XM/Sirius Merger

[Charliemike]

It's amazing how misunderstood this merger seems to be.

Lots of wailing and gnashing of teeth about monopolies.

Here's what I wrote in another forum. I thought I'd include it here because we're all civil and edumacated

This is not a monopoly. The barriers to market entry are artificial and not aggressive monopolistic action by the XM/Sirius entity.

The FCC only has two licenses for satellite radio. Obviously, if the FCC was worried about any kind of monopolistic activity by XM/Sirius they could simply issue another license and be done with it.

The argument is also spurious because of the misunderstood notion of competition. The market is broadcast radio. In this market there are several competitors to XM/Sirius including free terrestrial radio and HD radio. Satellite radio is a mechanism of transporting the widely-available medium not an entirely separate medium in and of itself.

This monopoly argument has been noted in several places today. As some have pointed out, this XM/Sirius merger is not unlike the DirecTV/Echostar merger that was quashed. At that time cable providers were lobbying very hard against the merger.

Once again, the argument was either misconstrued or misunderstood. Satellite TV is a means of delivery. Cable, power lines, and phone lines are all now possible options for delivery of the television medium.

If there are other alternatives to receiving the content, then I don't see how consolidation of one delivery provider is monopolistic ... I can get radio from other sources. I don't HAVE to have XM/Sirius in order to get radio.

In counties all around the country, there are restrictive franchise agreements in place with companies like Comcast that DO prevent new service providers from offering services. Comcast and others are state-sanctioned monopolies. Congress should be focusing on this and not XM/Sirius.

There is nothing wrong with a XM/Sirius merger in my humble opinion. It simply merges two promising companies that don't offer enough on their own to justify their subscription rates. As a merged entity, I would subscribe immediately.

 

[Charliemike]

Since that post, there have been a lot of arguments as to the legitimacy of my argument but I stand behind it.

As someone pointed out, XM/Sirius is no more a monopoly together than Apple is for their Mac hardware and OS software. This doesn't even take into account the iPod issue.

For years, Apple has had a tight grip on their OS and hardware. For all intents and purposes, you had to buy hardware from Apple to do upgrades (assuming you could do them at all). I'm not talking about peripherals but the "guts" of the system.

You couldn't run their OS on a PC and only the diehards could build their own Macs.

Because there was the PC, no one complained. It was a choice as to how to do personal computing.

I see this same idea in the satellite/terrestrial radio argument. True, there is content that is available on XM that isn't on your local radio. However, I don't get local broadcasts at all on XM. If I leave DC and go to NC I lose my local broadcast.

I just think the whole thing is silly. XM/Sirius is not going to monopolize anything because people like me will still have their Zunes/iPods/MP3 players and regular terrestrial radio to occupy their time in the car.

At home, XM competes with music on the radio, CD, MP3, TV, and the music channels on the cable TV providers.

Neither XM nor Sirius is good enough to get my money on their own. Together I'll go get one as soon as they figure out the hardware.

 

[aerius007]

Considering the many different ways of getting music and talk radio into your cars and home there is no way this could be considered a monopoly. Saying it is a monopoly is like saying Ford has a monopoly with selling Mustangs. There are other alternatives for cars, as well as music and talk radio.

 

[Rich]

I gotta agree with you Charlie. This merger does not strike me as creating a monopoly. The majority of the types of content available on Satellite Radio is also available on the syndicated airwaves. Just look at the whole Howard Stern deal and you see who XM and Sirius are really competing with.

The simple fact of the matter is that Satellite Radio delivery is an expensive business and probably neither of these companies can survive much longer on their own. I would rather have one company that survives than two that go bankrupt.

 

[Craig]

I was glad to hear abou the merger. Now I don't have to choose between the two and reap the benefits of what both stations have to offer.

I just can't believe both companies blew so much money on the Oprah/Stern deal. What a brain-dead financial move that was.

I'd like to see someone do a photo shop merger of Oprah's face merged with Howard Stern's. What a monster that would be.

 

[TomDac]

Howard Stern RULES on Sirius!! I've been listening to him for about 15 years on regular radio and of course I got Sirius for my M3 as soon as he signed the deal. It's been nothing short of AMAZING!

