Gay Marriage and Satellites

Well I hate to paraphrase Neil Armstrong's famous phrase, but yesterday was a small step for gays and lesbians, one giant leap for mankind. Or at least for the American version of mankind. For those who live under rocks, and apparently more people than I thought actually do, yesterday New Jersey began allowing gay couples to register for civil unions. While this isn't technically gay marriage like the title suggests, it's pretty damn close. So if you are keeping score, that now means that both New Jersey and Connecticut offer a form of civil union. And in case you are geographically challenged, that means NYC is surrounded. With a significant number of people in the NYC metro area that now will be able to have civil unions, while those who live in New York proper won't, it's just a matter of time before the state of New York is pressured to follow suit. It's rather crazy to think that those who work in NYC, but live in northern NJ or western Connecticut can have a union with their partners, but those who live in Manhattan cannot. This might change the gay perception of NJ as a crazy and backwards place to live.
In other news, XM radio and Sirius Satellite radio have announced that they will be merging. Although I hope when people see that headline they will actually read the article that goes with it. Because if you didn't, you wouldn't know that the FCC license that each of them has forbids them from ever owning the other's license. So for these two companies to merge is an uphill battle and would require the FCC to completely reverse course. There is also an antitrust issue that has to be resolved, but I think the case is pretty strong that they don't just compete with each other, but they also do with terrestrial radio and internet radio and iPods and such. Now assuming the deal goes through, I am undecided whether I think it will be a good thing. I am an XM subscriber, and have been for many years. Since 2002 I think. I know I was in their first million subscribers for sure, because I remember the day they announced they had reached that benchmark. This actually means that I pay less for my subscription than new folks, because they allowed me to lock in the original price if I agreed to pay in annual payments instead of monthly. Now there are upsides to the merger. For sports fans, it would be heaven. Right now the different leagues are divided between them. The NHL, MLB, Nascar, and soccer, as well as the ACC and Big 10 are on XM. The NFL, NBA, and at least the Big 12 are on Sirius. Having them together would be nice for someone like me who wants to listen to both Big 12 and Big 10 games. Sirius also has a gay channel that I would like to listen to as well, but XM has a great dance channel, bpm, that I think has done a lot better than its counterparts on Sirius. It will be interesting what they do with the studios though. Sirius is in NYC, but XM is in Washington, DC. I have actually seen the XM studios, and it would be a shame for them to leave. They are very nice and were put in a lower income neighborhood and have sparked a bit of a revitalization in that area. The downside to the merger is that I have crazy brand loyalty, so I have always disliked the upstart Sirius. That, and I don't think they have very smart business practices. Paying such exhorbitant prices for Howard Stern and Martha Stewart was ridiculous. There is no way they were going to make that money back in subscribers. XM got Oprah, but they didn't pay her some ridiculous amount for it. Sirius has focused on getting big names, whereas XM has focused on having better and more commercial free content. Ah well, it is too early to say whether there will be one company, but if there is I vote it remain XM. I will be very upset if they take the Sirius name. Until next time!