According to a number of filings with the FCC, top executives from Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. and XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. met with Commissioners and their offices earlier this week.
Mel Karmazin, CEO of Sirius, and Gary Parsons, Chairman of XM, met with the offices of Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein, as well as directly with Commissioner Robert McDowell, and Commissioner Michael Copps on Tuesday.
On the day prior to the meetings, Copps issued as statement about the Sirius-XM merger:
"I've said from the beginning, this merger is a steep climb for me. That hasn't changed," Copps said. "I look forward to reviewing the chairman's proposal and will consider it with an open mind."
Whether or not Karmazin and Parsons' meetings with Copps managed to persuade him otherwise will yet to be seen.
[View FCC Filings: 1, 2, 3 (PDF)]
You can thank this guy for the new stock prices:
http://smi-execs.blogspot.com/2008/03/mark-wienkes-cfa-cfp.html
Mark Wienkes, CFA, CFP
Vice President, Equity Research
Goldman Sachs
212.357.1986
mark.wienkes@gs.com
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/3/375/A91
Mark Wienkes
Equity Analyst
Greater New York City Area
No ... you can thank the FCC for this stock price.
These losers are on the take!
The final stake is being driven through of SatRad. GS has all but killed both companies. The worse form of corruption goes on right in the face of consumers, and nothing will be done.
COPPS: GET OFF MY LAWN!!!!!!
Contact me @ Copps@FCCPayDay.com
Hey, XM's site is down again.
Mel can sell Ice to eskimos. He should be able to convince 2 out of 4 guys to vote yes.
Mel can sell Ice to eskimos. He should be able to convince 2 out of 4 guys to vote yes.
Its time for approval FCC. This thing has gotten out of hand.
Great picture. It looks like the pickup spot for the short school bus on dress-up day.
JUST REMEMBER KEVIN MARTIN's STATMENT BEFORE DOJ MADE THEIR RULING. JUST THINK, HOW LONG IS "WOUD BE SOON AFTER THE DOJ" ?????
REMEMBER THIS IS A BURROCRACY
---Great picture. It looks like the pickup spot for the short school bus on dress-up day.
Posted by: Mat | June 19, 2008 12:59 PM-------
IT SHOULD BE LISTED AS:
"Parents, this a good reason to be at the kid's school bus stop."
JUST REMEMBER KEVIN MARTIN's STATMENT BEFORE DOJ MADE THEIR RULING. JUST THINK, HOW LONG IS "WOUD BE SOON AFTER THE DOJ" ?????
REMEMBER THIS IS A BURROCRACY
--------
http://www.m-w.com
Mel got the word and met with the board with big fat white envoples.
after todays sell off, i think a merger is more assured now
PLEASE DO THIS NOW ! ! ! ! I hope all of you are commenting to the FCC about this merger fiasco. Contact the FCC (Home Page) www.fcc.gov Then scroll down left column and click on, Filing Public Comments with ECFS Express. On this page select, Comment on Proposed Merger Between XM and Sirius - Docket 07-57.
You can also send an e-mail direct to each Commissioner or better yet, call them. From FCC home page left column, click on, Contact the FCC. Most importantly Deborah Tate 202 418-250 and Jonathan Adelstein 202 418-2300 need to hear why you want this merger approved now. If you do nothing now, don't complain when the merger fails.
Can anyone speculate as to why SIRIUS ticker showed up on Bloomburg across the screen, have never seen Sirius show up on the stock ticker, thanks folks, Mike Scott
mike scott, probably something to do with the high volume
Z... and it's a Bureaucracy too!
I still like Adlestein and McDowell despite this royal fuck up of an ordeal.. Fuck the rest of you feather-bedding deadwoods.
Can you believe that satrad went from viable to shit thank to the people pictured here?
Most of all, their self serving interests.
Hope you get reappointed. Thanks fuckers.
Only the FCC could take two reasonably growing 1 billion dollar businesses and fly them into the ground with 17 months of hand-wringing -do nothingness.
If one/both of these guys go down, you know who to thank.
Lastly, if you are so inclined, please forward this to 2-3 of your friends and ask them to call and write their congressmen and women letting them know educated people do not want a "merge" MONOPOLY in the Satellite radio industry. Long live the NAB and FCC.
