DirecTV Owner Said to Seek Deal for Sirius XM

[RLJSlick]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/12/business/media/12radio.html?_r=3&ref=business

[Talos4]

Very interesting.

That's one big sandbox those two guy's play in.

As a Sirius sub, I'm not all that worried about losing the service completly, I'm just not sure I'd want Charlie running it.

[RLJSlick]

Yeah same here, I'm more upset they had the nerve to raise rates, but before I send up for another year, I want ot see what happens with this whole thing.

Very interesting.

That's one big sandbox those two guy's play in.

As a Sirius sub, I'm not all that worried about losing the service completly, I'm just not sure I'd want Charlie running it.

[jeffski]

Same here ,I was thinking about prepaying for a year,now I'll just wait and see.

[UncleMeat]

I'm on month-month and staying that way.  It's a bummer that Sirius-XM has to go this route as they are actually showing cash flow since the merger.  Tough times and a lot of debt will do that, though.  If they go under or either Liberty or Echostar buys them and ruins things, I'll be switching to CDs/iPod - definitely won't return to AM/FM.

[foxeng]

I don't know about Ergan or Malone messing it up any worse than it is. I have had XM since 2004 and it is getting to the point I am listening to terrestrial radio more and more. Since the merger ,channels that didn't have announcers on them do now, they talk too much and say nothing. The playlists are so small now and too pop. One of my favorite channels, Top Tracks with no announcer and a deep playlist is now Classic Rewind and every 3rd day I now hear the same song and Nina Blackwood is getting really tired now. She was tired, in the 80's. Ole Mel got what he wanted but killed two companies in the process. Typical of a radio robber baron. :bang:

[UncleMeat]

I don't know about Ergan or Malone messing it up any worse than it is. I have had XM since 2004 and it is getting to the point I am listening to terrestrial radio more and more. Since the merger ,channels that didn't have announcers on them do now, they talk too much and say nothing. The playlists are so small now and too pop. One of my favorite channels, Top Tracks with no announcer and a deep playlist is now Classic Rewind and every 3rd day I now hear the same song and Nina Blackwood is getting really tired now. She was tired, in the 80's. Ole Mel got what he wanted but killed two companies in the process. Typical of a radio robber baron. :bang:

Oh believe me, I have grown to hate the music on Sirius-XM.  I just hate FM even more.  I've had Sirius about as long as you or longer and it's been getting bad for the last 3 years.  When I first installed Sirius, I listened to nothing but their college/indie rock channel (now Sirius-XM U).  They had DJs who were passionate about the music, played way underground political stuff (this was when the current war was pretty new), there were artists I hadn't heard of all the time.  Now, they swap DJs between channels like everyone else and there is more "major label" music than anything else.  They canned my other favorite channel, Sirius Disorder (anything from Irish rap to classic rock to Mexican polka) around the time of the merger.  The *only* channels I can listen to for more than 5 minutes at a time are Underground Garage and NFL Radio.  That's not a good selection considering my dial goes into triple digits.  If it weren't for NFL radio, I would've canceled 2-3 years ago.

[UncleMeat]

Oh, and a LOT of the channels are starting to follow the pop-rock FM format and playing a loop of songs.  IE - you turn on one channel at 2PM Tuesday, you'll hear the exact same song at 2PM Wednesday (or 8 hours later, depending on the size of their loop).

[jeffski]

In my opinion, Deep Tracks:guitar: has gotten even better since the merger (if that was possible) If Sirius/XM goes under, I will really miss DT xm 40...Its the main reason Ive been a sub since April 2004   To even THINK about listening to :Shoot:terrestrial radio again makes my stomach churn. ..I will listen to mp3 and cds instead.