Sirius and XM have to extend their merger agreement, again. This time, though, they're not messing around with any deadlines (since the FCC sure isn't) and so they've decided to extend the merger agreement indefinitely.

The two companies have agreed not to exercise their rights to terminate the Merger Agreement prior to May 15, 2008. In addition, they've agreed to continue to extend the merger agreement, as necessary, for rolling 2-week periods.

The rolling renewal will continue until either side notifies the other of its intention not to extend.

[Press Release]

Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. chief Mel Karmazin earned himself a comfortable $32.2 million in 2007, according to the company's recent SEC 10-K/A filing. That's $2 million more than XM's executive management team, combined.

While Karmazin's base salary of $1.25 million did not change in 2007, the company awarded its CEO an $4 million bonus. The year prior, the company awarded Karmazin a $3 million bonus.

Add in other compensations, stock awards and option awards last year, and his total compensation package tops out over $32.21 million.

Compare this to XM Radio's entire executive management team - which includes the compensation paid to former-CEO Hugh Panero - and Mel Karmazin beats their combined total by $2.3 million.

[Form 10-K/A]

While speculation abounds about whether the upcoming Sirius Starmate 5 will have the capability to receive both Sirius and XM, there's one piece of the puzzle that was missed... the ability to receive A La Carte channels.

As a refresher: Sirius-XM have said that after merging, they would offer the first-ever a la carte packages in subscription media. These packages would allow subscribers to choose 50 channels for $6.99/month, or 100 channels from either Sirius or XM for $14.99/month. Additional channels would cost $0.25/each.

But a commenter on SiriusBuzz points to the Starmate 5's user manual, which gives a strong indication that this radio could indeed be the first A La Carte capable unit.

The section in question, Page 74 of the user manual (PDF), refers to the "My Channels" category, which "will show all of the channels contained in your SIRIUS subscription plan." The Starmate 5 user manual then goes on to describe that the "category heading bar will show the total number of channels your Starmate ST5 is subscribed to."

The manual also differentiates these subscribed channels from channels that are locked by the built-in Parental Control feature (which has been available on previous generations).

Below are select bullet points from the manual highlighting this:

• "If you try to tune to an unsubscribed channel the ST5 will display a 'Channel Unsubscribed' message."
• "The ST5 will not display channel information for any unsubscribed or locked channels."
• "The Memory and Song Seek functions... will only occur on subscribed channels."

Now, before we get all in a tizzy, it is also important to point out that the "My Channels" references in the Starmate 5's manual could be referencing the "select" packages and not true "a la carte" packages. As you can see in Sirius' post-merger channel lineup, there are  other programming packages that would limit the number of channels displayed on the unit, including a "Family Friendly" package, a "Mostly Music" package and a "News, Sports & Talk" package.

Even if that's the case, I still think this is an important development.

[via Orbitcast Forums]

Former President Jimmy Carter sat down for an interview on Sirius Satellite Radio to discuss his recent peace mission to the Middle East, among other topics, with Sirius host Alex Bennett.

Carter also talked about the current democratic presidential primary and his new book A Remarkable Mother about the life and legacy of his mother, Lillian Carter.

In addition, the former President discussed his controversial meeting with Hamas.

"We got what we wanted from Hamas. They agreed to a lot of very important things," said former President Jimmy Carter during the interview. "First of all they agreed to propose a cease fire just for Gaza, where as before they [Hamas] were demanding Gaza plus a West Bank. So they made that proposal, unfortunately Israel turned the proposal down, which could have stopped the rockets going into Sderot and could have brought peace."

President Carter's also added his thoughts on how he believes the Democratic presidential primaries will be resolved.

"I feel after June the 3rd, there will be a fairly clear identity of the winner," said Carter. "And then, in my opinion, the super delegates including me will go along the way the American democrats have."

You can hear Alex Bennett, a self-proclaimed radio gadfly, on "The Alex Bennett Program" weekdays from 9 - 12pm ET on Sirius Left (ch 146).

"When the only tool you have is a hammer, then every problem begins to look like a nail."

- Abraham Maslow

In the world of statistics and research, methodology is paramount. That's pretty basic. If you're going to draw a conclusion from the polling of a sample, the methods you use to extract those answers had damn well better be solid. Because in the end, the way this data is gathered defines the final outcome.

And this is exactly why I say that the Arbitron ratings for satellite radio listening are wrong. Indeed, they're bullshit.

Maybe that was a bit harsh, I'm sorry. Let's instead say that these ratings are for "information purposes only," because that's how Arbitron refers to them.

Mind you, the criticism that's about to ensue has absolutely nothing to do with terrestrial radio and how its listenership is measured. That's a whole different issue. This is meant to point out the flaws in how Arbitron measures satellite radio listenership and nothing more. So when I say that "Arbitron's ratings are wrong" I mean for Sirius and XM, and not regular radio.

So let's begin.



Reason #1
The Arbitron Diary.

