iBiquity Responds To Sirius/XM Proposed Merger

"Satellite Radio Facing Bankruptcy?"

"Satellite radio companies have been suffering heavy losses – and plunging stock prices – even as they continue to add subscribers. And a front-page story in Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal warns that the worst may be yet to come... Industry leader XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. lost $667 million last year, and rival Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. lost $863 million. The big losses have shaken investor confidence in the industry. XM shares have lost 71 percent of their value this year, and Sirius shares have lost 51 percent... For one thing, a substantial number of people who buy vehicles with pre-installed satellite radios don’t activate them, nor do many who receive a radio as a gift. It’s estimated that 10 percent of all store-bought radios given as gifts during the last holiday season were never activated. Also, those who do subscribe often abandon the service after a period of time, some switching to iPod adapters to provide music in their vehicle."

archive.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2006/8/15/175258.shtml

"Regarding the Technical Aspects of the SDARS Providers XM and Sirius"

"There are significant differences in certain technical aspects of the two SDARS systems as deployed by XM and Sirius. The systems as currently deployed are not interoperable. That is to say, an XM receiver cannot receive the Sirius signal and vice versa. Thus, as is true today, if the proposed merger of XM and Sirius were consummated, consumers would still need to purchase a new interoperable receiver in order to receive the signals of both providers. These differences in system operation, function, and structure make the design and implementation of a single unified and interoperable receiver both complex and expensive. In fact, both XM and Sirius have been working in a joint venture to develop an interoperable radio since 2000. At this time, no interoperable radios have been introduced into commercial production."

tinyurl.com/2kek8t

Lots-of-luck!