Let's hope Radio Margaritaville stays with satellite merger

[CoronaMargaritahead]

Playboy Radio (which is really good!), .

are you serious? Playboy radio is s***, its basically like p*** without watching it. what a horrible excuse for a channel

[PA PAR8 HED]

Last conversation I had with the RM people indicates there is no way RM is leaving Sat radio. Their listening audience has gone 100 fold or more.

Sirius says that they don't monitor those numbers...how does RM?

I can't imagine that Sirius (or XM for that matter) doesn't know which channels are more popular than others. The talk stations run commercials, no one would advertise without that kind of data.

Beyond that, smart business practices would dictate that you know what your customers like.

[Quiet and Shy]

Agreed, I cannot see RM being eliminated if the merger goes through.

My concerns are the "ala cart" comments I've heard from both CEOs. I figure if you want RM, it will be a Premium channel. Same holds true for Sirius NFL Radio (which these are basically the main stations I listen to) and if you want other stations like Playboy Radio (which is really good!), Blue Collar Radio, etc., these will all cost extra.

Hopefully this won't happen, I think they will lose a lot of subscribers if they raise the monthy fee over $13.

I don't have satelite radio, so please bear with me....

Do Sirius or XM currently have "premium" channels? I hadn't heard that before. And if they don't today but want to put that in with the merger I can't imagine they'll get past the anti-trust hurdles...it just smells very monopolistic.

And how could RM disappear? Well, if they focus on cost vs. quality, they could replace RM with a cheaper RM "knockoff." (Does XM have a "tropical" station?)

That's the big danger of this merger...compromised quality to lower costs and predatory pricing to hold popular channels hostage (premium channels) to spike revenues. Not much benefit to customers here...is there?

[UpstateNYPH]

Agreed, I cannot see RM being eliminated if the merger goes through.

My concerns are the "ala cart" comments I've heard from both CEOs. I figure if you want RM, it will be a Premium channel. Same holds true for Sirius NFL Radio (which these are basically the main stations I listen to) and if you want other stations like Playboy Radio (which is really good!), Blue Collar Radio, etc., these will all cost extra.

Hopefully this won't happen, I think they will lose a lot of subscribers if they raise the monthy fee over $13.

I don't have satelite radio, so please bear with me....

Do Sirius or XM currently have "premium" channels? I hadn't heard that before. And if they don't today but want to put that in with the merger I can't imagine they'll get past the anti-trust hurdles...it just smells very monopolistic.

And how could RM disappear? Well, if they focus on cost vs. quality, they could replace RM with a cheaper RM "knockoff." (Does XM have a "tropical" station?)

That's the big danger of this merger...compromised quality to lower costs and predatory pricing to hold popular channels hostage (premium channels) to spike revenues. Not much benefit to customers here...is there?

I have Sirius and not XM, so I cant speak for XM, but Sirius does have premium channels. I know this because my friend gets channels I dont, or maybe Sirius just doesnt like me.

[LIPH]

I don't have satellite radio either, but doesn't XM charge extra for Opie & Anthony?

[Caribbean Soul Man]

I don't listen to Stern and never will just not what I consider entertainment. As far as the monopoly issue, just about every place I've ever lived we've had only one cable TV company that we were at the mercy of - and if you have a large family with multiple TVs / viewers, dish tv wasn't a real practical option. So I don't see why that would be much different as far as the FCC or SEC are concerned.

I agree with an earlier post - if they eliminate channels, it would be to get rid of redundant content. If there's anything we all know, it's that RM is extremely unique.

I don't think there's another musician with this kind of fan-base, a 35+ year discography full of platinum and gold as a song catalog and - oh by the way, just happens to broadcast each and every live performance exclusively over the internet.

I got Sirius because of RM and so I could listen to concerts, etc. no matter where I am. Last June, we even picked up the Pittsburgh show live while sitting by the water behind a beach house in Islamorada - now that's putting technology to good use!

without RM, I would have no need for my subscription

[chippewa]

I don't have satellite radio either, but doesn't XM charge extra for Opie & Anthony?

Used to be $1.99 a month, but I'm not a subscriber so I can't say for sure.

I think the merger might be a tough sell to the FCC, but they can do whatever they want if RM brings back the Coral Reefer Madness Hour. Loved that show.

