The Low down on the merger

[tomcrown1]

Does this mean I'll pay more?
Not in the immediate future. Both companies have agreed to a three-year price cap so that a combined Sirius-XM cannot immediately hike its rates, though official FCC documents say that that price cap is "subject to certain cost pass-throughs" after one year. The FCC also has the authority to modify or extend that price cap after 2011. How that plays out really depends on who is at the helm of the FCC at that point.
Will this mean more programs to choose from?
XM and Sirius said last year that a la carte options would not come into play until a year after the merger was closed, but the FCC order says that a la carte, as well as new programming packages, will be available within three months.

Users can currently only purchase separate packages from XM and Sirius for $12.95 a month, but will soon have the option for a $16.99 a month package, which would allow XM and Sirius subscribers to continue receiving their current offerings, but also access select programming from the other satellite provider.
Customers will also have the option of "mostly music" and a package of news, sports, and talk programs for $9.99 per month.
Those who opt for station-by-station choice can select either 50 channels for $6.99 a month or 100 channels for $14.99. The 50-channel option only allows users to select stations from either Sirius or XM, not both. Additional channels can be added for approximately 25 cents per station. With the 100-channel plan, users can select stations from both providers
Not trolling satellite stations for adult material? Family friendly packages from only XM or Sirius would run $11.95 a month while family friendly packages with stations from both providers would be $14.99 a month.

You can find the rest of the airtcle here:
What Does the XM-Sirius Merger Mean For You? - News and Analysis by PC Magazine


In order to get programs from both XM and Sirus you will need a new receiver and they should be out in three months.

 

[darrencp22]

This is STILL the most confusing piece. My interpretaiton has been this:

1. XM and Sirius Subscribers WILL be able to get a best of sirius / best of xm service with their CURRENT radios.
2. For True Ala-Carte you will need an dual service radio
3. For All of both services you will need a dual service radio.

Can anyone please confirm this once and for all. Especially #1.

 

[navychop]

I suspect this is just an interim radio ("dual service"), until they settle on one sat system or the other. Probably years off.

 

[Peter Parker]

If they decided on one there would be calls to give back the other alf of the spectrum.

 

[Stargazer]

This sounds like a very positive thing. More choice for just a little more money with some cheaper options. Sounds like a bargain and a winner to me.

 

[Peter Parker]

I think we need to see the details before we call ita good ora bad thing.

 

[navychop]

If they decided on one there would be calls to give back the other alf of the spectrum.

Yes. A decision to be driven by money. And they won't have the need for both orbits and both spectrum assignments.

 

[philhu]

This is STILL the most confusing piece. My interpretaiton has been this:

1. XM and Sirius Subscribers WILL be able to get a best of sirius / best of xm service with their CURRENT radios.
2. For True Ala-Carte you will need an dual service radio
3. For All of both services you will need a dual service radio.

Can anyone please confirm this once and for all. Especially #1.

Yes, #1 is possible. What they will probably do is put the 'Best of' channels for XM on the Sirius sats and the 'Best of' channels of Sirus on the XM sats. Like a simulcast.

So people with, say XM-only, can still subscribe to XM and the 'Best of' Sirius channels, since the 'Best of' will be on the XM sat too.

This makes more sense to me, now that I realize the 'Best of' selections are FIXED, not ALA-Carte

 

[LASooner]

I want to know how this affects sports. Will we get all the conferences for college football on both systems, or will they still have their current alliances?

Will we start getting baseball and hockey on Sirius?

n an effort to prevent this from happening in the near future, XM agreed to shut down 50 of its variant terrestrial repeaters and bring an additional 50 repeaters into compliance within 60 days of the merger's approval. Sirius agreed to completely shut down 11 repeaters that Sirius turned off in October 2006. Terrestrial repeaters are used to bolster signal reception, but they are stronger than your average FM station signal, which could spell disaster for small radio stations trying to compete.

So basically they are mandating worse reception for Satellite users? How does THAT benefit the consumer?

 

[darrencp22]

Yes, #1 is possible. What they will probably do is put the 'Best of' channels for XM on the Sirius sats and the 'Best of' channels of Sirus on the XM sats. Like a simulcast.

So people with, say XM-only, can still subscribe to XM and the 'Best of' Sirius channels, since the 'Best of' will be on the XM sat too.

This makes more sense to me, now that I realize the 'Best of' selections are FIXED, not ALA-Carte

This was confirmed by Mel Karmezin on Opie & Anthony this morning. Existing radios for each service will be able to get a "best of" for the other service. It has been confirmed Howard Stern will be part of Best of Siruis and O&A would be part of Best of XM, provided a contract is worked out.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

There would be no Best of O&A...

The boys perfer to call it the Worst of O&A.

YMB.

 

[Peter Parker]

Yes. A decision to be driven by money. And they won't have the need for both orbits and both spectrum assignments.

Actually money concerns wold kead them to try to hold on to that spectrum for dear life so as to prevent any competition. If they could gt the FCC to use it for something else maybe but I can't imagine that they would choose to sell it to a competitir.

 

[Peter Parker]

the charge is that the repeaters were interfering with other broadcasters because of excessive power or due to their locations (some supposedly were not even licensed) so yes sat reception would degrade if they were shut off. But if these allegations are true XM and Sirius never had the right to opertate these.

BTW I am not sure that they caused all that biga problem but the FCC is supposed to stop unlicensed or improper broadcasting.

 

[navychop]

Actually money concerns wold kead them to try to hold on to that spectrum for dear life so as to prevent any competition. If they could gt the FCC to use it for something else maybe but I can't imagine that they would choose to sell it to a competitir.

Now that's an interesting thought.

 

[Krapola]

The Best of O&A is Jim Norton and the rare occasion when the Rev Bob calls in for Jimmys B-day......

There would be no Best of O&A...

The boys perfer to call it the Worst of O&A.

YMB.

 

[rglore]

Yes. A decision to be driven by money. And they won't have the need for both orbits and both spectrum assignments.

They will not stop using both sat systems for a very long time. Tens of millions of cars have factory installed sat radios that would go dead if they shut off one of them. I expect that both will end up with the exact same channels within a couple of years and since there's no more competition, there will be far fewer channels. They will probably use much of the bandwidth for video and other services.

 

[navychop]

If they can come up with a profitable business plan to do so, I agree. But that still means a lot of radios will be less useful for the music they signed up for, as Sirius/XM shifts bandwidth to other purposes.

 

[darrencp22]

If they get O&A signed, i'll be very optimistic about this merger. With Mel karmizen as a guest and the positive talk as of late, it seems very likely. Now that I know I can add a best of sirius package, i'll be a happy camper.