Sirius XM being stalked by Dish?

**Max931** · 02-06-2009 09:29 AM

I think this is good news. Allthough may not have liked all of the changes but at least it will keep Sirius in buisness. Anything is a better alternative than FM Radio. At least we will still have the music channels on Dish which I enjoy. I am now looking into getting a home unit. I am just about done with Fm here in our area-we have Deliaha and John Tesch and Ryan Secrest at night yuk. No choices. I wonder if Sirius XM would add the rest of the channels on Dish. I would pay a little extra if that happened. That would be ok. Max.

**JosephB** · 02-06-2009 10:05 AM

Originally Posted by HDRoberts

Both seem to have 12.5 Mhz of s-band bandwidth. Any thoughts as to how much video could be crammed in there? Perhaps Charlie's plan is to scrap the radio altogether and have mobile video exclusively.

The mobile audio market is much larger than the mobile video market. I would completely expect him to shut down *one* of the services, since they duplicate each other right now and are basically wasting half of their bandwidth as it is, but I would be extremely surprised if he were to shut down both audio services.

**HobbyTalk** · 02-06-2009 11:24 AM

Neither can be suit down for a number of years due to the Sirius/XM merger agreement with the FCC. Shutting one down means you could lose 1/2 your subscribers.

**JosephB** · 02-06-2009 11:43 AM

Originally Posted by HobbyTalk

Neither can be suit down for a number of years due to the Sirius/XM merger agreement with the FCC. Shutting one down means you could lose 1/2 your subscribers.

If they go bankrupt then the FCC agreement goes out the window. If they go bankrupt they potentially lose 100% of their subscribers. Charlie could also offer some type of hardware swap for the half that are affected.

**FIREBIRD81** · 02-06-2009 11:59 AM

Originally Posted by JosephB

If they go bankrupt then the FCC agreement goes out the window. If they go bankrupt they potentially lose 100% of their subscribers. Charlie could also offer some type of hardware swap for the half that are affected.

Are you sure about that? I know bankruptcy affects creditors, but regulatory rules aren't usually thrown out the window in a bankruptcy. They don't owe the FCC money.

**jlong27** · 02-06-2009 12:02 PM

Originally Posted by Stargazer

Renegotiation could mean having the right to offer the audio for the stations he currently offers via Dish Network. I can see it now ... Classic Audio Bronze 100 $6.99 Classic Audio Silver 200 $11.99 Whatever they call the 250 package now $16.99 AEP $24.99 Dont forget the HD Audio for $5 more per month haha.

I would pay a little extra for better audio quality!

Crap, would I have to plug a phone line into my sat radio every time I'm home

**JosephB** · 02-06-2009 12:05 PM

Originally Posted by FIREBIRD81

Are you sure about that? I know bankruptcy affects creditors, but regulatory rules aren't usually thrown out the window in a bankruptcy. They don't owe the FCC money.

Well, it's not really a regulatory rule. It was a mutual agreement between Sirius XM and the FCC. They aren't automatically voided (which, by the way, debts aren't automatically and immediately voided either). What would happen is Charlie as a major creditor would say to the judge that he'll buy the company or allow his debt to be converted into equity if the FCC will agree to modify the agreement. I'm not sure if the judge can actually force the FCC, but in general they would probably want to play ball.

Failing that, Charlie could just buy the *assets* of Sirius XM, meaning the satellites, launch slots, buildings, equipment, and SDARS licenses. Then, the assets would be the property of Echostar and not subject to any agreements between Sirius XM and the FCC (though this plan would still require the FCC to approve transferring the SDARS licenses to Echostar).

In the first case Charlie could make the business case that he can keep one service going and offer discounted radios to affected customers of the discontinued service. This would at least prevent a complete collapse of the SDARS services. In the second case he could shut down both services and start from scratch, and would serve as a good threat to the FCC to get them to go along with whatever Echostar's preferred plan actually is.

**drdroo** · 02-06-2009 01:35 PM

Originally Posted by JosephB

The mobile audio market is much larger than the mobile video market. I would completely expect him to shut down *one* of the services, since they duplicate each other right now and are basically wasting half of their bandwidth as it is, but I would be extremely surprised if he were to shut down both audio services.

Yeah watching Mobile Video while driving is a great way to crash into someone. Mobile audio has 20 million loyal subscribers, most of which are commuting.

**HDRoberts** · 02-06-2009 01:52 PM

Originally Posted by drdroo

Yeah watching Mobile Video while driving is a great way to crash into someone. Mobile audio has 20 million loyal subscribers, most of which are commuting.

Audio is big for commuters, but I see plenty of minivans with the portable DVD players and the kids watching in the back. I don't think anyone is talking about watching TV WHILE driving.

If mobile audio has such a great subscriber base, why the heck is Sirius XM crashing and burning?

**drdroo** · 02-06-2009 01:57 PM

Originally Posted by HDRoberts

Audio is big for commuters, but I see plenty of minivans with the portable DVD players and the kids watching in the back. I don't think anyone is talking about watching TV WHILE driving.

Right, but if you take away Mobile Audio entirely in favor of mobile video (like some suggested in this thread), you would have Mobile Audio customers trying to supplement with something, I suspect with the new 'mobile video' choice.

I work for probably the largest Sirius dealer on the Internet, one that is talked about often on Sirius channels. That Backseat TV kit from Sirius is an extremely endeavor to install, usually requiring adapters, etc. It is nowhere near as simple as a 79$ 2 screen Polaroid DVD setup that straps on the back of the seats. I doubt we'll see a product along those lines for Sirius Backseat TV for a while, it's more likely we'd see it on someone's 700mhz network like MediaFlo.

If mobile audio has such a great subscriber base, why the heck is Sirius XM crashing and burning?

They have 20 million subscribers. I'd say it's bad money management by past and current Senior Staff when it came to purchasing content as well as when it came to promotion and internal accounting.

Charlie Ergen as a customer-centric individual is somewhat of a farce. However, Charlie Ergen the business man would be a welcome replacement for Sirius XM.