The Associated Press has a well done recap about the current state of the merger between Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. and XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. There's not much you'll learn from the piece, especially if you've been following the process as closely as many of us have. But there are some good quotes.
Like this one: "The process appears to be broken," said Ken Ferree, former chief of the FCC's media bureau. The Commissions's unofficial 180-day calendar has become "meaningless," he said.
Another good one comes from Scott Cleland, a consultant at Precursor LLC: "The amount of opposition is directly correlated to the amount of time the review takes." I'm not sure if that's an encouraging thought, but it's a fact that the NAB has thrown everything they have in their arsenal to try to stop this merger, and the delays have been purely ridiculous.
But there has to be more to this than just a simple equation. And I think Art Brodsky of Public Knowledge sums it up perfectly: "Is it political?" Brodsky asked. "Sure, but what isn't?"
Ain't that the truth.
[AP]
Thanks to everyone who sent this in!
Dear Satellite Radio Subscribers,
Take a minute to urge Commissioner Tate to approve the merger.
http://www.fcc.gov/commissioners/tate/mail.html
Two things, and Good Morning everyone!
I'm surprised that assuming the merger more people are not swinging into XM as it's at a 13% discount for the arb play.
Second... I've never quite got that picture. Is that Nate Davis sneaking into the Sirius Studio praying to the satrad Gods?
Oh yeah... one more thing... HD and the NAB and Congress and the FCC sucks.
Ditto to Plowboy and No2NAB.
How the heck does good ol Art Brodsky think that almost 500 days is an 'important opportunity for public comment'???? The public rang in right after the announcement that they wanted the merger. That left the NAB and their cronies such as John Kerry to ring in for over a year.
Let's wrap it up people. We know the winner.
Article really doesnt give good PR to NAB, politicians and FCC---Maybe this creates some "pressure" since it REALLY shows everyone from the mainstream general public to Wall Street to be in FAVOR of the merger---except the special"i want a free handout" interests and NAB
XM will likely fail if the merger doesn't go through. Bonds!!!! Ouch!
I just wish they'd say that when they want 20%, they'd actually print that they're asking for SIXTY channels instead of Twenty Four!
If you think about it, WTF are they going to do with 24 already?
I'm not a fan of Democrats ( not just because of their opposition to this merger,) but I really hope they ripe Kevin Martin a new one. He was the one who had the power at the FCC, to say Enough is Enough , and stop all pointless meeting and schedule a vote. He didn't and I believe that reguardless of the decision, he'll be fired.
AND WHY IS THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT NOT LOOKING INTO CHESTER DAVENPORT....WHO HAS MANAGED TO HAVE MORE ACCESS TO THE COMMISSIONERS THAN THE COMMISSIONERS.......
AND WHY IS THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT NOT LOOKING INTO CHESTER DAVENPORT....WHO HAS MANAGED TO HAVE MORE ACCESS TO THE COMMISSIONERS THAN THE COMMISSIONERS.......
AND WHY IS THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT NOT LOOKING INTO CHESTER DAVENPORT....WHO HAS MANAGED TO HAVE MORE ACCESS TO THE COMMISSIONERS THAN THE COMMISSIONERS.......
Ms. Tate – 202-418-2500
Dtaylortate@fcc.gov
Mr. Adlestein – 202-418-2300
Jonathan.adlestein@fcc.gov
Mr. Copps – 202-418-2000
Michael.copps@FCC.gov
Mr. McDowell – 202-418-2200
Robert.McDowell@FCC.gov
Mr. Martin – 202 –418-1000
KJMWEB@FCC.gov
RYAN... WTF????
AP quote "The company recently refinanced $400 million of its debt at a much higher interest rate and borrowed another $100 million just last month. That's on top of $1.6 billion in existing debt"
Now anyone who has really followed this knows that the refi was to derfer pending debt payments.. Ok thats concerning but the 100 million was for the NLB Escrow and is not new debt on top of the 1.68 billion .. I also love the way they neglect to mention Siri's Debt and Sirius deals with their struggling Chrysller and Ford OEM deals.
I am so sick of this Sirius is the golden child and XM is the bad one when they are both Tainted.
I have watched this stock for the last year or so. Lost about $2500 or so. I really feel that their needs to be an investagaton into what has happened with this merger. I really smell somthing funny! This has been the strangest process that I have ever seen. I am almost sure that something illegal has taken place here.
I think at this point the NAB could probably care less if the merger gets approved. I think what they're doing now is making it look like they're still putting up a fight. Probably as far they're concerned, they accomplished what they set out to do with their delay tactics. Prolonged this process for so long that the price of the stock is way down, the 2 companies are in a heap of debt because so many potential subscribers have sat on the sidelines waiting for a decision. They know even if the merger gets approved, the merged company is going to have a huge mountain to climb. If approval would've come 6 months ago, the mountain wouldn't have been so high.
Jeff said:
>>>Now anyone who has really followed this knows that the refi was to derfer pending debt payments..
Jeff, this is somewhat incorrect. XM did not refinance that $400 million, nor did they change anything to "defer" the payment of that debt. The author of the article used very poor due diligence in this article. This was not a refinance... nor did the maturity date of the debt change. It still matures on December 1, 2009.
This was a basic and simple Note exchange... changing the terms slightly. In return for the holders giving up their rights to "put" the debt on XM, if they change control of the company -- the holders got an increase in their coupon... that is all that changed.
That is not a refinance. Furthermore, the change is only effective IF the merger actually closes. If the merger never closes, there is no change to the current terms at all.
The author used poor judgement in their DD.
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Both companies are run like drunken sailors on leave... let's face the facts, if the merger is approved the managers should be the first to go.. and if the merger isn't approved the managers will be the first to go..
Oh yeah... one more thing... Plowboy sucks, he is still desperate to try and justify his poor failed investment in satradio. Melvin Alan "Mel" Karmazin's "merge" scheme or NO! "merge" scheme Plowboy's money is still HISTORY, just like the satradio industry
With XM-Sirius merger dragging as long as has, why has the decision not been made? The Dept. of Justice made their decision in March, yet you all keep dragging your feet. This decision should have been made shortly after the DOJ's.
It is time to stop listening groups like NAB, Gerorgetown Partners, and others to block the merger and delaying the process. They had enough time to post their opposition that was to end July 24,2007. If time frames are set, you need to abide by them. The link below will show that all groups had the opprituniy.
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-07-2417A1.pdf
Please, make the decision now
There was an error made . This little e-mail was sent to all the commisioners at the FCC. Now we all need copy it and send it to each of the FCC commisioners.
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With XM-Sirius merger dragging as long as has, why has the decision not been made? The Dept. of Justice made their decision in March, yet you all keep dragging your feet. This decision should have been made shortly after the DOJ's.
It is time to stop listening groups like NAB, Gerorgetown Partners, and others to block the merger and delaying the process. They had enough time to post their opposition that was to end July 24,2007. If time frames are set, you need to abide by them. The link below will show that all groups had the opprituniy.
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-07-2417A1.pdf
Please, make the decision now
firefox249,
NO! to your ignorance
NO! to "merge" scheme
NO! to MONOPOLY
Say "yes" to the merger!! FOR THE OF PETE PLEASE SAY "Yes" TO THE MERGER!!!!
Yes to the merger!!!!! I am sick of fucking waiting!!