What happened to the XM/Sirius merger?

Been like a year or so since talk of the two companies going together, seems like it's been pretty quiet for some time now. Anyone know if there are still plans to do this?

My nephew, who was the project engineer on the team that developed the Sirius software, told me that it is going to be a very difficult merger to accomplish. The hardware and software is completely different between XM and Sirius, so the receivers for one can't be used for the other. The merger, if it does occur, is going to take a while.

Here's a link to some recent news. FWIW - I like Sirius programming much better than XM.

Wall Street Journal Sirius XM Merger Article (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121322248905865881.html?mod=googlenews_wsj)

Coincidentally in today's news..

FCC Chief Recommends Approval of Satellite Radio Merger

FOXNews.com - FCC Chief Recommends Approval of Satellite Radio Merger - Science News | Science & Technology | Technology News (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,367222,00.html)

It past the Judiciary commitee, but now the FCC is putting stipulations on the merger(Are You Sirius? - Yahoo! News (http://news.yahoo.com/s/huffpost/20080617/cm_huffpost/107547;_ylt=AsGUJuQHqzFIY7ZnHupTSDWs0NUE)), such as fees, price freeze,a la cart pricing,channels for minority broadcasting, radios that also play High def radio, along with other stupid stipulations. What stipulations did they put on the oil company mergers or phone or cable mergers??

It past the Judiciary commitee, but now the FCC is putting stipulations on the merger(Are You Sirius? - Yahoo! News (http://news.yahoo.com/s/huffpost/20080617/cm_huffpost/107547;_ylt=AsGUJuQHqzFIY7ZnHupTSDWs0NUE)), such as fees, price freeze,a la cart pricing,channels for minority broadcasting, radios that also play High def radio, along with other stupid stipulations. What stipulations did they put on the oil company mergers or phone or cable mergers??
actually, plenty. cable and phone company mergers were required to lease bandwidth on their wires to other companies at "reasonable" rates. Of course the terminology chosen "reasonable" leaves a lot to interpretation.

But to stick to the OPs question, the FCC committee consists of five members who all vote (technically) independently. The chairman of the FCC, Kevin Martin, came out publicly this week to recommend that the merger go through, basically saying that a merger would not create a monopoly since users have so many other choices, like AM/FM, CDs, portable audio players and the up-and-coming internet radio. Additionally, the DOJ (department of justice) ended their inquiry into the merger in March, giving it their stamp of approval. To date the FCC has never contradicted the DOJ, but it could technically happen.

The main sticking point of the merger right now appears to be how many stations will be set aside for independent and minority groups who otherwise would be unable to find a venue on satellite radio. Remember both are publically traded companies and without such stipulations would tend to create only the channels they considered profitable. The XM/Sirius table has indicated that they would allot about 8% of their total catalog to these groups (about 24 channels), which seems to have satisfied Chairman Martin enough for him to publicly recommend the merger. BUT, such promises can often fall through after the fact for a number of reasons if the company doesn't really want to carry through; for example a station with a small audience may be given poor mangement until it crumbles. Who knows if this will happen or not.

The argument that this merger would constitute a monopoly seems to have lost traction, largely because surveys have shown even current satellite subscribers still use other sources (CDs, FM, Podcasts, etc) in their vehicles in addition to satellite raido. Pricing has been another sticking point but the feeling seems to be that, by the time the 3-year pricing freeze (another stipulation on the deal) ends, internet radio will have made significant inroads into mobile audio, and direct competition will do the rest.

In any event, the FCC board will vote later this summer and if approved (which seems highly likely at this point) the last legal obstacle will have been cleared. There is no real time-table for when the verdict will be given, essentially all of the members are able to review the case at their leisure and form their own opinion, but I would expect it sometime by or before August.

I want to pay ala carte and I believe some sort of program like this is part of the deal. I have a yearly subscription to Sirius but listen to only the MET Opera channel. I think in the last two years I have never taken it off that channel. I would love to see the ala carte program go through as it would save me some bucks for sure.

How can this be good for the consumer?

There will be no other satellite radio companies providing content if they merge. Unlike Howard Stern (Sirius), I don't consider ipods as competition to a subscription satellite radio service. Its no different than dish and direct tv merging and my understanding is they didn't let that happen in the past. All I know is if you take away the competition they're goint raise the prices to whatever they want.

How can this be good for the consumer?

