Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Lou Reed will host his own weekly show, entitled "Lou Reed's New York Shuffle," on Sirius starting this Saturday, May 17th.

"Lou Reed's New York Shuffle" will feature an eclectic mix of music running the gamut from jazz to vintage rock, and everything in-between. Reed will co-host the show with music producer Hal Willner, who recently collaborated with Reed on the concert film Berlin.

Lou Reed said, "For years, I've always been a fan of eclectic radio, such as FM radio in the past when you could hear stations play widely divergent music, ranging from rock to country to jazz to opera. I loved the days when DJs who did their own programming set the bar high. I learned from these DJs and it's a delight, with my friend Hal Willner, to do this type of radio today on Sirius. We will try to bring Sirius' listeners audio from all parts of the world that covers the whole musical spectrum."

In the 1960s, Lou Reed led the Velvet Underground as the antidote to the counterculture hippies of the time. Produced by Andy Warhol, they became a band with an avante-garde vision beyond the realms of popular music.

In addition to Reed's success as part of the Velvet Underground, he scored a major solo hit with his gritty urban anthem "Walk on the Wild Side" and has released over 20 solo albums since 1972. Lou Reed's talents were recognized in 1996 when the Velvet Underground was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. In 2006, he played a series of now legendary shows at St. Ann's Warehouse in Brooklyn, on a stage designed by the painter Julian Schnabel. Reed's performance was recorded live and released as a film by Schnabel in 2008. Lou Reed most recently collaborated with The Killers on the alternative rock hit, "Tranquilize."

"Lou Reed's New York Shuffle" will air on Sirius Disorder (ch 70), Saturdays at 6pm ET. Encore broadcasts will air on Sundays at 12-noon ET and Mondays at 4pm ET.

Pictured: Lou Reed answers questions from the audience at the 'Celebrating Berlin With Lou Reed At The 2008 Tribeca Film Festival' held inside the Directors Guild Theater on May 4, 2008 in New York City. Photo Credit: Getty Images.

Georgetown Partners, the minority-owned firm that analyzes FCC regulated markets "for opportunities to extend minority ownership and control," recently met with public interest groups to discuss set aside provisions of Sirius-XM spectrum, according to a recent filing.

The privately-owned firm, headed up by Chester Davenport (pictured), is asking the Federal Communications Commission to require that 20% of Sirius-XM's broadcast infrastructure be leased to a "independent new entrant."

In a letter to FCC Chairman Martin, Davenport outlined his meeting with public interest groups Public Knowledge and Media Access Project. Both groups have suggested to the FCC that 5% of spectrum from a merged Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. and XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. be dedicated for non-commercial, educational programming.

Georgetown Partners agrees that the proposals by Public Knowledge and Media Access Project (as well as its own) would indeed "benefit consumers and serve the public interest." But Davenport feels that there are "technical barriers" that would hinder this content from being delivered in the digital format and bandwidth necessary, according to the letter.

As a result, Georgetown laid out a plan to "further the public interest objectives" shared by the groups. They include:

• Georgetown will "accept delivery of the program streams" in an agreed manner
• Will "at its own expense" encode the programming into the required digital format
• And finally will "transport and deliver" the programming, along with its own programming, to the merged entity.

All costs for the acceptance, encoding, and delivery of programming would be graciously absorbed by Georgetown Partners, according to the letter.

Chester Davenport highlights that their plan would be to broadcast satellite radio programming to all receivers - subscribers or not - and so would further the objectives of Public Knowledge and Media Access Project.

"We estimate that today there are 36 million such receivers in the marketplace, of which roughly 50 percent, or 18 million, are not subscribed," writes Davenport. "Implementing any educational set-aside in this manner will double the potential audience for the non-commercial programming."

Finally, Davenport feels that the educational set-aside is separate and distinct from Georgetown Partners' own 20% proposal. But if both proposals are realized, Georgetown "will dedicate resources to make sure that the non-commercial educational uses become reality."

[Read the entire letter (PDF)]
Bonus: Listen to yesterday's Orbitcast Radio show featuring Public Knowledge co-founder Gigi Sohn where we briefly discussed Georgetown Partners' proposal.

XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. chief executive officer Nate Davis told investors yesterday that if the company included promotional subscribers into the tally, XM would have 10.8 million subscribers.

This is the second time that XM management has brought this to light.

"XM does not report promotional subscribers when a new vehicle is manufactured, but rather only counts a subscriber when a vehicle is sold, and when we have a paid subscription," said Davis.

In the past, XM has not included XM-equipped vehicles that have been manufactured and shipped to dealers in its subscriber count.

"This is the so-called 'parking lot' sub-number," Davis told investors. "At the end of the first quarter, there were an estimated 1.5 million of these vehicles."

Sirius did not discuss the so-called "parking lot" subscribers during their most recent conference call, but during the Q4 call CFO David Frear said that the number accounted for 11% of the company's subscriber base.

