foxSCION

XM and Sirius to combine forces!



XM and Sirius satellite radio companies agreed Monday to combine and become one company. The decision is in preliminary agreement and no changes are set to occur in the immediate future.Read Article

smoke20

Now if they would only give me a discount since my one car has xm and the other has sirius

SuperMario6582

i've got xm. i wonder if they'll give us all the stations from both now?

STNC

iTrader: (1)

No Way! I wonder about the headunits such as the avic's, if they will have an update, or if you will just have to get a new one?, this will delay my purchase, i wonder what they will call it?

v12

SIRIUXM

Jenna

I wish they would of waited. We were so close to seeing XM as #2.

I'll hear all about this on Howard in a few hours, I'm sure.

TeeCizzle

woo-hoo!..Sirius + XM= SiriHum

HaHa.....Yea it was Lame..oh well!

Scionizer07

Most headunits (save for some kenwoods), especially not AVICs, don't have the satellite tuners in them for sirius or xm, they are just ready to be plugged into either/or. The tuners are add on pieces with flash memory that can be changed from the satellite, so you need not worry about headunits now.

STNC

iTrader: (1)

but they have the button on the headunit screen like xm or sirius radio

exige

umm....just bought a new HU and a sirius add on to go with...uh...whats gonna happen.....

Sly_dawg19

this is a good thing and a bad thing

good because now one unit will be able to offer all sorts of channels (movie music is my favorite)

and bad because now SeriuXM has the ENTIRE hold on the satellite (i cant spell) radio market, so now expect prices to go up and stay there until a formidable new satellite (cant spell again) company goes up for competition.

They should call there new merged company...

SRM! (Satellite Radio Monopoly!)

Jenna

You're forgetting one very huge competitor, called terrestrial radio. You know, the commercial filled BS that you can get on that thing called FM and AM radio. I think that's what it's called at least... it's been years since I've listened to it.

It's hard to jack up prices from $12.95 to whatever if your competitor is offering theirs for free. And they're not exactly quite at the point where everybody will pay a monthly fee to listen to radio (we all know it's because they must not have experienced satellite yet).

Right now though, if you're quiet enough, you can here terrestrial radio shaking in their boots. Muuauuuaaahhhahaa!

foxSCION

This is just like the battle between Blu-Ray and HD-DVD.

Satelite (XM Sirus) vs HD Radio? Does any listen to HD Radio?

Jenna

HD radio... that means the terrestrial radio commercials have better sound quality, right? Nothing to do with programing...?

Avenger

^ Thats not entirely true tho, some stations have like 96.5A and 96.5B on HD, over here the A is the rap station and the b is a dance station, all by the same Power 96.5 people. Theres some stations u can only hear with HD. THat said, I have Sirius and never listen to terrestrial radio, unless im in someone elses car.

stillmotion

i have xm and sirius in my tc for different reasons. I have read about sirius putting the final details on streaming satallite video... so maybe xm wanted to scoop them up before they got too big.

i hope that they take out all commercials like sirius because i cant stand them on xm. regardless, i hope they keep the sirius dj's and stations. it makes sence to have the better stations starting at 1 rather than country on 1 and then on up... now im just making a wish list

dgHotLava

not likly...howards off on vacation again...

Avenger

I will seriously reconsider having Satellite radio if they get rid of The Beat 36, Area 33, and Sirius Hits 1.

Medications

yeah and there are federal laws against that specifically

which is why i still can't see this happening because i can't see them getting around antitrust laws

but anyway

O&A PARTY ROCK

YellowSubxB

Here's the email I got from Sirius today explaining what's going on. It may be redundant from what you've read already in this column but I hope it helps.

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To: SIRIUS Subscribers

Today is a very exciting day for SIRIUS customers. As you may have heard, SIRIUS Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio are merging to form the nation's premier audio entertainment provider.

This combination of our two offerings will benefit you - our loyal listeners. As a single company, we'll provide superior programming to you every day with the best of both SIRIUS and XM. Currently, XM and SIRIUS broadcast a wide range of commercial-free music channels, exclusive sports coverage, news, talk, and entertainment programming. Howard Stern. Oprah and Friends. The NFL. MLB. NBA. ESPN. CNBC. Fox News. Additionally, the combined company will be able to improve existing services such as real-time traffic information and rear-seat video as well as introduce new ones.

After shareholder and regulatory approvals, we anticipate that the combination will be finalized by the end of 2007. Until then, both companies will continue to operate independently. We will continue to provide you with the uninterrupted service - as well as the outstanding customer support - that you have come to expect and enjoy from SIRIUS. We do not anticipate any changes in your service during the merger process, however, please call our customer care team on 1- 888-539-7474 should you have any questions.

We look forward to the many benefits this combination will offer and continuing to make your listening experience an enjoyable one - offering more of the Very Best Radio on Radio.

Stay tuned,

Mel Karmazin, CEO