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You shouldn't make people drinking hot beverages laugh so hard :P
thought you should know
"Laws prohibiting the two to combine have been in place since each were granted licenses about a decade ago, in effect creating a mandated duopoly because regulators had no intention of allowing other satellite radio operators to spring up in the U.S. Nevertheless, laws can be tweaked to grant permission for the two money-losing companies to merge, and that has competitors nervous."
so that advertisers supported the service and listeners got it free or at nominal cost.
The new CEO is Sirius' Mel Karmazin, a guy who has made more money selling advertising (@ CBS/Viacom) than just about anyone so it wouldn't surprise me if they were headed in that direction.
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
In the meantime, I hope the merger gives them the resources to boost signal in urban areas (around roadside trees and tall buildings). I hate all the blackouts, especially when I go to the City.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Well, we all know what happened to the no commercials pitch.
Man I'm getting OLD :P
i'm not sure what this will bring for us subscribers. increased rates? different programming? what?
my car is currently equipped with XM, but I did not renew after the free trial because I found that I much prefer my Sirius. So now I'm running a separate sirius radio in the car. It would be nice to use the built-in XM radio, however, since the reception is far better and I can control it with the steering wheel buttons. BUT, if the programming is going to lean towards XM's format, I'm not interested in paying for it.
According to the email, the merger won't affect listeners until the end of '07.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '08 Charger R/T Daytona; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '08 Maser QP; '11 Mini Cooper S
Kind of defeats the big selling point doesn't it?
Now for a radical thought
Perhaps we're just in the beginning stages of a huge change in the way radio works in general. Maybe we'll be able to get our local stations ANYWHERE via satellite, commercials and all. I realize I'm talking changing the entire way the radio industry works right now, but it's a wacky biz as is. :P
some stations on sirius do, too (blue collar comedy comes to mind).
I found WAY more on XM, though, even on the music stations.
Here is the deal for me ... my subscription is up on both radios towards the end of the year. At that time, if things aren't settled, I'll be paying month by month until they are. If commercials start to appear on the music stations I typically listen to on sirius, I will not be renewing my contract.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '08 Charger R/T Daytona; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '08 Maser QP; '11 Mini Cooper S
My understanding is the XM has true commercials on only 5 stations -- those that are broadcast by Clear Channel. When that happened, XM added 5 similar channels sans commercials.
Both systems run plenty of promos for their other channels. Since those don't pay anything, they aren't considered commercials.
maybe those similar channels you are referring to came after my free trial period (or I just didn't find them).
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '08 Charger R/T Daytona; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '08 Maser QP; '11 Mini Cooper S
There is a lot of redundancy in expenses between the 2 companies that will be eliminated. Afterall, you end up with twice the subscribers and in terms of cost it doesn't matter whether a satellite is broadcasting to 12 million subscribers or 6 million. In addition, there is no longer a need to spend advertising dollars to convince potential subscribers of your company's superiority. You now just have to convince customers of the benefits of satellite in general. This merger is not anti-competition because the competition is between satellite and over the air. This will make satellite stronger, which will be pro-competition.
While I hope this merger goes through I'm a little doubtful. A similar situation came up several years ago when Dish Network and DirecTV wanted to merge. The FCC ruled against this saying it was anti-competitive and would be bad for the consumer. That was very unfortunate because the competition in television is between cable and satellite and this merger would have put satellite TV in a very good position to really undercut cables prices. I doubt many of us are all that fond of the cable industry. BTW, Michael Powell was head of the FCC at the time and was probably as corrupt as they come. So despite the reasons he gave for looking after the consumer he was really looking out for the cable industry.
As for commercialization, I believe it's inevitable as the number of subscribers and Sat Radio profits are both declining. Meanwhile M Karmazin is talking up the advantages to advertisers of an XM-Sirius combo.
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
2) My wife has Sirius (pre-installed on her CPO BMW). They talk a lot on that service. Does anyone actually think it's still cool to hear the original MTV VJs hosting shows? Do we really need to hear DJs talking after pretty much every other song? Or see their names & phone numbers on the display? Sirius drives me crazy and my wife really regrets activating it on her car. However, it's still way better than FM radio--I just marvel at the lack of variety and the number of commercials when I have to listen to FM.
