Friday, August 8, 2008
FCC approves the merge
by Claudia Sonea
After a year and a half the Federal Communications Commission has finally gave green light to the merge between Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio. Many still argue that this will create a monopoly, but that won’t change anything.
Sirius Radio operates in the USA and Canada and offers 135 streams (69 of music and 65 of sports, news and entertainment). It had a business model similar to that of cable television (pay-for-service radio) with music channels free of commercials and talk channels. All subscriptions were prepaid and you could pay either monthly US$12.95 (US$6.99 for each additional receiver) or US$499.99 for lifetime subscription. Now things may change as the merge with XM has been approved.
XM is younger than Sirius being launched in 2001, while the other one in 1999. It offers 73 music channels, 39 news, sports, talk and entertainment channels, 21 regional traffic and weather channels and 23 play-by-play sports streams. In addition XM also owns several audio and data services as well as an advertising one.
On February 19, 2007 both radios announced they have been in talks for a merge and they are waiting for government approval. However the approval process was the longest in the US history, but eventually came on 25th July with the condition to offer service to the outlying areas of the US. Both companies agreed to give 8% of their channels for public interest and minority programming, a 3 year price cap, and a A-La-Carte pricing available within 3 months. Now we have to decide whether the Sirius XM Radio was or not a good deal and of course the revenue will confirm it.
related story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/cnet/20080727/tc_cnet/8301103531000037894;_ylt=AsC9AIdS9knuMymXlf7imGWs0NUE
PocketNews is a new real-time news broadcaster delivering the latest and hottest news right to your pocket ! With global clients who want to be kept up to date, PocketNews is everyone's way of keeping in touch with the World.<br><br><font size=2>These news are original content from young talents around the world and are selected for you by Chris Cantell.</font><br>
edited by Beata Biskova
Sirius Radio operates in the USA and Canada and offers 135 streams (69 of music and 65 of sports, news and entertainment). It had a business model similar to that of cable television (pay-for-service radio) with music channels free of commercials and talk channels. All subscriptions were prepaid and you could pay either monthly US$12.95 (US$6.99 for each additional receiver) or US$499.99 for lifetime subscription. Now things may change as the merge with XM has been approved.
XM is younger than Sirius being launched in 2001, while the other one in 1999. It offers 73 music channels, 39 news, sports, talk and entertainment channels, 21 regional traffic and weather channels and 23 play-by-play sports streams. In addition XM also owns several audio and data services as well as an advertising one.
On February 19, 2007 both radios announced they have been in talks for a merge and they are waiting for government approval. However the approval process was the longest in the US history, but eventually came on 25th July with the condition to offer service to the outlying areas of the US. Both companies agreed to give 8% of their channels for public interest and minority programming, a 3 year price cap, and a A-La-Carte pricing available within 3 months. Now we have to decide whether the Sirius XM Radio was or not a good deal and of course the revenue will confirm it.
related story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/cnet/20080727/tc_cnet/8301103531000037894;_ylt=AsC9AIdS9knuMymXlf7imGWs0NUE
| by Claudia Sonea for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv) |
PocketNews is a new real-time news broadcaster delivering the latest and hottest news right to your pocket ! With global clients who want to be kept up to date, PocketNews is everyone's way of keeping in touch with the World.<br><br><font size=2>These news are original content from young talents around the world and are selected for you by Chris Cantell.</font><br>
edited by Beata Biskova
Labels: Acquisitions, CantellTV, Chris Cantell, Christopher Cantell, digital broadcasting, SigEx Foundry, SigEx Telecom
# posted by Blog TechSource @ 3:55 AM 
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