February 2008 Archives

• We're about to start...
• Joe Titlebaum kicks it off with the "forward looking statements" disclosure
• Now on to Nate Davis...
• Nate: State of the business
  

Mel Karmazin was noticeably frustrated with the current state of advertising sales on today's conference call with analysts.

Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. reached nearly $35 million in advertising sales revenue for the year (see financials here).

Still, the company's CEO was admittedly displeased with their performance when asked about the longterm potential of advertising revenue.

"It's been a source of frustration for me because I believe that we ought to be generating significantly more advertising revenue than we have done so far," said Karmazin.

• Listening to the "forward looking statements" disclosure...
• Karmazin: I wish I was here to talk about the merger approval
  
• Despite the merger, "we've executed almost flawlessly"

1. How can you justify taking someone's intellectual property and making $16 billion in annual advertising revenue off that property without compensating the creators and owners of the property?
2. Why do you deserve a competitive advantage in the music marketplace? Artists and musicians are paid when their music is broadcast on satellite radio, Internet radio and digital music services delivered through satellite and cable television.
3. Which of your leaders is right: David Rehr, president of NAB, or W. Russell Withers, chairman of the NAB Radio Board?
   
   Rehr calls paying artists for their work product a "performance tax" while Mr. Withers said before the Senate Commerce Committee, "I disagree with 'performance tax.' It's a performance fee." What is wrong with paying a fee for product that makes you money?

• A La Carte tiered programming packages be made available (done)
• Sirius-XM dedicated 5% of capacity to educational/informational programming
• Price freeze for 3-years after the merger is approved.
• Sirius-XM make its devices "open" to allow any manufacturer to develop compatible products

"Ms. Carey asked us whether we supported the proposal of Georgetown Partners L.L.C. that the Commission require the merged company to lease 20% of its channel capacity and a portion of its infrastructure to a minority owned corporation. I replied that the Public Knowledge 5% set-aside proposal was likely to lead to greater program diversity and to programming that would not otherwise be heard on a national satellite radio service. However, we would be open to the Georgetown Partners proposal to the extent that it was conditioned on a requirement that part of that capacity be dedicated to noncommercial programming over which the lessee has no editorial control."
(emphasis added)

ICO Global Communications will be launching their satellite, the ICO G-1, from Cape Canaveral, Florida in April.

The geosynchronous satellite will be used to transmit video, navigation and emergency assistance information to mobile devices in vehicles. The service, called ICO mim (mim = "mobile interactive media") will be run in trial-mode by the end of this year, and will be offered commercially in early 2009, according to ICO executives.

That's what the Department of Justice is warning the U.S. Supreme Court about as it weighs in on an FCC indecency decision.

See, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York remanded the FCC's indecency finding against expletives on Fox's Billboard Awards show. The court concluded that the FCC had "failed to provide a reasoned basis for reversing its longstanding indecency-enforcement policy with respect to isolated and fleeting expletives."

According to Broadcasting & Cable, Solicitor General Paul Clement, said the Second Circuit decision left the FCC little room to modify its policy other than two extremes, adding that the court's decision "attempts to coerce the commission to choose between allowing one free use of any expletive, no matter how offensive or gratuitous, or adopting a blanket prohibition on any use of expletives."

In other words, George Carlin's "seven dirty words" might not be found indecent anymore.

Clement said the lower-court decision "effectively prevents the commission from carrying out its charge, and yet it is the commission that will be held accountable for the coarsening of the airwaves."

The U.S. Supreme Court are scheduled to meet on February 29th to decide whether to take the case, though that date could easily be delayed.

[Broadcasting & Cable]

...while we fix a few things around here.

I know a lot of folks (including myself) were getting very frustrated with the buggy/slowness of the site, so I'm upgrading the entire system to something more gooder. As a result, some stuff may not be working up to par.

In the meantime, the Orbitcast Forums are still up and running without any problems.

UPDATE: Looks like everything is working again, with the exception of the links to other blogs/websites on the right (those had to get killed for the moment). But everything else is going strong now.

(Pictured, from left to right: Pete Rock, Maureen Yancey (Dilla's mom) and Talib Kweli)

Here's some photos from last night's Dilla Day tribute at the XM Performance Theater in Washington DC.

(Raw Poetic and Grap Luva)

(KB and Doc doing the Dilla Day intro)

If you missed it, the Dilla Day tribute will be rebroadcast on XMX (ch 2) this Sunday at 1am ET, 9am ET and at 5pm ET. Note that since XMX is a relatively "clean" channel, the encore broadcast will probably not feature Dilla's version of "F*ck the Police" for obvious reasons.

The unedited rebroadcast of the full Dilla Day show will air on The Rhyme (ch 65) on Wednesday (2/27) 6pm ET, and on Saturday (3/1) at 1pm ET.

You can also download the entire show (in two parts) and check out more photos of the event at ProgHipHop.com (Subsoniq's website).

I debated whether or not I should do an Orbitcast Radio show tonight, but as soon as I found out it was National Margarita Day, I decided I needed to do a show (tequila is my weakness).

Oh, and we're going to (officially) announce a little thing like The Orbies winners tonight too.

Break out the salt, because we're celebratin' tonight! And don't forget to call into the show: (646) 595-3690

Tune in tonight @ 8pm ET/5pm PT.

(pssst, it's only a half-hour show tonight.)

Heritage Foundation senior analyst James Gattuso.

Gattuso recently expressed his frustration with the Department of Justice and its laggard pace in coming to a decision for the Sirius-XM merger, stating:

"...rumors of imminent action at DoJ have frequently made the rounds: the DoJ is going to approve the deal, the DoJ is going to reject the deal, the DoJ is going to attach conditions on the deal.

"I'm half-expecting to read that the DoJ's dog ate the files on the deal."

Well said James.

[TechNewsWorld, Photo courtesy of Drama Queen]

Thanks Gary!

Mick Jones, the legendary guitarist and founding member of one of punk rock’s most influential bands, The Clash, will guest host a 3-hour show on Sirius tonight.

Jones, filling in for radio legend and on-air host Kid Leo, will play his favorite old and new music and share his recollections from the early days of punk rock and The Clash.

Mick Jones (not to be confused with the guitarist from Foreigner) played lead guitar, sang, and co-wrote songs since The Clash's inception. That is, until he was fired in 1983. Jones' frequent abandoning of rehearsals and gigs played a major role in his dismissal from the band.

Jones, along with the rest of the band, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003.

Tune in tonight at 4pm ET on Sirius' Underground Garage (ch 25) to hear the special show by the punk icon.

A quick glimpse at the Merge-O-Meter shows that it has been 367 days since the Sirius-XM merger was announced.

And the Wall Street Journal Deal Journal Blogs has assembled together an interesting set of metrics that put the whole transaction into perspective.

What Deal Journal did was take a look at all the merger/acquisition activity (courtesy of FactSet MergerMetrics) since the Sirius-XM merger was announced, and they came up with a series of numbers. And since I'm a LOST fanboy, I figured I'd make those numbers look like the countdown clock... just because.

So here goes...

349: The number of announced definitive full acquisitions of US publicly traded companies, since the Sirius-XM announcement.

230: The number of those deals that were completed.

97: The number of those deals still pending.

22: The number of those deals that were withdrawn.

The men's magazine Best Life has named XM's POTUS '08 channel "one of the 10 most important voices to listen to" this election year.

Contributor Jason Daley wrote:

"POTUS '08 XM Channel 130, created in cooperation with C-SPAN, is completely commercial-free and covers the election nonstop 24 hours a day. Think of it as the triple-bacon cheeseburger of campaign coverage."

POTUS '08 is in good company. The top-ten list includes political science godhead Larry Sabato, National Review blogger Jim Geraghty, and the BBC's Justin Webb.

The most irreverent guy on the list is LA Weekly's political cartoonist Mr. Fish, who is enormously successful at offending just about everybody across the political spectrum (check out some examples here, here, here and here).

Check out the full story here.

Larry the Cable Guy was making the rounds on Tuesday, and stopped by Sirius Satellite Radio's studios in New York City.

Here he is alongside Witless Protection co-star, Ivana Milicevic, at Sirius' Blue Collar Radio (ch 103) where they talked about the new film which opens this weekend.

Photo Credit: Maro Hagopian

XM's Subsoniq and the Red Bull Music Academy will be holding "Dilla Day" tonight at the XM Performance Theatre in Washington DC.

A live band (The Players & Friends) will be performing classic J Dilla tracks, accompanied by emcees and vocalists. Special guests include Maureen Yancey (Dilla's mom), Pete Rock and Talib Kweli.

"Dilla Day" will celebrate the life and legend of the innovative and influential hip-hop producer J Dilla, who rose from Detroit's underground Hip-Hop scene in the mid-90s.

Dilla (real name James Yancey) died about two years ago of cardiac arrest at his home in Los Angeles. He had reportedly been suffering from lupus and had been hospitalized for pneumonia just prior to his death. J Dilla was only 32.

The event will be broadcast live on XM's The Rhyme (ch 65) tonight from 8-10pm ET.

The American Antitrust Institute the other day asked the Department of Justice to file suit against the proposed merger of XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. and Sirius Satellite Radio Inc.

