Top management from both Sirius Satellite Radio Inc.and XM Satellite Radio Holding Inc. met with the Federal Communications Commission this week according to separate ex parte filings made with the agency.

From XM, four representatives attended the meeting: Gary Parsons, Eric Logan, Mark Vendetti, and Jeff Blattner. Latham & Watkins LLP (counsel for XM) also attended the meeting. XM met with the FCC on Wednesday, September 26th.

On Sirius' side, five representatives attended the meeting: Mel Karmazin, Scott Greenstein, David Frear, Patrick Donnelly, and Terry Smith. Representatives from Wiley Rein LLP (Sirius' counsel) also attended the meeting. Sirius met with the FCC on Thursday, September 27th.

During the meeting, both XM and Sirius discussed various aspects of the satellite radio business, including the topics of subscribers and service, content and advertising, technical issues, and business relationships with automobile manufacturers and retail outlets (so pretty much... everything).

[View FCC Filings: 1, 2 (PDF) via Orbitcast Forums]

FCC Commissioner Michael Copps expressed skepticism today about whether he would endorse the proposed merger of Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. and XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc.

Copps, one of two Democrats on the FCC, said it would be a "steep climb" for him to cast a favorable vote because he has serious concerns about media consolidation. Copps had previously referred to the proposed Sirius-XM merger as a "steep climb" as well back in mid-April.

"Somebody's going to have to make a pretty powerful and potent demonstration that it serves the public interest," Copps said of the XM-Sirius deal.

"The parts of the (public) record that I've looked at so far have not shown me that (the deal) serves the public interest," Copps told reporters at a briefing.

Copps declined to comment on how he will vote, but said he had "very serious worries" about media consolidation in general. "I think localism, competition, diversity (in the media) have been seriously threatened." The Commissioner has historically had problems with the overall state of consolidation in U.S. media, and has expressed this vocally in the past.

[Reuters]

Speaking at the NAB Radio Show this morning, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin spoke only generally about the Sirius-XM merger but said that the companies had "interesting proposals" to justify the merger and protect consumers.

During the annual FCC Breakfast, the FCC Chairman fielded several questions: from public interest questions, to changes to the EAS system, and of course, the merger between Sirius Satellite Radio Inc., and XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc.

Martin spoke only generally about the merger, stating that the current rules prohibit both companies from merging, but said that Sirius and XM have provided "interesting proposals" stating their case.

NAB Radio Board Chairman Russ Withers asked about the NAB's concern that the satellite companies are planning to go after local revenue, but Kevin Marin noted that the companies are not prohibited from going after local ads. They just cannot insert local-only ads and material through the local terrestrial repeater network.

"I would be concerned if they were trying to become a local broadcaster," said the FCC Chairman. Martin didn't agree that local material broadcast nationally violates the local prohibition placed on the satellite companies.

[AllAccess]

Forbes last night unveiled their Forbes 400, highlighting the 400 richest people in America - and several radio-related moguls are on the list.

For all the whining that the NAB does about Howard Stern's $500 million contract, you'd think these folks were paupers. But that's not at all the case, far from it, especially since you need to have a net worth of at least $1.3 billion to even get on the Forbes 400 list.

So follow the link below, and check out the Top 10 Richest People in Radio... and the disgusting amount of their net worth.

XM Satellite Radio chairman Gary Parsons compared th NAB's lobbying efforts to stop the Sirius and XM merger to a "jihad" at the Goldman Sachs conference in New York yesterday.

"They clearly view it as competition and, candidly, they should," Parsons told attendees.

"I've been a bit surprised about the raw magnitude of the dollars they have spent and the somewhat visceral nature of the jihad against the merger going forward," he added.

Parsons wondered why terrestrial radio dismiss satellite radio as having limited appeal while simultaneously spending vast sums of money - through the NAB - to try and stop the satellite radio merger.

Using the term "jihad" to describe the NAB's opposition is strategically brilliant in my opinion, and it's not the first time Gary Parsons has used this term. But it's an effective, and accurate I might add, description of their relentless lobbying - despite NAB members' own SEC filing having cited satellite radio as competition (and these constitute admissions under the law).

In response to Parsons comments, NAB spokesman Kris Jones said, "a monopolist will say and do anything to get their monopoly."

Wait... which group is it that will say anything and do anything again?

[Hollywood Reporter]

Bubba The Love Sponge's contract with Sirius Satellite Radio, Inc. is coming up for renewal in December/January, and it's long been known that the negotiations between the two parties have not been going too well.

