This is strictly confidential, but all the paperwork is signed and ready to go, and XM has fully acquired Sirius Radio. Come May, there will be a substantial price increase for XM Radio, as it will, in June or so, host all the Sirius channels. It would be best to simply extend your XM plan as we will honor your current contract price per month before we begin hosting the Sirius stations.The tipster said he believed she said the price was going to double. Perhaps the customer service rep just wanted to score a renewal, but if true, it would certainly at least be ironic considering when the DOJ approved the deal was they said, "the evidence did not show that the merger would enable the parties to profitably increase prices to satellite radio customers." However, reader comments on this post and this post over at Orbitcast say this customer service rep is full of pure baloney. ]]>
Wow. Now the Consumerist is posting rumours. Nice. When I first started coming to this site, it had real consumers with real issues...as of late, it seems to have digressed to just start posting more and more worthless articles. A rumour from a CSR is pretty much worthless. Do you realize how far down on the food chain a CSR is? I am not trying to degrade their position as I have been a CSR myself in the past but this sounds like an attempt to upsell now if this is in fact a real quote at all or just a fabricated rumour that you happened to pick up.
Even the theory alone of doubling the price makes very little sense if you think about it. But hey, who am I to say but I heard from this guy who is dating a girl who's neighbor's cousin ate at a Wendy's with a person who heard that if you eat pop rocks and drink a coke real fast you will explode!!!! BEWARE!!!
]]>I hope the parallels with the companies you cover are not lost.
]]>Agreed - Ben, correct, don't delete.
]]>Ben, tossing that sentence in there doesn't really help, since it won't be clear to later readers why the earlier posters were so negative on the story. In this case, you really should say (in bold) UPDATE: XYZ isn't actually true blah blah blah.
If you're going to change a post, you should show how its been changed, just as a newspaper's online edition will archive the original version with the correction at the bottom, rather than fixing the article and never indicating that a mistake was made.
]]>I have to agree that consumerisy in general has gotten pretty sloppy. A site devoted to accountability that posts a false article, provokes a fairly unanimous rebuke form loyal commenters, and continues to ignore them? If it were a company I would assume the CEO was busy shopping for another job when the compant is kind of ignoring its own mission/standards.
]]>Listen to your comments: They're trying to tell you something. But it's not clear you're listening -- kind of like all the companies you complain about.
Maybe I'm wrong -- perhaps you are "taking it seriously."
]]>If they double prices, nobody will subscribe. At 12.95 a month for radio, they are pushing it anyway. Especially with the prices of basic foods and gas skyrocketing.
]]>Shame, Consumerist, Shame. Horrible reporting.
]]>you people have not followed up with the whole merger. If they were to double the price they would be creating a monopoly and the FCC would never approve of this. So to this guy go find some credible information
]]>@DojiStar:
Agree except on this point "There is no way the merger will be approved before the end of the year, let alone in a month or two."
Merger approval will be done within two months, max. They have DOJ approval, just need FCC.
]]>Sirius is getting XM, not the other way around.
There are no dual service radios produced as of this time so you cannot receive both services on one radio so you cannot subscribe to both services at the same time.
The merger still has not been completely approved by the feds therefore no paperwork can be signed and no merger can be completed. So XM did not fully merge with sirius.
There is no way the merger will be approved before the end of the year, let alone in a month or two.
The Consumerist really should have confirmed this story before putting it up. There is ample publicly available info that could have easily disproved this story as an early April Fools joke.
A vary bad April Fools joke at that.
]]>We are living in an age of irony.
]]>This is horsehit for all the reasons pointed out above. Just wanted to concur.
But as a longtime XM guy, I'm looking forward to listening to Stern again so I can get updates on lesbians and enemas, plus hear him curse. That's great radio!
]]>Personally I'm hoping that the Stiletto can be updated with a firmware upgrade to get both Sirius and XM, but it's not likely, so it will become a rather nice MP3 player.
]]>What's this about a $77/year deal? Any details on that?
]]>'Content' Channels on Sirius do advertizing. Howard, Raw Dog, & Martha, etc... But they are much, much less than they would be on OTA FM.
The music channels on Sirius are no-commercial.
]]>First, please refer to the following document. This is the merger proposal submitted to the FCC.
Attatchment A shows the corporate structures of XM and Sirius pre and post merger. Satellite CD Radio, Inc, owned wholly by Sirius, is merging with XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. The combined entity will be wholly owned by Sirius Satellite Radio, Inc.