AAI, which filed against the Sirius-XM merger back in June, holds strong to its assertion that the merger would "lessen competition, or to tend to create a monopoly," in violation of Section 7 of the Clayton Act.

As far as I can tell, the American Antitrust Institute holds absolutely no relationship to the NAB, or has any ulterior motives here. They are simply a nonprofit organization that advocates an aggressive stance toward antitrust enforcement.

Under AAI's definition, satellite radio stands alone in its relevant market:

"Although the merger parties posit many alternatives, including everything audio from AM/FM radio, to Internet radio, to MP3 players and iPods, none of these offer the unique nationwide coverage of satellite radio, content, features, and ability to aggregate demand. There is no evidence, as required under the Merger Guidelines, that any of the audio alternatives proposed for inclusion in the market definition by the merger parties constrain the ability of the merged firm to increase prices."

Oddly, I don't see any mention of mobile audio (streaming audio to cellphones) in their letter. Mobile audio, in my opinion, is the most direct form of competition if you want to define it as a "nationwide multichannel mobile audio entertainment subscription service" as the NAB calls it. And with companies like mSpot, who already have over 1 million subscribers (not to mention the backing of several terrestrial radio companies like ABC Radio, Clear Channel and others), it's hard to say that mobile audio is "burgeoning."

Still, of all the arguments against the merger, AAI has consistently given the best ones to support their views. I know I'm from the "pro-merger camp" and all, but I have to give AAI credit for stating their case better than most. It all boils down to how the relevant market is defined, and that ultimately, is up to regulators to decide.

[FMQB, Wired]

XM's Oprah and Friends channel was awarded with three Grace Awards from the American Women in Radio and Television. Dr. Maya Angelou, "The Gayle King Show" and "Oprah & Friends" producer Annette Flournoy were among the recipients of the 33rd Annual Gracie Awards.

Last year, XM's Oprah & Friends channel won two Grace Awards, for "The Jean Chatzky Show" and Harpo Radio producer Katherine Kelly.

Dr. Maya Angelou, renowned author, actress and activist, has been recognized with the "Individual Achievement Award for Outstanding Host (Information)" for her weekly XM program, "The Dr. Maya Angelou Show."

Gayle King and the production staff for King's popular daily XM program, "The Gayle King Show," have received the award for "Outstanding Talk Show."

Harpo Radio producer Annette Flournoy has also been recognized with the "Individual Achievement Award for Outstanding Producer (News Series of Special)" for her work on the "Oprah & Friends" channel.

The Gracie Awards recognize exemplary programming created for women, by women and about women in all facets of electronic media.

The USS Lake Erie scored a direct hit at 10:26pm ET last night on the failing spy satellite, leaving little else behind but pieces "nothing larger than a football," Pentagon officials said today.

Marine Gen. James Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and an expert on military space technologies, said the government has a "high degree of confidence" that the missile launched last night hit exactly where intended.

But forget all that, we all want to see the satellite go boom. Sure, the video is a little grainy, but Cartwright is kind enough to slow down the footage so we get the full "impact" (ha! get it?).

[via Engadget]

Watch the video after the jump...

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that social networking giant MySpace is in the process of partnering with the Big Four music groups to become an online music destination.

It's reportedly part of a larger effort to position MySpace more of a media company, and further distinguish itself from Facebook.

Tentatively dubbed MySpace Music, the music service would let users listen to free, streaming music, and purchase DRM-free MP3 downloads, which can be played on virtually any portable device, including the iPod.

The streaming service would be advertising supported and revenue would be split with the labels.

[Wall Street Journal]
Photo courtesy of Robert Scoble.

Like many, I was mighty skeptical of the prospects of "golf on the radio" back when XM signed with the PGA in 2005.

But XM put a lot of effort into the relationship - offering up 1,000 XM radios for spectators to use throughout the day at the tournaments. They even launched a humorous TV commercial to celebrate the partnership. Still, I'll admit, I was a skeptic.

Fast forward to today.

XM Satellite Radio just recently signed a multiyear extension of their agreement with the PGA Tour. That original four-year agreement between XM and the PGA was set to expire at the end of this year.

Turns out, the PGA Tour Network (ch 146) is quite the hit.

According to the PGA Tour, the channel draws an audience in the range of 460,000 to 2 million listeners, for an average of about 1 million. Ad sales for the channel are solid, which is reportedly one of the reasons why XM was inclined to renew the deal.

"There were a lot of skeptics about this venture, and I'm not just talking internally," Eric Logan, Executive VP at XM, told Washington Business Journal. "I don't think many people thought it had a chance of getting launched, and now that we're renewing it, the same skeptics are like, 'Huh, must be working.'"

Chalk me up as one of those skeptics who's dumbfounded.

It's a testament to the passion (ok fine, obsession) of golf fans, and to XM's hiring of veteran sportscasters who know how to "paint the picture" for the listener.

As you probably already know by now, the US Navy is preparing to shoot down a rogue spy satellite - the event is scheduled to occur tonight at 10:30pm ET from warships located just west of Hawaii.

The satellite, known as USA-193 or NROL-21, is set to be hit by a $10 million missile - breaking it into lots of teeny-tiny pieces thanks to the 22,000 mph impact. The full tank of hydrazine fuel is hoped to explode upon impact.

And it's that 1,000lbs of frozen, toxic hydrazine fuel that's the whole reason she's getting shot out of the sky to begin with. We really don't need those deadly fumes spread over an area of two football fields. Hydrazine is similar to chlorine or ammonia in that it affects the lungs and breathing tissue.

The first shot will be fired by Aegis missile cruiser USS Lake Erie, with the USS Decatur destroyer waiting as backup just in case that first shot misses. Considering the target is 150 miles up, and they have a 10-second window to hit their mark, that's not a bad idea.

Hopefully, all that debris will burn up in the atmosphere and we'll live happily ever after. According to SatNews, over the past 50 years or so, approximately 17,000 man-made objects have re-entered the Earth's atmosphere—no one has ever been hurt by this falling debris.

Though one veteran satellite-watcher was a little startled when he realized the debris cloud would go across central Canada on it's ascending pass a few minutes after impact. After that, it'll go across a bit of western Africa and eastern Australia.

Check out the debris cloud plot after the jump...

The 80th Academy Awards will be presented on Sunday night, but XM's movie soundtrack channel Cinemagic (ch 27) is airing Oscar specials all week long.

Tune in weekdays at 2pm and 11pm ET for in-depth programs about this year's nominees in all of the major categories - from Best Original Song, to Best Picture. If you miss one of the specials, y'know since the week is half-over, you can still hear them each back-to-back on Sunday from 3pm - 8pm ET... right before Oscar host Jon Stewart takes to the stage of the Kodak Theatre.

There's a bonus for Oscar-fanatics: past Oscar winners will also be celebrated all day Saturday, and Cinemagic's series "Popflix" will be spotlighting Oscar-winning pop songs to boot.

Check out more info and deets here.

AT&T today started offering the Centro, Palm's new flagship smartphone based on the Palm OS platform. The GSM quad-band Centro comes with multimedia capabilities and several services exclusive to AT&T.

The $100 smartphone also comes with a touch screen, a full QWERTY keyboard, and is the first Palm OS-based smartphone to come with XM Radio Mobile.

It is the smallest and the lightest smartphone offered by Palm, and now comes in the new Glacier white color with green keypad accents. A second color, Obsidian black, will debut in about a month.

[Palm Centro]

Here's an interesting video from CNBC featuring Rebecca Arbogast of Stifel Nicolaus & Co., Mark Cooper of the Consumer Federation of America, and Vince Farrell of Scotsman Capital Management.

Well worth the watch if you have an unhealthy obsession with following the merger.

Sadly, CNBC doesn't allow embedding of videos (because that would just lead to more people watching their ad-supported content, and we wouldn't want that) so go ahead and click the link below to watch the video.

[CNBC]

While Opie & Anthony today officially made the move from delayed afternoon broadcasts to live morning-drive airings in Cleveland, word has come in that the dynamic duo is about to sign a new deal.

According to FMQB, Opie & Anthony are on the verge of inking a new deal that will keep them on both XM Satellite Radio as well as on regular radio stations run by CBS Radio and Citadel Broadcasting.

This would, of course, quickly dispel the rumor that Booker is taking over the b-b-boys slot at K-Rock once their CBS contract expires.

[FMQB]
Thanks Spencer!

This morning's Inside Radio newsletter featured an article that stated "Analyst: XM+Sirius+HD is likely" - an article that now appears to have disappeared from their website.

Who knows the reasons as to why the article looks to be missing... but thanks to the beauty of the interweb, it can now be preserved for all posterity to enjoy:

Analyst: XM+Sirius+HD is likely.
Stifel Nicolaus analyst Blair Levin thinks it's likely the FCC will require such a mandate as part of its approval of the deal, as well as a requirement that any new receivers include terrestrial HD capabilities. Meanwhile, U.S. Electronics is pushing the FCC to hold a summit among a number of parties citing a "newly emerged consensus" that a combined XM-Sirius be required to make their receiver technology "open" allowing more choices for consumers. Among those backing the requirement are iBiquity and the HD Digital Radio Alliance.

The report citing Stifel's assertions probably came from last week's note, where HD Radio was listed among a list of several other possible concessions. Others possibilities that Levin included in his report were public interest programming, price freezes, and lower priced packages.

