Merger Q&A with Mel Karmazin
Tuesday, February 27, 2007 at 5:03 PM
Tags: 2, XM
USA Today has a very nice feature with Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin on the XM/Sirius merger.
From questions about the merged company raising prices, to the sharing of XM-Sirius content, to dual receivers and what exactly the cost-savings are - the Q&A is quick and concise. And hopefully it will answer some of the questions that you all may have.
Obviously there's more questions, and probably not enough answers at this time. That's sort of the way it goes when you have a merger (anyone who's been through one can attest to that). But just remember that we're barely over a week through this... so give it some time.
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Comments
I don't know if I am reading this article right. They are not going to raise the price of subscriptions yet we might have to pay more for stern, martha, opera , and sports. We already get that stuff with our base subscriptions. Wouldn't seem like saving money to me.
Posted by: BigHead | February 27, 2007 7:22 PM
Mel,
It's your Mother.
I'm not very pleased to see someone in your position in such need of a haircut. You look like a shaggy mess. This isn't what your father and I had hoped for you.
Why can't you look like that Mr. Panero fellow.... you know, the one you said you'd fire on day #1?
He seems like a nice man, and regardless, he always looks so well kept and happy in his photos. Almost like he sold 11 million in stock before it crashed. I'll bet he gets even more shareholders money to leave.
Your Sister and the kids are coming over this evening, so I have to run Son. Dad and I love you, depite that mop of yours and those "Chicklet Teeth" you inherited from your late Uncle Herman.
Love,
Mom
Posted by: Mel's Mom | February 27, 2007 8:20 PM
What's most interesting there is Mel's statement that XM and Sirius will continue to operate as seperate service offerings for THE NEXT 15 YEARS. Wow. I had anticipated the next 3 to 5 years, until old radios were out of circulation. Then again, this may just be PR speak to keep customers and POTENTIAL customers from getting concerned about service interruptions. I would guess that behind the scenes Mel and Co. probably think it will actually happen sooner than that, as soon as single-service radios are out of circulation.
Posted by: waterwagen ? | February 27, 2007 9:41 PM
I found that interesting as well. And the answer to the question I've been wanting to know-- it looks like although the old receivers will not be obsolete, you'll need to buy a new one to get *all* of the content that is available after the merger (which I guess makes sense if they're remaining two separate services).
Posted by: Chris M | February 27, 2007 10:09 PM
Which service is going to take the hit in bandwidth to provide backseat video? Who will have channels cut to accommodate that service? With good ol' Mel in charge my guess is that XM will be cannabalized.
Posted by: man_rob ? | February 28, 2007 9:15 AM
Mel is an asshat.
Posted by: Adam | February 28, 2007 9:39 AM