ztmike
Premium
join:2001-08-02
 ·Comcast
 ·AT&T Midwest
| bah
Sadly i see them merging sooner or later, when that happens you can probably hear more ads and more cost of service, not to mention probably prices of radios will up go.
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"I am the worst president in U.S history, I'm either stupid or dumb most of the time, but people still believe me." George W. Bush |
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kfsutops
Premium
join:2002-08-19
Brandon, FL
clubs: 
·RoadRunner Cable
| said by ztmike  :Sadly i see them merging sooner or later, when that happens you can probably hear more ads and more cost of service, not to mention probably prices of radios will up go. Oh but no...everyone says that this is good. It will lower prices.
Bullshit. I agree. It is going to raise rates considerably. I hadn't even thought of the commercial free aspect until you mentioned it.
I hate this even more now.
But unfortunately, it will go through. I can't wait to hear all the crying idiots when they start raising prices after six months.
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"There are no stupid questions, but there are a LOT of inquisitive idiots" |
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hobgoblin
Sortof Agoblin
Premium
join:2001-11-25
Orchard Park, NY
clubs:
| reply to ztmike
said by ztmike :Sadly i see them merging sooner or later, when that happens you can probably hear more ads and more cost of service, not to mention probably prices of radios will up go. As opposed to one of them going out of business.
Hob
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"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
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BF69
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN
| reply to kfsutops
said by kfsutops :said by ztmike :Sadly i see them merging sooner or later, when that happens you can probably hear more ads and more cost of service, not to mention probably prices of radios will up go. Oh but no...everyone says that this is good. It will lower prices. Bullshit. I agree. It is going to raise rates considerably. I hadn't even thought of the commercial free aspect until you mentioned it. I hate this even more now. But unfortunately, it will go through. I can't wait to hear all the crying idiots when they start raising prices after six months. You do realize if there isn't a merger within a few years one if not both will be out of business anyways. Then what will happen to prices? |
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DotMac
Shill H8r
Premium
join:2007-10-26
Huntington Beach, CA | reply to hobgoblin
Or both going out of business. |
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DotMac
Shill H8r
Premium
join:2007-10-26
Huntington Beach, CA
| reply to kfsutops
Which begs the question...why would the NAtB not want the merger. If what you say is true, a merger would result in higher prices which would be good for the terrestrial broadcasters.
The fact that the NAtB is fighting this tooth and nail tells me the opposite would be the case. XM and Sirius could save a bundle combining resources and not having to advertise against each other. Satellite would still have to compete with not only OTA radio, but all the other sources of mobile entertainment (eg iPods). |
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UofMiamiGrad
Premium
join:2001-02-03
Great Neck, NY
| said by DotMac :The fact that the NAtB is fighting this tooth and nail tells me the opposite would be the case. XM and Sirius could save a bundle combining resources and not having to advertise against each other. Satellite would still have to compete with not only OTA radio, but all the other sources of mobile entertainment (eg iPods). I agree, the more NAB fights the merger, the more the merger makes sense. The NAB doesn't want competition that a combined XM/Sirius company would give them & they know it. This is just the latest crap the NAB is pulling. |
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BF69
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN
| reply to DotMac
said by DotMac :Satellite would still have to compete with not only OTA radio, but all the other sources of mobile entertainment (eg iPods). Don't forget HD radio which gives you the same sound quality as satelite except it's FREE. |
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dualsub2006
join:2007-07-18
Newport, KY
 ·Vonage
·Insight Communicat..
·LINGO
·Cincinnati Bell
·RoadRunner Cable
| reply to ztmike
I subscribe to both primarily for the commercial free music. If the commercial free music goes, so do I. I am not alone.
Sirius and XM both have difficulty getting people to sign up at $12.95 a month. What makes you think that a merged company would suddenly be able to raise rates? This is strictly a luxury item for people. Nothing like cable or satellite TV. People can and will return to FM radio, iPods or Zunes. Satellite radio is in a tenuous position at best. Higher rates would not make up for the loss in revenue from people that would rather cancel than pay more.