But then again, a headline reading "Analyst: XM+Sirius = Lower Prices" probably wouldn't make Inside Radio's readership too happy.

Thanks Gary!

Aside from having some of the most entertaining photos in mainstream media, the New York Post also has a source "familiar with the situation" that has provided the publication with a status update at the DOJ.

According to this source, junior staffers were given a final chance to make their case against merger approval - known as "last rights" - to Antitrust Division Chief Thomas Barnett, before he signs off on the deal.

The results of these "last rights" are unknown - but this is fairly consistent with what the analyst community sources have been hearing for some time now.

In early November, Cowen & Company issued a report stating that the Antitrust Chief would approve the merger, "despite a staff recommendation against the deal."

A few weeks later, Bear Stearns wrote that junior staffers at the DOJ are recommending blocking the merger, but that higher officer deputy officials likely disagree and that Barnett will rule along with the higher officials in approval of the deal.

That was several months ago, and if the Post's sources are correct, then the DOJ's tune hasn't changed. Only time will tell for sure though.

[New York Post via Orbitcast Forums]
Thanks Squeaky!

Federal Communications Commission chairman Kevin Martin confirmed recently that the agency was coordinating efforts with the Department of Justice, but had yet to reach a final decision on the merger between Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. and XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc.

Speaking informally at the NBA Tech Summit, Martin also said that while the Commission has received all the necessary information from the two satellite radio companies, they have yet to set a timeline in reaching a final decision.

According to paidContent:

"Traditionally the commission doesn't act on those after the Department of Justice --99 out of 100 times the Department of Justice goes first and the Department of Justice hasn't acted yet on that merger. We have some more information we requested at the beginning of the year from the companies so that we're trying to finalize our conclusions but we're coordinating with Department of Justice. I don't have a timeline."

Today marks the exact one-year anniversary since Sirius-XM merger was announced.

[paidContent]

...just change the name to Blu-ray Radio!

Afterall, HD DVD has now lost the war to Sony's Blu-ray format - what with Best Buy, Netflix and now Wal-Mart delivering crushing blows by siding with Blu-ray exclusively (and reports coming in that Toshiba is ready to throw in the towel). So I think the terrestrial radio camp should reconsider its naming convention for HD Radio.

Since that "HD" distinction doesn't mean anything anyway, they might as well rebrand themselves once again for another year of stellar sales.

"Quite honestly, it doesn't stand for anything," said Peter Ferrera, president and CEO of the HD Digital Radio Alliance, told the LA Times. "The concept was somewhat of a steal from HD television, where viewers know it means better quality."

That approach didn't work for Toshiba... and if they're not bound to pesky acronyms that actually mean something, why not give it a shot?

[Reuters]

Well, it hasn't been quite one-year later, tomorrow will mark that day actually. But it was on President's Day last year when Sirius and XM announced their intent to merge.

Still, this article on CNN Money sums up the frustration and endless waiting game nicely.

I guess when Reps. Conyers and Chabot complained to the DOJ about "rushing" through the process, their criticism was taken to heart.

[CNN Money]

The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) fear that satellite radio may have "different needs and incentives for the use of terrestrial repeaters" as a result of the merger between Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. and XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc.

One of the NAB's concerns is the "heightened desire to offer locally oriented programming, including local advertising" through the repeater network. So the NAB is asking the FCC to adopt final repeater rules that block Sirius-XM from offering local content on their repeater networks.

This isn't anything new.

Over a year ago, an NAB-backed bill (H.R. 983) was introduced to Congress, meant to "preserve local radio" and in effect would stop the airing of Amber Alerts and other emergency services on Sirius and XM. Somehow I don't see this as being in the public's interest.

In the its recent FCC filing, the NAB continues, "In adopting final rules for [satellite radio] repeaters, it is also necessary that the commission be mindful of the SDARS licensees' record of misbehavior in this area."

They go on to highlight violations regarding Sirius and XM repeater towers. Of course, this ignores terrestrial radio's own history of FCC violations.

Oh I get it: Do as I say, not as I do.

How about this instead. If regulators do feel that terrestrial radio is a substitute for satellite radio, and that they compete in the same relevant market, then satellite radio should be permitted to provide more - not less - localized programming. There is absolutely no need for an 80-year old government-granted monopoly over local programming to continue to exist in this day and age.

But that's exactly what the NAB wants. In their on-going attempt to save itself - rather than actually trying to innovate and provide a compelling product - they want to prohibit other local programming, and secure they're stranglehold on "localism." Now that's anticompetitive.

[via Radio Ink]

XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. spent about $1.2 million last year in lobbying efforts for approval of its proposed merger with Sirius Satellite Radio Inc., among other issues.

The company spent $580,000 in both the first, and the second half, of 2007, according to a disclosure form posted online by the Senate's public records office. Under a 1995 law, lobbyists are required to disclose any activity that could influence executive and legislative branch members.

XM's expenditures pale in comparison to the $4.3 Million that the National Association of Broadcasters spent in just the first half of 2007.

[Forbes via Bearing Drift Ohio]

View both of XM's lobby filings after the jump...

Bubbapalooza, hosted by (of course) Bubba the Love Sponge - alongside co-hosts Ned, Manson, Brent Hatley and Spice - is coming to Chicagoland.

Tickets go on sale tomorrow, February 16th at 12pm. Bubbapalooza will take place on Saturday, April 19th at the Star Plaza Theatre in Merrillville, Indiana at 9pm.

Show regulars like 25 Cent, Hammil, Miller and others will be joining the crew for the night of "adult comedy and entertainment."

Bubbapalooza is billed as a live, multi-media production featuring some of the Bubba the Love Sponge Show’s funniest and most popular personalities, routines, parodies and rants. After selling out recent Bubbapaloozas in Phoenix and Vegas, Bubba said, "We had to respond to our many fans in the Chicagoland area, who demanded that we bring Bubbapalooza to them."

A limited number of VIP tickets, which include a pre-show meet-and-greet, are available ($154.50/ea). General admission tickets ($55/ea), are available through TicketMaster or by calling (219) 791-1234.

An opinion piece in today's Philadelphia Daily News sums up the pathetic Sirius-XM merger process very nicely, albeit with an obvious pro-merger viewpoint (that is why they call it an opinion piece afterall).

I won't bore you with the details, because if you've been reading Orbitcast for any length of time you likely have heard all these points before. But the final paragraph wraps it all together very nicely:

"The Sirius/XM merger signals a total failure of the antitrust review system. Instead of protecting consumers by enhancing competition, the endless deliberation creates fewer choices and less competition. True monopolies arise when incumbents manipulate government to suppress new competitors. For the survival of innovative new technologies such as satellite radio, regulators should tune in and butt out."

I do like how the author uses colorful words like "hostage" and "hijacked" to conjure up visions of terrorist-like activity. It drives home the point. Sirius and XM - and more notably those who are employed within their walls - are suffering at the hands of indecision.

People are sick and tired of hearing that the decision is "imminent" or "likely" - we just want a decision, whatever it may be, so we can move on with our lives.

[Philly.com]
Thanks Gary!

Goldman Sachs is joining the rising chorus of analysts who claim that the Department of Justice is nearing approval over the Sirius and XM merger.

On Tuesday, Stanford Group said the DOJ is "near a ruling" on the satellite radio merger. Then on the following day, Stifel Nicolaus issued a note stating "increasing chatter" surrounding the pending DOJ ruling.

Today, Goldman Sachs chimes in stating that channel checks indicate that it now appears "less likely that the DOJ will block the merger."

"Longer term, merged or unmerged, our outlook for satellite radio is cautious given our view of unrealistic cash flow expectations, and hence valuation risk," he said in a client note.

[AP, 24/7 Wall St via Orbitcast Forums]

Tonight on Orbitcast Radio, I want to talk about one thing and thing only: Georgetown Partners LLC and their "interests" in Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. and XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc.

After the recent news surrounding Georgetown, I thought it would be a good opportunity to give some dedicated focus on this organization, highlight some its history (as well as that Chester Davenport and the Rev. Jesse Jackson) and to discuss what alternatives the listeners feel would be fair.

Tune in tonight, at 8pm ET/5pm PT, right here online. As always, there will be a live chatroom where everyone can interact and you can call-in and participate live on the "air" - (646) 595-3690.

[Orbitcast Radio]

Georgetown Partners continues to push hard in its efforts to have the FCC require that Sirius-XM hand over 20% of spectrum to the company, should the two satcasters merge.

Below is what Georgetown has been doing at the FCC, in only the past two-weeks:

• January 31st - Chester Davenport (pictured), Managing Director of Georgetown Partners, and other members representing the company met with several members of the FCC. [Link (PDF)]
• February 6th - Chester Davenport met with Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein and Rudy Brioché. [Link (PDF)]
• February 7th - Chester Davenport and the Rev. Jesse Jackson, met with Chairman Kevin Martin and Daniel Gonzalez.
• February 7th - On that same day, Chester Davenport and the Rev. Jesse Jackson, met with Commissioner Copps, Commissioner Adelstein, and Scott Deutchman. Then in a separate meeting, Davenport and Jackson met with Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate and Amy Blankenship. [Link (PDF)]
• February 11th - David Rivkin, a Partner at Georgetown Partners, met with Commissioner Robert McDowell. [Link (PDF)]

Meanwhile, Georgetown also received some additional support from the National Caucus and Center on Black Aged, who filed with the FCC (PDF) to express their "concerns" over the merger between Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. and XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc.

