New trajectory for satellite radio

Sirius Satellite Radio ended weeks of rumors Monday, agreeing to buy rival XM Satellite Radio in a deal worth $4.6 billion.

The two companies will now have to deal with regulators and some big business egos to finish off their merger. But bloggers were busy debating whether the deal signaled a new beginning for satellite, or the beginning of the end.

Many comentators saw the merger as a sign that the market for satellite radio was not all it could be. Why bother with radio, many wondered, when you can listen to whatever you want, whenever you want, on an MP3 player?

Blog community response:

"The program choices for listeners on either XM or Sirius far exceeded the sum of available sources from terrestrial radio. But now the sum of all program choices runs into the thousands or perhaps even millions. Yes, satellite radio is live while most of the other choices are just stored files; but files are easier to distribute and lend themselves to iPod-style listening."
--Doc Searls

"I love my satellite radio, but that AUX connector for iPods and Zunes on both of our cars has a strong calling too. I agree with Doc that listening to media you chose is a powerful thing. We have thousands of choices (maybe millions) and using an MP3 player we can listen to what we want, when we want it." --Scobelizer

"The future of media ain't satellite. The future of media is the content I want (not type of content, but the actual content) when I want to consume it (yup, you can get Stern now whenever you want--as long as you turn on your radio at the right moment) where I want to consume it (yes, I can get it in the middle of the country--but I'm in an airplane much more than I'm in Kansas (don't get me wrong--I'd prefer to be in Kansas)) on the device I want to consume it on."
--Paul Colligan