XM + Sirius = <3

[Juice_Slowjamz 0]

This merger will never take place. The FTC and damn near every other federal agency will fight it.

I thought so as well but both are losing money.

Yea, but the government is pretty adamant that no one company holds the sole satellite licence. XM and Sirius will have to prove that customers will be a lot better off with one company, as opposed to two.

[Vapor 0]

This merger will never take place. The FTC and damn near every other federal agency will fight it.

I thought so as well but both are losing money.

Yea, but the government is pretty adamant that no one company holds the sole satellite licence. XM and Sirius will have to prove that customers will be a lot better off with one company, as opposed to two.

That was a clause when they were issued their lisenceses, they arent too "adamant" about it. The thing with radio is that wel of 90% of radio listeners get their content free via terestrial means. This means that it is not sirius vs. xm, it is sat vs. terestrial in terms of competition. This makes the monopoly clause irrelevant. It cannot be compared to TV where over 80% of the people get their content from pay services. It would not be in Sats. interest to raise prices, because if they do they will lose customers to their free competitors. BTW, what other federal agency is going to fight it, the FBI, DHS... hmmmm

[Chadd 916]

This merger will never take place. The FTC and damn near every other federal agency will fight it.

I thought so as well but both are losing money.

Yea, but the government is pretty adamant that no one company holds the sole satellite licence. XM and Sirius will have to prove that customers will be a lot better off with one company, as opposed to two.

That was a clause when they were issued their lisenceses, they arent too "adamant" about it. The thing with radio is that wel of 90% of radio listeners get their content free via terestrial means. This means that it is not sirius vs. xm, it is sat vs. terestrial in terms of competition. This makes the monopoly clause irrelevant. It cannot be compared to TV where over 80% of the people get their content from pay services. It would not be in Sats. interest to raise prices, because if they do they will lose customers to their free competitors. BTW, what other federal agency is going to fight it, the FBI, DHS... hmmmm

Worst case I see them forcing the new company to return a portion of the combined bandwidth so a new service could begin operations if there is interest.

[Juice_Slowjamz 0]

This merger will never take place. The FTC and damn near every other federal agency will fight it.

I thought so as well but both are losing money.

Yea, but the government is pretty adamant that no one company holds the sole satellite licence. XM and Sirius will have to prove that customers will be a lot better off with one company, as opposed to two.

That was a clause when they were issued their lisenceses, they arent too "adamant" about it. The thing with radio is that wel of 90% of radio listeners get their content free via terestrial means. This means that it is not sirius vs. xm, it is sat vs. terestrial in terms of competition. This makes the monopoly clause irrelevant. It cannot be compared to TV where over 80% of the people get their content from pay services. It would not be in Sats. interest to raise prices, because if they do they will lose customers to their free competitors. BTW, what other federal agency is going to fight it, the FBI, DHS... hmmmm

Wrong. How is this not a monopoly thing? When one sole entity controls most of if not all the entire industry, like a combined XM Sirius that is the definition of monopoly. As for your so called clause, it was more than that. If the government thought it would be better for the consumer to have one company with the sole license, they would have issued only one.

Point being, you're completely off the mark. Maybe if XM needs a designer to put together some male thongs for their workers they'll call you. I hear that's your specialty.

[Vapor 0]

Mel Karmazin ha been in the business since the revolutionary war and Bob Parsons has been in radio about twenty years. I bet you didnt even know that XM has been around since 1990. Do you think, even for a second, that they would put this little deal together if they didnt think it had a 100% of getting approved? Both sides have a team of lawyers bigger than your comedic timing and witty sense of humor (AND THATS BIG). Have some common sense, why would they announce this deal if they didnt think it would pass federal scrutiny. The clause... was a clause, it can very easily be reversed by the FCC. At the time the companies were much different than they are now. This merger would save the company about 7 billion a year. This is a 13 billion dollar merger, and this is going to save the company more than half of the mergers worth? THAT IS HUGE. Both companies are losing buckets of money per year. I will make a hefty bet with you that this merger goes down.

Let me dumb it down for you to show you why its not a monopoly. Say in the world of web browsers there entered a pay service, two of them actually. Now everybody can use Firefox, IE, Safari, etc for free, but this pay browser is cool, more usable, and better. They have about 10 million people each who use thier browsers, but there are hudreds of millions of people who browse the internet. So if they merge, how would they have a monopoly on the browser sector? If prices get too high (which is the main reason our gvnt blocks monopolys) people can always say fuck it, I will use a free browser. The same thing applies for Sat. Radio.

You have the comedic timing of a dead sparrow, good joke.

[Juice_Slowjamz 0]

Mel Karmazin ha been in the business since the revolutionary war and Bob Parsons has been in radio about twenty years. I bet you didnt even know that XM has been around since 1990. Do you think, even for a second, that they would put this little deal together if they didnt think it had a 100% of getting approved? Both sides have a team of lawyers bigger than your comedic timing and witty sense of humor (AND THATS BIG). Have some common sense, why would they announce this deal if they didnt think it would pass federal scrutiny. The clause... was a clause, it can very easily be reversed by the FCC. At the time the companies were much different than they are now. This merger would save the company about 7 billion a year. This is a 13 billion dollar merger, and this is going to save the company more than half of the mergers worth? THAT IS HUGE. Both companies are losing buckets of money per year. I will make a hefty bet with you that this merger goes down.