The NCBA on Black Aged subsequently provided their support to Georgetown Partners' plan, stating that it "squarely resolves the problems at the heart of this issue."

It can be argued that handing over a portion of Sirius-XM's broadcast infrastructure is in the "public interest" - but Georgetown Partners has absolutely no prior experience with satellite radio.

Then again, Georgetown Partners had no prior experience in telecommunications. But that didn't stop Davenport when he made a deal with GTE to buy half of Ameritech's wireless business back in 1999. [New York Times]

Talker's Magazine has once again released its annual list of the "heavy hundred" - a subjective ranking of the top radio talk show hosts around the country.

This will be the 2nd year in a row that satellite radio "shock jocks" Howard Stern and Opie & Anthony will be sharing the Top 20, though there were definitely some changes in ranking since last year.

Howard Stern dropped from #12 last year to #13 this year, and while his ranking dropped, Talker's Magazine still acknowledged that he is the "father of hot talk radio" and "the most listened-to satellite radio talk host."

Opie & Anthony dropped from #6 last year, to this year's ranking of #17. Sadly, Talker's placed Mancow above O&A this year... and I can't, for the life of me, figure out why. The industry publication was kind enough to label Opie & Anthony as the "leading practitioners of hot talk" and called them "topical and humorous."

Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Michael Savage took the top three spots.

A dubious distinction indeed.

[Talkers Heavy Hundred 2008]

(Due to a high level of spam, comments have been turned off on this post)

The National Association of Broadcasters, in their latest attempt to prevent having to paying a performance fee to artists, has run an ad highlighting the "love affair" between the Radio and Music industry.

And it does nothing, but just look creepy.

The ad, which was run today in the Capitol Hill publications Roll Call, The Hill, and Politico, uses quotes from various folks in the industry highlighting how radio helped them promote music.

One of the quotes the NAB highlights comes from Alicia Keys at her recent Grammy Awards acceptance speech, where she thanked "every radio guy" for contributing to her success.

But what the NAB notably doesn't highlight is Recording Academy president Neil Portnow's speech at the Grammys, where he vowed to "fight to pass legislation to once and for all ensure that, just like in every other developed country in the world, all music creators are compensated for their performances when played on traditional radio."

"Just as we support our own songwriters, we congratulate our fellow writers in the film and television world for winning fair compensation for their unique and creative contributions," Portnow said at the Grammys, in reference to tentative deal between the Writers Guild of America and Hollywood studios.

Forgetting about the soapboxing at the Grammys, back to this ad - it just gives me the chills.

If the NAB is hoping to portray terrestrial radio as outdated and irrelevant, they successfully did so with that picture. The orange abomination of a radio they used - which has the sex appeal of a spaceheater - combined with the awkward look of those characters kissing that thing... it just doesn't help their cause.

View the full ad after the jump... (not recommended)

Who needs seasonally overpriced flowers, blood diamonds or lead-ridden confectionery to show that special someone that you care? Skip out on all that and send an XM Lovebear instead.

Because nothing says "I love you" better than unabashed corporate advertising.

Thanks XM81FAN!

Sirius is dropping their drawers this week with "steamy, and seductive" Valentine's Day programming devoted to love, sex, relationships and dating.

It all starts with Sirius' Cosmo Radio (ch 111) giving some hot tips on making this V-day extra special, how to decode your guy's gift, and giving (and getting) the hottest kisses. Yummy.

Meanwhile, Maxim Radio (ch 108) is running their "Valentine's Day Crisis Line" with 13 full hours of expert advice for men who are stressing about the most romantic day of the year.

If that's not enough to get you hot and bothered, there's other sassy Valentine's Day programming like Sirius Stars' Candace Bushnell talking with love experts about the importance of loving yourself. And nothing says "romantic" better than dinner ideas and tips for Valentine's Day baked goods on Martha Stewart Living Radio.

Check out Sirius' full Valentine's Day lineup here.

XM Canada is adding a new comedy showcase program, entitled Comic Stripped, to the lineup of Laugh Attack.

Comic Stripped, will also air in the U.S., is a dedicated half-hour of interview peppered with excerpts of each comic's best work.

"Having my comedy played on XM's Laugh Attack channel creates fans in places where they would otherwise have never heard of me, particularly in the U.S.," said Canadian comedian Glen "That Canadian Guy" Foster. "Shows like Comic Stripped provide a glimpse of the person behind the 'funny' and offers an opportunity to engage comedy fans in a way that goes beyond simply playing clips from my show."

Comic Stripped will air live every Friday at 8am ET on Laugh Attack (ch 153) with encores every Saturday at 3am/pm ET, Monday at 10am/pm ET and Wednesday at 5am/pm ET.

[via Marketnews.ca]
Thanks Lee!

Follow the jump for a list of upcoming shows...

The Department of Justice is forcing Clear Channel to sell their radio stations in four cities in order to complete its $19.5 billion buyout deal with Thomas H. Lee Partners and Bain Capital.

San Francisco, Houston, Las Vegas and Cincinnati are the cities required by the DOJ to be sold out.

The agency said that the deal would result in higher prices to radio advertising purchasers in those markets. The reason? Bain and THL already have substantial ownership interests in two firms (Cumulus and Univision) that compete with Clear Channel in those cities.

[DOJ]

Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. Executive VP and Chief Financial Officer David Frear extended his contract with the company, and will receive an increase in base salary, it was revealed today in an SEC filing.

Frear's employment agreement was set to expire in July of this year, but has been extended to July 2011.

Also, effective August 1st, 2008, David Frear's base salary will get a healthy boost to $750,000 per year. That's up from an annual salary of $525,000.

Sirius also granted Frear with 300,000 restricted stock units and 1,500,000 options to purchase common stock.

In recent months, Mel Karmazin had mentioned that the post-merger management team was not yet fully in place. If this is any indication, it looks like Mr. Frear doesn't have anything to worry about.

[SEC Filing]

Here we go again. Stifel Nicolaus analyst Blair Levin today wrote that he is hearing "increasing chatter" that the DOJ is about to announce its decision on the merger between Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. and XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc.

Levin noted that this isn't the first time he heard chatter about a decision - but that "the volume of the chatter" suggests that "the likelihood of a decision being close" is higher than in the past.

He also continues to believe that the DOJ is more likely than not to approve the merger. If the DOJ decides not to block the deal then the next step will be FCC approval.

Levin thinks the FCC would place some conditions on approval, including making interoperable satellite raido receivers, making the radios compatible with HD Radio, providing a minimum amount of public interest programming, prices freezes, and tiered/a la carte programming packages at lower prices.

[Barrons]

XM Satellite Radio will release their 4th quarter and full year 2007 financial results in just over two weeks: on Thursday, February 28th (two days after Sirius does the same).

XM has scheduled their conference call for that Thursday at 10am ET to announce and discuss the results.

As always, the call will be streamed online, or if you're not in front of a computer you can listen via telephone: just dial 877-265-5808 (toll-free) or 706-679-7931 (local number). The conference ID number is 35479749.

As the winter cold grips the land, there is one sure sign that spring is in the air: Pitchers and catchers are reporting for spring training this week, and XM’s MLB Home Plate (ch 175) is there.

MLB Home Plate’s Joe Castellano will report from Arizona, while Holden Kushner delivers the news from Florida. Castellano is planning to kick off XM’s coverage in Mesa, Arizona, at the Chicago Cubs’ camp on Thursday, February 14th. Kushner will open in Clearwater, Florida., with the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday, February 16th.

Meanwhile back in Washington DC, the MLB Home Plate team is covering this week’s other big baseball story: the congressional hearing on steroid use in baseball, taking place exactly two months after the Mitchell Report was released.

UPDATE: Today’s congressional hearing is now playing on a continuous loop on XM channel 176. It will continue to run through Friday at 1pm ET.

Georgetown Partners may have possibly violated bribery law, and supporting members of Congress may have performed ethics violations as well, according to a letter obtained by Orbitcast.

The letter - which was addressed to Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin and sent to Sirius Chairman Joseph Clayton, XM CEO Nate Davis and XM Chairman Gary Parsons - claims that Georgetown Partners may have violated U.S. Code and H.O.R. Code of Official Conduct by contributing money to three politicians, who in turn supported Georgetown in their recommendation to the FCC.

In question are Reps. Gregory Meeks (D-NY), Albert Wynn (D-MD) and Bennie Thompson (D-MS) who all received campaign contributions from executives of Georgetown Partners and subsequently supported Georgetown’s attempt to gain broadcast infrastructure of a combined Sirius-XM.

Georgetown has repeatedly urged the FCC, should the agency approve the Sirius-XM merger, to require that 20% of a combined Sirius-XM infrastructure be leased to a minority-controlled entity.

Rep. Gregory Meeks, in fact, originally supported the Sirius-XM merger, but changed his position to support Georgetown.

• Meeks received a $2,000 campaign donation from Chester Davenport, the managing director of Georgetown Partners on October 7th, 2005.

