Media: February 2010

Satellite Of Love

Late last year I got fed up with mechanics and bought my first-ever new car. It came with satellite radio, and in no time I was hooked — even though it didn’t get Howard Stern.

I loved Rosie O’Donnell‘s radio show and Little Steven‘s “Underground Garage” and the Hindi music station, which plays ghazals, bhajans, and qawwali.

I fell in love before I knew what I was getting into.

The nation’s two satellite radio companies, Sirius and XM, merged in July 2008 — dumping many favorite channels and shows in the process.

The company, now called Sirius XM, sells prepaid subscription cards, so I asked for one for Christmas.

My brother got me a $55 Sirius card at Best Buy, and I called right away to activate it.

After a long time on hold, I was asked what kind of car I drive. I said Hyundai and the line went dead.

I called back and finally a different person picked up. They informed me that they could not activate my account because my car has an XM receiver, and suggested I call XM. “But aren’t you the same company?” I asked. Apparently not.

After eons on hold, someone at XM picked up and told me the card would not work with my radio. Even though the two companies had merged, their billing cycles were still separate. “After a year and a half?” I asked, incredulous. The person on the other line told me that my only recourse was to go to the retailer and make an exchange. (Sirius XM’s press agent did not respond to requests for a comment for this story.)

Not only was Best Buy out of XM cards, but they wouldn’t take back the Sirius card — even with a receipt. “It says on the back of the receipt that we don’t accept return on prepaid cards,” the supervisor told me. I tried to argue: “But both Sirius and XM told me to exchange it here,” and “No one warned us ahead of time that it couldn’t be returned.” She wouldn’t budge.

I finally ended up re-gifting the card to a friend, who has Sirius in her car.

There is a contraption that gets both services: The Sirius XM MiRGE, a dual-band interoperable receiver that costs $249.99 and allows you to get the Sirius XM all-in-one package for $19.99 per month. Existing subscribers to either XM or Sirius need to activate new accounts for the MiRGE, which is then billed separately.

It’s all so convoluted that late last year a Florida subscriber filed a lawsuit against Sirius XM Radio Inc., alleging last year’s merger created a monopoly that raised prices “above competitive levels.”

The lawsuit, which is seeking class-action status, alleges Sirius XM has raised prices without improving consumer program choices, despite committing to the Federal Communications Commission that it would not raise prices of its basic package for three years after the merger was approved.

Nonetheless it has raised fees that are not part of the order, including fees for multi-radio subscribers. Such fees have increased by 40 percent since the two companies merged.

That lawsuit is not to be confused with the 2008 suit filed by 500 Sirius shareholders in 2008, alleging that Sirius XM Satellite Radio sabotaged stock values and violated the Racketeer Influenced And Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act by eroding the value of the company in order to take it private at a discount.

None of which will matter in a few years, when autos are installed with streaming Internet radio, and satellite radio goes the way of the eight-track tape.

ODDS ‘N’ SODS: At press time, Chicago Independent Radio Project (CHIRP) was poised to launch its new online radio station at Chirpradio.org. Two-and-a-half years in the making, the focus will be on “radio that is diverse, exciting, live, and locally based.” The group is also working to change the law so it can launch a low-power FM version. Visit the Web site for the latest . . . Remember WMET anyone? WBMX? WVVX? Radio’s golden age (i.e., prior to the Telecom Act Of 1996) comes alive at the new Chicagoland Radio And Media Web site, where the many features include Memory Lane, which features images of favorite old logos, music surveys, photos of personalities, bumper stickers, and “Where are they now?” and “In Memorium” pages. The site-in-progress also features media news, live feeds for media blogs, columns, ratings links, and more. See for yourself at www.chicagolandradioandmedia.com . . . The roundups of the biggest media stories of the decade seem to have missed the most recent and humiliating debacle of the past 10 years: how the local media completely and utterly misread the city’s bid for the 2016 Olympic games. Or maybe they didn’t misread it, but rather called it as da Mare saw it. Same result — although somehow the rest of the world knew Chicago didn’t stand a chance.

OOPS: Last month we referred to Chicago Reader muckraker and editor Mick Dumke as Mike. Sorry, Mike, er, Mick!

— Cara Jepsen

Category: Columns, Media, Monthly