XM and Sirius detail their A La Carte offering

Early Congrats from me on the Merger news.

Goodbye NAB.

Looks great and fair to me, for both sides. Let's see what the anti merger people have to whine about now.

Whaaa, Mel K is the devil.

The big take away for me is that under the XM mostly music plan they list both commercial free music and more music (Clear Channel music channels). Under the Sirius mostly music plan they list only commercial free music.

A) This is a commitment to commercial free music. No more pissing about the coming commercials.
B) The Clear Channel deal isn't going anywhere for the foreseeable future.

I am perfectly happy keeping my full XM and Sirius subs. I have $6.99 radios on both plans and would not want to lose them on either. I will still be able to do that and have largely the same stuff that I have today.

ah hem- Attention cable companies, i.e. Comcast are you listening to this.

I do have one gripe but it might be a little early for this question. Can I get a credit for Basketball, Baseball, Korean channels and french channels. They offend me. :)

This is going to hurt the NAB and gives the FCC/DOJ the reason to approve such a merger--It now specifically shows how this merger will BENEFIT the public and also offers ala carte for the first time---Chances of approval just went up as it takes away much of the NAB arguement

So, I wonder what's going to happen to my Sirius lifetime subscription?

These packages will make most of us spend the same or more if we want any SIRIUS/XM Programming. Im an XM sub and I would like to add some of the SIRIUS rock stations. So I could either go with the A La Carte 2 or the Best of Both packages which are 14.95 or 16.95 respectivly.

So in the end if you want to cross over (Which sounds like the biggest benifit of the merger) then youc ant do so in any capacity without paying the same or more.

Am I reading this right?

-mFp

so if I want baseball do I have to buy all 15 stations seperately even if they are only used at nights? and what if I want to listen to only 3 teams? they constantly switch channels based on who they play. how would that work?

something seems fishy here. nobody would ever choose more than 50 channels. unless they are hoping that sirius users would be more likely to want some xm programming and visa versa thus forcing them to take the higher one.

personally i can get everything i want on 50 channels of xm. thats why i chose the service in the first place

Am I reading this right?

You are reading it right. Neither Sirius or XM ever even hinted that you would be able to get programming from both for the same money that you pay today.

They have been quite clear that you can keep what you have, or for less money than subscribing to both you would be able to get a "best of" from both.

What happens to all the OEM customers with embedded hardware? What are their options?

Looks great, i agree the chances of this merger just jumped to a new level.

Here's my question, I'm a sirius sub who paid for the lifetime sub. Where does thatt leave me if i want some XM (and i do)? Will that be a one time surcharge to this account? will there be no extra charge for the Lifers? This seams to be the one grey areas remaining, but I'm not sure how many it really effects.

A la carte 1 sounds good to me, but going to the official press release, don;t miss this:

*Available only for subscribers using next generation receivers who select channels via the Internet.

So... I *will* need to buy a new receiver after all. Oh well. I've been wanting a new one anyway.

>>> something seems fishy here. nobody would ever choose more than 50 channels.

They are sooooo overestimating the number of subscribers who want pieces of both.

The 50 channels will be adequate for the vast, vast majority of subscribers.

The gotcha, apparently, is the lack of any family plan discount.

so if I want baseball do I have to buy all 15 stations seperately even if they are only used at nights?

The way that I read it premium content like sports won't cross over in an ala carte package. To get the sports you would need to subscribe to the everything package. They have contracts with these leagues and likely can't give MLB to Sirius listeners or NFL to XM listeners because of it.

Sounds good so far....At this point I hope it happens or not. The waiting is not helping the SatRad business.

So... I *will* need to buy a new receiver after all. Oh well. I've been wanting a new one anyway.

No, you won't *have* to buy anything new unless you want ala carte. You can get what you get today as well as the everything + best of packages on the radios that you have now.

I wonder how often you'll be able to switch your ala-carte choices. I currently don't live in any of the areas covered by the traffic/weather channels so I don't listen everyday, but those are invaluable when I'm traveling and I'd be more than willing to sacrifice a talk channel or two during the week/month in question.

"ah hem- Attention cable companies, i.e. Comcast are you listening to this.

