That being said, I think traditional media companies (Time Warner, Clear Channel, etc.) have enough lobbying power in congress to keep it from happening.

I would bet that they would offer this basic package at a slight discount in order to attract more subscribers who are also just looking for music. As it stands now they can’t afford to do that and the only option is an all or none type of deal.

I think they will continue to offer a comprehensive package for very similar to the cost now, possibly slightly higher, but the main selling point (at least if it were up to me) would be to group the radio into 3 separate modules. Music, Talk and Sports. With a comprehensive package including everything or the ability to mix and match your own where each module costs less, but expensive enough that buying the comprehensive package comes across as the best “deal” to lure more people to that.

Do you really think the base pkg will be cheaper? Right now the sports fans are getting those stations for free, but when they make them premium, they will be extra, w/o lowering the base pkg, so you will be no better off, as far as pricing is concerned. just my 2 cents…

I think they have done a pretty darn good job on their own, considering how new the technology is. With the best and brightest on the same team it can only get better.

And I have no idea how the technology transition would work. The concepts are similar but as you mentioned they are still significantly different. Only time will tell I suppose.

Sirius > XM

As far as competition, I don’t see the merger being a problem. These companies are fighting regular radio, HD radio, and MP3 players. The fact is that if they merge and their offerings and customer service falters, their subscriber base will abandon them.

I would like to think that if a merger was completed that existing radios of each provider would then have access to the same content. I don’t know the logistics behind that but it would be unacceptable to expect people to have to upgrade to a new receiver immediately in order to have the benefits. Clearly this would phase out over time and all new radios could access both satellites together, but that is a concern I see at least initially.

And I agree with the cable providers. In my location we only have one option, Comcast. I don’t have the luxury of picking and choosing a provider. You could argue I could switch to satellite instead but that is completely different technology and with the only high-speed internet available to us through cable it would make switching to satellite very expensive, not to mention a hassle of signal loss we would have with our poor weather in this location.

A monopoly? Is this any different than my local cable provider? That’s a tiger of the same stripes right there, since my choices are either broadcast or satellite. My choices with radio are then broadcast or physical media (CDs). How is one a monopoly but the other is not?