A recent blog post by Bubba seems to indicate that the grumblings about being underpaid and underappreciated by Sirius are coming to a head, and that the contract might very well not be renewed:

"the amount of money they have given non-radio people is absolulty insane….we meanwhile have done radio, and good radio i might add, for over 20 years, we are radio people that know the business, but because we are not martha stewart, or lance armstrong, or jamie foxx, granted all of which are big time names, but none have ever done radio. sirius feels they can pay us pretty much anything they want….and give us take it or leave it type options……..if you only knew some of the stuff they have done to us,"

Howard Stern this morning even brought up the situation with Bubba, giving his full support on the air, but expressed a level of doubt that the negotiations can be resolved.

The real looming question is whether Bubba has another offer on the table. He was seen exiting Cox Radio offices with his agent, fueling speculation of his return to terrestrial radio.

This morning though, Bubba confirmed that two offers from terrestrial radio companies are currently on the table:

"its kind of sad that i have two regular radio offers on the table that are willing to pay me over double right now to come back. granted i wont have as much fun, but at least i will have a steady contract for a long time, with good money and they (regular radio) will treat me as a valueable asset, not talk down to me, and push me around like the way i am being treated now…"

Many would hate to see Sirius go, especially since many Howard listeners have become Bubba fans. But as it stands, it definitely doesn't sound hopeful...

[BTLS Blogs]

UPDATE: The blog posting in question has been removed.

Investment analysts and the Street are increasingly optimistic over the probability of the Sirius-XM merger going through. The latest comes from Tom Watts of Cowen & Company who issued a client note this morning stating that approval could come as early as October.

Watts also placed the likelihood of approval is being the "best ever."

Citing a strong precedent from the Whole Foods merger, along with the FCC’s rebuttal period being closed, Cowen & Co said that they "expect FCC approval before Dec. 4." In fact, Cowen & Co expects approval of the deal in October is possible.

Watts noted that the arb spread has narrowed to 11.8% from over 20% in only a few weeks, adding that it could be even lower.

XMSR and SIRI are both up in early market trading.

While speaking to reporters today, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said that the Commission plans to vote on the pending Sirius-XM merger in the fourth quarter of this year. Martin said the FCC is trying to meet its goal of deciding on pending mergers within 180 days.

"That's our target," said Martin.

The FCC began the XM-Sirius merger proceeding on June 8th, which would put the agency on schedule to make a ruling by December 6th. Last week, we reached the half-way point of the FCC's informal timeline.

In mid-July, Bank of America analyst Jonathan Jacoby wrote in a client note that procedural hurdles to regulatory approval needed to be overcome by the September 10th date. Jacoby added that "the chance of approval increases to above 50% if the clock doesn’t stop by that date, according to our contacts."

With the Sept. 10th date having been overcome, and Martin essentially confirming publicly that the FCC does not foresee any clock-stopping events, this serves as good news for merger hopefuls.

[via Bloomberg]

Congressman Rick Boucher (D-VA) sent a letter to FCC Chairman Kevin Martin this past Tuesday, announcing his support of the Sirius-XM merger.

In the letter, Congressman Boucher said that the satellite radio merger "should be considered in the context of a broad market definition" and would "lead to significant pro-consumer benefits."

"The relevant market clearly includes all of terrestrial radio, as evidenced by repeated statements by leading broadcast companies that they are in competition with satellite radio. The strong opposition of the NAB to the merger lends credence to the reality that terrestrial and satellite radio are in direct competition," wrote Boucher in his letter to the Commission.

(Many of these "repeated statements" include SEC filings where several terrestrial radio companies, many of which are NAB members, clearly define satellite radio as competition.)

"The relevant market also includes Internet radio and both Internet-based streams and Internet delivered downloads of music," added Boucher.

In regards to the consumer benefits, Boucher wrote that the merger "would extend to consumers larger choices from among [satellite radio's] program offerings." Adding that a combined Sirius-XM "will be able to expand diverse programs for underserved interests, such as for foreign language and religious programming."

Boucher originated, and is current the co-chairman of, the House Internet Caucus. He also currently sits on the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the Judiciary Committee.

Read the full letter after the jump...

The Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio could be nearing its final stages with in the next 30-60 days, with the probability of a favorable ruling being greater than 50%, according RBC Capital Markets analyst David Bank.

In a client note issued today, David Bank wrote that the Department of Justice ruling could come within the next 30-60 days. Generally, the DOJ starts a 30-day "shot clock" that ends in a final decision once parties have complied with the Second Request. Both Sirius and XM certified they are in compliance with the Second Request yesterday.

While it's possible for DOJ to stop the clock, RBC wrote that their sources "indicate odds don't favor DOJ pushing for prolonged extension."

RBC sources also indicated that the DOJ "has reasonable room to rule that XM/SIRI competes in a broader audio entertainment market."

The FCC will obviously still weigh in on the merger itself, but historically the FCC doesn't give a conflicting ruling against the DOJ. With the added public interest benefit of Sirius-XM's a la carte pricing, RBC puts the probability of favorable ruling at over 50%.