If they split off sports into a pay tier that MIGHT be one way, but even then they lose. There are those that subscribe to one or the other and they are at the maximum that they are willing to pay. Taking away programming that is provided today for an all in one price for a premium tier will lead to fewer subscribers. Not more. |
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DotMac
Shill H8r
Premium
join:2007-10-26
Huntington Beach, CA
| reply to BF69
I was going to list it but figured someone would post that HD-Radio is still OTA radio 
I like HD-Radio in terms of quality, but unfortunately it still suffers from all the commercials and idiot program directors that have totally trashed Los Angeles radio. |
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Austinloop
join:2001-08-19
Austin, TX
| Also, let us not forget, in addition the the ills that BF69 mentions, after you drive a certain distance, it is back to the hunt for a station that has the type of music/entertainment that one wants. The hunt can be a frustrating experience in some of the more rural portions of the country. |
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kfsutops
Premium
join:2002-08-19
Brandon, FL
clubs:
·RoadRunner Cable
| reply to BF69
said by BF69 :You do realize if there isn't a merger within a few years one if not both will be out of business anyways. Then what will happen to prices? So what? Prices will be an non-issue then. If they can't survive in the market they chose, then their business models were flawed from the beginning.
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"There are no stupid questions, but there are a LOT of inquisitive idiots" |
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BosstonesOwn
join:2002-12-15
Everett, MA
clubs:
·Comcast
·Comcast Formerly ..
| reply to kfsutops
said by kfsutops :said by ztmike :Sadly i see them merging sooner or later, when that happens you can probably hear more ads and more cost of service, not to mention probably prices of radios will up go. Oh but no...everyone says that this is good. It will lower prices. Bullshit. I agree. It is going to raise rates considerably. I hadn't even thought of the commercial free aspect until you mentioned it. I hate this even more now. But unfortunately, it will go through. I can't wait to hear all the crying idiots when they start raising prices after six months. Hey tool , costs always go up. So does your pay , to think they can keep the prices the same for the next 20 years is both idiotic and down right deficient of you.
First the RIAA is getting paid hand over fist by the sat rad providers. And they are still making a profit. It is only a matter of time before they want more and the sat providers have to raise rates.
With that being said most people against the merger don't have common sense. Right now the RIAA is collecting double regular radio on both providers. Now we shut down one company and we get a major cut in costs. We don't keep all the channels and we merge the content down to get the content on both sets of radios , they still own the birds and the bands. So they can max out both as well as thier local repeater network and provide the customers who actually pay for the service a better bang for your buck.
I bought a new Honda it's locked in with XM no converter yet. I have a 3 year free sub to XM , it sucks. I installed sirius at a big cost. Most customers are like me and don't want to be tied to one manufacturer. But wait this is bad for us customers. I mean really when the xm module on my honda is $1200 and the sirius one for a car of the same size and cost is $250.
Yeah this is bad for consumers geez what was I thinking.
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"It's always funny until someone gets hurt......and then it's absolutely friggin' hysterical!" |
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kfsutops
Premium
join:2002-08-19
Brandon, FL
clubs:
·RoadRunner Cable
| said by BosstonesOwn :[ I bought a new Honda it's locked in with XM no converter yet. I have a 3 year free sub to XM , it sucks. I installed sirius at a big cost. Most customers are like me and don't want to be tied to one manufacturer. But wait this is bad for us customers. I mean really when the xm module on my honda is $1200 and the sirius one for a car of the same size and cost is $250. Yeah this is bad for consumers geez what was I thinking. How are you locked in when buying a Honda? You just tell them you don't want it installed. If they want to sell the car, they would take it out. You aren't locked in to shiat.
Personally, I don't care about the RIAA and what they get paid. Why should satellite radio be any different than satellite TV. They wouldn't let the satellite TV companies merge, so why should this be any different. With DirectTV and Dish you are required to by separate equipment. What's the difference?
