gatrhumpy

iTrader: (1)

I just heard on the radio that XM radio is hiking its prices to $12.95 a month starting in April. Apparently you can lock in the $9.95 a month if you buy the five year plan. With this increase, I think it might drive away a lot of subscribers to Sirius.

JDM5lugHatch

well if XM and Sirius merge I don't think subscribers will have much choice other than accept it or get rid of it all together.

ThaShef

I don't think they will ever merge. If they did it would be a big monopoly and FCC would never approve this. So its possible someone might buy out Sirrus but merger hardly seems likely. Even though I would be really happy with it because Sirrus has better music than XM.

Casper42

1) This belongs in the Audio Sub Forum
B) isnt the $60 offer still good? There is a thread in the Audio Sub Forum about how to get 1 year of XM for $60

FugittiveTLS`03

Sirius already charges $12.95/mo
I just notice that Sirius is offering lifetime radio subscription for $500.

Casper42

Its not the FCC Slick. FCC Doesnt govern either since its pay only and Satellite based.

Now the DOJ and Attorney General are a different story.

Prolanman

More like the SEC. These two companies are the only players in the game. If they merged a monopoly would be created. A merger between XM and Sirius will never be a possibility until there are other players in the game. Either a cable/Sat provider or a telcom most likely will be the next player into this market. My bets are Verizon will either make a play for Sirius or get into the game on their own somewhere in the future.

mrchoopa2u

i could not agree more ......... i wish i had the sirius built into the acura

iLL TL

when I got my windows tinted the owner was saying how XM is going down and will be out of the ball game completly in 6 months and how sirius is going to make it possible to download movies/videos of whatever you want on the touch of a button if you have a screen i guess.... don't know if it's true but just thought i'd share

cM3go

you realize Sirius already charges 12.95 a month

shalinz

I don't mind the price increase. I have the XM in my car, plus the online subscription as well. With the new pricing structure it actually is a few dollars cheaper for me.

I keep hearing different bits of information wether XM is going down or not. I also don't think the merger would be approved since that would only have one company providing satellite radio service in the market.

dgracer

I prepaid for 3 years of XM for $199 but I am not all that thrilled with the music. I may not renew it (I'm 1 year into it). I do appreciate that they keep adding new content though they just lost the Nascar stuff to Sirius. It wasnt that great anyway.

gatrhumpy

iTrader: (1)

Yes I did, and that could have been a reason why XM was doing better than Sirius. But now that they are going to be equal in price, and supposedly Sirius has better programming, then it could drive away some XM subscribers. I personally have never heard Sirius, so I can't say anything bad about it.

jmn4667

Good thing I got a two-year subscription last year!

I'm betting the price for XM will come back down once Stern goes on the air.

DMZ

http://www.xmradio.com/serviceupdate/faq.jsp

All prepaid multi-year plans are not affected until the end your billing cycle.
Great for me, I had signed up and paid for 5 years at the end of my 90 day trial period!

Other advantages:
- You can now get XM Radio Online and have XM in your home through your internet connection at NO ADDITIONAL CHARGE!
- Premuim service like Opie & Anthony will automatically be included.


They didn't however say anything about Playboy, channel 205.
.
.
.
.

Hawhyen51

Playboy is still a Premium channel. Gotta pay for dat!

05TL08

im not willing to pay 9.99 a month, but i would pay for it if it was 60/year. Anyone know how to get that?

MR1

This has been running forever. It worked for me, better hurry.

https://acurazine.com/forums/car-parts-sale-361/parting-out-my-car-96330/

VelfarreClubber

From what i heard both satellite radio comapanies are loosing money, how ever XM is standing better than Sirius financially.

TL Boris

By the way, that $500 lifetime Sirius offer is only good for the piece of equipment - so you might be five years or something realistically before something changes technologically.

It would be great if we could have both Sirius and XM on the TL Unit.

$12.95 is probably still fair and if there's a way to get it say for $80-$100/year that signs me up. When mines comes up for renewal I'll hunt for just such a bargain.

Legend2TL

GM and Honda invested in XM in 2003 when XM's finances were in poor state. Both Sirius and XM are over-valued today according to most financial experts.

1995hoo

In much of the country it's easy to find the MRN feed--which is what XM used--on AM or FM anyway, so the NASCAR thing is not that big an issue in the end unless you frequently go to places where the FM reception is lousy or where there is no MRN affiliate.

DiscoTL

The XM / SIRIUS deal was initially rumored because Mel Karmazin is trying to get the FCC to classify sat radio as a broadband service. That way, it's competetors would also include cable companies, internet providers and the like. Once this happens, it would make an XM / Sirius merger easier to approve and remove the monopoly / only player argument.

