Re: The Merger Has Been Announced!
rester said:
NO more choice for consumers. What a bummer. That really stinks. But I'm even more afraid of lame programming. Not that I thought XM was perfect (although... pretty good!), but it was refreshing listening to XM (thru AOL), FM, internet stations and my iPod. Since I'm in The Netherlands, I've never been able to listen to Sirius, so I can't give an opinion on them, but XM more than OK. Just a bit TOO much music as far as I'm concerned. I like to hear DJ's, ID's, and not just "3000 songs in a row". That's OK for some channels, but I feel there are too many that are JUST music. Hopefully, the merge won't kill the creativity at XM. Otherwise, I don't see a big future for XM/Sirius as far as millions of new subscribers are concerned. I've written more about in on my website:
http://ronsterrenburg.com.
XM is certainly not perfect, but it does a good job overall. However, I have both services. I usually listen to XM around town as it doesn't take more than a few minutes to get anywhere in town, and XM has less clutter than Sirius. However, I prefer Sirius when travelling longer distances, which I usually do at least a couple of times a month, as it has more rock channels, which are better to me when travelling, and the jocks provide some interaction during the trip.
About paying $ 12,95 for 150 channels... no-one listens to 150 channels! That was already a selling trick right from the start. It doesn't really affect the merge as long as you keep paying the same amount for the same amount of channels, does it?
You're correct that no one listens to 150 channels. However, that wasn't my point so much as that we, as consumers, will pay more per channel if programming goes the a la carte route, which will mean less value, and will have less options when it comes to that occasional phantom button push. I expect to pay more as I listen to several different genres. For example, my favorite Sirius channel is the Jazz Cafe, but I don't listen to it on my way to work as I'm afraid it would help put me right back to sleep. I usually tune in either Totally 70's or the Pulse. When I'm driving to Springfield to visit my parents, I usually listen either to Buzzsaw or Classic Rewind (though I found myself listening to Prime Country on the two hour drive on Friday evening). Collectively, I mostly listen to about 15 channels, but they're everywhere, and that doesn't account for the occasional push of, say, Area 33 or Shade 45, which I could do without but am glad to know they're an option!
It was inevitable that these two companies would merge. Neither of them were making any money, so what's the point? It IS a pity for consumers. Just imagine that McDonalds would be the only place where you get a hamburger.
Certainly, both companies had some problems when it came to financing. However, I'm not sure a merger was the best way to solve it. Many of us are dual subs and will drop several of our radios as there will be no incentive to have duplicate programming. So, their subscriber count won't go up as dramatically as they thought it would. In fact, most of the people I know who subscribe to satellite radio are dual subs. While that's not a scientific survey, I'd guess it's not a unique situation.
