XM and Sirius announce merger

[Spindlebrook]

I am an XM subscriber, and I am a bit worried about this.

XM to me is the much superior product as far as the 80's and New Wave stations go. I have listened to Sirius, and I feel that XM's 80's on 8 and Fred have much more adventurous playlists than Sirius' Big 80's and First Wave.

I hope, very much, that when I tune into the New Wave station in the future, that I don't just hear Cure, Depeche Mode, and Blondie, like I did when I checked out First Wave before. Fred isn't perfect, (Echo and the Bunnymen are not the only band from the 80's to come out of Liverpool, just so you know) but at least the playlist doesen't seem to come from a Time Life catalog. Where else can you hear Nasty Habits by Oingo Boingo?

Thoughts, please.

Thanks,

Brian



More by luck than judgment, here am I.

[coop41]

[quote][i]Originally posted by KYYX4ever[/i]
<br>[quote][i]Originally posted by coop41[/i]
<br>[quote][i]Originally posted by Berserker[/i]
<br>[quote][i]Originally posted by KYYX4ever[/i]Why wouldn't this be considered a monopoly? Sure reads like one to me.[?]
[/quote]You aren't aware of any other radio options?
[/quote]
Exactly. And the other choices are free to boot!!!
[/quote]

Oh, OK. I didn't know there were other options; I thought XM and Sirius were the only two subscriber radio services out there.
And if you mean by "other choices are free" = the radio, well, we all know that doesn't count. Radio started sucking long ago, and is not a viable alternative anymore.
Sorry, I misunderstood your comment.[:)]
If XM and Sirius were the only 2 subscriber-based radio services out there, and they will merger, then I thought that was the definition of a monopoly: no alternatives. Oops!
[/quote]


Dismissing radio as an alternative because it sucks, although true, works for the convenience of your argument but apparently not for the Justice Department. Still has to pass by the FCC though!



http://money.cnn.com/2008/03/24/news/co ... 2008032415

[coop41]

The political wrangling will probably do exactly what they wanted to, and both companies could ultimately go under!


http://money.cnn.com/2008/06/19/technol ... 2008061911

[DougMash]

Yeah, "First Wave" on Sirius has little imagination. I hope they keep Larry the Duck on weekends, but give it a deeper New Wave station. Never heard XM's "Fred" but it has to be better.

I do hope they keep Sirius' "Left of Center" intact. That's my best source of new alternative music.

[CounterCircular]

I can't fathom paying to hear a station or service play what they deem worthy for me to hear. With the ease of making homegrown CD-R's, I am guaranteed that every single song I hear is one I want to hear, period, in the order I want, and in any mixed bag of genres I choose. So maybe right after Blotto comes Perry Como followed by Black Uhuru, whatever mood I was in when I created my mix CD. I'll never pay for radio. I keep a good stock of mixed mp3 discs at work with maybe 150 tracks on each. I throw those on and people love them because there is so much variety, from the 40s through current stuff, all genres. You never know what you're getting next and 99% of it stuff you ARE guaranteed to never hear on radio.

[ebbhead]

Sorry to double post, but there are two threads on this.

Looks like we might see Fred or First Wave go away. My money (sadly) is that we'll see most of the stations leave from the XM side vs. Sirius, so bye bye Fred.

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainmen ... me_si.html

After the satellite radio merger, some Sirius layoffs
By DAVID HINCKLEY

Thursday, October 16th 2008, 4:00 AM

Mel Karmazin
Some of the inevitable started this week at the merged satellite radio company Sirius XM - and it's not pretty.

Because the company needs to save hundreds of millions of dollars, according to CEO Mel Karmazin, it reportedly will soon merge overlapping music channels from the two companies.

So instead of separate '60s channels on XM and Sirius, for instance, an identical '60s channel will be heard on both. In most cases that apparently will be basically the old Sirius channel.

[glokstadt]

<H1>FRED RULES!!!</H1>

R.I.P. if they pull the plug, long live New Wave Top 40! [xx(]


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[Spit]

[quote][i]Originally posted by ebbhead[/i]
<br>Sorry to double post, but there are two threads on this.

Looks like we might see Fred or First Wave go away. My money (sadly) is that we'll see most of the stations leave from the XM side vs. Sirius, so bye bye Fred.



[/quote]
Well that sucks. I never heard Fred but was looking forward to a change from First Wave.Gotta say , I'm getting a bit bored with First Wave.

[jaybag]

The worst (and most accurate) part of the article:

"While both XM and Sirius have popular standards channels, for instance, they have taken very different approaches to the music, with XM playing a wider variety and Sirius favoring more time-tested hits."

Too right. I've got XM in my car, and Fred is getting better all the time. They go way beyond the new wave "hits" and play all kinds of things I haven't heard in years (or have never heard at all). Often cars that I rent on business trips will have Sirius and their "new wave" station definitely sticks to Top 40-style stuff. If "terrestrial radio" wasn't so gawdawful, I'd genuinely consider ditching XM if (when?) they get rid of Fred.