I do have one gripe but it might be a little early for this question. Can I get a credit for Basketball, Baseball, Korean channels and french channels. They offend me. :)"

my thoughts EXACTLY! i don't care how long i have to talk to Customer Service complaining, one way or another, I WILL GET MY DISCOUNT! "Radio Korea" is poisoning my children's precious little minds with their secret Commie Pinko messages from Kim Jong Il!

Am I the only one that finds this confusing? Imagine a new, non-Orbitcast reading consumer who wants to enter the satellite realm. They first have to pick between Sirius and XM receivers and then decided between 16 different plans. It's like when Apple used to have 15 different variants of the Quadra line.

Imagine a new, non-Orbitcast reading consumer who wants to enter the satellite realm.

Joe consumer at Best Lie will see the "Prices starting at $6.99" and that will move people. Once they are in you count on a percentage that will have to have it all and will buy up. It is a numbers game just like it is now.

I delayed getting either because I had a hard time swallowing the concept of $12.95 a month for radio. When I got in I quickly bought both services. Had the price started at $6.99 I know I would have gotten started years sooner than I did.

Merge or not, all I ever cared about was if my XM programming would continue as is.
The announcement seems to confirm this.
The a la carte plans seem ok, but not until my 2 innos give up the ghost.

This actually looks pretty good...Although I'd probably take my XM programming plus the Best of Sirius package, I like the idea of the A La Cart set-up; could be very attractive for someone just thinking about checking out SatRad...They could pick a couple country channels, a few rock stations, some pop, maybe some news and talk to get started...Once they see how good those channels are, I could see a lot of people upgrading to either one of the Best-Of plans or some other plan to get more content.

I agree; Comcast and other cable companies could really learn from this. I just subscribed to NFL Network (which I'd first started out with about three years ago, then it became standard on my digital cable, then they made those of us who wanted is subscribe again.). I don't mind having to pay for the channel necessarily, but what I don't like is having to pay $5 bucks for the "Sports and Entertainment" package just to GET NFL Network...Along with it, I get five or ten other channels I'll likely never watch and don't really care about.

Does anyone know what the best of Sirius channels will include? or what the best of XM channels will include?

Wow. This is far better than I ever expected for consumers. Mel has played the NAB like a violin. The NAB shot their guns early and have nothing left to say. Mel just keep putting more and more logs on the fire.

Assuming merger gets past the DOJ, its a done deal. No way, NO WAY, the FCC blocks this plan. Its a win-win for nearly everyone.

I must be one of the few who am pissed by this package. I was looking forward to having both XM & Sirius sports programming.

As long as I get to pick which 50 channels I want out of the 100, then this is a great thing for me.

I'm impressed with the options on this, but I'm concerned for us lifers not being mentioned. Maybe it'll be like keeping my Sirius programming, then paying a discounted lifetime plan for XM (for my tastes of baseball and hockey and learning some channels I don't know yet), a new reciever...transfering my then lifetime plans to the new reciever...with keeping my old radio for an option if i need another subscription.

Also what happens with internet listening plans? May be a dumb question, but not I know that not all stations are able to be played online. Especially the talk and sports packages. But may have answered my own question in my head (tough luck). And are both XM/Sirius high speed listening after the merger?

Good Old Mel needs to answer the following questions:

How long will this pricing structure be guaranteed? One year, two years? What happens after that?

Which channels are the Premium and Super Premium channels?

What does the parenthetical phrase "(including some best of Sirius/XM)" mean when it comes to the "A La Carte II" Offering? Does the words "best of" mean some of the Premium and Super Premium channels?

Why are Sirius' Super Premium channels $6.00 and $5.00 each and XM's Super Premium channels $6.00 and $3.00 each. Is this an incorrectly worded reference to Premium and Super Premium channels? Is the $6.00 and $3.00 for XM's Super Premium channels a misprint? Should it be $6.00 and $5.00.

How long will the music channels remain commercial-free?

Will multi-year subscriptions still be offered at a discounted rate?

Ok this merger is now totally not making any sense to me.

Wasn't it supposed to be so both companies can combine together and lower their operation costs by getting rid of duplicate programming?

How can they do that if they are going to offer both Sirius and XM? If they are merging shouldn't they combine? It don't really sound like the customer is going to get anything new.
Why offer it as 2 seperate services after the merger?

The reason they are keeping two distinct lineups for now is to keep compatibility with the older radios. Mel and Gary both insisted in merger call all existing equipment would still work. If they forced everybody to upgrade, the FCC and Congress would have a cow.