In a separate letter to Chairman Martin, six members of Congress also sided with Georgetown Partners' agenda, claiming they feel that "a minority-controlled entity should have rights to the broadcast infrastructure."

Of those six Congressmen, two received campaign contributions from executives of Georgetown, according to the letter:

• Rep. Albert R. Wynn received a total of $27,000 from executives of Georgetown between June 24, 1999 and September 6, 2006.
• Rep. Bennie G. Thompson received a $1,000 campaign contribution from Chester Davenport, just five months before supporting Georgetown in the letter to the FCC Chairman.

The letter obtained by Orbitcast claims that this activity raises the question of possible bribery law violations, citing Rule XXIII Clause 3 of the Code of Official Conduct for members of the U.S. House of Representatives:

A Member…of the House may not receive compensation and may not permit compensation to accrue to his beneficial interest from any source, the receipt of which would occur by virtue of influence improperly exerted from his position in Congress.

In addition, the letter points to other merger-related activities by Georgetown and the Rainbow-PUSH Coalition, who has supported Georgetown in their pursuit for Sirius-XM infrastructure. Particularly mergers like SBC-Ameritech and the CBS-Viacom merger, where Chester Davenport "[pressured] companies in merger regulatory reviews to sell a portion of the merged company to Georgetown," with the help of the Reverend Jesse Jackson.

While I am no lawyer and cannot attest to the legalese surrounding these claims, it all raises serious doubt over the motives of the parties involved.

[Read the full letter here (PDF)]

Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. and Chrysler LLC have extended their relationship through September 2017.

Sirius is currently available in most Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge models. This agreement targets a factory-installed penetration rate of more than 70% of Chrysler vehicles.

"Sirius is proud to extend our exclusive relationship with Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge," said Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin. "Chrysler will be selling millions of vehicles with Sirius and we look forward to a very significant number of Chrysler customers becoming part of our already very satisfied Sirius family of more than 8.3 million subscribers."

Sirius Satellite Radio plans to release its 4th quarter and full year 2007 financial and operating results in two weeks: on Tuesday, February 26th.

Sirius also will hold a conference call at 8am ET to discuss these results.

As always, you'll be able to listen to the conference call online and on Sirius channel 126.

UPDATE: It was pointed out in the comments - and definitely should be highlighted - that this is a departure from the "normal" procedure. Historically, Sirius has always waited for XM to announced their earnings call and release date. This time around, they have decided to make the first move.

UPDATE 2: It was also pointed out that this is the same day the FCC meets, though Sirius' call is at 8am while the FCC will meet at 9:30am.

Stanford Group analyst Paul Gallant wrote in a recent research note that the merger between Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. and XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. is nearing a likely approval.

"We believe the Department of Justice (DOJ) is near a ruling on the XM-Sirius merger, and we reiterate our belief that it is likely to win regulatory approval," Stanford Group wrote in the report.

"As for timing, DOJ’s ruling could come any day now. Shortly after DOJ rules, we expect FCC Chairman Martin to recommend to his fellow commissioners the same outcome reached by DOJ."

It was also noted the opposition group meetings with the DOJ are likely a last ditch effort, and that this is usually parties who are likely to lose the battle.

[24/7 Wall St. via Orbitcast Forums]

POTUS '08 is broadcasting live from a corner booth at the historic Ben's Chili Bowl (the local institution beloved for its dangerously good chili dogs) today as residents go to the polls for the "Potomac Primaries" in D.C., Virginia, and Maryland.

Ben's was chosen because it's a sort of "town square" that attracts people from all walks of life, and it's a popular spot for D.C. politicos.

The place has fed everyone from Bono, to Dave Chappelle, to George W. Bush; and if you look at the black & white photo above Joe's head, it looks like the late, great "Rerun" (aka Fred Berry) of What's Happening!! fame made it over to Ben's before he left us for that big chili bowl in the sky.

Here you see POTUS '08 anchor Joe Mathieu interviewing former Washington mayor Marion "Yayo" Barry about today's presidential primary in D.C.

The Daytona 500 will be turning 50 this year, and Sirius is airing comprehensive coverage of "The Great American Race" with the live race broadcast, plus multiple channels carrying in-car audio.

On Sunday, February 17th, Sirius will give 15 hours of live coverage of the 50th running of the Daytona 500 starting at 8am ET. Sirius NASCAR Radio (ch 128) will carry the race broadcast live nationwide (2:30 pm ET) and additional Driver2Crew Chatter channels will carry the in-car audio of NASCAR's top drivers.

Sirius will combine the race broadcast with the driver-to-crew chatter on the Driver2Crew Chatter channels, allowing fans to follow the overall race call and the in-car audio of a driver on a single channel.

Here's what subscribers can hear for this weekend's Daytona 500:

• Live race call provided by Motor Racing Network - channel 128
• Jimmie Johnson in-car audio - channel 122
• Dale Earnhardt, Jr. in-car audio - channel 125
• Tony Stewart in-car audio - channel 126
• Jeff Gordon in-car audio - channel 127
• Fan's Choice - channel 123 (Driver TBD)

The "Fan's Choice" channel will feature the in-car audio of a driver as voted on by the fan (go here to choose your favorite).

Sirius NASCAR Radio will also provide full coverage of the Gatorade Duels on Thursday at 1:15pm ET, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race on Friday at 7:30pm ET and the NASCAR Nationwide Series race on Saturday at 12:45pm ET.

In addition to NASCAR Radio being live from Daytona throughout Speedweeks with live infield action and in the "Fan Zone" atop the Cup garage; Sirius will also debut a new nighttime show during Daytona 500 week.

Entitled "Late Shift," the new show will be hosted throughout the year by Rick Benjamin and Buddy Baker and will premiere on Wednesday, February 13th (from 9pm to midnight ET) and air Wednesday and Thursday nights (8pm - 11pm ET after Daytona 500) throughout the year on NASCAR Radio.

The addition of "Late Shift," brings NASCAR Radio's programming schedule to a minimum of 15 hours of live talk every weekday.

[NASCAR on Sirius]

Photo: Jimmie Johnson and Michael Waltrip on the Daytona 500 front row.

So here's a piece from Clear Channel's recent FCC filing that I didn't notice before: the largest radio conglomerate in the country is calling satellite radio "a genuine threat" to terrestrial radio.

Maybe they didn't get the memo from Cox Radio? Didn't Robert Neil say that satellite radio just wasn't "a real business" - and yet now it's a genuine threat?

In the filing, Clear Channel said a merged XM and Sirius would create "a genuine threat to the economic framework of terrestrial broadcast radio."

But of course, Clear Channel is no stranger to building up that "economic framework." Clear Channel's co-founder Red McCombs (who started the radio giant with Lowry Mays back in the '70s) has a personal net worth of a whopping $1.6 Billion.

And this "genuine threat" consists of a mere 4.1% metro unweighted quarter hours, according to the latest Arbitron numbers. Oh but, the company which is synonymous with "monopoly," is now crying foul. Lest we forget, Clear Channel's forward sales agreement with XM (a product of their early investment in the satcaster) is set to expire in June of this year, at which time they're expected to hand over 8.3 million shares in XM to Bear Stearns.

So I wonder if they have any ulterior motives in seeing the merger get scuttled? Nah, I'm sure it's all just completely "genuine."

[via FMQB]

Washington D.C. along with nearby Virginia and Maryland are holding their presidential primaries today; a trio of contests that have been dubbed the "Potomac Primary" and have gained importance in the tight Democratic race.

XM's POTUS '08 (ch 130) will be broadcasting from a local landmark called Ben's Chili Bowl, a 50-year-old D.C. diner, to interview D.C. politicos and journalists.

The humble establishment is about a mile from XM's headquarters, and so you should expect some good "spotted" photos coming later today. In the meantime, tune in to POTUS to follow the up-to-the-minute Potomac Primary action.

To commemorate the 25th anniversary of the iconic album, XM will be launching of a special month-long channel, "XM Thriller: The Music of Michael Jackson," on March 1st.

XM Thriller (ch 63), will feature Jackson’s solo work, as well as recordings from The Jackson 5, interviews and stories from additional artists, plus other unique content that celebrates Jackson’s musical contributions.

Quincy Jones, who produced "Thriller," among other Jackson solo albums, will serve as Executive Advisor, providing counsel on the channel’s creative direction and structure.

Michael Jackson's "Thriller" sold more than 104 million copies worldwide and was the first in history to have seven top-ten singles. The 25th anniversary reissue, "Thriller 25," will be released nationwide tomorrow, February 12th, and includes every song from the original release remastered, plus several new remixes featuring Akon, will.i.am, Fergie and Kanye West.

XM Thriller will run from March 1st through March 31st.

And for a Thriller-related bonus, follow the jump...

The eternally soft-stepping M&A Researcher has come out with an analysis this weekend stating that the chances of the Sirius-XM merger passing regulatory muster have been reduced now, thanks to its lengthy delays.

M&A's reasoning is multifold, but the end result is that they put the chances at approval at less than 33% - in fact, they ultimately give it a 1-in-5 chance of success.

In my opinion, I feel the delay bodes well towards the final approval of the deal - in that, there's a chance that someone got wind of approval and opponents are now working towards concessions to scuttle the ship. Hints at surrendering spectrum having been the "end game" strategy all along even further solidifies this feeling. But, M&A also has a good point that the Sirius-XM merger will likely be the last deal the DOJ/FCC will decide. And love 'em or hate 'em, M&A has been pretty accurate up to this point.

