Straight from the press:

http://www.me-mag.com/HotwireReader.aspx?NewsId=5162

 

hmm I actually thought one of them would eventually loose support and disappear, kinda like HD DVD vs Blu Ray war where HD lost. Merger is better I guess.

 

I'll care about this once this stuff is standard in cars for free. For now, CD's +MP3 only. But I'm glad they merged because it should expedite my expectations for standardization.

 

joy! best of both worlds.

 

seems cool, although i'm not familiar with either. radio ftl (even if it is satellite).

 

Do you honestly think it would ever be free? When is the last time you saw Sat or cable in a home for free? I am referring to legally of course.

 

Sat radio is great. 10x better than reg fm stations...

 

i've got a portable Pioneer Inno. It's a great portable XM tuner and you can record stuff off of whatever station you're listening too. What i want to know is how is this going to affect the content? Are we just adding sirius to XM or will the 'not-so-popular' stations be weeded out to form a better and slightly larger network of stations?

 

Haha illegal cable boxes FTW back in the 90s. They should build into the price of each car a flat fee and get on with life. So if a new maxima costs $28,000, make it costs $28,200 and give them "free" satellite radio for the life of the car. When I got my maxima in 2002, the sticker had an airbag fee...they should include that in the price and even not show me they added $250 for airbags. If they did this for satellite radio...I think it would help gain subscribers.

 

How would they 'gain subscribers' if theyre giving it for free. Most manufacturers now include it, but activation/monthly service is optional. Theres very few now that charge you more for the units themselves.

For the record with cable box decoders/'black boxes' you still had to pay for basic cable to use it to unscrambled the decoded channels.

 

thats what I meant...get rid of the optional monthly service and once you have a satellite unit...its free. My dad's caddy came with a 3 month trial and he loved it...but refuses to pay for it out of principle. he says he paid 42k and they shouldn't nickel and dime him over $10 a month or w/e it is to use it after he paid so much for the car. In his case, if he paid $42,200 and it came "free", he'd be touting how much he loves it...but instead it gives him another reason to hate American cars haha.

 

Do you know how much it costs to launch a satellite? Then to keep it there? How would any company stay in business if it was all free? Thats like asking for cell phone service to be free if you buy a phone. Silly boy it will never work.

 

BTW .. I have 4 XM accounts and pay for none.

 

not free..tack on some price to every car made. Let's say satellite radio has 200,000 total subscribers (hypothetical obv.) and they get $10 a month from them, (I have no idea how much it is per month) that gives them $24,000,000 profit a year. Now lets say they institute some program where Nissan (hypo again) gives you "free" XM/sirius with your car. Now lets say they jump the price of EVERY Nissan $100. Now, if they sell 200,000 cars a year (again, hypo I have no idea how many cars Nissan sells). The profit for xm/sirius is: $20,000,000. That's only 4 less million after 1 year in one brand of car. (not including less costs of collecting monthly charges from all the people who bought a car from Nissan) Imagine if all cars had it standard...then the profits could be exponentially higher. Plus, they would still have revenue from the old schoolers who pay month to month. Not saying it would work, but I'd like it to. I think it would make it seem more "standard", and could reach many more people than it does now. Then, it could make crappy FM radio go to the wayside.

 

you are sneaky.

 

i still am curious as to what kinds of changes i should expect with my current XM account

 

Unfortunately realistically speaking it wouldnt work that way. That always wouldnt be near profit as there are employees,maintainence, governments piece, COGS (cost of goods sold),yada-yada-yada. Theres a subscription for things because they are constantly evolutionizing. What if all homes came with free cable and phone? **** throw in electric,gas,etc while your at it. All cellphones came with free service and never a bill. Vehicles with gas. All factored in wouldnt work. Cost is always changing and so is the currency and materials to do it.

Its a novel thought, but it just simply would not - could not happen.

 

Nah, perks of the business.

 

I figured in real life it wouldn't work well...but my cheap *** can dream right?

 

www.google.com

 

haha of course.

 

Like the saying goes no free things in life! Now I want to see if the price will go up since they have a monopoly just like cable companies.

 

if ur not familiar, dont comment! satellite radio is awesome!

 

For free, I see that as a long way off if ever.

 

Yet another reason my wallet doesn't like you.

 

It's happening in 3 years because I invented the internet.

 

you really need all 4? perhaps you can give one account away.

 

I do ..

My truck
Wifeys car
Shop
Portable

Ha, I still got three more that I can use for free.

 

they gave you 7? wow they must like you.

 

They give 7 to all direct XM accounts... Used to be 5 and changed to 7 last year.

 

damn, 7? must be nice.

i don't have the antenna for my 5100 anyhow.

 

Antenna for 5100? What are you talking about now ?!?!

 

don't i need an antenna for the cd5100 to receive xm broadcast?? (and a subscription of course)

 

Umm yea, but that would come with the tuner you need n00bsie.

 

oh. learn something new everyday.

 

Satellite radio subscribers will get the short end of the stick just like cable subscribers currently do. The government just created a monopoly by approving the merger. Who is the other satellite radio service that is going to keep the merged entity on it's collective toes?

Just like cable you'll have packages full of some of the things you want but mostly things you don't want. You'll be forced to buy an overall higher priced BUNDLE of packages to get what you currently get.

And then hold tight for the ANNUAL PRICE INCREASES!

The officials who approved this, once they've left their current positions, will most likely go to work for the merged company with a seven figure salary or be high dollar lobbyists. The same kind of lobbyist that wined and dined them in ordered to get the merger approved.

I thought we were about free trade and competition. Not monopolies. The politicians were bought off and failed us again.

 

ahh, didnt realize.