Eventually, they might trim some programming, merge existing music channels that are too similar, for instance, but that will take a while as they do consumer analysis.

question about a la carte #1 - it says choose 50 channels from sirious "or" XM. does that mean you get 50 channels from one or the other, but not both? or am i just reading that wrong? man, i'd love that deal if i could get channels from both, since i only listen to about 15-20 of the current XM lineup channels.

In addition to Mudhead's questions, I have the following question for Good Old Mel:

What does the "Select Sirius" mean for the "XM Everything and Select Sirius" Offering?

This offering gives you 10 of the Sirius channels, but which ones? I'm sure the "Select Sirius" channels won't include any of the Premium or Super-Premium channels, will they?

The whole proposal smacks of "smoke and mirrors."

So many people are starting to get it now that this is out.

No, you will NOT get XM sports on Sirius or vice-versa.

No, you cannot choose from any set of XM and Sirius channels. No bandwidth to do it.

If you want all of both XM and SIRI, you'll have to wait on new dual-capable receivers to become available. If you want ala carte, you'll have to wait on new receivers that the won't even start working on until after the merger is approved.

Both "A La Carte" Offerings require the purchase of the "next generation receivers." How much will the merged company be charging for these receivers? They must have some idea of what the "next generation receivers" will cost. Why isn't this mentioned in the Proposal?

Remember, if there is any way to squeeze the subscribers for some extra cash, Mel will find it. Overpriced "second generation receivers" would be a great way to do this.

Ok so in watching this video telecast of Mel speaking to the national press club, I guess I have some questions and the big one would be can I have, Howard Stern, Opie and Anthony along with the 4 major sports leagues and college sports that are featured on both services? This also with music channel of course. I know easily of my taste, I could fill up my radio to just 80 channels. I want to know if I can have this all on one radio. I am a radio consultant and if this goes through, radio in general will get better in the marketplace.

So for me, as I suspected, the cost is going to rise. And that's just the moment the merger goes through. Once the monopoly is fully entrenched they can go the cable route & increase costs as much as they want. Oh, and what's going to happen to my free, high speed internet service? Do I have to pay as Sirius subs do or will it continue to be free?

Just a quick note: if you go to XMs page right now there are 14 channels listed under "talk and entertainment" and 2 under "women" (which are actually talk as well). the new plans say that you will be able to get 15 channels if you choose the talk package. makes me wonder which channel it is that will end up being considered "premium +$3/6 per month)...

dont worry, im sure they are doing the same thing with one of sirius' "elite" programs.

"If you want all of both XM and SIRI, you'll have to wait on new dual-capable receivers to become available. If you want ala carte, you'll have to wait on new receivers that the won't even start working on until after the merger is approved."

I'm confused, do you think this is a bad thing? Should they start developing these new receivers before they even know whether or not the merger will get approved? Or do you think that 6 months is too long of a wait, so therefore everyone would be better off without the option to buy a dual-mode radio at all?

I would love to know what channels are going to be apart of "Best of XM" & "Best of Sirius" Anybody have any info?

So if i want o and a and football i will have to pay 20 dollars a month as well as an extra 7 for music?

which comes to a grand total of $27 for one radio sub?

This is bad news for the merger.

Prices are expected to be raised.

I did not see anything mentioned about special pricing for those who choose yearly or multi-year subscriptions (as I do). Will there only be a monthly option now?

It looks to me like I get no savings in this deal as a multi-year XM subscriber (and may actually pay more if there is only a monthly option) - if I want any of the "A La Carte" options, I need to buy a new radio. If I keep the same radio, my only options are my existing service at the existing price or my existing service plus "Select Sirius" (whatever that means) for $16.99.

Two points:

They show a "Best of Everything" and are clear to define it as all of your existing service (XM in my case) and "Select" channels of the other service. They never say which these will be. They then compare the price of $16.99 to $25.98 - a price you would pay for ALL channels on both services. This is misleading - especially considering that they do not tell you what "Select" stations are included.

The $6.99 low-ball price excludes "Premium" channels which can be added at $3 or $6? This sounds to me like "bait & switch". Have they defined which are "Premium" channels?

Call me unconvinced.

>> I'm confused, do you think this is a bad thing? Should they start developing these new receivers before they even know whether or not the merger will get approved?

