http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=2887567

So if the merger goes through I wonder what will happen with our built in XM and Sirius? Will one of us get screwed or what? Humm this should be interesting.

 

Nothing will happen in terms of equipment. You will receive more channels (i.e. XM subscribers will now be able to listen to Howard Stern), and we will have to purchase a new subscription package/price when you existing subscription expires. I just hope the price doesn't go way up, the two companies have to keep a competitive balance right now. With a monopoly, who knows if they will decide to double the price, since there is no alternative for satellite radio.

I'm looking forward to listening to NFL football and NBA basketball on my XM.

 

The chances are better than 50% that the Justice Dept and/or the FCC will kill this merger. Check back in a year before any changes can take place.

 

From a technological standpoint, I doubt that you will get more channels. Existing receivers cannot decode the "other" system.

There likely will be a reshuffling of the lineup though. They could delete less popular channels to make room for Howard on XM and Oprah on Sirius. And NPR on XM, etc... Both systems would eventually have a similar lineup.

In the long term, with "dual-band" receivers (and a high % of existing customers with them), they could re-farm the line-up again to double the number of channels.

 

From this article:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/busine...l=chi-news-hed

The announcement also promised to offer consumers the ability to cherrypick the channels and content they want on a more a la carte basis than now exists.

XM radio receivers can't receive signals from Sirius, and vice versa. But officials from both firms said the companies are working on developing a receiver that could receive both signals.

In the meantime, they said, assuming the deal goes through, the companies would make other arrangements to bring programming that's currently exclusive to one provider to listeners of the other

The deal must be approved by both company's shareholders and get the blessing of antitrust agencies and the Federal Communications Commission. Kevin Martin, the FCC's chairman, already has indicated resistance to such a merger.

 

See that is what I am talking about. Surely they won't make people buy new hardware as I would say that would be dumping more than half of their subscribers. Think of all the people that had it built in to their cars and did not pay for it. I doubt they will fork over an extra 500 bucks to get a reciever switched out.