Sirius and XM Officially Married, Now Sirus XM Radio

Depth · 07-29-2008, 03:54 PM

Sirius Xm Radio: Sirius and XM Officially Married, Now Sirus XM Radio

With the FCC's approval, Sirius and XM had a shotgun wedding over the weekend, and is now officially Sirius XM Radio, with over 18.5 million subscribers (technically XM is a subsidiary of Sirius, making it the wife, I guess). Let the promised savings and awesomeness begin.

Darkballs · 07-29-2008, 04:00 PM

cool. i'm a sirius subscriber. does this mean there will be any change to the overall content?

nw kor-am · 07-29-2008, 04:00 PM

shit I hope my bill goes down, but I won't get my hopes up

Valiss · 07-29-2008, 04:01 PM

I alway thought AM and FM should combine.

Darkballs · 07-29-2008, 04:06 PM

to answer my own question....from the sirius website:

As a result of the merger, SIRIUS XM Radio will also be able to offer consumers new packages in audio entertainment, including the first-ever a la carte programming option in subscription media. In addition to two a la carte options, the new packages will include: "Best of Both," giving subscribers the option to access certain programming from the other network; discounted Family Friendly packages; and tailored packages including "Mostly Music" and "News, Talk and Sports." The first of the new packages will be available in the early Fall.

"One of the most exciting benefits of this transaction is the ability to offer subscribers the option of expanding their subscriptions to include the Best of Both services. Given the respective popularity of exclusive programming on both SIRIUS and XM, we expect many subscribers will upgrade their current subscription," said Karmazin.

X-PacGuard · 07-29-2008, 04:12 PM

this is great news - ever since getting sirius in 2005, i have not listened to regular radio for more than a couple hours total - i would gladly pay more than they charge now for the commercial-free music alone.

hypocalking · 07-29-2008, 04:16 PM

LOL! I was just going to make a thread about this!! Yay for Howard. Sirius rulezzzz.

**JGonzo13** · 07-29-2008, 04:28 PM

That didn't take too long.

X-PacGuard · 07-29-2008, 04:36 PM

I read that one of the conditions was the XM had to pay $17mil and Sirius $2mil to the US gov't - anyone have any idea why?

also giving channels to public interest is bullshit - anyone who wants that can get it for free on the AM

X-PacGuard · 07-29-2008, 04:37 PM

never mind, - from wikipedia

As a term of the merger, the combined company will be fined almost $20 million for failing to create and market interchangeable radios capable of receiving signals from both companies prior to the merger.[15]