Generation Xm of Sirius Radio

Huge news coming from the radio front, and not terrestrial radio, this news is coming from the ever powerful satellite radio machines Sirius and XM. Sirius and XM have announced that they are merging together and each company will control half of the combined company. Clearly from a musical and business aspect this is huge, and it will close questions for many but also creates questions. What I mean by that is finally people can make a decision in which satellite provider to get because there is no longer the division in programming, but on the other hand from a business aspect will this be allowed to happen? This does seem to resemble a monopoly.

Let’s begin with the more positive aspect of bringing together two radio powerhouses to create one incredible listening experience. As a fan of music I was ecstatic to hear this news, my Dad is a Sirius subscriber and I take advantage of it by listening online all the time. One thing that always upset me about Sirius was the fact that XM had Bob Dylan. Now the worries are gone, soon I can listen to Dylan and two minutes later turn on Howard Stern, and if I’m not feeling like Howard Stern I can go over to XM’s Opie and Anthony. Now with music and talk radio aside, with this merger listeners will be able to listen to every major sport from the NFL to the MLB, no longer are Sirius listeners restricted to just the NFL, NHL, Nascar, and NBA (along with a few other lesser known sports.) One question which has arisen is will subscription fees be boosted? As of now there is no definitive answer but I personally doubt there will be an increase in subscription fees.

Now comes the more confusing topic and that is: Is this merger a monopoly? Now as a music fan I am so happy to see this but on the other hand I am an advocate of government intervention in the economy. While I doubt that this merger will be shot down there is the possibility looming in the air. Especially when considering just a few years ago Direct TV and DISH Network tried to merge and they were unable to do so because it was seen as a monopoly.

Things will certainly become clearer as time passes but as of now I am in favor of this merger. As long as these two companies don’t abuse their power as the sole owner of the satellite airwaves than I think this could be one of the best things to happen to radio.