[Quiet and Shy]

Agreed, I cannot see RM being eliminated if the merger goes through.

My concerns are the "ala cart" comments I've heard from both CEOs. I figure if you want RM, it will be a Premium channel. Same holds true for Sirius NFL Radio (which these are basically the main stations I listen to) and if you want other stations like Playboy Radio (which is really good!), Blue Collar Radio, etc., these will all cost extra.

Hopefully this won't happen, I think they will lose a lot of subscribers if they raise the monthy fee over $13.

I don't have satelite radio, so please bear with me....

Do Sirius or XM currently have "premium" channels? I hadn't heard that before. And if they don't today but want to put that in with the merger I can't imagine they'll get past the anti-trust hurdles...it just smells very monopolistic.

And how could RM disappear? Well, if they focus on cost vs. quality, they could replace RM with a cheaper RM "knockoff." (Does XM have a "tropical" station?)

That's the big danger of this merger...compromised quality to lower costs and predatory pricing to hold popular channels hostage (premium channels) to spike revenues. Not much benefit to customers here...is there?

I have Sirius and not XM, so I cant speak for XM, but Sirius does have premium channels. I know this because my friend gets channels I dont, or maybe Sirius just doesnt like me.

So it'll be interesting to see how much more they charge and how many more premium channels there are (as a %) after the merger. E.g. RM goes from "regular" to "premium." I confess I'm skeptical on this....

[Coconuts]

Sirius doesn't have premium channels, I don't think. I kinda got stuck on 31/32 and that was that.

At this point, I doubt I'll renew either way- I never listen to it (receiver was purchased to use at work, and I'm on the wrong side of the building).

Oh yeah- if RM goes premium, I'm definitely out!

[NorthernConch]

Agreed, I cannot see RM being eliminated if the merger goes through.

My concerns are the "ala cart" comments I've heard from both CEOs. I figure if you want RM, it will be a Premium channel. Same holds true for Sirius NFL Radio (which these are basically the main stations I listen to) and if you want other stations like Playboy Radio (which is really good!), Blue Collar Radio, etc., these will all cost extra.

Hopefully this won't happen, I think they will lose a lot of subscribers if they raise the monthy fee over $13.

I don't have satelite radio, so please bear with me....

Do Sirius or XM currently have "premium" channels? I hadn't heard that before. And if they don't today but want to put that in with the merger I can't imagine they'll get past the anti-trust hurdles...it just smells very monopolistic.

And how could RM disappear? Well, if they focus on cost vs. quality, they could replace RM with a cheaper RM "knockoff." (Does XM have a "tropical" station?)

That's the big danger of this merger...compromised quality to lower costs and predatory pricing to hold popular channels hostage (premium channels) to spike revenues. Not much benefit to customers here...is there?

I have Sirius and not XM, so I cant speak for XM, but Sirius does have premium channels. I know this because my friend gets channels I dont, or maybe Sirius just doesnt like me.

there are no extra pay channels on sirius. They have a cannel or 2 that you have to Opt in on, but that are still included in your subscription.

[NorthernConch]

even if the service went from its current rate of 12.95 to 20.00 that still only makes the daily rate 65 cents, up from 42 cents.

For the content you would get it still seems very reasonable.

[PJ]

When I first got my XM radio (spring of 2004) I got called a few times by Arbitron doing listener surveys. I haven't heard from them in a long time, but I would think they may still do Arbitron ratings of XM and Sirius just as they do over the air stations.

I could be wrong, it may all depend on how ad rates are charged on the commercial stations. If there is a flat fee no matter which station you run ads on, or if ads are played across the board on commercial stations and not tuned for specific listeners, they may not pay attention to ratings.

Last conversation I had with the RM people indicates there is no way RM is leaving Sat radio. Their listening audience has gone 100 fold or more.

Sirius says that they don't monitor those numbers...how does RM?

I can't imagine that Sirius (or XM for that matter) doesn't know which channels are more popular than others. The talk stations run commercials, no one would advertise without that kind of data.

Beyond that, smart business practices would dictate that you know what your customers like.

[Tiki Torches]

Just so long as XM doesn't drop Bob Dylan's Theme Time Radio Hour, which I seriously doubt they would.