Sirius and XM to Merge

[g0zen]

I used to think monopolies were illegal. Guess not.

[Glass Joe]

Wait, so O&A have the highest rated program on either platform because the guy who works for XM says so? I'm not saying it isn't true, but listening to a guy who is batting for the team he is crowing about is a bit naive.

By the way, I'm a huge fan of Ron and Fez and I got my Sirius just before they announced that the were going to XM. Otherwise I would have gone with them. Ron and Fez > Stern > O&A.

I think this is a good move. I want the better music variety with Ron and Fez and Stern. I don't think this will spell doom for O&A. I think the powers that be understand that there is a good following for the show and they don't have to worry about FCC regulations anymore.

[Wildkat]

I used to think monopolies were illegal. Guess not.

We still have about 15 months of approvals to get through before it happens.

I hope it collapses like the DirecTv/Dish Network deal.

[Frogacuda]

Wait, so O&A have the highest rated program on either platform because the guy who works for XM says so?

Yes, it is so because a credible authority with access to that information says so.

Granted it's a skewed number because XM's total subscriber base is considerably larger. Stern may well have a greater percentage of Sirius' listeners, but O&A have more total listeners at this point.

[Cowdisease]

When I read the rumor post on Orbitcast that XM and Sirius were going to announce a merger last night, I thought it was just another dumb merger rumor story. Imagine my shock that the rumor became true.

I wonder if Sirius is going to honor my lifetime subscription with this new merger. Worst case scenario: my plan converts to a 5-year subscription.

I wonder how Free FM will react to O&A after this merger.

[Frogacuda]

I wonder how Free FM will react to O&A after this merger.

O&A have been having trouble on the FreeFM side, anyway. They did well for a while, but once people got into the show they all went out and got XMs.

[Frogacuda]

I think this is a good move. I want the better music variety with Ron and Fez and Stern. I don't think this will spell doom for O&A. I think the powers that be understand that there is a good following for the show and they don't have to worry about FCC regulations anymore.

I think it'll just mean problems with them not being allowed to talk freely, and political clashes. They signed a 4 year deal recently, so I don't think they're going to go away.

Honestly, I think in a perfect world they could put Stern on in the morning, O&A in the afternoon, and then ron and fez for the late night or mid-day shift. I'd listen to that station. But I doubt they could work that one out.

[Cowdisease]

O&A have been having trouble on the FreeFM side, anyway. They did well for a while, but once people got into the show they all went out and got XMs.

LOL @ Free FM.

[Cowdisease]

Honestly, I think in a perfect world they could put Stern on in the morning, O&A in the afternoon, and then ron and fez for the late night or mid-day shift. I'd listen to that station. But I doubt they could work that one out.

What will happen instead is that Howard 100/101 and The Virus will co-exist as two separate channels. Howard and O&A will be on mornings, but since their respective channels replay the shows throughout the day, you'd still be able to listen to Howard in the morning and O&A in the afternoon (or vice-versa).

[K3V]

This is probably my favorite piece of that story:

"The combined company is committed to consumer choice, including offering consumers the ability to pick and choose the channels and content they want on a more a la carte basis."

If I could get the Howard channels and the handful of music stations I listen to individually for a few dollars a month that would be fantastic.