Liberty Media (proud owners of Starz, QVC and a 48% chunk of DirecTV) made a last-minute deal with Sirius XM, whose impending bankruptcy would have been the second biggest Chapter-11 filing this year.
Now that Sirius and XM are merged, it makes sense that we’ll get a dual tuner that picks up both flavours of satellite radio, right? WRONG.
We’ve already heard about the $US4 Best of Sirius and Best of XM expansion plans, but how else is the satellite radio merger changing subscription options? XM customers will now be able to subscribe to limited plans known as Mostly Music and Mostly Talk. Each offers a selection of channels for $US10. Also, on new Sirius hardware, a $US7/mo plan can get you 50 non-premium a la carte channels with additional channels purchasable for 50 cents a month. As you can see, this merger has done nothing to simplify subscription plans in satellite radio. [Sirius A La Carte via Zatz Not Funny]
Having seen—and tested—the earlier evolutions of satellite radio receiver, from dashboard model to in-home unit to hip-connected recorder/player, I’ve felt like I’m judging contestants in the Special Olympics: The radio service is fine, but the gadgets aren’t really expected to measure up to other contenders in the same field. XM’s latest, the XMp3, is impressive in that it records five channels at once and records your most popular stations automatically. But it needs this functionality to make up for the fact that it depends on spotty satellite reception for content.
All we have is a blurb in Popular Science magazine this afternoon, but it would appear there’s a first look of sorts going down today with the XMp3. The portable device is an XM Radio player that can record up to five satellite stations at once. “Other portable players save only one channel,” Popsci notes, “but the XMp3 can decode five incoming streams to snag multiple songs whether it’s in the dock or in your pocket.” That’s it for now. Expect more soon or whenever XM decides to give up more info. [Orbitcast]
To XM customers who’ve been jealous of Howard Stern content and Sirius customers who’ve always wanted to tune in to Oprah & Friends (a remarkably high crossover demographic we’re sure), the newly wedded Sirius/XM has revealed their cross-content “best of” packages available for US$4 a month. From what we can tell, subscribing to either offer looks to provide you with the most popular entertainment and sports channels that the other guy’s got. For a potentially incomplete list of channels in each package, read on. Otherwise, continue mainlining Apple news fix.
The Sirius-XM Merger was finally approved by the FCC today following a 3-2 vote by the commission. The final and deciding vote only came after both parties agreed to pay a US$19.7 million fine for violating FCC regulations. After 16 months of MTV-esque “drama” and gnashing of teeth, the US$3.6 billion merger means that subscribers of both services will now get the best of both worlds. [SF Gate]
And here she is. After FCC chair Johnathan Adelstein withdrew his support today, the vote is now deadlocked and awaiting the yea or nay from Deborah Taylor, a Republican who is thought to be in favour of the merger. Something tells me a large batch of high-end satellite radio gear is now being priority overnighted to Taylor’s office to ply for her support.
The same guys who made uSirius for jailbroken iPhones are back with uXM, which does exactly the same thing except with XM. An XM subscription is necessary, but you’ll be able to listen to your stations on the toilet, in the office, in the office toilet, or even at Starbucks—anywhere where you can get a decent connection. Never be alone with your thoughts again. [iSmashPhone]
