I’ve been a subscriber to the XM Radio satellite service for a couple of years now. It’s worth the $12.95/mo. for the sports talk and baseball broadcasts that I couldn’t hear otherwise. But, after yesterday’s announcement of the proposed merger of XM and Sirius, the only boys on the block in satellite radio, I can’t help feeling my days as a subscriber will be coming to an end soon.
I don’t really have anything against Sirius. I’m sure it’s a fine service, and it would be fun to have access to Howard Stern and NFL broadcasts. My beef is the same beef the FCC and whatever alphabet-soup regulatory organizations will have with the merger: the prospect of a monopolized satellite radio industry.
I’ve already read rumblings of price hikes and changes in service that would make my current XM receiver obsolete. And, while an initial “sky is falling” mentality is to be expected with any such announcement, these assertions feel to me more like fact than fiction. After all, what incentive will the new company have to keep post-merger prices low and current tech compatible with their new service? They will be without competitor in their niche market. They can establish whatever rules and standards they want without having to worry about someone else doing it better, faster, or cheaper.
XM and Sirius claim that Internet radio, terrestrial radio, and the use of portable music players like the iPod are their true competitors. But from my perspective, that argument doesn’t hold any water. If I didn’t have my XM receiver in the car, I certainly wouldn’t listen to the commercial-filled, generic playlists on terrestrial radio. I probably wouldn’t listen to my iPod: eight times in 10, I forget to bring it along on car trips. And, as plugged in as I am, I’m not even really sure what Internet radio is anymore. Chances are, I’d go back to listening to CDs, and nobody wants that.
In the end, I’m sure the alphabit’s agencies will approve the merger. Two behemoth companies like Sirius and XM don’t go public with a deal like this without being pretty sure of it’s success. But I worry about the millions of subscribers like me who jumped on the satellite radio bandwagon with the promise of commercial-free music and unique radio programming: will we be taken care of?
