I oppose the XM & Sirius radio proposed merger.
I've been an XM subscriber since June 2004, with a total of two XM radios (a Delphi MyFi unit I use at home and on my boat, and a radio that was factory-installed in my GM vehicle.
I also have had the opportunity to listen to Sirius music channels via my Dish Network subscription.
I'm very ticked off that Mel the K. is trying to take over XM.
"Karmi" screwed up big time at CBS a few years ago. Check the record.
And then later when he took the reins at Sirius, Mel the K. screwed up again when he gave Howard the Stern (not to be confused with Howard K. Stern) a foolish amount of moola.
Now Big Daddy Cufflinks (Mel the K.) wants XM subscribers on board to help pay for his mistakes...and to also steal the XM-exclusive MLB package for Sirius subscribers.
I myself will REFUSE to pay one cent for Howard Stern's contract, so if this stupid merger goes through, I will immediately cancel my subscription and will destroy my MyFi unit, Gallagher-style.
I plan to e-mail each of the FCC commissioners to urge them to reject this idiotic merger proposal. If you agree with me, I urge you to contact the FCC commissioners also.
LONG LIVE XM!
Spoken like a true O&A fan.
Really, HS has paid for his contract already. It was a smart move for SIRIUS. Do you think that his merger could have even been proposed if Howard had gone to XM in the first place? (SIRIUS went from 600,000 to 6 Million in 1 year!) If Howard had gone to XM, SIRIUS would be in no position to merge, it would be more like a forgotten service like some of the early satellite TV services I've already forgotten (Primestar?).
Mel K. has shown his skill, not ineptness, at this medium. I would wait and see what happens during the next two years before I start leaping off of bridges.
This can only be good for everybody. If they continue to be seperate, more than likely, one will go away, they can't continue to loose money. By them merging, you will have one strong company, with tons of content!! QUOTE]
It's true that one of these companies may go bankrupt if they don't merge. But that doesn't mean choice would be eliminated. It is likely the bankrupt company would get scooped up by someone else who would use a different business strategy. Perhaps the new owner would slash money spent on high price programing, add more commercials and lower the price of service so that instead of having two satellite radio services going after the same market, we would have a budget service and a premium service. The point is, the FCC should stand by it's requirement that the satellite radio spectrum should not be controlled by just one company. As long as the spectrum must be divided between at least two owners, there will be competition and that will be good for anyone concerned about the price of this service. Would you really want to have only one choice for cable TV with no option for Satellite or FIOS? Sure you could get rid of cable and go with over the air, but that wouldn't be much of a choice.
ACtully the 600,00 was the third quarter of 2004. Still one heckuva growth curve. And even though I don't care for stern I have to say that he was a najor reason for this.
Sirius has been growing fact but not that fast. They had aover 3 milion subs at the end of 2005 and 6 million a tthe end of 2006. They annouced an 89% growth rate---very good bit not what you are claiming. IIRC they hit 600,000 in the third quarter of 2004.