There will be no other satellite radio companies providing content if they merge. Unlike Howard Stern (Sirius), I don't consider ipods as competition to a subscription satellite radio service. Its no different than dish and direct tv merging and my understanding is they didn't let that happen in the past. All I know is if you take away the competition they're goint raise the prices to whatever they want.

there seems to be two issues here: 1) would the merger create a monopoly? and 2) would this be better for the consumer?

The FCC and DOJ primary focus is whether or not it will create a monopoly. And has been discussed earlier most people don't seem to think it will. It doesn't matter that there would be only one satellite provider, *most* individuals could get content from other sources. I agree iPods aren't direct competition right now, but with the advent of portable media players that can download content via Wifi and broadband networks (including internet radio)... THAT I think is direct competition, and it will only grow in the next 3 years.

As for whether or not this will be better for the consumer, I think that's a much hazier picture, and depends a lot more on the individual. With the pricing freeze it seems that little will change for current subscribers for the next 3 years, except for some consolidation of similar channels. As an earlier poster mentioned the a la cart option is a very popular idea for many who only listen to a couple of the XM/Sirius channels. At the other end of the spectrum, many listeners wanted a way of listening to the exclusive content from both servers, without having to have two subscriptions, and pay to have two satellite receivers installed in their vehicle.

The real driver behind this, though, is that both companies have been hovering in the red and the boards concluded that a merger would be the most certain way to make a profitable company. Sirius' stock price has dropped from $7.89 to $1.99 in the last three years. Because it is a subscription-based service and as such receives very little advertising revenue (very few channels with ads on them) they need a large base of subscribers to pay for the cost of content. In the last few years both companies have been scolded for spending money "like kids in a candy store" to obtain the exclusive broadcasting rights to things like MLB, NASCAR and NFL games, Howard Stern, etc. These contracts have really strained their operating budgets. Obtaining these contracts (and paying premiums to be the exclusive provider) has been necessary for both companies to compete with one another and draw customers, many of whom join XM or Sirius primarily to listen to those particular programs.

As for them raising prices to whatever they want.... for the first three years there will be the price-freeze, so in the short-term that is a non-issue. Afterwards, market forces will determine how much they will charge for various packages. Raising prices will obviously create more revenue per customer, but if the price goes too high they will loose total customers. Conversely lowing the price will increase their subscription base and the number of affiliates that want their programs offered on satellite radio, but at the expense of total revenue per customer. I'm not sure enough people would pay $20+/month to make raising the price profitable. Time will tell, though.

My understanding is that someone has already figured out how to clone the tsop and the only reason it hasn't been released is there's no money to be made. Nobody is interested in buying a pirated reciever when $150 a year gets you the subscription and better prices for longer comitments.

My point being, should sirius/xm merge and get stupid with their pricing, they'll be dealing with pirating in large scale.

The NAOB,, National Association of Broadcasters, which represents terrestrial radio is lobbying hard against the merger. I'm hooked on Sirius, have 3 subscriptions & would hate to go back to regular radio.

On a recent trip to/from Chicago-ORD, I had to endure a few minutes of XM on the rental car bus. It was practically all commercials. Do people actually pay money for XM? I sure like Sirius. I can see where sat-radio is essential if you live in an area with limited radio stations.

There are commercials on both services. It depends what channel you are listening to.

On a recent trip to/from Chicago-ORD, I had to endure a few minutes of XM on the rental car bus. It was practically all commercials. Do people actually pay money for XM? I sure like Sirius.
I have XM and I enjoy it. Like shovelhd said, both options have stations with and without commercials. I've stayed with XM mostly for the MLB package. That said I would like the option of having a few of the Sirius channels in my ridgeline, but i haven't wanted to install a Sirius receiver and pay twice as much for two subscriptions.

The NAOB,, National Association of Broadcasters, which represents terrestrial radio is lobbying hard against the merger. I'm hooked on Sirius, have 3 subscriptions & would hate to go back to regular radio.

The NAOB has been one of the biggest critics of the proposed merger. However, the shareholders of both companies voted overwhelmingly to merge.... so while the competition is against it, the shareholders think its a good idea. Certainly the FCC are taking both sides arguments into consideration.

It's NAB.

Shareholders are always in favor of monopolies.

Sprite, your posts have been excellent. You seem to know some facts, while the rest of us are languishing in rumors. Thanks for your informative posts. I hope the merger works out well for all of us. I do love my XM, and hope it won't be jeapordized by the merger. The merger could be great for all of us, or it could be just a way to jack up the fees. Satellite radio has been a boon to me, since I don't listen to many FM or AM stations day to day. I hope all this works out well.