Cramer yesterday took the opportunity to criticize the government for their protracted delays in coming to a decision on the Sirius-XM merger. In his opinion, the reason why the process is being held up is because lawmakers are all in the back pocket of terrestrial radio.
All I could think about while watching was, "Finally, someone is actually saying this."
If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend checking it out.
[CNBC Video via Orbitcast Forums]
I guess that Cramer has been watching our posts here for some time and figured he finally chime in.
Love him or hate him, you gotta give it up to Cramer on this one. He was DEAD right. His rant against the delay in the merger was a thing of beauty and I LOVED every second of it.
Take THAT DOJ & FCC!
He told it like it is. He said what every Sirius shareholder has been thinking and used his bully pulpit to unleash his wrath on these crooks. It was VERY cathartic, and I could feel EVERY Sirius shareholder smiling and cheering when they watched this.
You gotta watch it!
Hopefully the Fed will get the message. After all, when Cramer screamed that "THEY KNOW NOTHING!" a few months ago, the Fed finally got the message and cut interest rates that first time.
Now perhaps his speech the other day will shame the DOJ & FCC into getting up off their bribed asses and approving this damn merger! :-)
Cramer is a genius. It's also a sign.
If there's one thing I believe Cramer does for his show, it's that he uses information like an insider. The catch is that he doesn't trade with it. He's a smart guy, and he probably knows from inside information that the merger happens very, very soon.
So what's a guy with a TV show going to do? Tell you to buy? No no no... he's going to rant to the pro-business crowd his show gets, and tell the effing government to get something done. Then it'll happen (just as he knew it would), and he'll look like this big, smart guy who can whip gov't lackees into shape.
And if they stall, he wins by calling out the stall.
It's all very smart TV. It's very good use of inside info. I take this as a great, positive sign that we are indeed passed the 11th hour.
>>> He told it like it is. He said what every Sirius shareholder has been thinking
Uh, yeah. And suddenly, that makes him "right"?
He's an idiot. He does no analysis, he simply shoots his mouth off -- and his remarks yesterday prove it one more time. His rationale for preferring SIRI over XM is that SIRI is that SIRI can win more retail subscribers, when retail is obviously on its death bed. The man is clueless. But he is slobbering all over Mel, so he's sure as hell going to promote Mel's views. This is no different from when he whipping uninformed Siriots into a frenzy a year ago in an effort to win merger support.
When it suits Cramer's purpose, he will once again by anti-Sirius. Don't wet yourselves.
The merger may be a temporary boon for the stockholders, but it'll be a dead loss for the listeners. Higher prices, less choice--that's what the merger will bring us customers. Feel free to tell me how great the merged service is in a year or two, when the initial "teaser" rates are replaced by prices higher than the ones we now pay, when the deep XM playlists go top 40, and when your favorite non-run-of-the-mill channel is bulldozed to free up bandwidth for car TV or some similar idiocy. And it'll all happen because Sirius and XM, freed of the need to compete with each other, will aim to be only slightly less lame than terrestrial radio.
The old-time trust-busters knew something about the nature of competition that we've forgotten. But we'll be getting a real-life lesson any time now.
Bob, you are a moron.
Would you be willing to pay $12.95/month for somethign "only slightly less lame than terrestrial radio"? Of course not. Yet you insist that they will be raising prices?
It is true that there is a possibility that some channels will be killed, but do you honestly think that a company that RIGHT NOW only keeps marginally higher than 50% of its customers is going to dilute programming and raise prices and expect to get MORE customers? OF COURSE NOT! And if they do, they will go out of business because they will lose all of their customers. So the all powerful monopoly that you are so scared of has absolutely no power to exercise that monopoly power.
The price will not go up it will go down. Mel would lower the price now but he is holding that to give the feds something.
Simple if the price goes up i will not renew. The price needs to be lower to get more subs and more subs more ad dollars. The price needs to be at the sweet point that brings in the most money overall.
Go look at Cramer again he had two radios so he could show how bad XM's deal with GM is. Why say that now? It is to show that with no merger you want to be in Sirius not XM.
So many people including the big boys holding XM were to dumb to see that it is not the sub number alone that that tells who the better company is.
With no merger Sirius goes after XM subs be it the dual radios that i think are in millions of cars now or free converters. Looking at Sirius market share Sirius will switch millions of XM subs to Sirius.
hoo hoo i invented baldness
more importantly, I'd pay 25./ month for both services
Cramer says "DOWN GOES 0.0! TAKE IT TO THE BANK!"
so, if they dont merge--one may go bankrupt
if they dont merge,--no ala carte with lower costs
if they dont allow merger--sounds like a court case can be won
you wonder why our leaders in Congress have a LOWER approval rating then even the President?
all about money, who was greased and special interests
Vote all incumbents out!
I think the most important point is that Sat. radio is still controlled by the consumer. Merger or not the consumer has the right to buy or cancel thier subscription! It comes down to content and what we the consumer percieve the value or worth of the content. If the merger goes thru and I want to save money by using the alacart format I'm a winner and so are they. But if as time goes on and they raise thier prices and I opt out, they are the loosers. They are not by any means (if mergeed) a monopoly in the digital audio market. The NAB is paying big money to our elected officials to stay off competition. If the NAB wins then it's a slap in the face to what the general public voiced. Which is par for the course, we elect our officials to serve the lobbyists not the people.
