Sirius XM 'Best Of' Packages Announced

Starting Oct. 6, users of both XM and Sirius satellite radio will be able to order “Best Of” packages for both companies’ stations. Don’t get too excited here; you only get seven additional channels on each, and the cost is $4 more per month, raising the monthly fee to $16.99 from $12.99.

Now, we will admit that getting all the sports on both is nice, and getting Howard Stern on XM will make a lot of people happy. Still, for such limited content, a smaller charge increase — or no increase at all — might have been the way to go.

More information on the new a la carte packages will be released Oct. 6 as well. To see the full listings of the Best Of packages, read below.

Comments

I have been a long time listner on XM, although recently was given a new truck, I'm a over the road truck driver, anyways, I switched my service to Sirius as this new truck has a Sirius in dash unit in it. After having Sirius for about a week I was convinced that I would switch back to XM even if I needed to spend my own money to buy a new unit for my truck. I then heard of the merger and waited to hear the new line up of stations, so I could listen to my favorites from XM. Well I see the new line-up... or best of.. WHAT A JOKE!!!! ARE YOU SERIOUS!!!! IS THIS WHAT I WAITED FOR???? I can't believe this is your new line up. Oprah, NBA, playboy, Who picked this lineup, or stations, some CEO I expect, My advice, FIRE THE EMPLOYEE THAT CAME UP WITH THIS IDEA, NOW, RIGHT NOW. If this is the best you can do I'm canceling my subscription, I'll get my old CD's out, and listen to AM/FM. Mike

I'm with Mikes post above. The "best of" packaging is an absolute joke. My three months of XM runs out in October. See you later XM.

No XMX on sirius? ill take the xm channels except the oprah channel. otherwise i have a xm radio in my truck, ill just activate that instead. I already have sirius.

Also, they are going to have a AC/DC channel. which will exempt the punk channel (SIRI29) and Fungus (XM53). both are nearly the same thing. I like the punk channel, but I have a feeling that those channels are going to merge or take one of them. as long as they continue to play punk, thats ok.

i was excited when xm/sirius merged. as a sirius listener, i was sure that "best of xm" would include mlb baseball which is really all i needed from xm since. i've been satisfied with most of sirius' content. however, after this announcement, it's obvious to me that it's not about "best of" but rather "not enough" so that i would pony up for their new xm/sirius radio. very upsetting.

You're kidding, right??
Is that the best of each service? I don't think so!! Maybe it's some exec's idea of "best of", but not mine! I had Sirius for a couple years then got XM when I replaced my car, so I have a pretty good idea of what XM and Sirius offer. And this ain't it!

MLB on Sirius,,,remember this is effective OCTOBER 6t, AFTER the babseball season is over. No doubt MLB will become part of "best of" next April.

I'm an XM subscriber now. Was thinking of adding a second radio for my other car. I've been waiting to see what they would do. This is just stupid. Give me the NFL and forget about the other crap. I love NASCAR, but wouldn't pay to "listen" to it.

$4 is a big bump for that garbage!

This is pretty bad. My family has 2 XM subscriptions and 3 Sirius subscriptions. What will the upgrade be to the secondary subscriptions? I am a Howard stern fan and can't believe that that won't be free on XM. That should be subsidized by advertising, not subscription. I hope that someone from Sirius XM reads these posts. If I were a stock holder, I would bail. I can also tell you that when Howard leaves, I am outta there!

I'm a lifelong Stern fan and Sirius subscriber (3 subscriptions) since Howard switched. We also have 2 cars with XM pre-installed and I am also incredibly disappointed that the plan is to charge an additional fee for the "best of". Part of the merger deal was a price freeze for 3 years. But isn't this really a hidden price increase? I can't imagine it would cost much to simulcast channels over both services. And let's face it, the VAST majority of people who would be looking at buying the "Best OF" package are Stern fans.

Way to put it to your loyal supporters, Mel.

