The New York Times is out with a piece on Sirius/XM’s quest for cash. While subscriber numbers and revenue have been growing at a very healthy clip, the company is heavily burdened with debt - which they’re finding difficult to refinance at favorable terms in the current economic climate. And bankruptcy is on the table. While I represent the tech vanguard, rather than the mainstream, the Times did cite my defection (and questionable taste in music) to Internet radio as one of Sirius’ challenges… as they prepare to spend $250-$300 million on another satellite launch:

Dave Zatz [...] was an XM subscriber but dropped the service after his favorite channel, Chrome [...], was dropped. Now, he says, he streams Pandora, a popular Internet radio service, through his iPhone while driving. “The price is right and you can get whatever music you like,” he says.

See ya, XM. I was on the fence and you pushed. Our time together has been mostly positive, but the massive lineup modifications yesterday without any advance notification isn’t the proper way to treat your customers. So I’m walking. While I fully support cost-cutting measures, such as merging Sirius & XM channels into a unified offering, I don’t support keeping customers in the dark until the zero hour. I also don’t appreciate you dropping The Rhyme and Chrome, two of my top three stations, without proving Sirius analogues. Ironic, considering the Chrome station manager was responsible for bringing me back into the satellite radio fold after my first defection. So while Chrome now maps to PG comedy (149) and adult comedy (150) no longer displays comedians, it won’t be my problem. I’ll be enjoying the more diverse and economical Internet radio offerings.

While it’s still a bit early for unified radio hardware, the Sirius XM merger has initially resulted in some programming cross-pollination, lower tier themed lineups, and an a la carte pricing plan. For $4/month more The Best of Sirius offers XM subscribers Howard Stern, NFL, NASCAR, and Playboy Sirius channels - in addition to the entire XM lineup. For XM subscribers (or potential subscribers) on the fence, two reduced priced lineups have been introduced (Mostly Music and Mostly Talk). These packages run $10/mo - only $3 less than the full XM lineup. Most interesting to me is the introduction of a la carte pricing on new Sirius hardware. $7/mo gets you any 50 (non-premium) Sirius stations. Additional channels are only 25 cents more a month. It’s worth noting that the reduced tier and a la carte packages don’t include Internet streaming access. Though with a variety of free online radio options (Slacker, Pandora, etc), it may not matter.

Today’s question, via IM, wonders how to handle the death of a car stereo. Though, it’s not quite so simple — Both the CD player and line-in jack still work, so they’ve been considering a satellite radio add-on. They don’t have a problem with the monthly fee but, upon quizzing, it seems clear they’re not interested in the extra cable clutter (power, antenna, line-in) a plug & play unit adds. My suggestion to upgrade their 1999 ride to a newer model with standard satellite radio and airbags didn’t go over so well… So given only passing interest in satellite, they should probably just restore terrestrial radio via an inexpensive in-dash unit from Crutchfield.

A periodic roundup of relevant news… that Dave hasn’t had time to cover while attending CTIA:

• XM now available on Blackberry: Orbitcast
• PlayStation Store 2.0 coming soon: PC World
• HP introduces 500GB $300 Linux NAS: Gizmodo
• Is Comcast increasing HD video compression: The Consumerist
• Roxio Toast update fixes TiVoToGo audio/video sync: Mac Observer
• Nokia N810 Hava placeshifting client preview: Internet Tablet Talk
• Brighthouse returns HD channels to CableCARD: Gizmo Lovers

After a long 13 months, the DOJ has finally approved the proposed XM and Sirius merger. Keep an eye on Orbitcast in the coming hours and days for continuing coverage. (Concessions…? FCC?)

After a careful and thorough review of the proposed transaction, the Division concluded that the evidence does not demonstrate that the proposed merger of XM and Sirius is likely to substantially lessen competition, and that the transaction therefore is not likely to harm consumers. The Division reached this conclusion because the evidence did not show that the merger would enable the parties to profitably increase prices to satellite radio customers for several reasons, including: a lack of competition between the parties in important segments even without the merger; the competitive alternative services available to consumers; technological change that is expected to make those alternatives increasingly attractive over time; and efficiencies likely to flow from the transaction that could benefit consumers. [...] Accordingly, the Division has closed its investigation of the proposed merger.

I admit it. I’m lazy. Even though I’ve purchased and ripped hundreds of CDs (plus those DRM-encumbered iTunes), I still prefer someone else program my playlists. In fact I’m an iPhone owner who (mostly) forgos the audio iPod functions, opting instead for the (jailbreak) iRadio streaming application. Or my XM subscription via Helix or computer. And each time an iTunes music subscription service rumor arises I feel compelled to cover it. According to the Financial Times, there are two models under consideration:

One executive said the research had shown that consumers would pay a premium of up to $100 for unlimited access to music for the lifetime of the device, or a monthly fee of $7-$8 for a subscription model. Apple would not comment on the plan, but executives familiar with the negotiations said they hinged on a dispute over the price the computer maker would be willing to pay for access to the labels’ libraries.

I’d gladly pay more for a device or a monthly fee for unlimited tunes. Though, perhaps XM (or Sirius) is working on an iPhone app - making this a non-issue for me. (I have a feeling Mari’s lazy too - and is hopefully enjoying her new Slacker device.)