WorldSpace, the ailing international satellite radio service, has received a much needed cash infusion for up to $40 million of subordinated financing.

The financing facility comes from a company called Yenura Pte. Ltd. - a company that is conveniently controlled by Noah Samara - the chairman and CEO of WorldSpace. Under terms of the facility agreement, Yenura will make up to $40 million available to WorldSpace - who must be draw upon the money on or before January 31, 2008.

This cash infusion will help in WorldSpace's preparations for the launch of its European mobile service in the Italian market and business development activities in selected markets. Meanwhile WorldSpace is continuing to look for additional financing from a variety of sources, including existing and new investors.

WorldSpace also announced it had secured a waiver of certain pre-payment obligations owed to the holders of its existing debt.

Now here's where it gets interesting:
Yenura is a "special purpose entity" established by both WorldSpace CEO Noah Samara and an initial investor in WorldSpace, Salah Idris. That "special purpose" is to invest in WorldSpace, the company reported. Samara holds all of the voting shares in Yenura. But Idris, through his ownership of non-voting shares, holds the major economic interest in Yenura.

Back in 1999, Salah Idris had a pharmaceutical factory he owned in the Sudan destroyed by United States cruise missiles (pictured). U.S. officials said they suspected Idris' factory of making chemical weapons and was suspected to be "associated with the bin Laden network". But Salah Idris has always denied any connection with Osama bin Laden, and filed suit against the U.S. government in federal court over the bombing. Later, the U.S. Treasury unfroze Idris' bank accounts. [BBC]

The involvement of Idris, as well as other initial WorldSpace backers, including Saudi investors Khalid Bin Mahfouz and Mohammed H. Al-Amoudi, had been the subject much scrutiny back when WorldSpace went IPO.

All are Saudi Arabian citizens and "have been the subject of allegations that they and/or charities they were involved in have supported terrorism, and three of these investors were also named, along with a number of Saudi Arabian government officials and prominent Saudi Arabian citizens, in civil actions brought on behalf of victims of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, which actions also contain allegations that certain of such investors were involved in charities that supported terrorism," the company noted in a SEC filings [Wall Street Journal].

But none of the men, including Idris, own shares in WorldSpace or have any voting control according to WorldSpace [Washington Post].

That is... directly.

I really wish I had good things to say about WorldSpace, but for a company with so much potential, there are just too many hurdles to overcome. The latest news from the only international satellite radio company is that they've hired radio guru Roberto Zaino.

Zaino is known in Italy as a pioneer of the radio broadcasting industry having began his career with the launch of Radio Milano International over 30 years ago. Since then he's produced for various radio, television and film endeavors. He did particularly well in RTL 102.5, where he increased daily listenership from 3.6 to over 5.5 million.

He comes on board as the content director for WorldSpace Italia - which is the prime hope focus of WorldSpace right now, as they actually have a license and an OEM deal in the country. Back in July, they struck a deal with Fiat - scheduling aftermarket receivers for late 2008, and factory-installed receivers in three models for late 2009.

But is it too little, too late?

Sure, WorldSpace has two birds covering Asia and Africa, the Middle East and Europe - which has the potential for some 5 billion people driving 300 million cars. But there's just a few hurdles in getting licenses in each of those 131 countries they cover (if you thought Sirius/XM have regulatory hurdles in one country, imagine what WorldSpace is experiencing). And to build out in Europe, WorldSpace will need more satellites.

Most of the company's subscribers - which total only about 177,000 - are mostly in India. But they don't have a terrestrial repeater license in India, and you need one of those to successfully tap into the automobile market.

So that brings the hope back to Italy, and Zaino will be influencing the content there. Let's just hope that he can create enough traction to get things moving.

Shibuya Airwaves, an hour-long show featuring Japanese pop and rock music leading the Oricon music charts, is coming to WorldSpace and XM satellite radio on UPop (ch 29).

Shibuya Airwaves will also include regular commentary on the latest trends in Japanese pop culture and other topics. The show will highlight bands touring the U.S., interview special guests, as well as interact with listeners on-line and over the phone.

The weekly music show created by eigoMANGA "Shibuya Airwaves" has already grown in popularity for terrestrial radio listeners in San Francisco. Currently airing on KYCY in San Francisco as part of KYOU Radio (podcasts on terrestrial), Shibuya Airwaves has become one of KYOU Radio's top programs. Shibuya Airways has extended it brand into producing live concert events and television programming aimed at promoting Japanese music. These events and programs will now promote Shibuya Airwaves program and WorldSpace/XM's UPop channel.

