Subscribers' Options to Change With Merger
Sirius subscribers will still have their Howard Stern.
(By Ramin Talaie -- Bloomberg News)
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Saturday, July 26, 2008
The merger of XM and Sirius satellite radio companies raises a number of questions for subscribers of the two services and for Washington, which has been the home of XM for more than a decade.
XM has 9.7 million subscribers; Sirius has 8.6 million. Ever since merger plans were announced in March 2007, subscribers have wondered what would happen to their service if the two companies combined.
Each service has unique programming: XM has Major League Baseball games, Sirius has NFL games. XM has Bob Dylan, Sirius has Howard Stern. Some subscribers have been hopeful that a merger would enable them to get the best of both services.
Others wonder if a merger means they will lose their favorite channels and if they'll have to buy new radios.
In a June 13 letter to the FCC, Sirius and XM said the combined company would voluntarily create a number of new programming options for subscribers. Neither company would comment further. The answers to these questions come largely from public filings and past statements from the companies.
Q It costs $12.95 per month to subscribe to XM or Sirius. Will the price go up?
A The companies have said that they would freeze the $12.95-per-month rate for three years after the merger. In the letter to the FCC, XM and Sirius said they will create a number of programming options ranging from $6.99 to $16.99 per month.
· For $6.99 per month, subscribers can choose either 50 Sirius or 50 XM channels and add additional channels for 25 cents each per month.
· For $14.99 per month, subscribers get 100 channels: XM subscribers get mostly XM channels and can pick Sirius channels to round out to 100. A similar deal will be available for Sirius subscribers.
· For $16.99 per month, XM subscribers get all of their current XM channels and can add an undetermined number of Sirius channels. Vice-versa for Sirius subscribers.
· For $9.99 per month, subscribers can get a "mostly music" or "mostly news, sports and talk" package of channels.
· For $11.95 per month, subscribers can get a "family-friendly" package of existing channels from either XM or Sirius, which would block out such programming as Howard Stern and rap and rock channels with profanity-laced songs. For $14.99 per month, subscribers can get a "family friendly" package of channels from both services.
