Thorp and Sailor's Grave Board

satellite dudes... you're pissed!

BDx13 - 9-15-2011 at 12:29 AM

Sirius XM to raise price for basic package

Sirius XM to raise price of basic package 12 percent to $14.49; first increase since launch

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Sirius-XM-to-raise-price-for-a...

NEW YORK (AP) -- Satellite radio company Sirius XM Radio Inc. is raising the price of its basic package for the first time on Jan. 1.

The price of basic service will go from $12.95 to $14.49 per month, Sirius said Wednesday. It hasn't raised that price since the service launched in 2002.

Sirius said earlier this year that it would raise prices for basic service, but it didn't say by how much. To get approval from federal regulators for its 2008 merger with XM Satellite Radio, it agreed not to raise prices for three years.

The company has raised prices on add-on features, like a second radio on the same account, in the intervening years and said it will "adjust" prices on many packages on Jan. 1.

"This is the first price increase on our basic service packages since the addition of the NFL, NASCAR, Howard Stern, Martha Stewart and many college sports to our programming line-up," CEO Mel Karmazin said in a statement.

Sirius had 21 million subscribers among all its services at the end of June. They pay an average of just over $11 per month, since many of them get free service for a limited time when they buy a car equipped with a satellite radio.

Helped by the price increase, Sirius XM now expects next year's revenue to grow 10 percent from this year to $3.3 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet are expecting $3.39 billion.

Shares of the New York-based company were up 12 cents, or 6.8 percent, at $1.80 in afternoon trading.

XHonusWagnerX - 9-15-2011 at 05:31 AM

Sirius/XM is one of the worst companies to deal with in the universe! I have had SO many problems with them that its unreal! You call for customer service and you literally get people that have NO clue what they are doing. I was trying to add 'Premium Online Listening' to my account and pay them an extra $3 a month. So I call and talk to a guy who is telling me I already have online listening. I agree with him but explain that I need to pay the extra $3 for premium online to be able to use the iPhone app (which is bullshit!) and he keeps insisting that I dont.

Things got so bad with them that I blasted them on twitter & Facebook a couple of months ago because the app sucks, the service kinda sucks & the customer service is the worst! After a couple of days of posting shit with #Sirius Sucks tags on Twitter I got a message and was given a super secret customer service where you get to talk to an English speaking person thats actually at the Sirius building in NY and he helped me. I called back and was able to get the same guy again and he helped me with a secong problem, but why should this need to happen!?!?

I am a life time subscriber and when Sirius merged with XM I got NOTHING! Not one damn new channel! I can add the XM channels if I want to pay extra money, but I get nothing from XM with out paying more. That to me means they are NOT one company!

They are already losing customers because the service sucks and because you have to pay additional fees for 'online' and then more for 'online premium (iphone app) and more for XM stations etc etc etc. So yeah raise the price so more people will leave and just download Stern from the 100 torrent sites that post it commercial free with in minutes of the show ending!

If it wasnt for Howard Stern I would probably never listen again even though my subscription is paid for 'for life'. I'll say it again #Sirius Sucks!

3rdDistrict - 9-15-2011 at 06:55 AM

so you talked to a foreign speaking customer service agent? i am confused

none the less, cancelled my service last year. advid O&A fan, just not for the price.

XHonusWagnerX - 9-15-2011 at 07:44 AM

Quote: Originally posted by 3rdDistrict  
so you talked to a foreign speaking customer service agent? i am confused

none the less, cancelled my service last year. advid O&A fan, just not for the price.


Everytime I call the regular 800 # with a problem I get a guy named "Steve" or "Chris" who has a very strong middle eastern accent. That was until I bitched all over Twitter and they got ahold of me and gave me a # in NY.

BDx13 - 9-15-2011 at 10:55 AM

i'm too cheap to subscribe to a radio service. i've enjoyed having it in the occasional rental car, but i'd never get it on my own.

XnMeX - 9-15-2011 at 11:07 AM

I had it for a few months and then just let it go since I didn't want to bother looking for stuff to listen to and wasn't in the car long enough for it to be worth it. I have Pandora and a good sized collection of music on my phone now so I am all set. I guess if I could listen to stuff like that at work still I might be interested but that is not the case.

Vanilla Gorilla - 9-15-2011 at 11:45 AM

I stopped my XM subscription last month. I only got it so i could listen to O&A on my computer at work i never use the radio, but the online player sucks and was constantly not working, customer service was absolute shit and they just kept raising prices.

JUICE MAYNE MSHC - 9-15-2011 at 01:26 PM

I had Sirius for a few years and I agree with Honus, the overall experience is shitty. I found that the music channels repeat the exact same playlist throughout the week. Example: I listen on Monday at 2:00pm for an hour and hear 15 or 20 songs. On Weds at 2:00pm they repeat the exact same hour of songs in a different order. Tuesday's playlist gets repeated on Thurs, etc. It was like listening to regular radio, same damn shit all the time.

I torrent Howard every day since I got rid of Sirius. I'd be willing to pay for Howard's show only if it was an on demand type thing where I could play/download it whenever I want, like HowardTV. Even if it was $15 a month I'd pay for it. But that's not available obviously.

XHonusWagnerX - 9-15-2011 at 01:52 PM

Quote: Originally posted by JUICE MAYNE MSHC  
I had Sirius for a few years and I agree with Honus, the overall experience is shitty. I found that the music channels repeat the exact same playlist throughout the week. Example: I listen on Monday at 2:00pm for an hour and hear 15 or 20 songs. On Weds at 2:00pm they repeat the exact same hour of songs in a different order. Tuesday's playlist gets repeated on Thurs, etc. It was like listening to regular radio, same damn shit all the time.

I torrent Howard every day since I got rid of Sirius. I'd be willing to pay for Howard's show only if it was an on demand type thing where I could play/download it whenever I want, like HowardTV. Even if it was $15 a month I'd pay for it. But that's not available obviously.


I have Howard TV and everytime I think about canceling it they do something and I'm like I NEED TO SEE THAT! So since its the only pay station we have I'll keep it.

CR83 - 9-15-2011 at 10:07 PM

I listen to Howard's Channels 95% of the time. (Side Note- they just mentioned Stern show on the office, weird)

This new schedule he has me pissed. I am renewing one more year. This week was good but only 3 new shows.

I wish I knew how to torrent his show like Juice. Actually, I wish I know how to torrent anything.

CR83 - 9-15-2011 at 10:07 PM

Quote: Originally posted by JUICE MAYNE MSHC  
I had Sirius for a few years and I agree with Honus, the overall experience is shitty. I found that the music channels repeat the exact same playlist throughout the week. Example: I listen on Monday at 2:00pm for an hour and hear 15 or 20 songs. On Weds at 2:00pm they repeat the exact same hour of songs in a different order. Tuesday's playlist gets repeated on Thurs, etc. It was like listening to regular radio, same damn shit all the time.

I torrent Howard every day since I got rid of Sirius. I'd be willing to pay for Howard's show only if it was an on demand type thing where I could play/download it whenever I want, like HowardTV. Even if it was $15 a month I'd pay for it. But that's not available obviously.


Agree about the playlist shit. You are exactly right.