Sirius radio has added BestOfXM for those who want XM with their Sirius, but guess what? NOT COMPATIBLE. I called Sirius and the unit in the Mini coopers, at least for my 2007 are not compatible. So you won't get full programming that others will get.

 

It won't matter for long anyway. Sirius XM is hacking up the original XM programming. They're laying off 80 people today: http://www.orbitcast.com/archives/re...80-people.html

 

My friend VP of Advanced Applications was laid off a month ago. He's happy to be out of there now. I'm sure the mood isn't that great with the stock in the toilet.

 

I'm sure you're right. I wouldn't be surprised if they closed the entire DC operation. I know that the loyal die-hard XM fans are upset about the changes.

 

http://www.orbitcast.com/archives/qu...usxm.html#more

 

I like Opie and Anthony and I was hoping I could listen to that while commuting to work.

 

Curious. Technically this is just an additional channel using the Sirius service. They should be able to remove a station and replace it. In fact they do this all the time when they change station formats. Also, since the 07 has a lifetime subscription I wonder what BMW/Sirius will be able to do for us if an upgrade is needed.

 

It's probably a bandwidth issue. Only so many channels can be added.

 

Well I got off the phone with headquarters and they told me that they are aware of this and when XM is fully part of Sirius we as owners that have Sirius will be notified. Now, I don't know what, "We will be notified" means.

 

It means they'll send you an email as soon as they wipe out all of XM's original channels.

 

My advice is to not buy any "lifetime" subscriptions because the lifetime of this operation isn't very long. Pay by the month!

 

+1

 

I so hope you are wrong. My new Mini almost 3 months old and I got the lifetime. I see they are no longer offering the lifetime ugggg. I will be seriously unhappy (no pun intended)

 

Oh, HAHA I just got that. LOL

 

I have it free till March in the BMW, but didn't pay for it, its OK but still like MP3s. Think it will not be around too much longer.

 

Honestly, I think that if Sirius XM goes under, someone will swoop in and pick it up. There's too many subscribers and too many radios to let it go. It may not be Sirius XM as we know it, but XM hasn't been XM for a while anyway, so it doesn't matter much.

 

Yes, the Iridium Satellite Phone System is an example, bankruptcy took care of the debt and now the system is fine.

(Could cost you a "Lifetime" Subscription though.)

 

Not sure why people think it won't be around. It's a service that now has 20 million subscribers which is an insane number. It's going to take sometime for them to start reaping the benefits of the merger. For those of you that are super-XM fans, I'm sorry but I think when everything is said and done it will look more like a Sirius buyout than a merger (I hope that makes sense).

 

If they would only move BPM over and replace The Beat- that's the 1 station I miss in my move from XM to Sirius.

 

I had Sirius in my M3 and hated it. I like news radio, but new on Sirius was an endless stream of commercials with brief interruptions for news. After I decided to get rid of the M3 for a JCW, I called to cancel Sirius. They tried to keep me as a customer and even offered me some free time and a free radio. I declined.

 

They have one billion dollars in debt that is due for repayment in during 2009; their stock is at 25 cents a share, which puts their market cap at $794 million; they're laying off employees left and right; and in the process, they're losing many XM subscribers because the XM fans are losing their favorite XM personalities will be losing their favorite channels come mid November after Sirius XM releases the merged channel lineup.

However, 19 million subscribers and all that infrastructure are very valuable, and $794 million (plus debt) is an attractive price for some other company with lots of money to burn, such as Microsoft, Google, or Apple. Perhaps we will be seeing iPod Satellite radio in the near future.