I was really hoping that there would be some music channels as well. I am an XM subscriber and was kind of excited about this "best of" package. Now after seeing that line-up I wouldn't say I'm real excited about it anymore. Having Howard Stern and the NFL games will be nice, but I'm not really sure it's worth another $4.

ok....i think that this blog is suffering from some misconnunication.

these channels...the best of...are the ones that sirus/xm are allowing to broadcast on both operators networks..using existing technology. The next step is the release of al la carte' plans and radios...which will allow you to cherry pick channels (although more likely "tiers of channels") from both operators lineups.

this is simply a stop-gap...not the final solution. This allows both groups of subscriber bases to listen to the best content from both providers.

now...there is no guarentee that your old radio will be able to operate under the al la carte' plans.....radios that are compatible with this new system will be available in october.

Your old radios will still work...you just wont be able to say ...ill take the nfl, mlb, and howard and oprah...

and another point of contention might be that the "best of " channels will be just that...best of. You wont be able to listen to a live episode of howard stern on the XM side...

anyway...now that you just have the correct information....debate amongst yourselves

For the extra $4, why not let us pick any 4 "switch-over" stations we choose or have several "Best of" packages to pick from.

I have Sirius and listen to it via the pre-installed radio in my Dodge. I went to my Sirius account on-line to see if I could ad the Best of XM package, but for the message "your radio is not compatible...". Anyone know if those of us with preinstalled are completely screwed in getting additonal channels from this merger or are we flat out of luck?

So much for the big merger. I have XM and was eagerly waiting the merger so I could get the Sirius channels I wanted. What a joke and a disapointment AND they want me to pony up another $4. NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!!

Almost everyone in this post is misinformed, Lou was the only person remotely close.

First, I need to remind everyone that XM and Sirius were furious competitors with seperate systems before the merger. Just because it went through doesn't mean that the 2 satellite systems and all of the radios out there will suddenly work together. This is a matter of barriers in technology, not in programming. An exisiting XM radio and an existing Sirius radio will simply not accept the other's programming and this will never change.

Second, charging $4 extra a month for the additional programming is a matter of licensing not a matter of profit for Sirius XM. You better believe that the NFL, NASCAR, NBA, and NHL are going to get a lot of the revenue that comes from people who sign up for the new service. Offering them all for free to all 19 million subscribers just simply would not work for those companies. MLB isn't on Sirius yet for this simple reason, they probably wanted too large of a cut for adding them to the package.

Third, bandwidth. It's all about bandwidth. There is no possible way with current compression technology to put 130 Sirius channels and 170 XM channels together in one spectrum through either satellite system. Think of them as a garden hose. Unless the diameter of the hose increases or the pressures increases (compression) you will never be able to send more water through it.

Lastly people need to be reminded that this is completely OPTIONAL. Nobody forces you to buy a subscription or the additional "best of" package. And if you want the channels from Sirius and XM that aren't included in the package you can do what many people have been doing for years and buy two radios and two subscriptions. Otherwise stop complaining, wait until the new hardware is available and pony up the dough for a radio that can receive a signal from both sets of satellites. Hypothetical situation: Nobody would expect a GM transmission to work in a Ford car a day after they merged. People should be content with the fact that a "best of" package can be done at all. Things like these take time, period.

-AJ

well i think it's a joke. i like howard and nascar,but not $4 dollars worth. i think we should be the ones to pick the best we like from a lineup,not u guys. your taste sucks's.

I made another call to Sirius today in regard to the factory installed radio in my Dodge not being able to accpet the updates or upgrades. This call was much more positive than past calls, as previously I was basically told by the rep that he/she had no idea what I was talking about.

This rep informed me that they are getting a lot of calls from folks with factory installed radios. She said that there is a very good chance that this issue will be resolved, as it is a high priority of the techs. She said that I should either call back or watch the website "about once a week or so" for updates. We'll see...

The rep also told me that there are currently six channels that are part of the XM deal, but that there will be more in the future. She said that Sirius is working hard on licensing agreements, as AJ mentioned above. I don't know anything about the bandwidth issues, however from what this one rep stated, it sounds like there may be more programming in the future, as well as working on the factory installed radio issues.

I had a Sirius Sportster in my older car. Now I have a SUV with a XM radio installed in it. I called SIRIUS in order to add XM and I was told it would cost me more a month....BLOW ME XM & SIRIUS after 4.5 (four and a half)years of Sirius, I'm done with both...I'll start back to listening CD again..

the best of selection is a sad indication of the lack of any intelligence at sirrius and xm .why no simply combine all the programing on one or the other and all will win. so sad so bad am /fm im comin home