ugh.

http://xmradio.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=press_releases&item=1423

I hate stern and I hate mel.

2/19/2007 3:18:24 PM

message_topic.aspx?topic=462489

2/19/2007 3:20:34 PM

http://www.thewolfweb.com/message_topic.aspx?topic=462489

Come on...got to look harder.

2/19/2007 3:21:00 PM

I stand by this thread. I consider this just as much an entertainment story as I do a tech story, so there is justification for 2 threads. Discuss the tech ramifications in the tech talk thread and discuss the possible lineup changes here. simple.

(notice I mentioned content in my comments)

2/19/2007 3:29:16 PM

fuck, sirius better not get shitty now

[Edited on February 19, 2007 at 4:19 PM. Reason : also, hope they dont screw over the people with lifetime subscriptions]

2/19/2007 4:16:50 PM

^the sub plan is my major issue. lifetime deal is sweet

2/19/2007 4:54:35 PM

Sirius has the NHL but XM has a dedicated hockey talk channel.

Now I'm a happy boy.

2/19/2007 5:01:32 PM

XM had NHL games too.

2/19/2007 5:18:51 PM

I was unaware.

Meh.

2/19/2007 5:21:58 PM

Now you know!

I've got a beef with some of this shit. Mel is known to screw customers, but the shareholders come out good. Thats why the Street loves him. No competition will raise the fucking prices undoubtedly, and we will lose content. I love Squizz and Liquid Metal, but other people like Octane and whatever shit is on Sirius. Chances are, somebody will be pissed off as they will not leave all the content intact.

Quote :

"Greater Programming and Content Choices -- The combined company is committed to consumer choice, including offering consumers the ability to pick and choose the channels and content they want on a more a la carte basis. "

This means that now instead of just one flat rate like both have now, we are going to get the distinct pleasure of tiered service, much like cable and satellite TV. Also the other disadvantage is that they will likely have to relinquish one of the two satellite carriers bandwidth, which will probably cause more compression problems. Also to make the NAB and other groups happy, I'm sure we will soon see FCC regulation and also see commercials now.

I'm so disgusted. I hope the fucking FCC tells Mel and Sirius to go fuck themselves. If they would basically allow us to get all of the content from both for just a dollar or two more then I'd be interested. But gonna charge me more for the same, or worse, kill off some of my programming? I'll be dropping ALL of this then. Mel and Howard have had a bad relationship with Opie & Anthony and I am concerned for the future of the content I currently enjoy.

2/19/2007 5:27:00 PM

I wish XM had a lifetime subscription, maybe they will merge that over

whats the rate for Sirius for lifetime?

2/19/2007 5:32:01 PM

it used to be $400, but I'm pretty sure they stopped selling it at least a year ago.

2/19/2007 5:33:55 PM

400 + a couple normal startup fees. they did stop after the first year or so.

[Edited on February 19, 2007 at 8:09 PM. Reason : can switch radios for 75 if you break it or want a new one]

2/19/2007 8:09:34 PM

They still have it. It's just $500 now for a lifetime subscription.

Quote :

"Subscribe for the lifetime of your radio! Pay ONLY $499.99 once and forget about bills. Plus, act soon and you can transfer your lifetime subscription to a different SIRIUS Receiver when you upgrade or replace your radio — up to three times — for only $75 per radio. Offer ends June 30, 2007. Hurry!"

http://www.sirius.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Sirius/Page&c=Page&cid=1150907696769&

2/20/2007 12:05:49 PM

seems like this is good news for sports fans, no more worries of sports moving from one to another, and the constant contract debates. I am sure you will have to pay for a lot of the sports now though, so that is bad news!

2/20/2007 12:21:29 PM

Yea they think they are going to charge folks the price for 2 full subs to get all content from both providers, is what I got from Mel on the conference call today.

2/20/2007 4:18:59 PM

unless something has changed since this morning, this is not a done deal by any means. it has to be approved by the fcc (who originally ok'ed the forming of these companies with expressed condition that they not merge)

2/20/2007 4:27:27 PM

Sat radio content is total ass anyway.

