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Satellite Radio Companies Set to Merge
There was serious news in satellite radio last week. It looks like two companies, Sirius and XM will get permission to merge from the Federal Communications Commission. Sirius will buy XM and become the only satellite radio company in the United States. They've been talking about joining forces since 2005. What took so long?
When the two companies merge, there will be only one company offering satellite radio. If there's only one company, then there is no competition. That's called a monopoly, and the FCC wanted to make sure that a monopoly in satellite radio wouldn't give the new company too much power.
Satellite Radio is different from FM radio. With satellite radio, the signal is delivered from satellites that orbit Earth instead of from stations on the ground. Listeners across the country can tune into the same station no matter where they are. You can't drive out of range of a satellite station, and the sound is crystal clear.
But satellite radio isn't free. You must pay for a subscription to pick up the signal. With FM radio, businesses pay the radio station to play commercials. That's how they make money. Because the listeners pay for the satellite radio with subscriptions, the company doesn't need to play commercials. So that can make easy listening for satellite radio fans.
I'm Isaac and that's what happened in technology this week.
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