SIRIUS CEO Karmazin: Parents will not have to pay for Howard Stern
Mel Karmazin, CEO of SIRIUS Satellite Radio, announced today that parents who are offended by programming such as Howard Stern will recieve a decrease in programming costs after the XM-SIRIUS merger.
“There would be a cost reduction to their bill in a more a la carte way,” said Karmazin. “If somebody doesn’t want it, not only are they not getting it, but they’re not subsidizing it either.”
This announcement comes after FCC Chairman Kevin Martin has publicly expressed interest in having of an a la carte programming system. Previously, Karmazin has said that Satellite technology will not allow for such programming choices but it seems that instead of customers paying more for the Howard Stern service(a la carte style), customers will have the choice to remove Stern from their radios and recieve a price cut in the monthly price of the service. Karmazin also noted that these details were included with the FCC merger notice filed on Tuesday.
This decision by the merger corporations could not only influence the FCC to approve the merger, but could influence other services such as cable television to do the same type of program discounting.
Dan Isett, a spokesperson for the Parents Television Council, who also supports such a la carte programming said, “This is good news, but we want to see the details. The problem they face is why should consumers be forced to subsidize Howard Stern if they want Major League Baseball?”
How do you think this will affect the FCC decision to approve or dissaprove the XM-SIRIUS merger?
Source: Dow Jones Newswire
And the pussification of America continues. This is become a sad, pathetic country. by badmotherfarker
And the pussification of America continues. This is become a sad, pathetic country.
You need a license or have to pass a test to do just about anything in this country, except being a parent. Any idiot is allowed to get that job, whether they are capable or not. by Fergz99
I don't want Baseball, Hockey, or Basketball nor the 30 other talk stations after RawDog. What kind of a discount can I get for those? by TheScionicMan
And why the hell can't I get a discount for having to endure Margaritaville, the Christian channels, LIME, Kids Stuff, Disney Radio, Martha Stewart Living Radio and whatever else I can't think of at the moment?! What the fuck makes these people so special that they get differential treatment? I'm special too dammit! Give ME a discount!! Hey, if I go out right this moment and impregnate a women can I get a discount as well if I solemnly swear to use my television as a babysitter and expect the world to revolve around my future offspring?
And the pussification of America continues. This is become a sad, pathetic country.
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The very personification of who they're bowing down too. by Chad
If lazy-ass parents want to protect their precious little bundles of joy use the freakin' block button! by DoublEE
The more confusing it gets, the less likely that the merger goes through. Mel and company need to quickly come out with a clear, concise statement on what the new company will look like and what it will offer, or this merger is going to go down in flames. by atlwxman
first, that seems ridiculous on its face. i understand howard's influence but how can they really regulate how sirius is going to operate their business on a tier level? there are already lock controls and hiding features on every radio that make it potentially easier for kids to use their parents gun than listen to dirty jokes on a stiletto. that to me seems like a great solution in the consumer's interest and any other government mandating of content seems like it defeats the whole purpose of satellite radio.
more likely is this is doublespeak for making Howard a "tiered" channel.
ie: "we're not going to raise prices FOR howard, we're going to LOWER the price of those without Howard, (and then later raise the price for everyone.) that should make YOU happy, FCC... right? right??"
my concern with the merger is that if it goes through there really is no other option pricewise. by dkain1976
If this goes through it will be with heavy governmental regulation. Regulation will be the only way to enforce these price commitments that Mel is making.
Once you invite regulation do you really believe it will ONLY be regulation of pricing forever? I don't. The regulators need to justify their budget and justify increases in their fiefdom. This means we WILL end up with content regulation if we end up with any regulation.
Keep regulation out of satellite radio. Keep competition in satellite radio. by dantodd
who is to say that sirius, once merged and a year down the road, won't say "ok, the 'base price' is going up to 12.99-- the price with howard is going up to $17.99"
there's no real way to regulate that, and if you as a consumer think "aaah, eff sirius, i just want some music without commercials" they can then come back and say "WHERE ELSE ARE YOU GONNA GO!!! YOU NEED US NOW, MUWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!! ....now then.... that'll be 12.99 for less than you had pre-merger" by dkain1976
exactly! then they can say "well... since 12.99 was a DISCOUNT for not choosing howard and he's no longer an option... your rate's gonna go up to the 'normal' rate of 17.99"
although i can't see Howard ever retiring. but great point. by dkain1976
I immediately drafted the below letter and sent it to him on his website.
