I guess I was in along with KriegsmaschineVondentoten. Big money! Yay! (at least after the regulatory b.s. is cleared). D.C. Boo! Doubletree Hotel at Crystal City National Airport, meh. So where are the cool D.C. clubz? ^^
MonxDoT wrote:
XMSR, SIRI, I own them both. Looking for the Peter Lynch tree-bagger.
http:http://ffxi.allakhazam.com/forum.html?forum=4&mid=1167078148150283040#1167359215199673679
It's a brilliant stroke of luck that Congress itself is calling for hearings on the merger before it even gets reviewed by the F.C.C. The terrestrial radio lobbying group N.A.B. (National Association of Broadcasters) is old school cry baby.
I been busy this week. Must've read over 500 articles on this merger. Basically what it comes down to is a 3-2 vote with 3 Republicans and 2 Democrats on the on the FTC (which doesn't change unless the Dems win the White House in '08 -- hence why xmsr-siri went for the merger now rather than later).
Consumers will win. Investors will win. Old radio will lose. It's simple economics, of course. :P
Think about it. Can your favorite monopoly mmorpg double the rates from $13/month to $26/month without losing customers? Of course not. For consumers this will be like getting ffxi + eq2 + wow for the same standard $13/month rate. You'll get both Howard and Oprah, both the NFL and MLB and NASCAR, and dedicated genre radio, for the same low monthly price.
Six billion has so far been invested in serving 14 million customers, or around $428/customer. So it takes a little under 3 years of subscribing for sat radio to break even given the current number of subscribers. And it's doubtful they could raise the rates even moderately (like "competitive" cable tv) to say $20/month without losing more subscribers and revenue than would be gained by those still paying a higher rate for the service.
Satelite radio is competing against free commercial radio, against mp3 players that you can stick in your car audio dash, against free internet radio stations. All this stuff has come about after 1997 when Congress originally established the two competing satelite radio licenses.
To argue against this merger would be like arguing against premium Alla membership, or the *cough* merger with <can'tlinktothis>. There's lots of people that are willing to pay to get away from advertisements along with extra perks. In the end, without exception, trade only and ever occurs, because both sides to the transaction are by definition better off, wealthier, having traded. Without exception.
If you think some business is gouging then get off your @$$ and compete with it by starting a business of your own to take some of those extra profit dollars to yourself. That's the way the market works. It's called freedom of voluntary exchange. Things only and always get screwed up when the government interfers with free voluntary trade. Business only gets paid by serving consumers, by giving them something they want and are voluntarily willing to pay for. Government f
ucks that up all the time.
Just take a look at the health care industry now, with government creating screwed up rules and incentives, and now directly involved at 45% of health care expenditures. Sure, pharmaceutical company and health insurance industry profits are at record levels, and consumers are screwed. Why? Because nobody is free to compete to give consumers the best quality at the lowest price. I can't wait to the number of lawyers versus doctors graduating in 20 years, along with their salary differences. Talk about obscene.