I don't understand how you can justify that shit when you can use an MP3 player with unlimited subscription and create vastly superior play lists to JACK. MAYBE if you like the talk shows, or NPR during pledge drives.

2/20/2007 4:42:05 PM

WHO THE FUCK IS MEL

2/20/2007 4:58:09 PM

Mel Karmazin, CEO of Sirius

Mel and Sumner had a difficulties getting along when both were with Viacom.

2/20/2007 5:18:54 PM

Quote :

"Sat radio content is total ass anyway. I don't understand how you can justify that shit when you can use an MP3 player with unlimited subscription and create vastly superior play lists to JACK. MAYBE if you like the talk shows, or NPR during pledge drives."

do you have it?

[Edited on February 20, 2007 at 5:24 PM. Reason : fd]

2/20/2007 5:24:27 PM

Yea you gotta be fucking kidding me. Part of the joy of satrad is experiencing new music. Yea I have an MP3 player as well, who doesn't? Shit I carry two everyday, one in my phone and my satrad which records too. But I get tired of listening to the same shit and rarely finding anything new. Thats why its nice to tune to a station like Squizz, Ethel, Lucy, Liquid Metal, etc. and listen to something new.

What I do to make mine even better is just record everything. I set my shit to record the O&A show from 7:30-12:00 every evening, and then record a channel (usually Squizz) from 1-5 am. Then I can carry it in the office, classrooms, etc. and have tons of music to listen to, with no hassle.

As for the possibly merged company, the content will be even better. All sports? You betcha. Exclusive radio personalities would include Howard, Bubba, Pharrell, Opie & Anthony, Ron & Fez, Jim Breur, though its not yet known which ones will stick around of that group. The Stern Zombies think that O&A and R&F will get the ax. The XM peeps think that it would like end up being Stern AM, O&A afternoon, R&F midday, and then some of the other guys in the evening if they try to consolidate channels, are just keep all the current content, but throw them on say 3-4 channels and let them do replays during the day.

2/20/2007 5:48:56 PM

I cant imagine this merger wanting to mess with the two howard stern stations at all.

2/20/2007 6:24:44 PM

haha, and all this time i thought sirius was just a brand of XM. shows how behind i am

2/20/2007 6:42:58 PM

All you Stern haters can see just how powerful he really is. Sirius was nothing before he signed on, now XM has to panic and merge. Do you think the some copy cat wannabees like O and A could do that?

2/20/2007 10:43:42 PM

i dont know about struggling, but they certainly have done a shitload better with him. i didnt really care at first, but now i listen to him every morning on the way to work.

2/20/2007 11:26:26 PM

to this day i've never listened to Stern's show

2/20/2007 11:27:26 PM

Apoc, if you fucking knew anything about the biz you would know that Sirius is the one that has wanted to merge all this time. XM has been doing alright. Sirius has had more new content, but they have been spending like crazy to get that subscriber growth. That adds subs, but its not the best business decision for making money. They owe a shit ton of money and are still probably not nearly as close to cash positive as XM. If the merger doesn't go through, Mel has said they were probably going to be going up to $14.99/month subscriptions. XM on the other hand has been consolidating expenses, leasing satellite time, etc. to make themselves profitable ASAP. There subscriber growth had slowed, any idiot can see that, but they were shifting to more of an OEM market and focusing on people with new cars coming with XM.

So to say Stern killed it is preposterous. Now if XM could have afforded him, it would be different. But this is a merger of equals, not a takeover or buyout or whatever you want to call it. Mel is in charge, but Parsons is the Chair and XM has 6 seats on the board (GM and Honda are big investors in XM and have 2 seats). And by the way, O&A are the number one show on XM. Eric Logan has said that many times. They even outdo stupid Bob Dylan and his themetime radio hour.

2/21/2007 6:48:31 AM

will be interesting to see if it goes forward

2/21/2007 8:51:31 AM

they can raise that subscription all they like at sirius. i aintz paying it.

