Sirius / XM to merge

[Danny]

Wow...this is sort of a big deal:

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=businessNews&storyID=2007-02-19T201833Z_01_N19422718_RTRUKOC_0_US-XM-SIRIUS.xml&WTmodLoc=NewsArt-C2-NextArticle-2

[EFISH]

WOW!

[bazgnr]

Hmm.? Kind of negates the whole "Xm or Sirius?" debate...

[Bodhi]

its about time they both wised up and merged....they are getting killed by terrestrial radio...them beating up on each other is not helping matters

[Danny]

Actually, radio in general is getting killed by MP3 players, and more specifically, podcasts.  So many car stereos have that little AUX outlet now that it's kicking the radio industries ass. 

[mrlee]

well if the radio woyld play decent music again maybe theyd get more of a listen, instead of only sticking to playing the same shit, instead of giving us a wide range and catering for most audiences.

How hard is it to do an hour for rock
hour for rap
hour for dance

or in days, its not hard. But they only play the charts shit, over and over and over and over.

[mega_music]

I am liking this alot! I need a new Sirius receiver anyways so I might as well wait until the new equipment comes out. Now that they will both be working together they can focus on technology and the stations instead of trying to out smart one and another. Plus Mel Karamazine is going to be behind the whole thing and he knows what he is doing! Thats why Howard Stern has such high respect for  Mel.

[pilferk]

If I were an O&A fan, I'd start worrying just a tiny bit.

Reportedly, Mel's not a big fan and, obviously, is one of Howard's biggest fans.

They're going to be paying big bucks to Howard for the next 4 years and, arguably, his is the bigger "brand"/drawing card.

I wonder if the new company will see any benefit to keeping O&A around.....

[Booker Floyd]

I wonder if the new company will see any benefit to keeping O&A around.....

First, this deal isnt a sure thing.  It might pass, but all current indicators suggest it might not.  Im likely to believe its better it doesnt.

XM Chairman Gary Parsons boasted about the ability to potentially listen to O&A on one channel and Stern on another and their show is one of the top "rated" shows on XM according to Eric Logan.  With an unquestionably large audience, I dont see what is gained by trying to drop them.  Youre right that theres obviously hostility between them and Stern and subsequently Karmazin, but Im not sure their jobs are at risk.  More likely theyll face the same pressures they had at Infinity. 

[Izzy]

I have no idea who or what Sirius or Xm are.....

I do know i hate the radio and eagerly await the day when all radio stations are run into the ground

They all play the same half dozen tracks over and over again - and careful marginalise anything even vageuly intresting

I say death to them all - long live the ipod!