Post-Merger XM Compatibility Question

[willherrmann]

The XM website says that in order to take advantage of the a la carte programming packages that will be offered post-merger (whereby XM subscribers will be able to add select Sirius channels to their XM current programming and vice versa), it will be necessary to have NEXT GENERATION hardware (which from what I have read, started to be produced shortly after the merger was approved by the department of justice). Does anyone know whether the 2009 Murano's XM hardware meets this "next generation" requirement, or will we all be stuck still listening to XM only after the merger because our hardware won't support adding Sirius channels?? Nobody at Nissan seemed to know anything, and my dealer sure as hell doesn't know (I had to show my dealer how to program the satellite radio in the first place!)

[Timmbo]

Welcome to NICOclub! We are so glad to have you here in the Murano forum!

That is a really good question, I hope it is, and I know my '08 Armada has the same AV/SAT control unit that my '09 Murano LE has. I wouldn't mind adding some NFL game to my XM!

[martinrrrr]

I was just reading some more info today about the merger. I thought that it was a done deal but the government hasn't finished getting out of the way. See this article for some additional info. http://www.breitbart.com/artic...cle=1 My guess is that when the 2009 Murano radio specs were finalized the new XM/Sirius merger was not even considered. Therefore I would be surprised if our XM radios will be compatible with the new spec, unless there is a way through a firmware upgrade.

[Bunshaw]

That article just closed the door on us if the facts are correct. Nissan wouldn't be able to update the firmware unless our radio also already contained the dual tuner/receiver. Otherwise it's a hardware upgrade/replacement to add a second tuner or replace the current one with dual-tuner hardware. Companies merging or not, the service and signals are still very much separate. If the retail hardware won't be out for a year after the merger I would imagine 2 years at the least for vehicles, longer for slower manufacturers. Hopefully in the beginning it's not only rolled out to luxury brands and the option cost isn't a dramatic increase.

[martinrrrr]

XM-Sirius Merger is finalized as of today. As to the question of equipment compatibility, see the following:

In an interview with USA Today last year, Mel Karmazin, CEO of Sirius said this:

Q: You've been working since 2000 on a radio that can receive both XM and Sirius signals. When will that be completed?A: We have one. It's in my office. … At this point, there is no market for it because nobody is subsidizing the cost of the (dual) radio. Today what Sirius does is that we subsidize (our) receiver. And the reason we subsidize it is because we're gonna get a subscription. So, we think with the merger this really represents an opportunity for us to be able to financially subsidize radios that provide for interoperability.

USA Today Articlehttp://www.usatoday.com/money/...x.htm

[laurin1]

XM-Sirius Merger is finalized as of today.

What is your source on that? I can't find any reference on the Internet that says it was finalized.

[Bunshaw]

I read the article about them already having a radio prototype completed. I have no doubt they could accomplish that in a relatively fast manner. That doesn't mean the millions of receivers already out there are ready to receive the merged service. And that doesn't include the production costs and the time required to get the radio to market. I still believe it would take about 2 years to include the dual tuner receivers in vehicles because manufacturers don't typically change hardware that quickly or that often unless its safety related. A new dual satellite radio tuner would have to wait until a vehicle refresh.

[Timmbo]

Here is an update on the deal:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/200...irius