For me my $12.95 breaks out to the following benefits:
$1.95/mo for the wide variety of programming, of which I actually partake relatively little - I like maybe 9 or 10 music channels that I switch between, and 3 news channels, and that's really it.
$11/mo for the privilege of not having to sit through endless commercials.
The day they bring commercials to the sat radio airwaves, is LITERALLY the day I will call and immediately cancel my subscription. I will just go back to listening to local broadcast radio (mostly NPR and CBS News, in that case), no big deal.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
I mentioned this merger this morning to my wife while driving into work and listening to sirius. She said, "oh god, are they going to XM's format? We are cancelling if they do!"
Obviously, there are folks in each camp. If there weren't, there would be no competition.
That satellite TV merger is an interesting comparison. I still don't understand how anyone can say it is OK for me to have only one choice of cable TV provider, one choice of water provider, one choice of sewer provider, etc, but the major competitors to the mainstay services, like satellite TV, have to eat each other alive.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '08 Charger R/T Daytona; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '08 Maser QP; '11 Mini Cooper S
Actually, for 95% of the airtime of the Sirius decades channels, there is no (or very little) talking. Martha Quinn and Nina Blackwood both do "shows" where they play 80s music and talk about the 80s; this is probably what you heard. Martha's show airs for a good chunk of the day on Saturday, not sure when Nina's airs.
That sounds like XM too. It seems to me that the music channels that have the commercials are the ones that play today's hits.... my daughter switches channels frequently when she is in the car.
What I consider a true commercial is one hawking a product that has nothing to do with the broadcast or broadcaster. If there were ads for dish soap on satellite radio, I consider that a true commercial. A promo for another channel or an upcoming show is not a commercial IMHO.
But I don't have satellite radio so I can't comment directly on what they air.
Won't half those satellites eventually become redundant? I presume if they merge, they will settle on one set of satellites to broadcast from since they work differently. Seems kind of dumb to dump a couple of hundred million dollars worth of technology.
If they use all current equipment for transmitting but settle on one signal they will eventually move to in the future, then they can only sell those compatible receivers on the market and, by the time that transmitting equipment becomes obsolete, maybe many customers would already have the new compatible equipment. In other words, instead of forcing customers to change their equipment now, let them change on their own time and you have less customers to anger 5 years down the road when you really do need to force a switch.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '08 Charger R/T Daytona; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '08 Maser QP; '11 Mini Cooper S
FWIW, I've noticed that XM has started having their DJs talk more, which I'm not a fan of. There's one guy on the country channel who I think is great--he's really an advocate for up and coming artists and (of course) for XM and you can hear his enthusiasm and it seems genuine--him, I don't mind. The rest of the talking just makes me cringe, though--all I ever really wanted from a DJ on terrestrial radio was to tell me the name of the artist and song once in awhile--totally not needed with all that info right on the display! :shades:
Any advice or inf would be much appreciated..
My system was a self install..so the antenna for the satelite just plugs into the satelite radio's base..and then follows the wire to end up with a small magnet which attaches somewhere in the car..doesn't actually attach to the car's specific antenna (I have a convertible so no roof to worry about)..I thought that somehow the wire had become crimped or compromised somewhere..so went out and spent another $40.00 on a brand new antenna..and no change..I just don't know if these radio units have hardward problems..amybe I have to get a whole new radio..but just weird because I can see all the stations..and all info that I usually see..just no sound..and that darn "antenna" readout on the display..very frustrating!
Since you drive a convertible, try relocating your magnetic antenna to the center of your trunk lid for a temporatry test. As I recall, the antenna needs at least a square foot of sheet metal to function properly.
really? huh. I wonder if that is just an XM thing. In my volvo and now my Honda, I just set the Sirius antenna on the back carpeted deck under the window. Works great and saved me from having to run the wire outside the car.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '08 Charger R/T Daytona; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '08 Maser QP; '11 Mini Cooper S
The "deck", as you phrase it, is the large expanse of sheet metal under "the back carpeted deck under the window" of your Volvo.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '08 Charger R/T Daytona; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '08 Maser QP; '11 Mini Cooper S
Pages 11 and 12 of the Delphi SKYFi2 Installation Guide states the following. I would be surprised if your Audiovox manual doesn't say something quite similar.:
XM Antenna Setup
For best reception, follow these recommendations:
• Mount the XM Antenna on the metal surface of the vehicle roof in the center of an area with at least 12" x 12" of
surface area and a minimum of 6" from a window or sunroof... Due to the small size of this antenna, there are many possible locations for installation depending
on the vehicle. Improper positioning of the antenna could cause brief interruptions in the signal reception.
