Sirius-XM channel merge begins next week

Sirius and XM combined operations in May, and according to Rolling Stone magazine, the two systems will begin merging their channels beginning Wednesday.

There's been no official word from the companies on what the new channel lineup will look like, but apparently, many music stations will be merged--there's no need for two stations featuring music from the 1950s, for example. Somebody on Saturday posted a purported lineup for existing XM subscribers on the Digital Radio Central forum. Take it with many grains of salt, though it apparently maps somewhat to an advertisement that appeared in USA Today.

There will also be new subscription offerings for each system--for example, XM subscribers can pay about $4 extra per month to get Sirius content like Howard Stern and the NFL.

Apparently, all existing XM radios will be able to get this Best of Sirius package, while only the recently released Sirius Starmate 5 will be able to get the comparable Best of XM package. The Starmate 5 will support a la carte options as well, letting users pick their favorite 50 or 100 stations for a lower monthly fee.