88TSI_Rob Posted October 5, 2008 Report Share Posted October 5, 2008 I need to vent on this merger. When it was first proposed it sounded great. They told us programing packages would be cheaper, there would be additional programing available "a la carte", and all existing radios would be compatible after the merger. Well they finally flipped the switch to allow XM radios to receive Sirius programing, and vice versa for Sirius radios...and those of us on Sirius got the shaft. The reality is a large percentage of Sirius radios built prior to 2007 can't get the "Best of" XM channels. This includes the separate receivers and the OEM receivers built into new cars. So if your car has Sirius built in and it's a couple years old, your out of luck. If your receiver is a couple years old and you want the XM channels be prepared to buy a new radio. So far this sucks if you are a long time Sirius customer...but wait it gets better. The XM channels available to Sirius customers are a joke. We get Opie & Anthony, Oprah (*gags*), an NHL channel, a PGA channel (*yawn*), a public radio channel (What?), some extra sports channels to play college/NBA/NHL games (only *select* games will be played, not all of them...). Keep in mind that Sirius had the NBA last year and now we have to pay extra for it!?! These fantastic new channels (15 total) are available at the low cost of $4 a month ($4/15 = $0.27 per channel). That's about 1/3 of a typical monthly subscription which is $13 for 136 channels ($13/136 = $0.095 per channel). Great value! No new music channels and no MLB. Unless you are a huge O&A fan or absolutely need the NHL, college games, or NBA why would you pay a premium for these channels? For Oprah? For golf? For public radio? It's ridiculous! Now let's say you have been a huge fan of Sirius from the beginning. You bought a receiver or you have one in a car you bought just a few years ago and plunked down $500 for the lifetime subscription. Now if you want XM you have to buy a new receiver (or retrofit one into your car that already has Sirius built in) and then you have to pay $150 to get the XM channels! These is no other option for lifetime subscribers, it's $150 or nothing. You can't pay monthly. They seriously couldn't have made this any more unappealing if they tried. As a lifetime Sirius subscriber I'm pretty mad. All I wanted was baseball and to add a few "a la carte" channels and I figured it would cost me about $2-3/month extra. I have a radio that is compatible with the XM channels, but with the way they have things setup now I am not even going to consider signing up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark0695 Posted October 7, 2008 Report Share Posted October 7, 2008 I have the lifetime as well rob and i was looking forward to the merger if there were better packages. I see no reason to change anything because the channels suck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jisleyjr Posted October 8, 2008 Report Share Posted October 8, 2008 I have XM and the best sirius channels are a joke to me. Howard 100 (XM 100) XL Howard 101 (XM 101) XL NFL (XM 105-109, 114, 117-120) NASCAR® (XM 104) Martha Stewart Living Radio (XM 103) Playboy Radio (XM 99) XL I can not stand howard, i'd rather watch hockey, and i loathe nascar. Not even going to comment on martha. And playboy, i have heard there is a funny talkshow on that but i hate talk shows. All the sirius owners tell me how much better the music stations are so i was looking forward to that. Pulled from the xm site about getting these stations. "All current XM radios can receive The Best of SIRIUS." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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