Worth 500 Million dollars? Hmmm. not sure ANYONE is worth that, but that's what Sirius paid him for a 5 year contract with them and they have gotten alot of new subscribers because of it. It was just a matter of time before XM and Sirius merged.. It only makes sense.

 

[Pcar928fan]

Worth 500 Million dollars? Hmmm. not sure ANYONE is worth that, but that's what Sirius paid him for a 5 year contract with them and they have gotten alot of new subscribers because of it. It was just a matter of time before XM and Sirius merged.. It only makes sense.

That is INSANE! Saw his TV show a few times, always thought he was an A$$ myself... I am just to conservative, or something...I don't get his "humor" in the least. He is just rude and crude.

 

[aerius007]

Howard Stern RULES on Sirius!! I've been listening to him for about 15 years on regular radio and of course I got Sirius for my M3 as soon as he signed the deal. It's been nothing short of AMAZING!

M3? Are you talking about BMW?

 

[Charliemike]

That is INSANE! Saw his TV show a few times, always thought he was an A$$ myself... I am just to conservative, or something...I don't get his "humor" in the least. He is just rude and crude.

No offense but I think it's regional/cultural.

There are guys that are HUGE down South like "Joe Bob and Billy" or whatever their names are and I just scratch my head and wonder what is funny while my friends from the South roll around on the ground like hyenas.

 

[TomDac]

Howard Stern RULES on Sirius!! I've been listening to him for about 15 years on regular radio and of course I got Sirius for my M3 as soon as he signed the deal. It's been nothing short of AMAZING!

M3? Are you talking about BMW?

Yes... BMW makes a Sirius receiver that plugs right into the CD Changer port of my M3's audio system and the BMW head unit shows everything. Pretty slick.

 

[TomDac]

That is INSANE! Saw his TV show a few times, always thought he was an A$$ myself... I am just to conservative, or something...I don't get his "humor" in the least. He is just rude and crude.

Yep.. you either love him or hate him...

 

[Charliemike]

Howard Stern RULES on Sirius!! I've been listening to him for about 15 years on regular radio and of course I got Sirius for my M3 as soon as he signed the deal. It's been nothing short of AMAZING!

Yes... BMW makes a Sirius receiver that plugs right into the CD Changer port of my M3's audio system and the BMW head unit shows everything. Pretty slick.

What year? If it's an E46 (which it sounds like it is) I hate you

 

[Pcar928fan]

Yep.. you either love him or hate him...

I like the M3! One day I will have one in the collection too! I have others to put in first, but I will have an M3 sooner or later!

Yea, I don't get the "southern" humor sometimes either and I was born and raised in Texas! Some of Stern's stuff was funny and you have to love the way he can get girls to take off their clothes for him, but I guess most of them are strippers anyway, so they are probably more comfortable naked anyway...

 

[aerius007]

I love M3's, have had plenty of beamers but not one of those. E36, E46, they are all great.

http://www.cardomain.com/id/aerius007

This was the last one I had, it was a few years ago, before I needed a 4x4.

 

[Rich]

No offense but I think it's regional/cultural.

There are guys that are HUGE down South like "Joe Bob and Billy" or whatever their names are and I just scratch my head and wonder what is funny while my friends from the South roll around on the ground like hyenas.

I was born and raised in the deep south and for the record, I think those guys are idiots. Not funny at all. I refuse to listen to my favorite local channel in the morning because of them. I'm not really a big Stern fan either. He is too stuck on himself and just isn't that interesting or funny to me. Obviously, he is doing something right though, because he has a huge loyal fan base and is now raking in more dough than most pro athletes.

 

[TomDac]

What year? If it's an E46 (which it sounds like it is) I hate you

Sorry. It's indeed an e46... a 2004 convertible.

 

[Pcar928fan]

Sorry. It's indeed an e46... a 2004 convertible.

SWEEEETTTT Tom! Love the M3 in white too! Looks GREAT in that color!

 

[tonyc]

I do love my Sirius, so much so that I also put one in my audio system. I chose Sirius because they carry Big 12 football and have never listened to H Stern. I stay because of the music. I like my local stations but half of every hour is commercials and they rarely tell you the band or song name. Also I travel alot in rural areas where there are no stations.