________________
Senator Kohl,
I could sit here and waste time for both of us by detailing the complexities of the technological realm, but I'm not going to. What I would simply like to do is offer my support for the Sirius/XM merger. As an avid fan of music, I have downloaded music off of the internet since 1999, burned custom cd's since 2000, worked on car audio equipment in 2002, subscribed to Sirius Satellite Radio in early 2003, purchased an iPod in 2004, and listen to streaming audio feeds and podcasts from the internet quite often.
I would like to express my strongest assurances to you that satellite radio faces stern competition against all of the listed sources of music, and any others mentioned to you by Mel Karmazin this past week.
One of many ideas that comes to mind is the nature of music and sound. It is something that is listened to - so unlike computer software which can control the environment of the user, listeners of music control how they wish to hear audio. Almost anything that projects music can face equal competition against a device that can play audio.
If XM & Sirius merge, they won't have a monopoly on their market; the idea that 'satellite radio' IS a market is a farce - it literally does exist on paper, yet theoretically it does not exist in practice due to the free will of our citizens to choose how to hear music in nation that upholds this freedom.
Please support the merger, you will be doing a favor for music and citizens of the United States, as you will only be helping strengthen one of many available choices to listen to music for the American consumer.
Whether it is relevant or not, as a current Sirius subscriber, you will doing me a favor as well.
Most Sincerely,
[my full name] by Gump
also, kinda off topic. by dkain1976
look, if they charge more per sub that's fine-- they'll probably see some people jump ship but at least those people will have somewhere else to jump ship TO. the idea that there's another option for satellite radio (commercial-less music programming and uncensored talk radio) keeps each other competitive. if they're "competing" with formats that don't have either of those things (ipods don't program themselves, and terrestrial radio is censored), there's less choice for the consumer. by dkain1976
I don't want Baseball, Hockey, or Basketball nor the 30 other talk stations after RawDog. What kind of a discount can I get for those?
Sounds like Mel is in panic mode with this stunt. It's not going to happen unless they can stress that upcoming satellite radio thing that's coming on the scene or stick to their guns with one price, etc. by VinnyM27
Sounds like Mel is in panic mode with this stunt. It's not going to happen unless they can stress that upcoming satellite radio thing that's coming on the scene or stick to their guns with one price, etc.
last night i was walking home from the bar and popped on my stiletto with the luxury of knowing whatever msuic channel i turn to immediately 100% GUARANTEED won't have a commercial on it. it felt amazing. by dkain1976
I remember when I was first looking into Sirius and XM... and Sirius had the flat rate that they do now, while XM had a rate under $10 for music and talk, then another $3 if you wanted the internet feed, then another $2 if you wanted O&A (because you shouldn't have to pay for O&A if you weren't going to listen, or didn't condone their actions)...
Then XM went to a flat rate that was in line with Sirius, and included the internet stream with that price (and even O&A if memory serves me correctly... )
After that - I remember looking at Sirius' "propaganda" page, where they were basically saying our prices have never changed, and our competition tried the a la carte option, but it failed miserably, so they had to change it to Sirius' pricing structure...
Right now, you pay for everything that your chosen service has to offer you (although, with the 128 channel limitation on Sirius, that's not entirely true either... no one mentions the current lost channels on *older* radios)... Right now, there is a choice based on quality and quantity of (good) content...
If either company wanted to change their pricing structure, it's obviously possible for them to do it. XM has done it in the past, and Sirius could do it without a merger (since the merger is incidental to a la carte pricing, and Sirius currently requires an 'activation signal' to get access to the Playboy channel, the theory extends they can do this with more channels)...
An XM and Sirius merger would cause a Sat. Rad. monopoly... Would it cause a 'listening' monopoly, absolutely not... Yes, FM, AM, MP3 players, CDs, etc. all exist, and they all take away from listening to Sat. Rad. - but there are only 2 places to go right now where I can get nationwide (commercial free) access to stations where the content isn't regulated by government and doesn't require me to 'preload' what I want to hear...