The show will debut mid-August, and will broadcast live on Saturday nights beginning at 12am ET (9pm PT).

[Shibuya Airwaves] 

All three satellite radio companies - Sirius, XM and WorldSpace - will be broadcasting complete coverage of the historic "Live Earth: The Concerts for a Climate in Crisis" concert series, starting on Friday, July 6th at 9pm.

Live Earth is a 24-hour, 7-continent series of 8 concerts taking place on 7.7.07 that bring together over 100 artists and 2 billion people meant to trigger a global movement to solve the climate crisis.

Special Live Earth Channels

• Sirius will broadcast "The Best of Live Earth" on Super Shuffle (ch 12), highlighting the most memorable moments of Live Earth.
• XM will broadcast "Live Earth All Access" (ch 40) featuring highlights of the most memorable performances, backstage interviews and more.
• WorldSpace Channel 29 will provide highlights of the day's best performances from all event locations.

Eco-Friendly Channels
Sirius and XM will also dedicate special channels devoted to the spirit of an eco-friendly lifestyle.

• Sirius Green (ch 119), launched on July 4th is a four-day broadcast channel dedicated to informing the audience about the realities of the climate crisis. Features include environmental tips and myths, stories and interviews with celebrities, political commentary, listener comments and the Live Earth concert calendar.
• XM's microchannel - Earthsounds (ch 39) - will feature a variety of nature sounds and recordings captured from around the world. Earthsounds can be heard starting Friday, July 6th at 10pm ET through Monday, July 9th at 3am ET, set to coincide with Live Earth.
• Sirius will also exclusively broadcast the "Stop Global Warming Concert" on Friday, July 6th at 8pm ET on The Spectrum (ch 18). Recorded on Earth Day (April 22, 2007) this concert features performances by Sheryl Crow and Carole King as well as a speech by the producer of An Inconvenient Truth.
  

Mobile Access
XM has added an interactive text messaging for Live Earth: Text "Live Earth" (or "LiveEarth") to GOTXM, or 4-6-8-9-6. The text you'll get back will include a link to the Live Earth splash page for web-enabled phones; along with the ability to reply to that text message with the name of 1 of 4 Live Earth cities - London, New York, Sydney, and Tokyo - which would send you another text for the corresponding Channel #, start time, and basic artist lineup.

Sirius is allowing users to search by artist and get lineup information over the phone. Call Sirius Satellite Radio at 877-33-SIRIUS, then press "4" from the main menu to access the Sirius Live Earth hotline.

Full Concert Schedule
Sydney
Live Earth Sydney, Australia at Aussie Stadium
9pm ET / 6pm PT  (airs Friday, July 6th)
XM: Boneyard (ch 41)
Sirius: The Spectrum (ch 18)
WorldSpace: Channel 11, 29

Tokyo
Live Earth Tokyo, Japan at Makuhari Messe
11pm ET/ 8pm PT  (airs Friday, July 6th)
XM: XMLM (ch 42)
Sirius: Boombox (ch 34)
WorldSpace: Channel 204, 29

Shanghai
Live Earth Shanghai, China at the Oriental Pearl Tower
6:30am ET/ 3:30am PT
XM: XMU (ch 43)
Sirius: Sirius Disorder (ch 32)
WorldSpace: TBD

Hamburg
Live Earth Hamburg, Germany at the HSH Nordbank Arena
8am ET/ 5am PT
XM: XM Cafe (ch 45)
Sirius: The Spectrum (ch 18)
WorldSpace: Channels 11, 204, 29

London
Live Earth London, UK at Wembley Stadium
8:30am ET/ 5:30am PT
XM: Top Tracks (ch 46)
Sirius: Alt Nation (ch 21)
WorldSpace: Channel 11, 29

Johannesburg
Live Earth Johannesburg, South Africa at the Cradle of Humankind
12 noon ET/ 9am PT (11am ET on Sirius)
XM: Fred (ch 44)
Sirius: Reggae Rhythms (ch 97)
WorldSpace: Channel 204, 29

New York (Giants Stadium)
Live Earth New York, USA at Giants Stadium
2pm ET/ 11am PT (2:30pm ET on Sirius)
XM: XMLM (ch 42)
Sirius: Sirius Hits 1 (ch 1)
WorldSpace: Channel 204, 29

Rio de Janeiro
Live Earth Rio De Janeiro, Brazil on Copacabana Beach
3pm ET/ 12am PT (2:30pm ET on Sirius)
XM: Boneyard (ch 41)
Sirius: Boombox (ch 34)
WorldSpace: Channel 11, 29

In addition to the 8 official Live Earth concerts, special broadcast events will take place from the To-ji Temple in Kyoto, Japan, and the Rothera Research Station in Antarctica. (I only have the broadcast schedule for Sirius for these special events at this time.)