Important: Do not install antenna inside the vehicle passenger compartment. An antenna mounted on the dashboard or on the rear window deck area of the vehicle will likely experience signal interruption issues and must be avoided. Mounting the antenna on a nonmetallic surface will also result in severe degradation in reception.
A suitable compromise between installation location and reception quality must be assumed by the user.
• If the vehicle has roof racks or skid ribs, you may mount the antenna off-center.
• If the vehicle is a hard- or soft-top convertible, then the antenna can be mounted on the metal trunk lid at least 4" from the rear window.
Ensure that the antenna does not interfere with the opening or closing of the convertible top and that the cable is free to move and not prone to wear. Where exposed to wind, it is best to route the cable parallel to the airflow.
I experience no more interruption of signal than I did when I had it mounted on the roof of my Lincoln (unfortunately I didn't think to just throw it on the back deck, as that was the first car I put it in; i wish i had because it would have saved me lots of time).
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '08 Charger R/T Daytona; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '08 Maser QP; '11 Mini Cooper S
Important: Do not install antenna inside the vehicle passenger compartment. An antenna mounted on the dashboard or on the rear window deck area of the vehicle will likely experience signal interruption issues and must be avoided. Mounting the antenna on a nonmetallic surface will also result in severe degradation in reception.
Perhaps Sirius and Volvos have some sort of magical interaction. My only experience has been with XM, and when installed by the book, the reception has been flawless.
ANyway, in the van, when I first got it I ran the wire out the door (just closed it into the weather seal) and stuck it to the pillar. Worked great, even pulled the signal in the garage (and it was nose in).
Not wanting to leave it like that all winter, I decided to put it inside to see how it worked. I have a radar detector window mount, which I leave up even though the unit isn't there (I only put it up on trips, around town it sits between the seats). So, I just stuck the antenae on the bracket (down by the dash) and it has been sitting there for 2 months.
Now, this is metal, but only about 1/2 the size of the antenna. Signal seems to be just as strong (full bars), clean sound, no more cut outs. Frankly, I can't tell the difference between that and my accord, or when it was outside.
I may eventually (when it gets warm) run it back outside (fished under the weather stip, instead of hanging in the door) but it hardly seems worth it. I may just get another window bracket and leave it there, just over toward the side more!
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
Still not as easy as tossing it on the back deck, though.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '08 Charger R/T Daytona; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '08 Maser QP; '11 Mini Cooper S
Maybe you missed where I said it works great for me.
here is a question for you, though. well, maybe it is rhetorical. But, how is it that the home kit doesn't require the antenna be mounted on metal?
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '08 Charger R/T Daytona; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '08 Maser QP; '11 Mini Cooper S
You wrote, "But, how is it that the home kit doesn't require the antenna be mounted on metal?"
Excellent question. I surely don't have an informed answer. However, since a vehicle is always changing directions, the exterior sheet metal location makes sense to me. When using the home kit, you just aim the antenna once and can forget about the need to track geostationary "Rock" and "Roll" since your home is always oriented the same.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '08 Charger R/T Daytona; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '08 Maser QP; '11 Mini Cooper S
Yesterday I put it outside on the quarter panel and the reception improved immensely my commute today. Place where I would loose the signal for 15 to 20 seconds were not dropped the last two days.
I also tried it yesterday. I put the antenna out on the roof to see if there was any change. I do think it may have improved very slightly, but so far it is not enough to make me want to keep it there. I guess sirius antennas must be slightly different from XM (for now).
I did have someone contact me who says he may have a kit where I can tap into my accord's stock xm antenna and controls to work my sirius. but i don't think i'm going to go through that kind of trouble on a leased car.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '08 Charger R/T Daytona; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '08 Maser QP; '11 Mini Cooper S
The wires running everywhere and the receiver mounted to my air vents makes me feel like I am in high school again with my under dash mount cassette player.