Sirius is a great choice... XM is a great choice...
Combined, there is only one choice...
And personally, I don't see the sum being greater than the parts...
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Current Satellite Radio Equipment:
Sirius Stiletto S100
Pioneer SIR-PNR
Sirius S50
Delphi SkiFi 2 by Pohket
As everyone else has said there are controls to block any channel you don't want, but I guess Mel needs to spin it so that people that are offended by the thought of Howard can have a way to not have to pay for him and listen to satrad guilt free. by Fergz99
My guess is many of these "high paid talk show host" and useless other channels would get the boot. The customer would have more bandwidth available, lower cost for its customers because of a lower overhead expense, and a Satellite Radio product thats driven by listener demand.
oh my,,, the fear and thought of ala carte.... BRING IT ON!!! by 80_Listener
Imagine: 100 Music Channels, Talk and News for $9.95
add NFL for $2 a month
add MLB for $2 a month
add NBA for $2 a month
add NHL for $2 a month
add College Sports for $2 a month
add all Sports for $7.95 a month
add Howard, Bubba, Opie and Anthony and Playboy for $7.95 a month
Get it all for $21.95 a month
Then we would see what people were really willing to pay for. by TX WJ
Then we would see what people were really willing to pay for.
Your not getting 100 Music Channels and the NFL and MLB and O&A and Howard for $12.95 now. by TX WJ
To get a couple more music channels, MLB and that crap called Opus and Anthony I have to may an extra 10 bucks? I get Howard, almost 100 music channels, NFL, Nascar, ESPN, Fox, BBC ... and the list goes on. But I see the point in tiered programming. I am just saying that I would bet 100 percent that to get what I have now would cost more in a tiered system. by RoadClosed
To get a couple more music channels, MLB and that crap called Opus and Anthony I have to may an extra 10 bucks? I get Howard, almost 100 music channels, NFL, Nascar, ESPN, Fox, BBC ... and the list goes on. But I see the point in tiered programming. I am just saying that I would bet 100 percent that to get what I have now would cost more in a tiered system.
And giving me an f-ing headache.
I don't like that Howard is being singled out. But, I guess that's his role as the SatRad poster child. But, if they do embrace this strategy then it should not stop with just Howard. It should be true-a-la-carte. Every channel should be optional.
I don't like sports, Savings $10.
I don't like political talk, Savings $2
I don't want Maxim, Playboy, Oprah, Martha, Stones, Savings $10
I don't want the Foreign Language Channels, Savings $3
I don't like Rap, Hip-Hop, 90's, Top-40, Savings $5
Savings = $30/month
Less Monthly Subscription (estimated) -21.99
Sirius pays me $8.01/month to subscribe
That sounds good to me!
I don't want Baseball, Hockey, or Basketball nor the 30 other talk stations after RawDog. What kind of a discount can I get for those?
Great, I don't want Martha Stewart, MLB, any religious programming, or any top 40 crap. Do I get a discount if all I want is Howard, Classical, everything from Buzzsaw through Punk, and NPR? by kc2kth
I don't like sports, Savings $10.
I don't like political talk, Savings $2
I don't want Maxim, Playboy, Oprah, Martha, Stones, Savings $10
I don't want the Foreign Language Channels, Savings $3
I don't like Rap, Hip-Hop, 90's, Top-40, Savings $5
Savings = $30/month
Less Monthly Subscription (estimated) -21.99
Sirius pays me $8.01/month to subscribe
So if you want to opt out of adult or explicit language channels you may save a buck or two. If you aren't interested in NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, and college sports you may be able to opt out of that and save some money. But I just don't see them allowing you to pick and choose every channel you want or don't want. I do not see music being tiered at all, except those channels that have explicit language will be removed from if you opt out of the adult programming. They already do this if you call, but you get no discount for its removal.
But overall I think the tiering may have to do more with the programming made available between SIRIUS and XM more than specific channels. We'll see! by DAB
Yeah and wheres my discount so I don't have to pay for the "Holyier than thou" channels. by DarylBahr