Actually, it's the methodology for terrestrial radio ratings that's screwing it all up. Arbitron's diary is built from the ground up to measure AM/FM. Not Internet Radio. Not Satellite Radio. Not even HD Radio (that is, if anyone was listening to HD Radio). It's meant for good ol' regular radio and nothing else.

Here's a big problem: There is no checkbox for a listener to select "Satellite Radio." None. Nothing for Sirius. Nothing for XM. Nothing. Diarykeepers need to actually physically write in the service and the channel info, in addition to the time they started and stopped listening to the program as well as the location of where they did this. Do you think people will actually write in all that information? Right there, the data becomes tainted.

Follow the jump to keep reading...

Directed Electronics has extended their contract with Sirius from August 31, 2008 to January 31, 2009.

The extension also includes a contract amendment that reduces Directed's exposure to warranty costs incurred from satellite radio products.

"In the third quarter of 2007, our earnings were adversely impacted by a $4.3 million increase to our warranty expense principally related to our satellite radio business," said James Minarik, President and CEO of Directed. "With this new amendment, the risk of unexpected satellite radio warranty expense is expected to decrease significantly, while concurrently improving our ability to provide superior service to our satellite radio customers. Cumulatively, we believe these changes will lead to improved financial results for this business."

Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. and XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. have both announced that they have postponed their 2008 annual meeting of stockholders.

The meetings were originally scheduled for May 20th and May 23rd for Sirius and XM respectively. A new date will be set when they have more information relating to the timing of the merger.

The meetings at the FCC continue occur as we rapidly approach the May 1st deadline for the extended merger agreement between Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. and XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. This time, the National Association of Broadcasters is the latest group to enter the fray.

NAB President and CEO David Rehr (pictured) and NAB Executive VP of Legal & Regulatory Affairs Marsha MacBride, met with FCC Commissioner Michael Copps and his Senior Legal Advisor/Media Advisor Rick Chessen last Friday, according to a FCC filing.

At the meeting, Rehr and MacBride argued that a merged Sirius-XM will "harm consumers" as well as "undermine fair competition in local radio markets."

The NAB stuck to the same stale argument from over a year ago that approving the merger would "violate the Commission's long-standing prohibition against a merger of the nation's only two satellite radio licensees" that the FCC needs to be mindful of Sirius and XM's "record of violations of the Commission's rules."

How much longer does this need to drag on? Seriously. I think we've exhausted all the angles and it's time to make a decision. Nothing new is being added that hasn't already been said.

[View FCC filing (PDF)]

Over the past week or so, I started noticing my Sirius signal cutting out frequently, and sometimes for quite an extended period of time.

At first I thought it just normal behavior (spring is in the air here in Connecticut, and the leaves are starting to return), but the frequency and length of the dropouts had me wondering. When I noticed the same behavior in my wife's OEM install, I knew that something was going on.

There's now an extensive thread on Sirius Backstage talking about several experiences with Sirius signal cutouts. And so I'm curious, has any readers here had any problems picking up their Sirius signal?

Yesterday, Arbitron released its Fall 2007 ratings for Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio. Below are some key takeaways from the ratings report, but check back later when I explain why Arbitron's ratings are all wrong (well, for satellite radio at least).

Overall, Arbitron reports that XM leads Sirius in listeners, 10.4 million versus 7 million respectively. Combined, there were approximately a half-million more satellite radio listeners in the Fall than in Spring 2007 when Arbitron last released its satellite radio ratings report.

Here's a breakdown of the Top 5 channels (in terms of "cume" - or the total number of unique listeners) from both Sirius and XM:

Sirius Ratings -

1. Howard 100: 1,210,000
   
2. Sirius Hits 1: 584,800
3. Howard 101: 501,000
4. Sirius New Country: 468,300
5. Sirius Big 80s: 417,900
6. Sirius Octane: 383,700
7. Classic Vinyl: 347,100
8. Classic Rewind: 335,500
9. The Pulse: 330,700
10. Totally 70s: 309,400

XM Ratings -

1. Top 20 on 20: 1049200
2. Flight 26: 741600
3. 80s on 8: 698300
4. 70s on 7: 667400
5. 60s on 6: 581300
6. Highway 16: 579500
7. Top Tracks: 534900
8. The Blend: 532400
9. The Heart: 493400
10. Fox News: 464800

For those that want to compare how the "shock jocks" line up, Opie & Anthony's The Virus channel had a cume of 171,300. For a comparison of AQH (Average Quarter-Hour), which is the average number of people listening for at least five minutes during a 15-minute period, here's how the three channels compared:

• Howard 100: 97,600 AQH
• Howard 101: 33,200 AQH
• The Virus: 18,500 AQH

So there's the numbers, and numbers don't lie... or do they?

Check back soon when I explain, in detail, why Arbitron's numbers - for satellite radio ratings at least - are all wrong.

[Arbitron Fall 2007 Satellite Radio Ratings (PDF)]