"Satellite Radio May Try a Merger"

The analyst who says that satellite radio is the fastest growing product besides the IPOD works for a firm that is a majority shareholder of XM and a minor shareholder in Sirius. The parent company Alliance Bernstein has about a half a billion dollars invested total in both companies. Shame on the NY Times for using him to talk about Satellite Radio.

This is nothing but a bad press release and spin that satellite is growing when in fact it is not keeping people after their "FREE" subscriptions run out.

SHAME on THE NEW YORK TIMES

Something I noticed: The article doesn't mention that both companies (at least Sirius, I'm not 100% sure about XM) offer most of their programming over the Internet as well as via satellite. Sure, you can probably find lots of free Internet streams that have pop or indie rock, but that may not be the case with less popular genres. Also, there's now an iPod-like device that lets you tune into Sirius's Internet "signals" via WiFi. This could appeal to people who want to listen at home but are in a building that doesn't get good reception of the satellite signal, and even to grey-market buyers outside the U.S. and Canada.

Last I heard, XM did offer most of their channels through streaming audio on the Internet. However, regular subscribers had to pay extra for this service.

Admittedly, I am a Sirius subscriber and feel that satellite radio will catch on (much like cable). But I, too, am disappointed in the NY Times' story. It reads like little more than a press release.