The UpStream (Page 418)

I don't know about all of you, but we here at the show love the merger of Sirius and XM and all the cool new stuff they have to offer. But who knew that Sirius Canada and XM Canada didn't merge yet after the US counterparts have merged well over a year ago? I know I didn't. This week, the two companies announced their plans to merge forces to create a super satellite sound alliance!

The $520 million mashup, no my_____ pun intended, will take two competing companies and align them side by side to make a 1.7 million audience base.

For more on the extraterrestrial squish, hit the break.

With Google TV taking a big hit this week, they are looking for other ways to bolster their video streaming offerings. They believe that an agreement with Miramax studios would be a quick and easy way to accomplish this goal.

Miramax, currently part of Walt Disney Corporation, is set to be purchased by a holding company and Google's people have been in discussions with the new owners to get the rights of distribution to the more than 700 titles available in the Miramax library, including No Country For Old Men and Finding Neverland Blu-ray.

How might this affect you? Hit the break to find out.

I know we haven't really discussed Google TV and their happenings, but we figured everyone understood that it could be a really cool product but somehow Google would find another way to "implement now, fix later" and it would fail something epic. Miraculously, big box retailers, the media, the press and everyone else had other plans and have taken Google TV under their wings and tried to make it fly. I guess the word "Google" in Google TV didn't give away that it was made by the same corporation that couldn't even get Buzz to buzz.

At any rate, Google TV's initial ad campaign was interesting and the product was slowly taking off. Well, that simply cannot happen, so the last frontier, the final line of defense, the TV companies have decided to take matters into their own hands and take out Google TV themselves.

How and who, you ask? Well I have that information for you, after the break.

Everyone asked for it and I suppose after Hulu announced its official price tier for Hulu Plus, it was time for Netflix to make its move.

To compete with Hulu's $7.99/month Hulu Plus pricing, Netflix's new streaming-only package comes in at $7.99/month and includes its Starz Play service. For everyone else, the price is going up. The basic 1 DVD at-a-time package will now run $9.99/month and of course, still comes with Netflix's streaming capabilities.

Want the whole new pricing structure in a fancy chart? Follow the break to get it and to find out about what happens if you are already on a plan.

Take a moment to think about how many commercials you've seen throughout your life. Now try to quantify that number in terms of time spent watching them. I'm sure that number would be quite high unless you're 4 years old, in which case you probably aren't reading this. From a consumer perspective we develop a love-hate relationship with them and for a little while viewers of web content have enjoyed much less exposure and generally more relevantly targeted ads. This could all come to a swift end shortly due to some revealing research.

Hit the break to find out what the findings are.

It's that time of year where turkey, relentless TV ads, and a rainforest's worth of junk mail floods mailboxes across the country in an effort to get "out of the red and into the black." Traditional media services have always been the driving force behind the millions upon millions of dollars spent every year on Black Friday advertising and as more time goes by social media is finding a growing importance with their role.

What's their role and are they doing a good job? Hit the break to find out.