Antarctica
Live Earth at the Rothera Research Station
9am ET
Sirius: Super Shuffle (ch 12)

Kyoto, Japan
Live Earth at the To-ji Temple
9am ET
Sirius: The Vault (ch 16)

Read more about the airing of these historic concerts on each satcaster's pages below:

[Live Earth on Sirius]
[Live Earth on XM]
[WorldSpace Live Earth Blog]

Note: I tried my best to assemble all the Live Earth coverage for each of the satellite radio providers in one place here. Some of the schedules have changed (sometimes several times) at the last minute and I've tried to reflect that here. If you find different info or that I missed something, please let me know either by email or in the comments. Thanks!

In a post XM-Sirius merger scenario, would the red headed stepchild of satellite radio - WorldSpace - step in and start covering the U.S. market? Maybe so, if the FCC required the newly merged company to relinquish one of its SDARS licenses.

"We would love to look into that if that’s available," Worldspace Chief Executive Officer Noah Samara said on Monday. "We’ve always felt seamless global coverage is something the planet needs."

WorldSpace, of course, isn't banking much on this hypothetical. A heck of a lot needs to happen before broadcasting in North America becomes a reality. But it's an interesting possible side-effect if XM and Sirius are successful in merging. (Though, something tells me they rather have that second license even post-merger since using the combined spectrum is sort of the whole reason behind merging.)

[Examiner]
Thanks Rob!

The suit charges Worldspace as well as several of it's executive officers, with violations of federal securities laws.

The plaintiff claims that Worldspace had made false and misleading statements concerning the company's operations and financial performance that caused the WRSP stock price to become artificially inflated.

If you purchased Worldspace stock or options, you're not required to have sold your WRSP stock or options in order to claim damages. 

[Press Release]

Here's a separate firms' filing (PDF). 

WorldSpace Satellite Radio (remember them?) has announced their fourth quarter and full-year 2006 results, where subscribers have grown to a whopping 199,000.

In Q4, WorldSpace added 22,274 net subscribers ending the quarter with 199,105 subscribers worldwide, 73% higher YoY. In India, WorldSpace added 23,945 net subscribers during 4Q06, ending the year with 162,010 subscribers in India, 117% higher YoY.

It's not all peaches and cream in India though. WorldSpace continued to experience high churn rates in Q4 in India as 3-month trial packages came up for renewal. About 59% of subscribers that came up for renewal during the year had actually renewed their subscriptions to a higher pre-paid package. Youch. The good news is that WorldSpace has phased out the 3-month package and hoping to reduce churn numbers in favor of longer term prepaid plans.

Interestingly enough - WorldSpace has delayed their earnings call - citing "negotiations for a potential financing transaction" as a reason.

[Press Release] 

WorldSpace Satellite Radio CEO Noah Samara will speak at the Mobile Satellite Forum 2007 conference on March 20th in London.

Samara will join executives from SES Global, Alcatel and other industry leaders on the "Mobile Broadcasting" panel, and discuss strategic issues facing emerging business models for satellite-delivered broadcasting.

Samara will specifically address the path to success for satellite radio in the UK and Europe.

WorldSpace recently released their 3Q06 results and quite frankly, they stink. All the key metrics (subs, churn, ARPU, etc) came in lower than expected, and their net loss nearly doubled in the prior-year quarter ($28.9 million vs $15.4 million).

The big news is that WorldSpace has hired UBS to "evaluate strategic partnership alternatives" that "may enhance shareholder value and further the execution of our business plan." Guess what, it's a move that's absolutely necessary. They need to leverage that infrastructure for a serious cash infusion, and do it quick. It can't come soon enough. (Psst, why do you think Gary Parsons resigned from their board?)

Seth Jayson at The Motley Fool seems to think that WorldSpace is doomed. Noting that automobile use is something that WorldSpace simply can't do yet, as indicated in their annual report. They first need to add terrestrial repeaters and a next-gen of receivers able to receive both terrestrial and satellite signal. Hence why those repeaters in Italy were so important.

So one of the key drivers of growth, OEM distribution, is currently out of reach for WorldSpace. And they're burning cash much faster than they can make it. Not to mention the regulatory hurdles with 130 countries to deal with. Not good. Seth poignently ends his article with, "if WorldSpace isn't bankrupt within two years, I'll buy one of those Indian receivers myself."

Can't say I disagree. Here's my verdict:

[Fool.com]
Thanks John!