[Seeking Alpha]

Chairman Kevin Martin said the FCC would vote on the News Corp-Liberty Media transaction for DirecTV. News Corp will be swapping its 41% stake in the satellite TV provider with Liberty Media's 16% stake.

Martin said he would vote to approve the transaction, though he didn't indicate how the other commissioners would vote. The Chairman said he had instructed the four other commissioners to vote to approve the deal by February 26th (the next public meeting), which has been awaiting FCC and DOJ approval for over a year.

To put this in perspective in comparison to the Sirius-XM merger: the Liberty-DirecTV transaction has been on the FCC's clock for 355 days, while Sirius-XM has been on the clock for 248 days.

So at that pace, we have another 3 months or so ahead of us.

[via Wall Street Journal]

The increased level of merger-related activity over at the FCC continues, now with a series of meetings held by the Media Access Project/Prometheus Radio Project.

The Prometheus Radio Project, a non-profit founded by a small group of radio activists, is joined by the Media Access Project, is a non-profit law firm that pursues "the public’s First Amendment right to hear and be heard on the electronic media." They have objected to the merger since June (PDF).

The two have increasingly been engaging the FCC in meetings, urging for denial of the merger - or the placement of restrictions should the merger be approved.

In their most recent meetings, the Media Access Project and Prometheus Radio Project met with representatives for Commissioners Copps, Adelstein and McDowell - in the past two days.

So what conditions would these two non-profit groups want imposed? Simply said: they want 50% of Sirius-XM spectrum to be stripped away.

"...the Commission has already determined that 12.5 MHz is sufficient for an economically viable SDARS system, thus the Commission should make other uses of the excess capacity," wrote the Media Access Project.

"Specifically, the Commission should: (1) create a set-aside for non-commercial educational programming; (2) require the combined entity to lease capacity to unaffiliated commercial programmers; or (3) require the excess capacity to be returned for auction."

...and you thought Georgetown Partners' demands of 20% of spectrum were bad?

[FCC Filing: 1 (PDF), 2 (PDF)]

Just a reminder that tonight is the return of Orbitcast Radio - live at 8pm ET/5pm PT. There is no channel because it "airs" right here on the internets.

We'll cover scrumptious details like:

• The current state of retail (or lack thereof) - what can be done to revive it?
• The Orbies - who's winning and who's not (only one more day left to vote!)
• Cool things we've seen in the past weeks - like Hyundai's touchscreen interface, XM Note and more
• And of course, the Sirius-XM merger - The current battle from Clear Channel, the prospect of surrendering spectrum and the fact that we'll be 354 days into this ridiculous process...

We have lots of ground to cover, and since it's a live show - you can call in and participate. The call-in number is (646) 595-3690 if you'd like to join in on the conversation (and as always, there will be a live chat room open during the show as well).

And if you happen to be one of those rare few people who are actually doing something on a Friday night, have no fear, because the show will be archived for your enjoyment.

[Tune in here]

XM Satellite Radio has reworked its credit facility specifically for the Sirius-XM merger, as well as its agreements with General Motors, it was revealed today in an SEC filing.

First, they amended their current $250 million credit facility. Simply put: should the merger be consummated, the facility will continue to be available.

Next up, XM restated and amended their agreement with GM, rolling together the separate distribution and credit agreements. The terms are similar to that of the previous agreements, except for a new minimum pre-marketing cash flow threshold for 2008 that XM will need to meet in order to make draws under the GM credit facility in 2009.

XM has a $150 million credit facility with GM.

[SEC Filing]

XM will be expanding the lineup for The Power (ch 169) to include additional African-American talk programming, starting on Monday, February 11th.

Tavis Smiley, Kojo Nnamdi, Blanche Williams, and the sports-talk duo The 2 Live Stews (pictured), will be joining the likes of the Reverend Al Sharpton, Joe Madison and Warren Ballantine on the nation's only African-American talk channel.

"The Tavis Smiley Show," will broadcast weekly on Saturday 11am - 1pm and 7pm - 9pm ET with an additional airing on Sunday from 1pm - 3pm ET.

"The Kojo Nnamdi Show" will be broadcast weekdays from 7pm - 8pm and 11pm - 12 midnight ET.

Doug and Ryan Stewart, known nationwide as "The 2 Live Stews," will be heard each weekday from 4pm - 7pm ET.

And "Greatness By Design," hosted by Blanche Williams, will air each Saturday from 6pm - 8 pm ET.

Orbitcast has learned that the National Association of Broadcaster and Clear Channel have been working toward the ultimate goal of forcing Sirius-XM to surrender spectrum, according to an unnamed source.

According to the source, who agreed to reveal this information under condition of anonymity, the merger opponents have suspected all along that the merger would pass. Their strategy has been to make noise under the guise to block merger, then concede and compromise for a spectrum surrender.

"This has been the end game all along," Orbitcast was told.

Clear Channel's most recent filing further solidifies this theory. It also adds to the suspicion that the delay in coming to a decision over the Sirius-XM merger has been the negotiations on how much spectrum the companies will surrender.

I question the level to which surrendering spectrum would make the entire merger useless - and indeed, that may be the merger-opponents' game plan. As I understand it, surrendering spectrum is a deal breaker. Now, I can see Sirius-XM conceding to a "free to air" requirement - in that a percentage of spectrum is alloted to non-commercial/informational programming that Sirius and XM have no editorial control over (as brilliantly proposed by Gigi Sohn). But to carve out a chunk and divest at will? That seems like a deal breaker to me.

Clear Channel, now satisfied with their own merger approval, have been increasingly active in their discussions with the FCC regarding the merger between Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. and XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc.

In fact, in the past six months, Clear Channel has actually met with the Commission discussing the Sirius-XM merger exactly 17 times as of writing this. But it's their most recent filing that has given us the clearest glimpse into what these discussions have been about.

The company says that, regardless of how the market is defined, the FCC shouldn't grant approval to the Sirius-XM merger.

"Permitting one company to control so much spectrum would inevitably undermine the viability of free, over-the-air, advertiser-supported radio’s economic model, harming localism and diversity, the pillars of the public interest under the Communications Act of 1934, as amended," writes Clear Channel.

They go on to describe various scenarios. In short:

• Under the current "national pay radio" market definition - the merger should be denied
• If the market is defined as "all radio services" - then it would give Sirius-XM too much spectrum and "undermine" the ability of terrestrial to serve the public
• And if it's defined as the "audio entertainment" market - this would put "intense competitive pressure" on terrestrial radio because everyone else (satellite radio, iPods, internet radio, etc) are unregulated
• "HD radio is not a meaningful threat to satellite radio – not now and likely not for some time..." (the quote says it all)

Should the FCC actually approve the merger, Clear Channel asks that the full 25 MHz of spectrum is "simply too much market power." Their solution? Chop that down to 15 MHz and the remainder would be "divested in some fashion."

Cutting the amount of spectrum wouldn't be enough though. They also would like the government to require that Sirius and XM "embed HD radio reception capability into all satellite radio receivers" - much like what iBiquity and the HD Radio Alliance have been asking for.

[FCC Filing (PDF)]

It looks like a touchscreen display, similar to the one we saw at CES this year, will be rolling out to the general public as part of the new 2009 Hyundai Sonata.

The brand-new high-resolution touch-screen display was (you guessed it) unveiled today at the Chicago Auto Show in the 2009 Hyundai Sonata.

It will feature sophisticated graphics - which XM says will make it "easy to glance at the XM channel name" - as well as the song title, artist name, and category to select music, sports, talk, news, comedy or traffic and weather.

I love this approach personally. The better the consumers' experience, the more likely you are to convert them to a full-time subscriber. That's just pure Marketing 101 right there. When someone buys a new car, they're looking to be "WOW'd" by that vehicle, and a slick touchscreen interface will do just that. It encourages folks to interact with the service. And, as we all know, the more you experience satellite radio, the more you love it.

This sort of interface (finally) makes XM less like "radio" and more like "entertainment" - and that's something we desperately need.

Since we normally don't get to see how popular Sirius is on a state-by-state basis, the guys over at TSS Radio decided to put together their own comparison using their own sales data.

Now, TSS Radio is one of the leading online Sirius retailers, so this gives us a pretty good look at how Sirius' numbers are according to region... well, at least for online buyers.

But these guys took it even further, and showed the ratio of Sirius' popularity compared to each state's population. Then they used their internal numbers and extrapolated the data to derive an estimated number of subscribers in each state. If that wasn't enough, they wrapped it all together into a neato interactive map.

It's definitely not a scientific "study" - and they're very clear to point out that this is just for fun - but worth checking out just to how your own state stacks up. Full Disclosure: TSS Radio is a sponsor of Orbitcast, but I'd still link to this even if they weren't... simply because it's cool.

[TSS Radio]

The all new 2009 Acura RL - which was also unveiled today at the 2008 Chicago Auto Show - will be offering XM NavWeather as a part of its AcuraLink service.

Acura is XM's first automotive partner to debut the XM NavWeather service.