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2008/06/18/make_satellite_radio_keep_competing/
PETER SMYTH
Make satellite radio keep competing
By Peter Smyth | June 18, 2008
THE FEDERAL Communications Commission should enforce its long-standing and well-reasoned prohibition against a satellite radio monopoly that it established in 1997 when it granted the spectrum licenses to XM and Sirius. The policy underlying this prohibition - to provide an opportunity for a competitive satellite service to benefit consumers - is as valid today as it was in 1997.
Satellite radio is still relatively new, and so far there is little evidence that the competitive landscape has changed in such a way that a satellite monopoly is justified. Having two satellite radio providers has kept subscription rates competitive (it is not surprising that their rates are virtually identical) and encouraged each operator to provide diverse program offerings.
Permitting XM and Sirius to merge would undermine the FCC's laudable regulatory objectives. Think about it: One company would control 25 megahertz of spectrum. This is more than the entire AM and FM terrestrial radio bands combined. In addition, one licensee would be able to air more than 300 channels in every market - 40 times more channels than terrestrial radio broadcasters are permitted to control in the largest markets.
With 300 channels, the monopoly company could use some of its channels to provide local programming aimed at specific large markets, competing directly with terrestrial radio but not on a level playing field. Last year when Greater Media purchased a sixth FM station in Boston, we had to sell a station we already owned to comply with the FCC's ownership limitations.
The Department of Justice's conclusion about the "market" in which XM and Sirius compete directly contradicts the FCC's recent decision not to relax its broadcast local ownership caps. The Department of Justice concluded that XM and Sirius compete for listeners with traditional AM/FM radio, HD radio, iPods, and cellphones. The FCC, on the other hand, found that these alternatives were not good substitutes for listening to radio. If the Justice Department is right that there is broad competition for listeners, then the FCC should relax the multiple ownership rules and permit companies to own more than a handful of stations in any given market. If the FCC is correct, then the merger must be denied since it would indisputably create a monopoly in the satellite radio market.
In any event, if the FCC permits XM and Sirius to merge, it should ensure that satellite subscribers are not discouraged from sampling other audio services, including HD radio. The radio industry is at a critical juncture with respect to the implementation of HD radio. We have spent millions of dollars to convert to digital. Consumer awareness is growing, but the number of HD receivers in use is still low.
To support broadcasters' efforts to convert to HD and help provide a relatively level playing field, the FCC should require XM and Sirius to subsidize or license receiving equipment only if it includes HD tuners and allows users to switch easily between the satellite and AM/FM bands.
XM and Sirius failed to comply with the equipment interoperability requirement the FCC imposed in 1997 and, in fact, the Department of Justice ironically relied on this lack of compliance to support its conclusion that XM and Sirius do not currently compete with each other. Therefore, failure to comply with the HD compatibility requirement should result in the forfeiture of some of the merged satellite company's spectrum.
These companies have a long history of ignoring the dictates of the FCC. The principles of a fair market demand that the FCC no longer allow that to happen.
Peter Smyth is president and CEO of Greater Media Inc.
Wow, that Peter Smyth is delusional. My favorite part- "the FCC should require XM and Sirius to subsidize or license receiving equipment only if it includes HD tuners." Anything else? How about the FCC require that any Sirius/XM television commercials include equal mention of HD radio as well as old fashion AM and FM?
The NAB and terrestrial radio are still scared to death. Why not just offer compelling content on your airwaves?
Peter Smyth wrote With 300 channels, the monopoly company could use some of its channels to provide local programming aimed at specific large markets, competing directly with terrestrial radio but not on a level playing field. Last year when Greater Media purchased a sixth FM station in Boston, we had to sell a station we already owned to comply with the FCC's ownership limitations.
Why would Xirius even bother with local markets. The only thing that is a benefit would be the sports talk but even then if I am 3 hours away from my home market I wouldn't be able to listen to it anyway because I would no longer be in my market.
The only thing worth getting locally is new or traffic because the local stations get check traffic correct.
I thought there was a pohibition on local content.
Another Thought - XM and sirius would bother with local programming so they can start to offer local or regional advertising. Terrestrial radio stations get more than 70% of their revenues from local advertising, that's billions of dollars. Mel worked in the radio industry for 30 years, you can bet that's one of his ultimate goals. A merged XM and Sirius would be able to charge monopoly prices for their subscription services, and use those monopoly profits to subsidize predatory prices to advertisers like car dealers and supermarkets and terrestrial radio's other customers. Its antitrust economics 101.