Stack, I know what you're saying. But you have to admit that investment in satellite radio has never been based off of fundamentals, it's always been based on speculation and hype. For the longhaul, I guess is a XM smarter decision, but no one watches the longhaul and no one knows if these companies will be around for the longhaul.
It's all about hype and bullshit when it comes to trading satrad. And in that case, Cramer is right, SIRI is the right way to go.
Wish it wasnt true, but it is.
>>> but do you honestly think that a company that RIGHT NOW only keeps marginally higher than 50% of its customers is going to dilute programming and raise prices and expect to get MORE customers?
Newman, you are a moron. Worse, actually.
Sat radio, at least XM (SIRI refuses to disclose its OEM take rate, so it could be well under 50%), sticks receivers in cars and people try it for 90 days. Some decide to buy it and other don't. That's not losing 50% of your customers.
What that is, is selling your product to over half the people who see it in action. Now, most people who have ever sold a product have had a lot of doors slammed in their face -- usually more than half.
A product that is so compelling that over half those who try it end up buying it, by any measure, is pretty damned impressive. Even more impressive is the standard equipment installs of Hyundai and Nissan which apparently are still leading to a 50% conversion rate.
Newman, you need to find a new hobby. This one doesn't suit you.
Bob is spot on!
Anyone who really thinks "Uncle" Mel will keep prices low is an idiot. If you believe that Mel has the best interests of the listeners in mind, think again. I know, I know, you may think to yourself that the only way to make money is to make consumers happy, but that is a LONG term idea.
Mel will nickle and Dime everyone and when it starts to hurt listeners, he will sell out the company for his profit. Gee, it is not like he has done this before.
In Mel's worl his priorities are:
1) Mel
2) Mel
3) Mel
4)Stockholders
5) Howard Stern
6) His desk
7) His teeth
8) his tie
9-460) lunch
461) The listeners
"If you believe that Mel has the best interests of the listeners in mind, think again"
if keeping 0.0 morning zoo shit off sattelite,then you are correct sir..that is the best interest of the listener..eliminates wasted bandwith
finally stern and 0.0 fans agree!
All this talk about post merger price hikes, etc. SIRI-XM will no longer be known by that name as the company will get sold to some media conglomerate. Those guys are not going to sit on their hands and watch satrad take away their advertising dollars. Their thinking will be that if you can't beat them then you buy them out. It won't be cheap, but then whichever company gets them will own the satrad system all to themselves. AQnything goes after that. As for Mel, getting into hurting companies, building them up and then selling them is his MO. He doesn't want to spend the rest of his life running SIRI-XM. First step to all this is the merger. Second is to sell it and the last step is to go to the bank to deposit the bundle that is made. Mel and many other people won't give a rat's ass what happens after that. Love the product, but never fall in love with the investment.
Ryan, can we get these off-topic 0.0 Hoo Hoo flame posts removed please? Newsflash, nerds: NO. ONE. FUCKING. CARES. ABOUT. IDIOTIC. RADIO. WARS.
You sure can tell who has invested in Sirius and who has invested in XM.
IMHO XM will be
A - BE merged with Sirius
B - BOUGHT- by CBS, Comcast or another giant media company
C - BANKRUPT- GM deal stinks, negative retail sales, losing the battles and the war with Sirius
D - ?
"The Squeky Wheel" You honestly believe that Mel will raise Satrad prices? Don't tell me, you were the one who said the US Goveenment faked the moon landing, too.
-That happens, and you may see all 8 million + subscribers,buy ipods.
Newman, do I think that the merged company will indulge in stupid, self-destructive behavior? Of course. After all, XM and Sirius are trying to tie together two sinking ships to make one that will float; why will merging suddenly make them smarter?
And lay off the "you're a moron" crap. The adults are having a discussion here, and we don't need your feeble ad hominems.
"Ryan, can we get these off-topic 0.0 Hoo Hoo flame posts removed please? Newsflash, nerds: NO. ONE. FUCKING. CARES. ABOUT. IDIOTIC. RADIO. WARS.
Posted by: Anonymous Coward | January 27, 2008 8:48 PM"
ryan can we ban whiny cunts that attempt to spit shine your balls?
What, you ignoring the fact that no one cares? Fucking idiot.
Has Cramer looked at XM or Sirius financials? XM is overvalued and on its last legs, SIRIUS is a dead horse. Whether they can combine two losing management teams into a winner is a dicey proposition. The company is saddled with extraordinary debt and expenses (this is a satellite based company afterall)--- I doubt even Mel can lasso this wild horse even if the merger is approved.
Bob, its obvious you are paid by NABB or some other group to come in here and talk crap about Mel. Can you backup anything you say? Its going to happen, they will merge. Then the market will decide the price. The higher the prices the less customers, anyone knows this.
So the real question is, Who's greasing bob's wheel?
Yes, Mike, the only possible reason anyone could disagree with you is that they're on the take. Or that they have more than three functioning neurons. You decide.
Very brave of you to hop in at the end.
Cramer and Stern. One is a Wall Street crony. The other is a fricking degenerate. You pick.
Jim Cramer is one of the most dangerous and irresponsible financial influences on television. He has no accountability and makes reckless calls severely financially injuring those who are naive enough to believe. I will be very happy to see him leave the public eye, hopefully soon.