Therefore, while a merger is in fact taking place, in effect Sirius is buying XM. The stock transaction supports this; XMSR is converting to SIRI at 4.6:1.
Secondly, the post merger pricing plans provided to the FCC and other outlets clearly show no price increased as this tipster states.
Poor showing by the Consumerist on this. Front line CSRs surely have no significant knowledge of a transaction that has yet to be approved by the FCC, and taking that unreliable information as gospel from a tipster is poor form.
]]>Companies call it merger of equals for tax reasons. in reality, sirius is buying XM, as evident by what will happen to the stock (sirius buys xm stock).
]]>And the pricing tiers have been published. No rumors about it.
Consumerist is going to way of mainstream news media. Rush to get the story out, don't worry about checking it at all.
]]>@sleze69:
To be clear, if you want to listen to all XM and Sirius channels initially, you'll have to have two radios. There won't be any radios that can handle both at the start. With one radio, you could get the $17 package which gives you all of one service (the one whose radio you have) and the "best of" the other service.
]]>everything about this smells of BS. their installed base is too small, even combined, to even consider raising rates at this point. satellite radio is still not even considered a "want" in most peoples' minds, much less a necessity.
]]>This has been discussed adnausem over the past year. If you want to listen to ALL sirius and ALL XM channels, you will initially have to pay for both contracts. You won't need to upgrade the radio.
If you, like me, don't care about XM's stations, you will keep your pure Sirius stations for the life of your contract.
]]>Hard to put any faith in a rumor that gets the initial premise wrong... Sirius is taking over XM
]]>This rumor strikes me as the same thing as the sales rep at a store telling you a sale is about to end so you need to buy now. The pricing plans may change and there may well be a new, expensive top tier, but the DoJ and FCC are gonna be on them quick for monopolistic practices if they double their standard package price.
Some of the stations that have commercials are not exclusively Sirius/XM channels, like the NFL and ESPN, they also broadcast some of their programming on regular radio.
]]>The experience of listening to XM is a lot like cable TV--lots of channels, nothing on. A considerable number of their channels are dedicated sports channels that never have any programming at all on them, meaning there are fewer actual on-air stations available than they say--and you haven't lived until you've listened to a golf game on XM radio. On talk stations, the commercials are really long, more than 15 mins/hour. On the music channels, they have these pseudo-ads, hawking their other channels, which is sort of like preaching to the choir.
In the past several months I've noticed the quality and variety of music has taken a dive--I can hear the same songs every day just driving to work and home, often played on more than one channel. Customer service is the typical incoherent, unhelpful India experience. In no way is this worth more than they're charging now ($13/month)--I don't feel like I'm getting my money's worth as it is.
]]>I dropped Sirius after my two-year subscription because Stern got uncomfortably vulgar. He can claim all he wants that broadcast radio restricted his creativity, but shoving screws into your foreskin so gay men can guess what is in your "pouch" really isn't that creative. It has shock value - and it got old very fast.
I also dropped it because Radio Shack does no honor their rebates. I should have received a $50.00 rebate - the only reason my wife reasoned she could afford it as a gift for me. They screwed us.
]]>If anything, the new pricing structure is a benefit to people who only listen to a select few channels.
]]>Do you print *anything*? This is clearly inaccurate and about 30 seconds of fact-checking would have cleared that up. I believe I read in WSJ had an article detailing promises made by the new company to the FCC, which included a la carte pricing, which would offer cheaper pricing tan now offered. I'm disappointed that consumerist published this.
]]>XM, Sirius Take A La Carte Ideas to Portals
Last week, representatives from XM and Sirius met with officials at the Federal Communications Commission, including FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, about their pending merger.
According to a filing describing the meetings, items discussed at the Portals included last week's decision by the Justice Department to clear the merger and a request from the companies that the commission quickly approve the transaction. The companies also outlined what possible programming packages, including a la carte offerings, could look like after a combination of the satellite radio companies.
Both XM and Sirius endorsed the a la carte concept early in their merger efforts. According to the companies' FCC filing, the a la carte proposals included an offering of 50 channels from one satellite radio platform, as picked by a customer, that would start at a price point of $6.99. A customer can add a channel for 25 cents, or add a premium offering for $5 under the ideas floated by the companies last week.