Let me dumb it down for you to show you why its not a monopoly. Say in the world of web browsers there entered a pay service, two of them actually. Now everybody can use Firefox, IE, Safari, etc for free, but this pay browser is cool, more usable, and better. They have about 10 million people each who use thier browsers, but there are hudreds of millions of people who browse the internet. So if they merge, how would they have a monopoly on the browser sector? If prices get too high (which is the main reason our gvnt blocks monopolys) people can always say fuck it, I will use a free browser. The same thing applies for Sat. Radio.

You have the comedic timing of a dead sparrow, good joke.

This is why you had to take your Mom to the prom.

So you're saying that because a CEO has so much experience, it means what he does is a certainty? Apparently you forgot the rejected merger of Echo Star and DirecTV. Let me refresh your memory.

The DOJ rejected that merger combination, arguing that it would reduce paid-TV competition in the most rural markets from two to one. It would have also reduced competition from three to two in larger markets.

I'm sure XM was in some one's brain in 1990, but they didn't go on air until 1997 when the government licensed the two companies. As mentioned before, a part of the order, the agency prohibited one entity from owning the two satellite radio licenses. According to the order, the "prohibition on transfer of control will help assure sufficient continuing competition in the provision of satellite service."

Given the government's history of opposing monopolies in all forms, I would be shocked if federal regulators permitted a merger of XM and Sirius. As I mentioned earlier, it bears mentioning that regulators summarily rejected a similar monopoly merger of the nation's only two satellite television companies.

[Vapor 0]

The sat. TV point is a moot point. As I explained before, over 85% of people who get their TV content get it from pay services, while well over 90% of people who listen to the radio get it for free. The reason this is different is because monoplies are bad because when you have one, it is very easy to raise prices because there is no compeition. In radio, your compteition is charging ZERO.

The reason the DirecTV EchoStar deal was shot down was because they would dominate the sat tv industry and be able to charge whatevery they wanted. In Sat radio you cannot do that because, again, your compeition is GIVING SERVICE AWAY.

You cannot compare the two, totally different, the markets are completely different.

[Juice_Slowjamz 0]

The sat. TV point is a moot point. As I explained before, over 85% of people who get their TV content get it from pay services, while well over 90% of people who listen to the radio get it for free. The reason this is different is because monoplies are bad because when you have one, it is very easy to raise prices because there is no compeition. In radio, your compteition is charging ZERO.

The reason the DirecTV EchoStar deal was shot down was because they would dominate the sat tv industry and be able to charge whatevery they wanted. In Sat radio you cannot do that because, again, your compeition is GIVING SERVICE AWAY.

You cannot compare the two, totally different, the markets are completely different.

Well I fundamentally disagree. Interesting point though is, the EchoStar/DirecTV deal is the only major merger that the Bush Administration rejected.

On a separate note, I gave and ordered a Macbook Pro 17 inch yesterday. I've always been a Windows guy, so it should be interesting.

[Langenbrunner15 0]

Just to chime in..about the commercials...I think it's hogwash. Last winter when I first got XM, I didn't notice any commericials..then the summer came and a little started to come..now I hear them more and more. No doubt that it's less than the regular radio and everything. But I relaly enjoyed the commercial free XM while it was here. Now on the channels 20-30..which I listen to some of the channels in-between there mostly, I hear commercials.

If this deal does go through..you think XM will have Dane Cook?

[Vapor 0]

I really REALLY hope not.

[Langenbrunner15 0]

Oh man...your not a Dane Cook fan!?

[Vapor 0]

Oh man...your not a Dane Cook fan!?

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Nh_xfJZxvto

But I did not like him before that. He doesnt really have timing... at all. He figures if he screams or runs around stage, people will laugh... and sadly he is correct. He does have a handfull of funny bits, but thats easy to do when you "borrow" them from other comics.

[Langenbrunner15 0]

But cook has it come out much funnier...and they're not even close word for word jokes. Almost all jokes are similiar..

[Vapor 0]

I totally disagree. Cook has no timing, he is just not funny. Of course this is just my opinion, and if you like people who scream and run around stage, I guess Dane Cook is your cup of tea.

I dont think Dane Cook is stuipid enough to use CKs material word for word. Obviously he takes the bit and puts it in his own words.

Jokes can have similar subject matter, but that dosent mean they are the same joke. A lot of people have done jokes about airport security, for example Jerry Sienfeld and Russ Meneve. The two jokes sound nothing alike. These jokes are very similar, same pace, same setup, same punchline, only poor timing by dane.

[JR Boucicaut 3802]

Agreed. I tried to watch him, could not do it.

[Langenbrunner15 0]

I guess Jersey has some setbacks with comedy..

[Vapor 0]

Oh I lived in Jersey for 18 years, I just know a horrible comedian when I see him.

[Gummer12 134]

Back to the Topic at hand, The merger is Final, and no, it's Not a Monopoly. The Correct terminology is, an Oligopoly turning into a Pure/Natural Monopoly. Just curious to see how they're going to handle the merger on who's gotta get new stuff, what shows go, what shows stay. I sure hope all the Hockey Programming stays, incl NHL LIVE on Sirius. It'd also be sweet to have them pick up some Minor League games now and then.

[Juice_Slowjamz 0]

The merger is Final

You couldn't be more wrong.