The real-time, personalized weather tracking service is delivered directly through the Acura RL's in-dash nav system, and uses XM's "Threat Matrix" technology which provides alerts on weather threats (like hail, floods, tornado and storm warnings).

XM NavWeather also provides multi-day forecasts based on weather monitoring stations across the U.S.

The 2009 Acura RL also unveiled a new feature called "XM Note."

Developed by Acura, specifically for use with XM Satellite Radio, Note lets users record 10 seconds of live XM music along with the name of the artist, song title, and even the XM channel name that can be referred to at a later time. It's essentially a "tagging" feature built into the vehicle. Acura's Note also allows you to store up to 30 songs through the audio system.

The RL comes standard with the all-new Note function for XM.

The new 2009 Chevrolet Traverse (which was just unveiled today at the 2008 Chicago Auto Show), will be the first Chevy vehicle to offer XM NavTraffic as a factory- installed feature.

XM Radio will also be standard on the 2009 Traverse, while XM NavTraffic will be available on Traverse vehicles equipped with navigation. XM NavTraffic is currently available in 80 major markets across the U.S.

Right now, XM NavTraffic is standard, factory-installed feature on the Cadillac CTS and Cadillac CTS-V. Now with the Traverse, it'll be interesting to see how many additional GM models will start to join the fray.

Yes folks that's right, Orbitcast Radio returns this Friday, February 8th at our new time: 8pm ET/5pm PT.

This episode we'll talk about my favorite point of criticism: the current retail strategy of satellite radio (and is there even one?). We'll also cover The Orbies and who's currently winning. Plus, we might even talk about (gasp) the Sirius-XM merger and the disgrace that it has dragged on for so long.

So be sure to tune in live, this Friday at 8pm ET/5pm PT, because Orbitcast Radio is back!

[Orbitcast Radio]

XM and the Bob Edwards Show last week were honored with the "Champions of Runaway and Homeless Youth" Award by the National Network for Youth, a non-profit youth advocacy organization.

The award, which honors those who work to educate the public about runaway and homeless kids, was given in recognition of a Bob Edwards documentary. The radio documentary, "The Invisible: Children Without Homes," premiered on XM back in late December and was made available to public radio stations by XM via PRI (PRI syndicates "Bob Edwards Weekend" which is also available as a podcast).

You can listen to the full documentary (which is really fascinating) and get some background info here. There's also a set of photos of "The Invisible" on Flickr.

The Bushnell ONIX 400, which we first saw an inkling of way back in November 2006 (and then later learned all the details about it at CES 2007) is finally available for sale at major retailers like Amazon, Wal-Mart, REI, Bass Pro Shops, Cabela's, and Gander Mountain.

I'll spare you with the boring details, because if you've been reading Orbitcast for any length of time, you've likely read all about the unit several times. For everyone else, the ONIX 400 is - in short - a handheld GPS overlaid with satellite and topographical imagery, combined with live weather data and forecasting, and featuring live XM Satellite Radio (wow, that wasn't very short at all).

We learned about XM NavWeather's pricing back in August of last year, but just so you're caught up: the XM NavWeather standalone service runs $9.95/month and, combined with XM Radio, it costs $16.94/month.

I've actually been playing with testing the Bushnell ONIX 400 for several months now, and slowly judiciously writing up my long overdue detailed review.

My quick take:
While the Bushnell ONIX 400 is a technological wonder, it's most definitely not for everyone. It's for the hardcore outdoorsmen who wants to be prepared for everything, anywhere. The ONIX 400 gives nothing in terms of navigation (so don't even think about using it in your car) but if you're type to spend 15 hours in a duck blind, out on your fishing boat, or up in a tree stand - this is the device for you.

More to come on this, I swear.

The boys over at Wired got their hands on a brand new Slacker Portable, and they absolutely love it. Specifically, Wired says it "totally rawks."

Among their list of reasons for giving such a glowing review is the solid construction, clean sound (since it uses the AAC Pro v2 codec) and the fact that it's a cure for "music collection boredom."

Things they didn't like? The wacky touchstrip (and subsequent lack of touchscreen - probably my biggest gripe from the limited amount of time I spent with it), and the fact that the cached stations don't leave much room for your own music collection.

Wired leans much more towards the positive end of the spectrum than the likes of Walt Mossberg - but the simple fact that Walt didn't say he hated the device is glowing in itself.

[Wired]

As expected, the Apple iPhone has gotten a boost in storage capacity from 8gb to 16gb.

The 8gb version runs $399 while the 16gb will cost you $499. There's also a new iPod Touch, weighing in at 32gb at also $499.

While not the fabled 3G version (yet), I'm sure this interim version will help maintain Apple's ridiculous rate of sales.

[Apple via Engadget]

Tomorrow may be Super Tuesday, but for many revelers - it's also Fat Tuesday - the final day of Mardi Gras and the last day before lent.

So, whether you’re in the heart of New Orleans wondering where your wallet is, or holed up in your lonely cubicle with your trusty red Swingline stapler - you can still get a little taste of The Big Easy on XM's microchannel: Mardi Gras.

The channel aims to be the definitive radio celebration of the Louisiana spirit, from the music, to the food, to the myriad of cultures that make up the great state. Check out Mardi Gras (ch 120) anytime Tuesday...

...beads not included.

Yes folks, it's been an incredible 350 days since the merger was first announced.

In case you haven't noticed, I recently put together this merge-o-meter on the homepage of Orbitcast, so you can sit there and watch the time slip away while the Feds continue to drag their feet.

Let's get a decision already!

Yahoo may be fending off "bearhugs" from Microsoft, but it's their music biz that's getting the axe in the shortterm. The company announced today that it will discontinue its Yahoo Music Unlimited subscription service and will transfer its customer base to RealNetworks' Rhapsody service.

The process is expected to begin mid-2008, when subscribers will be guided through migrating their current libraries over to Rhapsody's system. Eventually (though we don't know when) subscribers will be expected to, ahem, "upgrade" to Rhapsody's pricing plans.

Only problem is, Yahoo's rates range from $5.99/month (full year pre-pay) to $8.99/month and Rhapsody memberships start at $12.99/month.

Yahoo will integrate Rhapsody into their music portal, and the two also intend to collaborate on other digital music services such as music downloads.

[CNET]

Rebecca Roberts, the managing editor and anchor for XM’s POTUS ’08 (ch 130), has joined the blogosphere and is now blogging about... what else, the 2008 election.

You can check out her musings at Glamoracy, which is a new site devoted to the presidential mayhem campaign hosted by none other than Glamour magazine (hence the fancy portmanteau... get it? Glamour + Democracy? It's pure genius I tell you). She posts a new blogpost every Monday, and today’s post is about, naturally, Super Tuesday. (All kidding aside, her posts are actually a great read.)

Want more? Rebecca will be talking with fellow Glamocracy blogger Caille Millner on her POTUS show "1600" today at 4pm ET. Let's see how easily the word "Gla-mo-cracy" rolls off the tongue.

[Glamoracy]

XM's uber-politics channel POTUS '08 will be providing the XM Nation with full coverage of the Super Tuesday contests as voters go to the polls in 24 states tomorrow.

Hosts Rebecca Roberts, Joe Mathieu, and Adrienne Mitchell will anchor the Super Tuesday coverage from the XM studios in Washington, D.C. Meanwhile, POTUS' Scott Walterman will be in The City of Angels to cover the California primaries, while Tim Farley will be in Manhattan to report on the results in New York state.

Tammy Haddad, the veteran network TV political producer and media commentator, will host the latest edition of "High Definition Politics" on POTUS (ch 130) on Tuesday at 6pm ET. Haddad's guests for the hour- long special will include CNN political correspondent Jessica Yellin; Bob Shrum, presidential campaign adviser for Al Gore and John Kerry; Todd Harris, presidential campaign adviser for Fred Thompson and John McCain's 2000 bid; Mike Allen, chief political correspondent for The Politico; and Alexandra Stoddard, political analyst and associate editor for The Hill.

But wait, there's more.

The Washington Post, FOX News, Los Angeles Times, the polling firm Zogby International, National Journal, and Campaigns & Elections' Politics magazine - all contributors for POTUS - will report news from Super Tuesday states across the nation. Bloggers and podcasters will also weigh in with opinions and analysis.

Back in September, XM put together an online sweepstakes called "XM Wild Ride" which targeted new car buyers. The sweepstakes offered entrants the chance to win a grand prize of a new XM-equipped car valued up to $30,000, and a one-year free subscription to XM.

Well, the lucky winner - Kelley Clement of Texas - selected for herself a Ruby Red Chevy Silverado crew cab. Kelley picked up her Silverado last week from her local dealer, and obviously, she has something to smile about.

Congrats Kelley!

Sirius Satellite Radio is launching a new channel, following this week's Super Tuesday primary elections, entitled "Indie Talk" on channel 110.

The goal of Indie Talk is to create "an uncensored, unfiltered forum for independent thought and opinion" - specifically targeting what Sirius calls "the blogger generation."

Headlining Indie Talk will be actor and political maverick Ron Silver, who will launch the channel alongside his new daily call-in show. Silver used to be registered as a Democrat, but broke with the Democratic Party over the War on Terrorism and spoke at the 2004 Republican National Convention. He has since re-registered as an Independent. Silver's show will air Monday-Friday from 9am - 11am ET.

