On Feb 19, 7:56*am, dave wrote:
If any of you doubt that the FCC wants to kill free radio, read on:

"Analyst: XM+Sirius+HD is likely.
Stifel Nicolaus analyst Blair Levin thinks it's likely the FCC will
require such a mandate as part of its approval of the deal, as well as a
requirement that any new receivers include terrestrial HD capabilities.
Meanwhile, U.S. Electronics is pushing the FCC to hold a summit among a
number of parties citing a "newly emerged consensus" that a combined
XM-Sirius be required to make their receiver technology "open" allowing
more choices for consumers. Among those backing the requirement are
iBiquity and the HD Digital Radio Alliance."

--insideradio

"Regarding the Technical Aspects of the SDARS Providers XM and Sirius"

"There are significant differences in certain technical aspects of the
two SDARS systems as deployed by XM and Sirius. The systems as
currently deployed are not interoperable. That is to say, an XM
receiver cannot receive the Sirius signal and vice versa. Thus, as is
true today, if the proposed merger of XM and Sirius were consummated,
consumers would still need to purchase a new interoperable receiver in
order to receive the signals of both providers. These differences in
system operation, function, and structure make the design and
implementation of a single unified and interoperable receiver both
complex and expensive. In fact, both XM and Sirius have been working
in a joint venture to develop an interoperable radio since 2000. At
this time, no interoperable radios have been introduced into
commercial production."

http://tinyurl.com/2kek8t

Lots-of-luck!