Reax To NAB Satellite Radio Study
A new, highly critical analysis of the a la carte scheme that Sirius and XM hope will better their chances of getting regulatory approval on their merger is flawed, a merger supporter told us after deadline on Tuesday.
The study, conducted by the National Association of Broadcasters (see Technology Daily's PM Edition for more), argued that consumers will end up paying more under the a la carte models unveiled by Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin last month.
But a paragraph between NAB charts claims that "even the so-called 'best of both worlds' offer -- the 100 channel a la carte plan -- provides only a pre-selected sampling of the other service (a mere 11 channels and you have to buy a new radio)."
According to the source, NAB has incorrectly combined one a la carte plan, which does require a new radio, with a separate plan that would let the subscriber listen to all Sirius and select XM programming (with the same old receiver).
The NAB analysis is "misinformed and self-serving" and fails to mention that Sirius and XM would reduce the price for entry level service to $6.99 -- a reduction of 46 percent from the current base rate, the merger backer said.
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