming choices on Sirius seem to be better. This merger is great.
03/13, 12:46 PM
posted by:
SS4LIFE
planet_drive you would actually have to have sat radio to understand it. I’ve had XM sat radio for almost three years now and I do a lot of driving, and the offerings of sat radio are much better. The variety is a lot better, I can listen to whatever decade or genre of music I want and then If I feel like listening to some comedy then I can just switch channels. The variety is wonderful.
Also sat radio plays many songs that most radio stations just don’t play. I’m often asking my friends if they’ve heard this new whatever song it is and many of them haven’t even heard of it yet. Also I hate censored music so I appreciate that XL (eXplicit language) channels actually can utilize freedom of speech.
This would be awesome if they could somehow merge the channels because I too have heard people like SIRIUS better then XM but I’ll take either.
03/13, 2:28 PM
posted by:
davebo
I also own sirius stock and would love to see it shoot up. I’ve never owned either system because I stick to cd’s that I purchase, but I’ll admit that stealing mp3’s is great for poor people and paying for satellite radio is a great solution for people who hate commercials and like hearing new music they wouldn’t otherwise be exposed to. SS4Life hit the nail on the head emphasizing variety.
I also notice that you get a lot of the radio stations through dish network and comcast. I’d love to see some sort of partnership where if you’re already a customer of a satradio partner, you can simply use the service at no extra charge if you buy the receiver.
03/13, 3:18 PM
posted by:
dl_caldwell
I have Sirius and love it. It’s nice to set your radio and drive for 8-10 hours without having to change stations. The NFL channels are enough to make the whole thing worth while. Just try to find an NFL playoff game driving through the Carolina’s on AM/FM raido. High School basketball no problem, but NFL playoff football? Forget it!
I hope the merger goes through as well. It would be nice to get the channels of your choice on any make of car with sat radio. Most automakers force you to use one or the other. Since I’m a big NFL fan that knocks out Honda, GM and the other makers that only support XM. No I have no intention on installing an kludge add-on receiver in my new car. So for now it’s “no Sirius, no sale, no exceptions”.
03/13, 4:59 PM
posted by:
1c3d0g
HD Radio is better than both of these combined.
03/14, 7:55 AM
posted by:
1c3d0g
For one, you’d have to be a dork to pay for something as free as radio. Really. Secondly, HD Radio sounds as good as or better than your precious Satellite radio. And finally, many car companies are including HD Radio standard in their cars, like Ford, Volvo etc. Even BMW’s respected 535xi has HD Radio as THE premium audio package, and we all know BMW doesn’t mess around when it comes to their vehicles.
B.t.w, trying to mangle my username to make it look like something it isn’t doesn’t hide the fact that you’re acting extremely childish, just like a 10 year old would. Grow the f*ck up or crawl back into mommy’s basement.
03/14, 10:05 AM
posted by:
jdasch1
HD radio is a joke for most of us that don’t live in the big cities…no stations avail. XM and Sirius are great. The costs are low per month, and most of it is bull**** free! If you drive alot and like sports and comedy , sat radio is the answer…period. Free radio is not free of commercials…thats the problem. Even NPR, public radio, has started with commercials to pay the bills. I pay 9 bucks for XM and 12 bucks for Sirius a month, and at 4 dollars a gallon for gas, it is a small expense for what you get!! This merger will at least make it possible for them both to be profitable. Full Sat TV from XM/sirius is coming, and that too will be popular in the home and car.
03/23, 2:05 PM
posted by:
jackjimturkey
I get savage on AM