A second a la carte package proposal with 100 channels, again selected by the customer, would sell for $12.95, and could include a mix of channels from the two respective services under a "best of" scenario, stated the filing.
There also are separate "Sirius Everything" and "XM Everything" packages listed in the FCC filing with channels from the respective services. The everything packages could sell for $12.95 for each service, and would offer 130 channels from Sirius or 170 audio streams from XM, stated the filing.
The packaging proposals outlined by the companies also included family-friendly, music-centric, and news, sports and talk offerings.
Meanwhile, the Media Access Project approached the FCC last week about the merger, suggesting the deal could be harmful to the public interest. Nonetheless, the advocacy group said if the agency approves the transaction, conditions should be attached, such as a set-aside mandate for non-commercial educational programming or a requirement that a combined satellite radio company lease capacity to unaffiliated commercial programmers.
]]>I like how the dog is pooping out the XM. Hilarious.
]]>CSR: very smart, Consumerist likes her
DOJ: very stupid
Any chance XM will lose subscribers if they double their rates?
]]>@Jerkwheat: @Steaming Pile: Just to further clarify, XM already has a few MUSIC channels which broadcast advertising. This was a result of ClearChannel being one of the investors in XM. They sued XM claiming they had the right to broadcast advertising on their music channels, and the court agreed. As for non-music channels, most (if not all) of those have advertising for both Sirius and XM. None of Sirius' music channels have advertising.
]]>I think coan_net had it correct. A rumor created to fire some short term sales.
]]>All I want is my current XM lineup + NFL.
]]>Consumerist I am shocked that you would even post this nonsense. First of all the definitive agreement has been signed for over a year and has been just awaiting DOJ and now FCC approval. "This is strictly confidential, but all the paperwork is signed and ready to go, and XM has fully acquired Sirius Radio"....LOL. Plus the deal still needs to go through the FCC so its not out of the woods yet. Im sure some packages are going to double in price becuase you are getting double the content. Remember before the problem is that only some stations could only be found on one provider (Howard Stern). Overall I think it will be about the same and allow for more a la cart pricing. I wouldn't be suprised if this "Tipster" was actually someone from the company trying to get more subscribers.
]]>The prices aren't going up - I think the sales rep was just trying to get a contract locked in.
If the merger ISN'T approved, the companies indicated that they were going to raise prices.
]]>Howard 100 and 101 (on Sirius) has lots of advertising. As does the NFL network and a couple of the ESPN channels.
]]>"The proposed plan comes in a couple of flavors:
* A La Carte Option 1: $7/month for 50 channels. Customers will be able to choose from XM or Sirius channels exclusively, with the exception of "premium" channels. Additional channels can be purchased for 25 cents each per month. "Premium" channels are available for $3 or $6 each per month. The maximum charge will be $12.95 per month. This option is only available for subscribers using next generation receivers who select channels via the internet.
* A La Carte Option 2: $15/month for 100 channels from either XM or Sirius. Choices on the other network, however, are limited to "the best of" channels. This option is also only available for next generation receivers.
* XM Everything: $13/month for approximately 170 XM channels.
* XM Everything & Select Sirius: $17/month. All XM stations and a few Sirius ones thrown in. Customers can use current equipment.
* Everything Sirius & Select XM: $17/month. All Sirius stations and a few from XM. Customers can use current equipment."
The problem I see is that ala carte is only available to those with "next generation" receivers, meaning those of us with built-in units in our cars may be SOL :(
I will drop the service entirely if that is the case.
]]>Unknown to most people, XM also delivers weather to several industries including aviation in cockpits, marine weather to boats, an basic weather to some government vehicles.
]]>Got 2 Sirius receivers in 2 cars and will NOT renew if the price goes up even a little bit. 50+ GB of MP3's will keep us entertained just fine.
]]>I call BS on this 'rumor'. For starters, how can you mistake who is acquiring who in this merger? For the record, Sirius is attempting to acquire XM; not the other way around.
]]>All that means is that they'll be able to boost rates to cover the additional costs. If both companies are breaking about even, then they'll pretty much have to double the price (twice the content) to continue to break even...
No, that isn't how it works, but I'm betting that's how the DOJ thought it through lol
]]>Nice spin.
Since it was Mel Karmazin (Sirius) who bought XM.
If the rates at Sirius double, I forsee lots of issues-- starting with me.
]]>