"In essence, if XM included these unsold vehicles in the first quarter results, we would have reported an ending subscriber total of roughly 10.8 million, gross additions of roughly 1.24 million, net additions of roughly 505,000, an improvement in churn from 2.7 down to 2.3%, and a subscriber acquisition cost improvement of roughly 15% below the reported $73 per subscriber," added Nate Davis yesterday.

That should stir the pot a bit.

Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. CEO Mel Karmazin told investors during yesterday's earnings call that if the Federal Communications Commission imposes conditions that are too harsh, then the company will not go through with the deal.

"If it turns out that the conditions are such that they are so egregious that they are not in the shareholders' or subscribers' best interest, then we will not do it," said Karmazin yesterday.

Echoing Karmazin's sentiment, Sirius CFO David Frear said Tuesday that the company is prepared to reject conditions that federal regulators might impose if they are deemed too restrictive.

"The company won't do anything - the company won't agree to a set of conditions that's going to adversely impact, and would not be to the benefit of, our current subscribers, our future subscribers, and our shareholders," Frear said. "It's all got to make sense."

Frear described the negotiations with the FCC as a "tortured path," first announced in February of last year.

"The FCC process is in many ways a political process," Frear said. "There is a well-worn tradition of exploiting, of opportunistic parties looking to exploit the regulatory process of the FCC for what is their personal gain.

"In a week, we'll be 15 months into this for what is honestly, in the broader media landscape, an incredibly unimportant public policy decision," Frear said.

Karmazin also expressed his frustrations to investors over the deal taking so long.

"We filed our application at the FCC over 400 days ago," Karmazin told investors. "It is almost 350 days on the FCC clock from when it was put on public notice. The FCC historically tries to review deals within 180 days.

"We share the reasonable frustration that many of our investors feel regarding the time it has taken," added the CEO. "We also share the outrage that some have expressed to me regarding press reports of opportunistic parties trying to take advantage of the process and extract value for themselves that properly belongs to Sirius subscribers and shareholders."

"I can assure you we will work with the regulators on any conditions they feel should be attached to an approval."

According to Orbitcast's count, it has been 420 days since Sirius and XM filed their application with the FCC.

I don't think anyone thought we would still be doing this comparison since the merger was announced, I sure didn't, but here we are again. The above chart shows the total cumulative subscribers comparing Sirius and XM.

Total Satellite Radio Subscribers:

• Sirius: 8,644,319
  
• XM: 9,330,000
  

But while the total subscriber numbers are interesting, I think it's the net and gross additions that are most significant.


Above is a chart shows the quarterly net subscriber additions dating back two years. Look at Q1 of this year: Sirius and XM are nearly equal in quarterly net additions. This is a significant shift from prior quarters where Sirius truly dominated.

Quarterly Net Additions:

• Sirius: 322,354
  
• XM: 303,000
  

So let's take a look at gross subscriber additions:
This chart shows a different picture of XM once again dominating gross subscriber additions - albeit, just barely.

Quarterly Gross Additions:

• Sirius: 1,003,422
  
• XM: 1,034,000
  

To their credit, XM did a great job in gaining gross subscribers from the same period last year - the question is whether this trend will continue for future quarters. But that's a question (at least for these Sirius vs. XM comparisons) that may not matter if the FCC actually makes a decision.

XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. today announced its earnings and financial results for the first-quarter of 2008.

XM ended the quarter with 9.33 million subscribers, an 18 percent increase, from the first quarter of last year. This growth was driven by a 49 percent year-over-year increase in OEM gross additions which totaled 802,000 - that's compared to 537,000 in first quarter of 2007.

XM added 1.034 million gross subscribers for the period (compared to 868,000 last year), and 303,000 net subscriber additions (compared to 285,000 last year).

Revenue for 1Q08 rose to $308 million, a nearly 17% increase over 1Q07 revenue of $264 million.

Adjusted operating loss was $30.7 million, compared to a loss of $27 million in first quarter 2007. The first quarter 2008 adjusted operating loss includes $3.5 million of merger related expenses, compared to $9.2 million in first quarter 2007.

XM's net loss for 1Q08 was $129 million, or 42 cents a share, compared to a year-ago net loss of $122 million, or 40 cents a share. Analysts were expecting a loss of 39 cents a share on revenue of $313 million, according to Thomson Reuters.

In first quarter 2008, XM's subscriber acquisition costs (SAC) increased to $73, compared to $65 in the same period last year. Cost per gross addition (CPGA) fell below $100 to $99 for the first time since 3Q06 and compares to $103 in first quarter 2007. Average revenue per subscriber (ARPU) fell to $10.04 from $10.15 in the year-ago quarter.

View full financials after the jump...

A smattering of Attorneys General spent roughly 45 minutes on the phone with FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein, on Wednesday, voicing their concerns about the merger between Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. and XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc.