Absolutely. They agreed to build a dual-capable receiver as a condition to the license, many years ago. So, yes, they ought to be required to do it even after the merger fails.

Once the merger has failed, and I believe (and hope) it will, everything that has been proposed today will STILL happen. Even though Mel said it won't, you can bet it will. Maybe the low-end piece will be $8.99 or $9.99. But the essence will happen. Why? Because, it helps both companies -- so long as they can keep ARPU from falling, it totally makes sense to offer these packages.

>>> Or do you think that 6 months is too long of a wait, so therefore everyone would be better off without the option to buy a dual-mode radio at all?

Well, it isn't 6 months. If we find out about the merger before year end, you're talking another year or two before we'll see the retail version of the receivers, and 3 years or more before we'll see the first OEM versions.

What is important is that there is NOT ONE THING in the merger that makes these plans more doable. Not one thing. They can do these things every bit as profitably without the merger.

Let's see.. when we start a trend towards channels that we want and the channels that we don't want have maybe a very few people ordering them will they cut this idea.. XM tried this with the "High Voltage" channel as well as playboy, and Playboy went goodbye and XM raised the overall price for the subscription and brought the High Voltage channel to all subscribers.. will this work now?? ummmmmmm ..... .... .... ... ....

I still don't know what the HUGE concern over auto manufacturers. Sure it won't be standard dual reciever for a while. But, I use the FM modulator in my Starmate now to get my Sirius in my car and don't plan on worrying about getting XM/Sirius ready anytime soon. Dual recievers with FM modulators will be made if I choose to get XM. Everybody seems to want NOW, NOW, NOW with the merger when they aren't even allowed to merge yet. This is just the pricing plan. I think a lot of people (on here) are too close to this right now.

'XM Everything or Sirius Everything - $12.99/month gets you a similar package to what you're receiving today."

I have a feeling that the vast majority of subscribers don't follow this thing this closely and don't know what's coming. A lot may not even notice except a future mailer or online or commercial. And I still hear that a lot of casual listeners call into Howard that don't even realize they get a free internet account with their radio subscription. They'll continue see that they can get $12.99 'similar package', which may be a channel update after the merger. I know that SIrius is changing channels all of the time and my lineup now is only 'similar' to what I started with and now I have NASCAR and lost NHL. If they were to cut out listeners existing XM and Sirius 'premium' stations...they'd lose business. Fast.

Let the thing go through. Give it time. See if you like it and choose to stay a subscriber if you want. Your money goes a lot farther in showing approval or not for this in the long run.

I smell a Mel in all of this.

We don't call him Machiavellian Mel for nothing.

Officially count me as being opposed to the merger...it opens up too many doors for the consumer to get screwed. They are already showing signs of being misleading when they said earlier that the prices wouldn't be raised and that all of the current radios would work...both statements are true, kinda, but not really in the nature of which they were made.

JckMyrHffr, you're a fucking boob. Let it go through & see what happens? Then if it sucks ass all I can do is cancel & go back to regular radio. How about I stand up now and not let these two companies trample me? I prefer to prevent getting fucked in the ass rather than rub some lotion on it after I'm raped.

The casual listener, such as my brother, will immediately cancel if their bill goes up 1 cent. I pay my brother's bill as a gift as his wife would never allow them to pay for radio. That's money that could go towards college for their kids. They already look at it as a major luxury item. If they were paying and had to take a look at their budget, sat radio would be the first thing to go. If they need a new receiver in another year, either I buy it for them or they cancel. The casual listener is not investing another $200+ for hardware.

Oh, and good luck with the FM mods in the next generation of receivers. I think we've seen the last of FM mods and if we ever see them again they will be to weak to work a la the new models from both companies.

How is sports going to be done... Like when I want to listen to a Football game... and Sirius is putting it on the Jesus Channel... But I didn't pick the Jesus channel for my A la Carte...???

�PFreak, is this all over the O&A thing, still? Let it go...I was joking. And yes I'm taking in to consideration what you say on here for now...and being more civilzed about it (I'll save the name calling for 0.0 and Hoo Hoo dumb arguements...this place has enough of those). And sorry to make these long, I just have a lot to cover sometimes...civilized�

YES...if it sucks, you can cancel. I sent and email to Sirius customer support on any kind of lifetime info for us lifers. I got a cookie cutter response, 'No information to lifetime plans at this time, but we appreciate your concern. Feel free to follow the link to the press release'...and it's the XM/Sirius announcement from Feb.

