i think microsoft will use this technology for zunephones.

ronnsprocket

@bobdobbs: Subscriber screwing... please. The new Sirius-XM will be forced to freeze prices for at least 3 years and I've heard rumors of up to 6. As for competition, what do you call FM, HD Radio, iPods, music-enabled cell phones and Pandora just to name a few? And that's just music competition. In terms of entertainment competition there is an endless stream of things to compete for your $13 a month. If Sirius-XM doesn't want to lose subscribers, they keep the prices low. Simple economics.

kingzj

I say vote Yes! Let the subscriber-screwing begin. This is America. Who needs competition?

bobdobbs

She kinda of hot. I hope see is into merger

wanago

approve it so I can go through a year long hassle of moving my prepaid sirius subscription to my 3 month trial xm radio in my new car.

slungsolow

Looking good for XM/Sirius shareholders.

It will be great to be able to get your Sirius radio on the iPhone.

yoshi

Yeah, I say approve it. Instead of two large companies going out of business, we'll have one HUGE company going out of business. That's the American way, afterall.

unibrow4o9

now with free radio (I like Pandora) on my iPhone, i canceled my XM n sold the gear online...probably not helping the cause...

chizelord

Just say yes woman, XM and Sirius are struggling to turn a profit.

pdditty

If you're a subscriber, not a whole lot will change once the deal is finalized

Hi, it's me, the obnoxious commenter that should have felt the pain of the ban-hammer years ago. For some unexplainable reason I feel a need to let you know that I am not a subscriber, and I probably won't notice much of a change when the deal is finalized, either. In fact, until they decide to use their new-found monopoly to raise prices, maybe no one will notice it happened?

Monty

@bobdobbs: I hope you are being sarcastic. The Department of Justice said it's not a monopoly and added there should be no constraints or conditions made on the merger of Sirius and XM. Personally I'd love to see it happen so that I can finally have MLB on my Sirius. If you're serious, please drink more of the "it's a monopoly and the sky is falling" Kool-Aid and I've got some nice swamp land in Florida that you might be interested in.

DarthTader

After all this time I still don't know how I feel about the potential merger.

On the one hand, XM and Sirius, together, compete against terrestrial broadcast radio. On the other hand, it is a different medium with different features, more variety, and some commercial-free channels, which makes satellite radio stand on it's own against terrestrial broadcast.

On the one hand, monopolies are bad and stifle competition. Would there then be any ability for a new satellite radio company to enter the market later?

I'm torn on this one.

Disclaimer: I am an XM subscriber and happy with it.

AD8BC

Allow the merger, but allow the second sat license to be available for purchase/auction enabling some idiot to enter the market should they so desire.

SeattleTed

This is an easy NO! Do not approve the merger. Mel Karmazin will run this into the ground while making a personal profit.

The only person who is screwed in this is the consumer. If they fail to make a profit, it is the because of mismanagment of both corps.

knappoleon

If you read around it sounds as if this lady will not approve the merger. She's been in tons of meetings with terrestrial radio's people. Doesn't sound like she's friendly to the whole thing.

mrwolf710

Ba Ba Booey and ummm F the FCC. Right?
I'll look forward to more music variety on my Sirus, I will be a happy camper!

marc_wtih_a_c

As a consumer, the only thing unfair is that if I like footbal and baseball I have to have two saltellite services. Let me choose my content from one provider instead of having to pay for two.

powerball

quick! someone get that woman a bribe!
"Did I uh, hear a briefcase opening?"

Slap Bet

I have both XM & Sirius and I love them both. They're awesome services! I want BPM, The System, Lucy, Squizz, Fred and Ethel on Sirius.

Unknown2U

@AD8BC: How will this stifle competition? Can't ANYBODY with buttloads of cash to risk put up satellites, create a brand and put together programming?

@knappoleon: Mel K may be a greedy tool but blocking the merger won't change that. It may, however, keep my beloved XM from going under.

This is really terrestrial radio fighting it's own demise. Which is self-inflicted. When was the last time you heard a new band/artist you liked on broadcast radio? Besides tweener girls being (almost literally) pimped by Disney?

Here's to hearing Stern.

thebullfrog

@thebullfrog:

Answer - no, nobody can use a buttload of cash to put up a satellite. There are a limited number of geosynchronous orbits available, controlled through international treaty and the governments responsible for the treaties. In the US, the government specifically set aside a few orbital slots and auctioned off their use for paid radio service, which is also controlled by the FCC who is responsible for the use of radio spectrum (and who is also bound by international treaty to some extent).

If a company went under, of course, those orbital slots could have been auctioned again to a company with a business plan that worked. The buttloads of cash would be useful then.

Maybe Mel's business plan would have worked if he avoided the $500M deal to Stern. That was a significant deviation from what the original investors were promised (and the subsequent bidding up in the market for on-air "talent").

I do agree with a lot of self-inflicted wounds, although some of them were inherited from the music industry years ago when they gave up on broad talent development for a handful of megastars. Maybe terrestrial radio could have an encrypted service where they could get a subscription fee...

Most satellite investments are extremely risky. No one should be surprised at the state of XM/Sirius given what happened previously with Iridium.

lschofield

pretty pretty please say yes

MavTrav

I had XM radio for a year or so with my boom box and car, when I cancelled it was a nightmare. The guy went into zombie mode and refused to cancel, then he said they would let it keep going until what turned out to be their next stockholder report so they could keep booking me as a customer. I told him to cancel my car account because I traded in my car and no longer needed it. I told him straight out that if he did not I would cancel my boom box account and be done with their company completely. He didn't believe me and went into a dance about how I could just pause it and keep it until my next car got it and all the rest of the fighting went on.
After about 20 minutes of this I told him I wanted to talk to a supervisor who would cancel my account. He said "Supervisors aren't available, they are busy". and I told him to cancel all my accounts, and reminded him that I has specifically warned him this would happen. Now I don't have XM and just have a regular boom box with an Ipod adapter.
I'll never go back to XM again after that nightmare. Did I mention all their popular channels have commercials? They keep spamming all kinds of dog food and other commercials so you pay the monthly fee to get spammed to death. Also the other channels sound like a dead zone since the same DJ does promotions for 100 channels at a time, and it's all programmed so listening to it is like a day in the twilight zone.
All they had to do was cancel my car account, which I explained I didn't own anymore, but they just couldn't do it, they had to be a bitch and now I won't ever go back. Don't even dare to complain, they will prevent you from getting them in trouble by saying their supervisors are all busy and not able to take calls. You're screwed.

Hello_Newman

eh, i say not. don't get me wrong, i'd still hit it, but not if she's going to be giving me that patronizing smile.

sorry, i thought i was logged in to hotornot. uh, yes, i approve of this merger since it doesn't matter.

Anomynoose