XM and Sirius Finally Allowed to Merge by DOJ

[Merton]

Originally Posted by TheMoose

If this merger happens what will this do to the equipment?
Will all Sirius customers have to get XM receivers or vice-versa?
What about the HT receivers that are XM ready but not Sirius ready?

I hear Clear Channel is raising a stink with the FCC about this merger, isn't that a bit like the pot calling the kettle black?

Moose,
Right about CC, especially when you consider they have a small, but not insignificant stake in XM. Funny how Lee Abrams, who's frequently considered as the father of consultant generated playlists, had an epiphany when he became Chief Creative Officer at XM.

Apparently both services will be operated separately in the near term, with some streams to be simulcast on the other service. A subscriber to, say XM, could add certain Sirius streams for an additional fee. A new dual mode receiver would be required for ala carte programming direct from each service, but such a receiver would be easy to add to any HT receiver. Since both XM and Sirius are fairly compressed, having to use analog connections would not result in audible degradation of SQ.

Jim

[TheMoose]

I heard on a podcast the other day this merger could lead the way for a merger between Dish & DirecTV.
Anyone heard about this or have any thoughts on it?

Personally I think it would be good if they could combine all their sats bandwidth they could have more HD channels with less compression.

[deacongreg]

I have heard nothing at all.