According to a WSJ blogpost, Rob McKenna Washington State's Republican AG and Connecticut's Democratic AG Richard Blumenthal joined assistant AGs from 8 other states to press the commissioner to vote against the deal, or at the very least, place tough conditions on it.

They also expressed concern about the lack of an interoperable radio that would work with both services, as well as the "significant harms" that would result from "the loss of a direct competitor."

"The states further explained that the lack of an interoperable radio is emblematic of the licensees' disregard for competition and consumers and urged that the licensees should be required to make the intellectual property for an interoperable receiver freely licensable and available for manufacturers and standards setting bodies," wrote the Attorneys General in a recent ex parte filing.

"The attorneys generals have a number of serious concerns," said Adelstein sharing their concerns. "They have a feeling that the Justice Department did not pay proper deference to their concerns when it issued its opinion ... In this case, those concerns were dismissed and there was no proper audience given to the attorneys general."

"I think it is important that the FCC, after such dismissive treatment by the AGs, take extra consideration on the very legitimate concerns that the attorneys generals are raising," Adelstein told reporters.

When asked how he planned to vote on the merger, Adelstein said it would depend on how the deal was conditioned.

[View FCC Filings (PDF) via WSJ Deal Journal, Broadcasting & Cable]

Representatives from Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. and XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. continue to have meetings with the Federal Communication Commission, indicating that the process is moving forward (though, arguably at a snail's pace).

The meetings between the companies and the FCC, predictively, began to increase pace after the Justice Department's approval of the merger. Prior to the DOJ's announcement there was little activity between Sirius-XM and the agency in terms of meetings, according to FCC filings.

In April, the companies collectively held a total of five meetings with the Commission - one of which was done over the phone.

In this month alone there have been three meetings held at the FCC's offices, an early indication that talks between the two are increasing frequency - and possibly nearing an end.

Yesterday, representatives from Sirius and XM met with FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, Daniel Gonzalez, Catherine Bohigian, and Elizabeth Andrion. A prior phone meeting on Tuesday, was held between XM Satellite Radio (sans Sirius) and Amy Blankenship, Legal Advisor in Commissioner Tate's office. Last week, Sirius and XM met with Chairman Martin.

None of the recent filings have given any additional details other than that the companies have reiterated their positions and "urged prompt approval of the pending merger."

[View FCC Filings: 1, 2, 3 (PDF)]

Senior House Energy & Commerce Committee member Bobby Rush (D-IL) has backed out of a letter about the Sirius-XM merger he had co-signed to FCC Chairman Kevin Martin only the day before.

Rush, along with Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-NY), stated in the original letter that they had "fully supported" Sirius' and XM's voluntary commitment to dedicate eight channels for minority ownership.

In a separate letter a day later, Rush now says that he and Towns had a "miscommunication," and that while he advocates setting aside channels for minority ownership, he says eight channels aren't nearly enough.

"While I certainly believe it's important to dedicate channels for minority ownership, I do not believe a mere eight channels out of 300 total in the combined entity represents an 'important and realistic effort to address the dearth of minority ownership'," writes Rush.

"I firmly believe that XM and Sirius can designate far more channels than eight for minority ownership" he added, suggesting a number of channels closer to the 35% of the population that "people of color" represent.

While still a supporter of the merger, Rush says the 8-channel set-aside fails to satisfy his "advocacy for a more aggressive policy that emulates the real diversity of the American public."

[Broadcasting & Cable, Radio Ink]

Primosphere was profiled recently on Radio & Records about their latest attempts to get back into the industry as part of the Sirius and XM merger.

Partners Cliff Burnstein and Peter Mensch, who also operate Q Prime in New York, told R&R that they want the FCC to live up to the original rules and have at least two different license holders. And they want to be one of them. 

The company was one of the original SDARS bidders alongside Digital Satellite Broadcasting Service, CD Radio and American Mobile Satellite Radio Service. Each paid the government $70,000 for two "satellite slots," recalls Burnstein. But while CD Radio and American Satellite, which became Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. and XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc., ultimately won the spectrum, Primosphere never had its original $140,000 deposit returned, according to Burnstein.

On the current proceedings, Burnstein told R&R he could not get a read on the FCC merger decision based on its recent meetings, but it was clear to him that FCC officials are "uncomfortable with a single provider."

What about the minority owned Georgetown Partners? They have had a similar request and numerous meetings with the Commission, but Burnstein says: "they don't have any standing in this."

"We have a legal standing even if it is by a thread," he said, adding that Primosphere doesn't need funding and could be up and running with newly built studio space within six months. However, Primosphere would need the merged entity lease some technology for uplink and downlink capability for its programming to satellite receivers.

Primosphere's programming would be advertising-based and would offer about 30 channels of mostly music programming, forecasts Burnstein. He says Primosphere's "will come at this from a music and programming perspective."

Burnstein's goal - while admittedly "a little bit idealistic" - is "to serve the underserved."

[Radio & Records]