Your brother and his wife not paying for radio, through you paying the bill is still XM getting the money no matter how you look at it. It's nice of you to pay, but if you don't want to pay $13 instead of $12.99 or get a new reciever to get Sirius programming along with your XM...cancel. You're allowed to be pissed. I could be pissed from this. And I'd completely understand the masses being pissed about this.

If the merger goes through and masses of people drop out from lose of channels and less options for the money, they'll (XM/Sirius) see they screwed up...and run themselves in the ground while trying to dig their way out. Does your brother pay for cable? That's way more money a month. And the 'XM Everything or Sirius Everything - $12.99/month gets you a similar package to what you're receiving today." thing has me curious to what 'similar' means, along with ALL of the old reciever still working. For your brother, this goes into getting his XM at the same price. His kids can still go to college. When a channel lineup comes out, I'll judge.

And FM mods I'm guessing won't go away. Part of the thing that I love about my Starmate is being able to go from my car, to my apt, to my car, to my work with one reciever. They don't want to begin forcing boomboxes and hardwiring cars. But...they may. And if they make use of Mp3 jacks, newer cars will be set for new recievers without being hardwired. Used car owners and non-satelllite equipped or Mp3 jack available car models (such as mine), will still want satellite radio and XM/Sirius will be retarted not to capitalize on keeping FM mods available in some way. New technology isn't out yet...so you don't know it's gone. I agree with peope in stating that if it doesn't go through, then Dual Reciever should still be made. Give people more options and still keeping satellite radio on the front of audio entertainment.

I didn't say I'm 100% by any means in this merger. More like 65-68% now...down from around 80% a couple weeks ago. I need to hear more, soon. But, I'm allowed to be optimistic in good things ahead...even if it makes me a boob.

From someone who hate the merger I think this is a great idea. My biggest concern is I would loose the XM channels that I loved but it appears they will be there in addition to Sirius top programming. Fine with me. Let the merger go through.

JckMyrHffr, you give yourself far to much credit. I could give a shit about your thoughts on O&A. I'm not a one channel listener. I'm looking at the entire picture.

You're happy to wait and see if the new service sucks and then cancel. I love what I have and don't want to let the company fuck me for the sake of making more money for stockholders. I have over $1,000 invested in hardware. I also can't keep paying my brothers bill forever and he can't afford such a luxury (I hate kids and thankfully have none of my own). But ask parents what their priorities are, paying for radio is not even on the radar.

And where have you been? FM Mods are gone. Sureconnect & Sirius's equally shitty solution is not the FM Mods of years ago. My first radio beamed about a quarter mile from the radio. New FM mods go about 6 feet and are useless in major cities. Many new plug & plays don't allow FM mod from anything but the car dock. That means no more having one radio that beams the signal throughout your entire home. I still buy old radios from online retailers & ebay just to get a real FM Mod.

PFreak, I'm not giving myself credit for anything. Just wondering where the 'Fucking boob' anger is coming from. It's my opinion and stating why I'm for instead of just saying "I AM FOR THIS MERGER". And my Sirius listening runs from Howard to Spa73 to Faction(Rock & Rap), to AltNation to the Discovery Radio and Radio Classics (because Superman is halariously cheesy) and etc. I use about all of my music channels (except symphony) at some point either through myself or through friends listening to whatever they want in my car. Probably 85% of music and 40% talk.

I don't have kids, either. And believe me, if you knew how my priorities in the last year of my life were so completely unfocussed around satellite radio with loved ones being either sick or needing assistance in some way, you'd see that I'm not focused on satellite radio. I make lower middle class money and have many bills I'm paying to make ends meet. I accidently broke one gift radio, had to buy another (upgraded to $120), Lifetime plan ($500), plus 2 extra home docks ($80). So I have money invested, too. I understand where your money issues come from. I also understand that people with kids have money priorities. I'm just saying is $12.95 is still listed for "Everything XM and Everything Sirius" which means your money doesn't have to be spent unless you want other programming.

