No More Radio Ads For Less Than $12 a Month

A greater ability to purge my radio programming of banal music and incessant advertising is music to my ears -- at almost any price.

That's why I don't need the Feds to protect me from an alleged satellite-radio monopoly.

The Justice Department's approval of the merger between Sirius Satellite Radio (SIRI) and XM Satellite Radio Holdings (XMSR) is good news.

Sure, price matters, but not nearly as much as the expanded choices for consumers -- and the empowerment to break away from commercial radio stations whose programming often borders on noise pollution.

Advertisers pay huge media conglomerates such as Clear Channel Communications -- which owns and operates more than 1,200 U.S. radio stations - to disseminate their messages across the airwaves, regardless of whether I'm interested.

I'll willingly use my cash to silence the sales pitch.

I may even have a few dollars to spare when the merger is complete. Sirius and XM have announced a variety of price plans -- several of which cost less than my present $12 monthly fee. Listeners will also be able to select a la carte channels -- an option that will make it possible for my husband and I to combine our favorite channels, without maintaining subscriptions for two separate providers.

Yes, I know. Commercial radio is free. But that doesn't matter if it gives me a headache.

The notion of advertiser-sponsored entertainment is becoming a relic from another era. As media-industry consolidation forces more stations into the hands of fewer companies, listening to commercial radio is often as painful as hearing fingernails scratch a chalkboard.