"We can...come up with cooler, more advanced products that will satisfy [subscribers] more." --- Mel Karmazin, Sirius Satellite chief executive, predicting consumer benefits from the proposed merger of equals with XM Satellite Radio (Wall Street Journal, A1, today).
We are dedicated XM subscribers, and on those long drives through the south, XM is a great companion at every hour of the day (what a treat to listen to live Major League Baseball from the west coast at 1 a.m.). Neither XM nor Sirius was likely to survive without a merger, and yet getting past the regulators will be tough. We're pulling for them; if nothing else, perhaps the new company can push the PGA to put better announcers on the golf coverage (Channel 146 on XM). Golf was not designed for radio coverage, to be sure, but they can do a lot better on the pauses between shots than the constant fawning over Tiger Woods.
Of course, we should always be careful what we wish for...