And my FM mod does go about 4 feet now. I took the antenna off my car for better reception. It works sometimes. But outside the city on the turnpike, it works great. Which is good for truckers who may not own their trucks and can't, again, hardwire the reciever. But Sirius has a repeater they sell now that will reach through my apt, and is advertised to go through whole houses. And if I move soon, another expense in my life, I'm thinking of getting one. The issues with the FM mods is interfering with other people's radios...that's why they, if you read the filings with the FCC, they're working on getting a middle ground reached to make FM mods still available (pg96, there's a link on Orbicast).

I'm allowed to have my opinions and so are you. I read the filings and feel like they're actually providing a better case than what I've been hearing. But, with no channel lineups listed...and eventually I may or may not have a validated lifetime plan, I still have my own worries.

AND...I'm still for this merger based on lower prices. STILL get Sirius on my current reciever. The OPTION later to get a dual reciever and get baseball and hockey...even if I have to pay. My option now is getting another FULL $12.95 subscription to XM for MLB and NHL, while using my Sirius for music and entertainment.

I agree with some of the previous posters regarding Mel's smoke & mirrors. Here is why (and excuse me when I repeat some things already said):

1. I see nothing regarding the yearly & mult-year contracts at a discount. Will they be gone?
2. The only thing an existing user can do is keep what he has at the same price or pay more for additional stuff - unless he buys a new radio. Even then, the radios will not be immediately available.
3. "A la Carte" packages are typical bait & switch. They do not include "Premium" & "Super Premium" which are yet to be defined. (Howard Stern and sports fans beware!)
4. Best of packages are also undefined. Yes, they include your existing stuff but the adds from the other service are undefined. As someone ellse said, will they include "Premiums" & "Super Premiums" (e.g. will an XM user get Stern?)

I think Karmazin is selling everyone a bill of goods. Someone should pressure him for details on the above. Then maybe I'll believe that there is anything for me as an existing subscriber.

I agree with some of the previous posters regarding Mel's smoke & mirrors. Here is why (and excuse me when I repeat some things already said):

1. I see nothing regarding the yearly & mult-year contracts at a discount. Will they be gone?
2. The only thing an existing user can do is keep what he has at the same price or pay more for additional stuff - unless he buys a new radio. Even then, the radios will not be immediately available.
3. "A la Carte" packages are typical bait & switch. They do not include "Premium" & "Super Premium" which are yet to be defined. (Howard Stern and sports fans beware!)
4. Best of packages are also undefined. Yes, they include your existing stuff but the adds from the other service are undefined. As someone ellse said, will they include "Premiums" & "Super Premiums" (e.g. will an XM user get Stern?)

I think Karmazin is selling everyone a bill of goods. Someone should pressure him for details on the above. Then maybe I'll believe that there is anything for me as an existing subscriber.

In order to offer "All of XM + Select Sirius" and "All of Sirius + Select XM" (or however they worded it), some channels are going to have to be eliminated. They're already pushing the bandwidth too far as it is, so the only way to get these "extra" channels to people with existing radios is to combine shared programming.

That means channels already on both systems will be a given to be moved to this "Select" package...like:

ESPN Radio
ESPN News
Radio Disney
ABC News & Talk
CNBC
Bloomberg Radio
CNN
CNN Headline News
BBC World Service News
and a few others

Also, channels that are duplicates "in spirit", like
the Decades music channels
Sirius Hits 1/XM Top 20 on 20
Sirius Lithium/XM Lucy
Sirius Classic Vinyl/XM Top Tracks
Sirius Classic Rewind/XM Big Tracks
etc...

There's no way anything that is currently exclusive to one company or the other will wind up being a part of this combined plan, and the PDF linked here is carefully worded to say that "The XM Everything and SIRIUS Everything packages will offer a service similar to that offered today". Notice "similar" - meaning "not the same".

Current subscribers that don't give a whit about the other company will lose channels. There's no getting around that in order to offer the combined package.

JckMyrHffr, You are supporting a merger based on no information. Or at best, the least amount of info Mel & company can put out. Based on the info released, everyone that currently wants to keep what they have is going to pay more. There has been no info about lifetime plans, family plans, free broadband online which XM customers currently enjoy, info about devices. The Inno allows you to record hours of programming and delete all the songs you don't want to keep, the SL100 does not. This is a major difference in the products and what makes the Inno so much better. The SL100 needs the extra storage as you can't delete unwanted songs, just entire blocks. Sirius has been pussy's fighting the RIAA on this, what will happen in the future? Which channels will be considered redundant? What programming philosophy will rule the new company?