2/21/2007 9:17:22 AM

The stern factor def. played a role in Sirius getting bigger, but to say that he has revolutionized the format is so uninformed as to be amusing. This merger has ZERO to do with howard stern (or O&A, Oprah, Martha, etc.) other than Sirius paid WAY too much money for him. Sirius has wanted this merger since the day Mel took over Sirius. I don't recall a single instance of XM making those overtures. How it will all work out is anyone's guess.

Frankly, as long as I have O&A and Ron & Fez, I don't really care. And I want them without shackles. If stern starts crying to mel to have them censored, I would be PISSED. And moving O&A to afternoons can't really happen due to their deal with CBS.

[Edited on February 21, 2007 at 9:38 AM. Reason : stern sucks]

2/21/2007 9:37:17 AM

stern is a prima donna

he wont be able to handle anyone else on the same carrier

2/21/2007 10:36:22 AM

Well I would respond by saying that fucking Bubba was a Stern hater before. He was one of the biggest "Fuck Howie" guys around. And he don't bring nearly the kind of buzz, audience, and advertising money that O&A do. Mel may hate them, and Howard may hate them, but Mel loves money and making himself look good. They did work at the same station for 5 years w/Howard & Mel until they blew their careers up by doing the Sex for Sam stunt at St. Patricks. Bubba said they stooped too low by talking shit about Howards daughter, b/c she almost did some stupid off Broadway play in the nude. But shit, before that Howard almost had a fucking party when Opie's dad died. Dunno how either of them can say "low blow" or that the other was totally out of line.

I honestly think there is room for Howard and O&A, and hopefully Ron & Fez. Ultimately the company will want the talent that brings in the biggest cash.

2/21/2007 9:56:15 PM

Quote :

"They owe a shit ton of money and are still probably not nearly as close to cash positive as XM."

Sirius was cash flow positive last quarter.

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/01-02-2007/0004498409&EDATE=

Quote :

" if you fucking knew anything about the biz you would know that Sirius is the one that has wanted to merge all this time."

Sirius has been closing the gap in subscriber numbers quarter after quarter. XM lowered their subscriber guidance twice last quarter and still failed to meet it. i think their poor performance, and sirius's to a lesser degree, is why the merger is moving ahead and why it will go through.
not to mention the FCC under the bush administration is all about the corporations and i doubt theyll stand in the way of this...thats not a jaded political hackery comment, thats fact.

http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/providerarticle.aspx?feed=AP&Date=20070105&ID=6318220

Quote :

"Sirius continued to narrow the gap with its larger rival XM, adding 905,000 net subscribers in the quarter versus 442,000 net additions for XM. However analysts point out that XM, with its larger subscriber base, is more affected by having to make up for subscriber defections, or "churn.""

Quote :

"That adds subs, but its not the best business decision for making money. "

And I have to disagree with you here. Due to a low churn rate, the addition of subscribers is the main focus for satellite radio...which explains why they're willing to spend so much money to acquire each new subscriber.

Quote :

"XM reported that subscriber-acquisition cost per gross addition rose to $93 from $89 in the third quarter from the year before. At Sirius, subscriber-acquisition costs per gross addition fell to $114 from $149 a year earlier. "

But yeah XM has done a better job of cutting costs recently.

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/analysts-xm-sirius-can-stand/story.aspx?guid=%7B47AA7B9B-C42B-4475-9FF8-71A7A43AF564%7D

Quote :

"This merger has ZERO to do with howard stern (or O&A, Oprah, Martha, etc.) other than Sirius paid WAY too much money for him. "

Actually if you crunch the numbers and see how many people signed up because of him, you'll see it was a GREAT move for sirius. i know its easy to hate on all things stern, but this was a good deal for sirius, and howard.

Quote :

"I cant imagine this merger wanting to mess with the two howard stern stations at all."

Yeah I can't see Howard's time getting cut either. he's their franchise man and he doesn't just have a show anymore, hes got two channels which hes somehow managed to fill with content that people listen to. personally i think its sad that people spend so much time wondering who said what about who and what midget cracked on what porn star but i guess its whatever floats peoples boats. i dont care about content, i care about numbers

[Edited on February 22, 2007 at 12:18 AM. Reason : ]

2/22/2007 12:17:13 AM