It's not clear who else will join Ron Silver in this new channel, but it's being billed as giving a "voice to all individuals" and being "open to everyone."

Indie Talk will also be airing "blogcast" news updates every 20 minutes - reporting headlines and news as it unfolds on various blogs. In addition, the channel will feature "The Blog Bunker," a roundtable discussion featuring a selection of the over 100 million bloggers from around the globe.

Sirius is one of the lead sponsors of the National Marine Manufacturers Association's "Get in the Game" boat giveaway, being held at seven boat and sportshows in 2008
Sirius and its "Sirius Marine Weather" brand, alongside Maxum, GM, and Boating magazine, are all teaming together to sponsor the event.

The promotion’s grand prize is a football-themed Maxum 2200 SR3 equipped with Sirius Ratellite Radio, trailer, pigskin interior and various football-related souvenirs. In May, one winner will be selected to win the football-themed boat, valued at over $55,000.

In addition to the grand prize boat, professional football players are greeting show attendees and signing autographs at the promotion’s display. Visitors can also win prizes on-site, including Sirius Satellite Radios, signed footballs and jerseys.

Pictured above is Chauncey Davis, of the Atlanta Falcons, signing an autograph at the Atlanta event.

Upcoming events:

• Atlantic City International Power Boat Show, February 7th with Omar Gaither
• Miami International Boat Show, February 14th (Player is to be determined)
• Northwest Sportshow, April 3rd (Player is to be determined)

There's one more week left for you to vote for your favorite Satellite Radio channels, shows, and on-air hosts in the 2007 Orbitcast Awards (The Orbies).

Here's some highlights of the current standings:

Best Comedy Talk Show - Opie & Anthony lead in 1st place, Ron & Fez in 2nd place, and The Howard Stern Show in 3rd place.
Best New Device - The XM Xpress RC has a pretty significant lead over the Sirius Stiletto 2.
Best Kept Secret on Satellite Radio - By far this is the most active category, with High Society leading in 1st, followed closely by Than & Sam in 2nd place, and Ron & Fez in a distant 3rd place.
Best Music DJ - KB leads in 1st place, Zoltar in 2nd, with Kandy Klutch in a very close 3rd place.

Voting ends on Saturday, February 9th - so get those votes in before time runs out.

[2007 Orbitcast Awards]

View Larger Map

Sirius is asking the FCC permission to increase the power of several repeater towers to 2,000 Watts. The locations of each of these repeaters are listed below or you can find them in the handy map above (RSS/Email readers may need to click-through for the full effect).

• Ann Arbor, MI
• Bridgeport, CT
• Columbia, SC
• Des Moines, IA
• Flint, MI
• Grand Rapids, MI
• Jackson, MS
• Los Angeles, CA
• Madison, WI
• Mobile, AL
• Naples, FL
• Paramus, NJ
• Raleigh-Durham, NC
• Waterbury, CT
• West Palm Beach, FL

According to Satellite Radio TechWorld, these repeaters currently operate somewhere from 150 to 800 Watt, so this increase in power should improve Sirius' repeater reach significant. Lately, the FCC hasn't had any problems granting authority for repeaters operating at or below 2,000 Watts, so hopefully the same applies here.

[Satellite Radio TechWorld]

HD Radio sales numbers have come in for 2007, and iBiquity is patting itself on the back because of a reported 700% jump in sales year-over-year.

Bob Struble, president of iBiquity, told the NAB Board of Directors that 2007 was a "breakthrough year" with over 330,000 HD Radio receivers sold compared to the 40,000 units sold in 2006.

But iBiquity is singing a different song to the FCC, complaining that they suspect Sirius and XM have used their partnerships to "discourage proliferation" of HD Radio.

And only a few months ago, iBiquity was saying they sold 200,000 units in 2006, and are estimating 1 to 1.5 million units for 2007. Surely in October the company had a good enough picture of how sales would be for the year.

So which is it?

• 40k units, or 200k units?
• 330k units last year, or 1.5 million?
• Is HD Radio "breaking through" or being "discouraged"?

I'm having a hard time keeping track.

[Hear 2.0]

MTV and MySpace are collaborating to bring a next-gen Presidential Debate targeting younger audiences to the voting masses, and it will be aired this Saturday on XM Satellite Radio.

The event, entitled "Closing Arguments: A Presidential Super Dialogue," will offer candidates a final opportunity to actively engage the coveted youth voting bloc just before Super Tuesday.

Bringing together Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Ron Paul and Mike Huckabee - "Closing Arguments" take place live this Saturday, February 2nd at 6pm ET on-air, online, radio and mobile.
John McCain and Mitt Romney were also invited to participate in the event, but at this point it's unlikely they'll participate.

Not only will it be broadcast live on MTV, MTV2, and MTV Tr3s, but it will be streamed online on MySpace, streamed live on mobile devices via MTV Mobile, and will be broadcast on XM Satellite Radio's POTUS '08 (ch 130).

So if you're stuck in your car on Saturday night, and want to check out the MySpace/MTV media circus event, go ahead and tune to POTUS for a healthy dose of political mud slinging.

Miley Cyrus (star of Disney's "Hannah Montana"), and teen-pop sensations The Jonas Brothers, are getting together to take control of Sirius Hits 1 this weekend, starting Friday at 5pm ET.

Want to see more of The Jonas Brothers? Well... who doesn't!

• The Jonas Brothers hook up with XM
• The Jonas Brothers to spend their weekend with Sirius XM (new photo!)
• Jonas Brothers take over for the weekend

Together, they'll be sharing behind-the-scenes stories from the tour, tell personal stories about their families, and play their favorite music.

Plus, Kevin, Joe and Nick Jonas will co-host a special edition of "Hit-Bound" and "The Sirius Hits 1 Weekend Countdown." Miley Cyrus will also spin her personal favorite music throughout the weekend.

It wasn't too long ago that Miley Cyrus took over Sirius Hits 1 and The Jonas Brothers kicked off their limited-edition weekly show on XM. I guess they really like satellite radio.

This is all in celebration of the 3D movie Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert. Tune in to Sirius Hits 1 (ch 1) all weekend long to hear these teen-stars in action.

Top execs from five terrestrial radio groups recently talked about the challenges and the competitive factors facing the industry, according to Communications Daily.

But it's what Gary Stone, president of Univision Radio, said that interests me the most. He said that radio broadcasters need to realize they're competing against more than other stations for marketers' attention.

"I'm no longer in the radio business," said Stone, in front of a crowd of media buyers in Beverly Hills. "I consider myself to be in the audio delivery business, marketing multiple platforms to marketers."

'nuff said.

XM Satellite Radio and Sony BMG are saying they have resolved the lawsuit over its Pioneer Inno.

This follow similar agreements made with both Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group back in December. Sony BMG has withdrawn as a party to the complaint filed by the RIAA against XM in May 2006.

EMI is the last of the Big Four major labels to not have announced a settlement over the Inno.

The companies did not disclose terms of the deal.

The popular talk show "Tony Stewart Live," hosted by - wait for it - Tony Stewart (and co-host Matt Yocum), will return for a second season on Sirius starting this Monday, February 4th.

The weekly program moves to Monday nights (8pm - 10pm ET) from last year's Tuesday night timeslot, on Sirius NASCAR Radio (ch 128).

Tony Stewart signed with Sirius back in May 2006, and his talk show officially debuted in January of last year (though there was a preview show in November '06).

Shares of Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. and XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. jumped yesterday after Janco analyst April Horace upgraded both companies and speculated that the merger will be approved.

Horace raised her rating of XM shares to "Buy" from "Accumulate" on the assumption the deal will eventually close. She also upgraded her rating of Sirius shares to "Accumulate" from "Market Perform."

Janco had remained on the sidelines in terms of synergy estimates, because "we didn’t believe the synergies were that great." But in yesterday's note, and after nearly a year of analysis, Horace estimated that the combination could achieve cost savings of $4.1 billion over the next 6 years.

"It remains to be seen whether or not the DOJ approval will arrive before Sirius reports its financial results, sometime in the second half of February," Horace wrote. Sirius and XM have the option to cancel the merger (without penalty) if it doesn't win regulatory approval by March 1st, but Horace believes the companies will extend the agreement.

"We believe that the DOJ will make an announcement before March 1, and that the companies will extend the March 1 date if they are still waiting for FCC approval," the analyst said.

[AP]

Microsoft has offered to buy Yahoo! in an unsolicited bid, for $44.6 billion.

Consisting of both cash and stock, Microsoft's bid values Yahoo shares at $31 a share, a 62% premium on yesterday's closing price.

Yahoo! is Sirius' music partner for the Stiletto, but beyond that this also would consolidate two big players in Internet Radio. Yahoo runs the popular LAUNCHcast service, and Microsoft has MSN Radio (which is powered by Pandora).

Microsoft's main motivator behind this is search engine competition and advertising mojo, stating that the "resulting benefits of scale along with the associated capital costs for advertising platform providers make this a time of industry consolidation and convergence. Today this market is increasingly dominated by one player. Together, Microsoft and Yahoo! can offer a competitive choice while better fulfilling the needs of customers and partners."

I wonder if their merger will take as long as Sirius-XM? Something tells me it won't.

[Engadget, TechCrunch]