With the impending merger of Sirius and XM radio, you have to wonder if some equipment will become as valuable as eight-track. What does everyone think?
Maybe, eventually you'll have to switch to a different receiver, but I doubt that will be any time soon. The FCC already has serious reservations about this merger and has expressed concern that the public not be imposed upon financially and that our convenience not be hindered. I suspect this'll be more like the AT&T/Cingular merger than anything else...keep your same radio, same contract, etc until you want to upgrade and then you'll get the Sirius brand reciever (which'll probably be better than any old electronics you had anyway) and whatever pricing structure is in place then. I'm not sure I'm too happy about a merger here...I like the competition to keep prices low and to keep programming competative. I don't like the "Clear Channel Radio" like programming concept that Sirius uses prefering a more open and free structure like XM. But we'll see, one of these days one of these companies is going to have to show a profit and it may be that that won't occur until they merge...better to merge and survive than not merge and both fail.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(efusco @ Feb 20 2007, 12:46 PM) [snapback]393346[/snapback]</div> I 2nd the above statment....
I wonder what the implications will be for those who had "lifetime" subscriptions to either service. If a new company is formed, could that nullify the lifetime contract? Food for thought.
Lifetime means lifetime. When a company is sold it's obligations and contracts continue unabated. I think the merger is a bad idea. Still have two incompatible sets of sats, ground receivers, and consumer tuners. Where is the money saved? Sure, a few execs, but that's peanuts. Prices will rise--that is how they will make a profit. As usual, big business profits at the expense of the now hapless consumer. I hope it gets blocked.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(KTPhil @ Feb 20 2007, 09:48 PM) [snapback]393684[/snapback]</div> Are the sats and ground transmitter/receivers really incompatible? Are you sure they can't be reprogrammed? If so then the merger would be an absolute waste and could lead to increased difficulties and complications.
I am for the merger mainly because without it both companies are loosing money and could easily fail. Together they will be able to prosper. The only thing I am worried about are pricing (they can now charge whatever they want cause there is no competition), and how they are going to do the channel list ( they will have to dump some channels I love almost all of my Sirius channels, but only a very few of the XM ones thats why I choose Sirius on my prev cars, and I cant do without Sirius Ch. 17 JamOn!) But in the long run I think it will be good for everyone. I just wish I had bought sirius stock awhile back when it really bottomed out before I chickened out. Oh well!
Which company has the most subscriptions? If the hardware is incompatable, would they not go with the higher subscription base? Or is that too simple?
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mrbogie @ Feb 21 2007, 11:39 AM) [snapback]393962[/snapback]</div> XM has the most customers, mainly because they have been around longer. I dont see how the hardware would be incompatable, if they merge in my opinion I think the best way to do it would be to just combine the channels together and then broadcast the same way they have been and you get them on both types of hardware. If at some point down the road they decide to fully merge into one company and have only one set of hardware they could give you an early notice and also offer discounts on the new hardware to customers who already have hardware and subscriptions. Thats just my thoughts on in.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Dan-Wolfe @ Feb 21 2007, 03:31 PM) [snapback]394148[/snapback]</div> Hey, don't come in here interupting a perfectly good discussion with facts and information...it just confuses us! Ok, thanks for the link. Unfortunately a lot of those answers are pretty vague/superfiscial. They don't really address the hardware compatibility issue other than to say that: We will seek to integrate the companies and technology platforms as quickly as possible, while supporting both XM and Sirius customers. Again, I can see both sides of this. Initially I'm sure it will be very nice for all involved. Long term one has to worry that once they have a large market share that they'll want to take advantage and start jacking up prices, increasing commercials, etc to start grabbing profits at the expense of the listeners.
On a less Prius related note, XM provides other services outside of radio services, including in-flight weather data (lightning, winds, radar, local weather, etc.). I'm curious how that would be affected as well. On a more Prius related note, I'm kinda glad I held off on my receiver purchase now ;-)
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(efusco @ Feb 21 2007, 05:02 PM) [snapback]394170[/snapback]</div> You're right! I should never let facts get in the way of forming an opinion. Having said that, you're right -- the answers aren't specific yet. Clearly, this page was written by a trained public affairs professional. Dan
This is my first post, just bought my Prius yesterday! I was definately planning to get the Sat radio, but when I heard of the merger I held off. At the dealership I asked and they are telling me there should be word on an intergrated reciever in 60-90 days! I'm thrilled at the merger since there were particular shows I wanted from each service and I was frustrated that I would have to choose (at least Toyota offered both!) The word I've heard is that the new recievers will be able to tune in the full 25mhz spectrum covering both XM and Sirius. I also feel that with competion from free radio, CDs and iPods, the satellite radio won't raise prices, this is just a survival tactic.
Interesting Sat Radio links: http://www.csgnetwork.com/glossarys.html#Sirius http://www.csgnetwork.com/glossaryx.html#XM http://www.csgnetwork.com/satradiofreq.html http://www.csgnetwork.com/antennasatelazposcalc.html
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(AnniFridFour @ Feb 24 2007, 02:05 AM) [snapback]395723[/snapback]</div> I got my Prius on Memorial day and inquired at the selling dealer parts dept about Sirius, they say it is not available at all, and XM not unitl winter. Did not sound right so I called the other Toyota dealer in town and they say both are available, the Sirius is kit and fit kit are roughly 350 plus 200 intall, which is more than I saw in the Toyota accessory brochure which lists XM or Sirius as 449 instaled. At any rate, I will probably go ahead and get it/have it installed at this dealer to keep safe with the factory warranty, however the above poster indicated a possible new unit that could get either XM or Sirius, any word on that yet? Thanks Mike G
