Justice Dept Approves XM-Sirius Deal

Drudge ^ | March 24, 2008

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Sirius

[Mad Dawgg]

"Sirius or XM? I get Sirius stations on my satellite TV, but XM in my car."

We get XM on DirecTV

[NativeNewYorker]

Well, I’m an audiobook guy myself.

[MNlurker]

I still say there is nothing better than driving down the road with the windows down and hearing a song you haven't heard in ages come on the radio (in this case now - satellite). No matter how many songs you put on an mp3 or onto a CD that's burned you still pick them or will hear them played again. I'd miss the laugh or smile that came to my face when the first few notes of a song I haven't heard in ages takes me back to a story or event I forgot about growing up (its not a long time I'm only 34).

Then I turn up the volume, sing along as loud as I can, shake my head and hope I'll hear it again sometime down the road. No burned CD or mp3 that I make can do that.

[Poundstone]

Satellite radio’s long-term future is about what satellite phones’ future is/was: dismal.

Wireless coverage throughout most of the US will be the coup de grace to satellite radio’s already collapsing business model.

In the meantime, stick to free radio, with or without HD.

[over3Owithabrain]

Yuo obviously don't drive a lot for a living. Free radio's lousy coverage/reception, limited programming, and incessant commercials make it not a useful option for on-the-roaders. Satellite radio provides crystal-clear reception anywhere with almost unlimited choice of programming 24/7. It blows free radio away for the person who is on the road for a living or wants to enjoy car/RV vacations.

Until most people have access to user-friendly wireless streaming broadband audio in their moving vehicles, satellite indeed has a sizable market.

[Mr. Brightside]

This is hugh and sirius.

[Gay State Conservative]

When the merger becomes official I’ll be canceling my XM service.Why? Two words......Howard Stern.I won’t subsidize that filthy,worthless foul-mouthed punk in any way.

[Myrddin]

I started as an XM customer with my SkyFi. It went on the road in the 2003 Ford Escape. When I replaced the Escape with a 2008 Mercury Mariner, there was a Sirius radio built-in to the entertainment system. I listen to XM at home and Sirius on the road. It's going to impact me no matter how it comes off. I would love to have Mark Levin (144 Patriot) arrive on XM. XM 165 is my fallback in the evening for talk show content when my local AM radio station plays infomercials for vitamins, poop pills and NASCAR.

[Tuxedo]

Mark Levin is on XM 166.

[kevinm13]

As a Sirius subscriber, I want to know how this will affect listening to Sirius Patriot 144. I figure I can listen to Classic Rock on either system. As long as this doesn’t affect 144 or my hardware, I will be happy.

[Myrddin]

Mark Levin is on XM 166.

The timing of your reply was impeccable. I just switched off my AM radio station replay of Glen Beck in favor of Mark Levin live on XM166. Thanks!

[Trajan88]

sweet... NFL & MLB all in one place.

[hydrotech1]

Amen. That makes two of us.

[traviskicks]

I don’t know why the justice department even has to ‘review’ or ‘approve’ this stuff.

[Ken H]

I love xm. There are a lot of hidden gems on Saturday and Sunday - Cigar Dave, Gun Talk, etc. A couple of beefs:

1. Too much talk on the oldies stations. When I tune in, I don't want to hear a 15 minute interview with a person from the era. A brief intro to a song is fine, but I basically want one song after the other 24/7.

2. Those gawd-awful public service ads on xm-165. Like the one that starts out - "Son, we've got to talk about drinking." "Yeah, I know."

Been hearing that one for at least 3 months now. Well not really - I've learned to anticipate when those ads come on and mute the sound!

[Myrddin]

I dislike PSAs with a purple passion. My local AM radio station is really lame. Often, you turn the station on to hear nothing but dead air, recycling bumper "music", vitamin ads, ad council PSAs, "colon cleanse" informercials and the dreaded waste of weekend time...NASCAR. Even more boring is a live broadcast of high school sports. The only consistently good content is Rush Limbaugh, Laura Ingraham and Glen Beck. Evenings are hit/miss with Coast to Coast. Sunday nights include Bill Cunningham...not Matt Drudge, but better than dead air.

Even more annoying is the inability to maintain schedules and play content properly. If one PSA is bad, why not play 3 of them concurrently...over the Fox News feed...if they remember to do the Fox News feed.

[Wolfie]

Fine by me. Being out from under the nanny-thumb of the FCC is well worth it.