XM And SIRIUS Radio Merging 301
lenny6998 writes to tell us Yahoo! News is reporting that XM and Sirius Radio, the only two major players in the relatively new market of subscription satellite radio have announced a merger. "The two companies said in a statement that Mel Karmazin, the CEO of Sirius, would become chief executive of the new company while Gary Parsons, the chairman of XM, would remain in that role."
Re:Guess it was just a matter of time... (Score:5, Insightful)
Egos (Score:5, Insightful)
Can one satellite network handle two (well three) giant egos.
Let's find out.
Huh? (Score:3, Insightful)
More Bandwidth? (Score:4, Insightful)
Also, as a Big XII Alumni (Baylor,) hopefully they'll give us an option to start listening to Sirius content on XM. Oh, and there is that little league called the NFL.
I'm also curious to see how Opie and Anthony live working umnder the same umbrella as Howard Stern. Time will tell.
Re:Oligopoly (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Guess it was just a matter of time... (Score:3, Insightful)
It will be interesting to see if the non-commercial-running service stays that way.
What does "no" really mean? (Score:5, Insightful)
I was wondering about that too. They either are so desperate for a merger that they'll take their chances with the FCC, or they've already talked with Martin and convinced him that it won't be anticompetitive.
Who knows, they may succeed in framing the competition issue as one applying to the streamed audio market, which encompasses radio, Internet radio, and sat radio. When discussing broadband, the FCC frequently defines the market rather broadly, incorporating dish access into the discussion, as if it is a serious market participant. Given their generally broad interpretation of communications markets, they (or at least Martin, Tate, and McDowell) may buy the argument.
Re:Didn't the FCC already say no? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Satellite Radio is sooooo 2002. (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Satellite Radio is sooooo 2002. (Score:4, Insightful)
In terms of music-only listening I think you make a great point, but satellite offers much more than just music.
Re:Guess it was just a matter of time... (Score:3, Insightful)
Back in the day here in Canada, the first cable companies called their service "PayTV", no commercials.
It was advertised that commercials were necessary for each network to pay for their broadcasting charges in maintaining towers and whatnot.
But soon enough, they saw money.
And the same will happen to Satellite Radio.
A bit worried (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Reminds me of the Onion article (Score:1, Insightful)
Communism: The Endgame of Capitalism
Re:standards? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Satellite Radio is sooooo 2002. (Score:4, Insightful)
Things don't die out as much as they thin out because of increased choices.
Re:Guess it was just a matter of time... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Guess it was just a matter of time... (Score:4, Insightful)
Really? My life does not revolve around finding new music and programming it into my iPod. I listen to Sat Radio so I don't have to do that. Plus, I get comedy, talk, and a lot of other programming that have no or less ads.
Not all of us are tied to our iPods by our nose.
Re:Guess it was just a matter of time... (Score:3, Insightful)
I subscribe to Sirius because it takes the work out of finding new music. I can put on a station that I like, tag the songs I especially like, and then every so often, download a track or buy a CD from one of the artists I found.
Re:Satellite Radio is sooooo 2002. (Score:3, Insightful)
Exactly. Even a 30 gig MP3 collection can sometimes get boring if there is never anything new added.
How to find new stuff to add? Good question, and in my case, XM is the answer. Usually every time I drive somewhere in my car, by the time I'm home there's something new I want to get.
Which reminds me, I need to hunt a track down.