The exciting thing is the possibilities this would bring about. Through sat radio technology, video streaming is already possible, and will be offered by Sirius in the future.

The possibilities are endless and with a visionary as CEO, we can olny benefit. Ahhh capitalism.

JZ

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=109555

DarkWraith33

Is that new? I thought you still had to pay for internet... I'm gonna go look now. That would freakin be awesome here at work!

cM3go

XMSR went up 4.23 yesterday (15% increase) apparently the price increase didn't affect the stock negatively

ThaShef

Lets hope FCC thinks of them as a Broadcast service, and lets them merge. So we can finally get better music in the TL.

Sherlock

just called and they said that was only for the customers who had left and the retention department was offering that price only to get customers back, it is not for existing customers.

damn I hate them f'ing foreigners, can't understand a damn thing they say. Is XM even in America ?

Looks like I'm gunna have to do 3 calls to get this magical 3rd agent.

ElmerHiggins

I was listening to Sirius and it beats THE PANTS OFF OF XM!!!! XM is definitely not worth $12.95 a month. I am sure they will soon realize that the market will not support the price increase just like eBay and their short lived fee hike.

CFIMIKE

Yes. I was able to get it yesterday, the day my intro service expired. Told them I wanted the "customer retention offer ZWINBACK MYP1. They asked if I had been mailed that offer. I said yes and that I wouldn't renew if I did not get the $60 price. (I meant it). After going off line for about a minute the rep said no problem - $60 for a year. I said O.K.

After listening to the service for 3 months I formed the opinion that it was not worth $120 a year. In L.A. there are a bunch of good FM stations plus CDs sound really great in the TL. And the 5-channel DVD audio knocks your socks off!

Dumb question maybe - will the radio in the TL accept the Sirius service? IOW, is it an option for us?

Yoda117

Not quite what you think it is... the deal is for the lifetime of the equipment, not you

And oh yeah, if you ever have the equipment repaired or replaced due to defect, the radio coverage goes away.

In the end, it's not much of a deal

djlandkpl

Only people that live in foreign countries have accents?

DMZ

NO !!!

Unfortunately, XM is one of those companies who've decided to set up customer service shop in India.
That's where your call winds up most of the time when you call the 800 number.

DISGUSTING !!!!!!!!!!!!

cM3go

oh and BY THE WAY, this is in the wrong forum

Sherlock

so if I cancel my 2 monthly subscriptions on my 2 other head units, and then call. does that qualify as "retention" ??

TBone2004

I just got a letter from XM telling me about the 12.95 hike and how they are including "free" O&A. They say if I call now I can lock in today's lower rate.... I'll let you know what they are offering.....

Bucky O

OK, so can someone tell me....

If I signed up with the "WINBACK" offer this past January, at $60 for one full year, my price is already "locked" until I renew next year, right???

But will I still get free "O&A" after April 1st, or do I now have to re sign up????

I'm a little unclear on this...

AdamNJ

I would just call them up and ask them to check it your account is special or anything since you signed up at a special rate. I think though that as long asyou are paying for basic service, you will get O & A as well as XM Online.

TBone2004

Here is what they just told me....

I currently have the $60 for 1 year deal thru Sept.
I was told these are my 2 options:

• Ride out current contract till September 2005 - (starting in April I will get O&A included). Start new contract in September 2005 at $12.95 per month ($271.95 for 2 years.)
• Cancel current contract today (or before April) lock up a plan - lets say 2years for 9.99/mo which is currently $215. They will credit me the remaining balance of my existing contract. So I am figuring 2 year will cost me $185 - $195 and I will be good till March 2007 assuming I do it today or next week.

They can do nothing with the $60 per year deals - I tried to extend it - no deal.

Hope this helps.

CDW

That's not what I wanted to hear. There wasn't an option to tack on the multi-year extension at the end of the existing $60 deal? It would seem logical that they honor the existing contract and add the new contract to the back end.

If thats not an option, I may just hold off and see what's available at the end of my current ($60) contract in December.

Has anyone else heard of any other options?

GUMP

I got a letter yesterday. I already have the service until Oct 2006 at $9.99 month. It says you can lock into more years at that price before next months deadline. I'm just going to let my subscription run out, not renew it, and then you know they will send me something with some type of discount. It happens all the time with subscriptions from magazines. I'm sure they will do the same thing. My biggest gripe is that I'm a Stern fan and won't be able to hear him starting next year. By the way, the XM online sounds cool. I didn't know anything about it. Now it's covered with the basic membership.