Satellite Radio

[Seabbatical]

Folks,

It was announced today that the FCC approved Sirius' acquisition of XM. Since it was opposed by over the air stations, perhaps it imay result in lower fees.

Regards,

 

[NateRW21]

That's a step in the right direction, but they don't have a module for older Clarion units nor the in-dash OEM equipment in either of our vehicles.

That isn't a complete listing; the website for XM Direct (which is hard as hell to find) lists a much more complete selection. But you are right, there are no interfaces for OEM equipment with the mini-tuner. They may have one for your older clarion though.

But yes, I totally agree... step in the right direction, but there's still some distance to go.

 

[jblanks]

actually this merger still has to get through regulatory approval. Some think it won't happen due to the terrestrial radio lobby being so strong.

The DOJ approved the merger of XM-Sirius on Monday 24 March 2008. http://money.cnn.com/2008/03/24/news/companies/xm_sirius/index.htm?cnn=yes

 

[wkearney99]

That isn't a complete listing; the website for XM Direct (which is hard as hell to find) lists a much more complete selection. But you are right, there are no interfaces for OEM equipment with the mini-tuner. They may have one for your older clarion though.

But yes, I totally agree... step in the right direction, but there's still some distance to go.

I looked at the audiovox website and they only list support for the most recent clarion units, which use a different interface. I don't dislike my setup 'enough' to justify yanking it out for just this.

I can see why retrofit systems don't get much attention, they don't represent as many new subscriptions. One would imagine it's more profitable to offer discounts on multiple radios tied to one account instead of fewer units overall. It's not like there's any added 'work' on the part of the network to support any greater numbers of radios. Like many services they depend on your threshold of pain being high enough tolerate the 'waste'. As subscriber numbers slow, or churn, there might be interest in finding ways to retain customers. But that runs afoul of costs to develop and support the varied devices. So they support a select few and leave the rest to hang.

 

[sbw1]

Yesterday's Wall Street Journal mentioned both companies are working on technology that will allow consumers to receive the both channels without having to modify or replace their receivers. Assuming the FCC approves this merger, this will likely be a rquirement before the deal can go forward. Certainly encouraging for those of us who have both types of receivers in our cars and boats.

 

[wkearney99]

Yesterday's Wall Street Journal mentioned both companies are working on technology that will allow consumers to receive the both channels without having to modify or replace their receivers. Assuming the FCC approves this merger, this will likely be a rquirement before the deal can go forward. Certainly encouraging for those of us who have both types of receivers in our cars and boats.

The logistics of doing this are likely far to complicated to make it ever actually happen. Too many devices and too many interfaces. Some systems use a separate box and those would be "less tedious" to upgrade as the whole box could be swapped out. Radios with it built into the head unit itself would be much more expensive to replace. That and the consumer electronics business is not known for ever supporting upgrades.

I'm hopeful the FCC will see through this ruse and reject the merger.

 

[sbw1]

I don't really care if the deal goes through or not. Both options are ok with me. The WSJ did say the task of developing a common receiver for both stations was technically difficult but progress was being made. Sounds like you know a lot more about this issue than the reporter and I do.

 

[billandamy]

I'm hopeful the FCC will see through this ruse and reject the merger.

Why? What ruse? Its a pay service, you either pay the money because you want it, or you dont pay the money and listen to the iPod, FM/am radio, cd's, mp3's, the wife and kids etc...

WHy would you purposely want 2 companies to go out of business:huh:

 

[fc3]

The logistics of doing this are likely far to complicated to make it ever actually happen. Too many devices and too many interfaces. Some systems use a separate box and those would be "less tedious" to upgrade as the whole box could be swapped out. Radios with it built into the head unit itself would be much more expensive to replace. That and the consumer electronics business is not known for ever supporting upgrades.

I'm hopeful the FCC will see through this ruse and reject the merger.

Like, hey dude, what are you smoking? What are you talking about too many devices? They all use the same chip sets! The Sirius system all uses Lucent chip sets. Devise new programming for the chip set and that's about it. Don't know much about the XM hardware because I don't "do" XM.

Best regards,
Frank C

 

[billandamy]

I don't really care if the deal goes through or not. Both options are ok with me. The WSJ did say the task of developing a common receiver for both stations was technically difficult but progress was being made. Sounds like you know a lot more about this issue than the reporter and I do.

If the deal does not go through, there is a chance neither company will survive ;-) There would not be any options for sat radio except a government controlled entity under the restrictions of the fcc.

Frankly, I think i is time for citizens to have their own choice in what we feel is acceptable to listen to and pay for if we want it without the gov telling us that talking about sex or listening to lyrics with the f word in it are something we "dont need."

I want the merger not only because I want those things, but also I believe in entrepreneurship and free enterprise and little by little it seems to be getting eroded away.

 

[wkearney99]

Like, hey dude, what are you smoking? What are you talking about too many devices? They all use the same chip sets! The Sirius system all uses Lucent chip sets. Devise new programming for the chip set and that's about it. Don't know much about the XM hardware because I don't "do" XM.

Errr, if you're talking about a combined device then you're certainly going to run afoul of how the existing devices interact with their existing head units. As in, the black box used by the Clarion systems in many (most?) recent boats would have to under go a pretty significant upgrade, and probably the head unit too. Likewise the same thing would have to change on all the OEM head units in automobiles. There's no existing UI in them to accommodate dealing with a second set of over a hundred channels. This presumes the devices (box and/or head unit) would even accommodate a field upgrade. Given few (none?) have interfaces for this it's unlikely. Best case it'd be a board-level replacement. And that would be cost prohibitive.

There's an old saying "don't piss on me and tell me it's raining" that seems like it'd apply here. Anyone that tries pitching the idea of "upgrading" existing radios is certainly ill-informed, at best. Or, more likely, deliberately deceptive.