The repeaters you mention do not do what you think. They enhance the signal, not broadcast it through your home. FM Mods were not disabled because of interference (although that's the official line), you can buy an FM Mod that is much more powerful from any electronics dealer. Fuck, you can get a cellphone or MP3 player w/a stronger FM Mod. They were removed to placate the FCC so they didn't need to worry about the FCC coming in and regulating content. Again, a pussy move by both companies. The balls have been removed from FM Mods and both companies solutions suck ass. I'm certainly not removing my antenna, that's just not a consumer friendly solution. Oh, and I happen to be one of the supposed 2% with a retractable antenna so sureconnect is not compatable with my car. You're right, it does work well on the highway if you don't count wires everywhere in your car as an issue. In the city it is utterly useless.

Right now, I have a choice. If I don't like what XM is doing, the service they are offering or any move that I don't like, I have a choice. Cancel & go to Sirius. If the merger is allowed, there will be no choice. I'm not really for or against it yet but I'm certainly not supporting something that limits my choices without any concrete information what-so-ever.

PFreak. �You are supporting a merger based on no information. Or at best, the least amount of info Mel & company can put out...�

Duh. Exactly why I said I'm not 100% and have my concerns about 10 times to you, and said at the end of one comment, 'I need to hear more, soon'. But I'm for LOWER price plans, getting my SAME service on my EXISTING reciever with an OPTION for getting new recievers for other programming if I want. And the waiting to hear more is; monthly, family, lifetime....do I have to list every concern in a comment of my opinion?

I know what repeaters do in letting me take my reciever from room to room without my antenna, which would help me listen through my stereo in my living room, then going back to my bedroom and listening though my small table top stereo, guess I didn't make myself clear there for my point there. And I agree in my old reciever's FM mod used to go further, but the repeater clears that up. I don't have to worry about dragging wires around my apartment. And I live in Pittsburgh. We have many many local radio stations and buildings and hills and trees. I listen to my Sirius through 95.7, no antenna (by my choice of not unhooking the actual antenna wires to get no signal), even with the antenna on...works fine by me. I know that nothing will ever beat hardwiring a car stereo. Some of us don't have that option. I've had my factory stereo fail twice in my car that I'm only going to have for two more years. Why pay for something to be installed and then uninstalled, because I don't know wiring? FM mods may not be what they were, but they'll still exist in a 4ft range because they'll be able to sell them and people now who use them will still want them.

I'm not going into technology in recording arguements. I've never used the Inno, and don't own a SL100. I look forward to having a dual reciever available, even if I stick with Sirius only programming. Technology arguements can be made from both sides by people more informed than myself.

I don't think I could ever convince you on ANYTHING because your hard headed and stuck on giving me shit on my opinions. I'll say it again and cap it. Maybe you don't get the point I make after I say the things I'm for.

I'M FOR...ANDI HAVE MY DOUBTS. BUT, I'M WILLING TO LISTEN AND HAVE LIKED WHAT I'VE HEARD. BUT I NEED TO HEAR MORE ON LIFETIME, 'SIMILAR' CHANNEL LINEUPS, PACKAGE LINEUPS...it gets redundant telling you that I'm not 100% convinced either.

And the video service (sirius)... And the weather services (XM).. and the... Hey, what are they going to call the new company?? I think it should be XM/seriously fucking the people who thought this was a good idea... no wait, how about nuts and bolts screwing the people in a new way.. hold it, this just in a cold front sticking the idea of satellite radio up the north americans ass and saying rotate everybody, that's not a dildo!!...
I LIKE TRAFFIC LIGHTS... I LIKE TRAFFIC LIGHTS... I LIKE TRAFFIC LIGHTS... BUT ONLY WHEN THEY'RE GREEN...

Is your name not Bruce, that is gonna cause some confusion.

American, bless their cold rotting hearts, put us on a“ bus” (passenger van) driven by a sweet midwestern man (asshole) with a handful of airport meal vouchers and a Ruth’ s Chris gift certificate (no food or drink of any kind). We drove briefly (two and a half hours) during which the driver remained silent (begged endlessly for extra cash, in exchange for dropping us off where we want to go ). When we got there, the University folks got the 10 back that American had overpaid for their van fare ( 0), and the...