Comments on: Musically Speaking….Who Needs Interoperable?

By: AndyH

AndyH — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 15:57:20 +0000

I’m an XM subscriber, with sets at home and in two vehicles. I subscribed to get baseball coverage, and so far I’m pleased with the changes. I don’t much care about contemporary music and the bluesville, classical, and jazz programming has not changed appreciably. XM has added another NPR channel and there appears to be an “all Elvis” channel, but the changes to my lineup are minimal. If, for some reason I should ever be stricken with the desire to listen to Stern or Martha I can do so for $4 without upgrading any of the three receivers. Count me a happy camper.

By: shark

shark — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 03:51:53 +0000

nice to see an article other than one of those NAB bash pieces.
my upgrade went fine and I am happy with the channel unifications made on my sirius subscription.

By: michael

michael — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 03:51:12 +0000

just the one song sorry,but if we lose censorship 19 mil listeners are gone.

By: michael

michael — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 03:44:18 +0000

is shade45 censored!

By: cos1000

cos1000 — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 01:15:41 +0000

Jeeeze, I think in the bigger picture of things, that this company Merged, is doing great 3-1/2 months later. I am amazed, and not because I’m just simple, that they have managed to live up to not having any radio out there become obsolete because of the merge. I do think this commitment needs to change at some point, even though I would probably be impacted the most. I bought Sanyo radios for two vehicles on the cheap and neither gets Best of Both. Being a Sirius subscriber I don’t care. Now with the merged channel line up, I’m getting BB King and Dylan by starting up my car and getting a channel update….. SWEEEET. Was that Tom Petty I just heard…. NIIICE.. The Sports benefit, really, whose wachting / listening to the NFL on Sirius???? Come on I know your out there… Baseball?? Not me in my car…. Nooo!,…. not me at home either…

Give these guys a chance…. your now seeing the beginning of a great audio entertainment option…. XMP3 is just a start…

By: jord3t

jord3t — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 23:47:13 +0000

I think having 2 different subscriptions is a huge mistake for Sirius XM.

They should broadcast all the channels on xm and sirius recievers. if they can combine the music, theres no reason thay cannot combine the talk stations as well.

they need to do everything they can to make their product more appealing given the financial state of the company.

I bet they could get many more new subscribers if they got the whole deal rather than choose between the 2 slightly different services.

I want the virus, but it will cost me over $500 to get the best of XM becuse I need a new reciever. I paid a fortune for the first one because it was a custom stereo install.

it’s just not worth it to me to get the added package, just because I want one of the premium channels.

By: SyNiSt3r

SyNiSt3r — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 22:19:50 +0000

Dixon,
Not all radios are able to do the best of. one example I know of is the Kenwood ddx 7015. That radio will not work with best of accourding to sirius support and wont allow you to add it under your account. Sirius support claims its an issue with that model not allow xm signal but im not sure if thats the true reason or not.
Anyways, Im more than sure there are others that wont allow you to do it either.
I do agree with what youre saying about needing a new radio for alacarte but for the customer who is looking to buy a new radio and wants a cheap service thats what siriusXm needs. Not everyone wants all channels and it might bring in some new subs. My opinion is still that both sirius and Xm should be playing the same content on both networks. That way its easier understood. There is no confusion on channels. Everyone knows whats going on. In the end siriusXM is going to be great if it can survive this next year. I think they are heading in the right direction for the most part just a couple things i think could be improved on.

By: Dixon

Dixon — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 22:07:01 +0000

SyNiSteR,

The “Best of” option does not require any new hardware, so any existing subscriber can get it. A la carte requires a new radio, therefore it comes with an additional startup cost, which isn’t such a great option right now for most people.

By: SyNiSteR

SyNiSteR — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 21:07:08 +0000

I know the best of is a way for siriusXm to make more money and im sure there are contracts involved but it would make more since to me for both sirius radios and Xm radios to have the same exact thing on both radios period. Not split up options. The company is one, not two so why should either Sirius or Xm subs have to pay more to hear this content? On top of that if youre radio wont pick up the best of option then youre just out of luck altogether. Seems a bit unfair. They should get rid of this best of and start giving alacart options. This would help them in a struggling economy. 6 bucks is easier for some to swallow than 12. Appeal to the mass with cheaper options. Just my 2cents.

By: imromo24

imromo24 — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 18:54:32 +0000

So basically they are using xm’s half of the bandwidth to broadcast the samething sirius is beaming on their half of the bandwidth. It seems then that it will be quitw some time before all current radios are obsolete and they can free up the combined bandwidth, unless they can swap eithe all xm radios for sirius or vice versa which i doubt would happen.