Just because they throw the argument "one of us will be out of business" shouldn't be the only reason to allow these companies to merge. They have already issued what the price structure would be. Guess what? It's already basically a price increase. You are paying less for lesser content, but if you want the supposed benefits (dual programming) it's going to cost you a lot more. Oh yeah, and don't forget the stuff you just put in your honda won't work either. So you are going to have to pay more for equipment again.
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"There are no stupid questions, but there are a LOT of inquisitive idiots" |
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bleearg13
join:2001-03-03
Gaithersburg, MD
| reply to ztmike
I will gladly pay $12.95 to get only 5 channels out of the 100+ on my Sirius radio. In fact, I would probably pay even more money just to not have to suffer through the garbage that terrestrial radio plays, should satellite radio tank, as an industry. |
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BosstonesOwn
join:2002-12-15
Everett, MA
clubs:
·Comcast
·Comcast Formerly ..
edit:
November 23rd, @03:41PM
| reply to kfsutops
You must not have ever bought a new car. You can only sit down and look at what you want if they can't find one like it they don't just pull what you don't want out. They try and find one like it or you order one.
And I wasn't waiting 3 months for a new CRV from japan just over a satellite tuner , when my other car was totalled.
Oh yeah and the same equipment will work for quite some time. They would have to purchase all new equipment for the subs. And it's called planned obsolescence lots of companies do it. You want the newer features you buy the newer gear you don't then you don't get them. |
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bleearg13
join:2001-03-03
Gaithersburg, MD
| reply to kfsutops
said by kfsutops :Personally, I don't care about the RIAA and what they get paid. Why should satellite radio be any different than satellite TV. They wouldn't let the satellite TV companies merge, so why should this be any different. With DirectTV and Dish you are required to by separate equipment. What's the difference? The difference between the two cases may not be clear initially, but there are differences. One issue, from what I understand in the DirecTV/Echostar deal, had to do with price discrimination. With satellite TV, they beam into local markets, competing directly with cable. This presents different pricing structures for satellite TV, depending upon the market into which they are broadcasting. If cable has deep market penetration, rates could be lowered; if cable his weak market penetration, rates could be increased. With satrad, this issue of localization is non-existent. Satellite radio competes the same way in Chicago as it does anywhere else in the country, against several radio stations, iPods, CD players, tape decks, and cellphones.
There are other minor differences, mostly focusing around the type of competition in the market. With DirecTV and Echostar, the competing product itself was defined as "television services". With satrad, the product is defined as "mobile entertainment", which consists of everything I mentioned above. If the two satellite radio companies were mainly competing against *other* satellite radio companies, then there would be major cause for concern that this newly merged company would create an unfair advantage. If satrad's only competition was terrestrial radio, then there *could* be a case against the merger. But again - they don't compete only with radio, but other forms of entertainment. |
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BF69
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN
| reply to DotMac
said by DotMac :I was going to list it but figured someone would post that HD-Radio is still OTA radio I like HD-Radio in terms of quality, but unfortunately it still suffers from all the commercials and idiot program directors that have totally trashed Los Angeles radio. No such thing as a free lunch. Don't like commericials go pay service. Want free radio put up with ads. Just the way it is. Radio, TV, internet with very few exceptions no one is trying to entertain you just to be nice. It's about making money. Always has been always will be. |
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BF69
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN
| reply to kfsutops
said by kfsutops :said by BF69 :You do realize if there isn't a merger within a few years one if not both will be out of business anyways. Then what will happen to prices? So what? Prices will be an non-issue then. If they can't survive in the market they chose, then their business models were flawed from the beginning. My point was if one did happen to survive then the so called price protection of "competition" would be gone anyways. This is one of the few circumstances where a monopoly would not necessarily mean higher prices.
A merged company would still have to abide by the market. If they price their radios and subscription fees to high then people would look for other sources for radio because they do exist. |
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DotMac
Shill H8r
Premium
join:2007-10-26
Huntington Beach, CA | reply to BF69
Ads are fine but some stations run 20 minutes of commercials an hour and to me that is excessive. |
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