After a long 16 month undecided decision, the FCC has finally approved the merger between the only two satellite radio giants, Sirius and XM.

Sirius Satellite Radio Inc.’s $3.3 billion buyout of rival XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. will mean 18 million-plus subscribers will be able to receive programming from both services. Executives say it will mean huge cost savings that will lead to a first-ever profit for the relatively nascent industry.

Immediatley announced with the merger details, was that subscriber’s of either service will not need to purchase new devices to listen.  As a matter of fact, they will have the option to pay-per-option a la carte service.  Which means, if you’d like to add a channel that’s not available on your Sirius radio, purchase the XM station.

Being a customer of both services, I’m a huge Opie and Anthony fan, XM Radio.  I’ve recently been listening to Howard Stern since I bought my Ford.  The big question will be, what will happen to both these Shock Jocks?  My bet is, Howard Stern will keep his morning radio show, and Opie and Anthony will go back to where they once ruled the radio waves, afternoon drive.  Only time will tell.

The companies voluntarily agreed to a set of conditions, including a three-year price cap and an 8 percent set-aside of “full-time audio channels” for public interest and minority programming. They will also adopt an “open radio” standard that may lead to a greater variety of features in radios and greater competition among manufacturers.

Sirius and XM also have promised to include a limited “a la carte” offering that would be available within three months of the close of the deal and allow listeners to pay only for the channels they want to receive.

Image via Gizmodo
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written by Juan Perez \\ tags: Howard Stern, O and A, O&A, opie an anthony, satellite radio, Sirius, sirius merger, sirius xm merger, xm, xm merger, xm sirius merger

This morning exclusively on 92.3 K-Rock in New York, the infamous Lazlow visited our favorite shock jocks Opie and Anthony to discuss all the new features we all can expect to see on April 29th. This will be O&A’s 2nd appearance in the GTA series. In the game, they discussed how Opie is a 24 yr old, who’s not taken serious and Anthony is a 40 year old mobster with a great voice. Other cast members in the show are Steve, Danny, Jim Norton, Than and Big A. This morning they visited a Russian strip club named “Honkers”. Lazlow mentioned how there is an in-game internet which will allow you to search the web for news, blogs and the even have a crapslist (spoof on craigslist). He also said that the in-game news will be dependent on what missions you’ve taken. For instance, if you happen to blow up a warehouse in downtown Bronx you can bet your bottom dollar that will make the in-game internet news. If you have a psycho girlfriend in the game, expect to receive email from her too.

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written by Juan Perez \\ tags: A. This, Anthony, April, Auto, Big, club, Danny, game, Grand, GTA, GTA IV on radio, Internet, Jim Norton, K-Rock, Lazlow, morning, Mr. Chappelle, New York, news, O and A, O&A, Opie, Opie and Anthony, phone, Rock, Rockstar, shock, Steve, Than, Theft