Sirius XM Radio Inc. was able to exchange more common stock for debt, again, this time it's 100 million shares for $13 million worth of 2.5% notes due this year.
Meanwhile, a group of shareholders led by the exuberant Michael Hartleib has demanded to review Sirius XM's books under Delaware law.
While Mel Karmazin was able to issue 100 million shares of SIRI common stock to payoff $13 million worth of debt, he still has $174,588,000 to go. And time is running out. But as Tom Taylor at Radio-Info.com so appropriately puts it, "historically you don't bet against Mel."
But if Mel's losing sleep over the company's debt, then Mr. Michael Hartleib isn't making his nights any calmer.
SaveSirius.org, a group of disgruntled shareholders headed up by Michael Hartleib (who seems equally as disgruntled) have demanded all the documents, plus a list of shareholders related to the shareholder vote approving the merger between Sirius and XM. Hartleib also wants documents related to interoperable radios and a slew of other documents - all under Delaware Law Statute 220.
What exactly does Hartleib looks to achieve with this information? That's a damn good question.
But if Mel's losing sleep over the company's debt, then Mr. Michael Hartleib isn't making his nights any calmer.
SaveSirius.org, a group of disgruntled shareholders headed up by Michael Hartleib (who seems equally as disgruntled) have demanded all the documents, plus a list of shareholders related to the shareholder vote approving the merger between Sirius and XM. Hartleib also wants documents related to interoperable radios and a slew of other documents - all under Delaware Law Statute 220.
What exactly does Hartleib looks to achieve with this information? That's a damn good question.
I'm amazed that people look for ulterior motives when someone chooses to exercise his or her rights. DE law makes it it lawful for Hartleibs to do what he's doing, just because he's a shareholder.
I have no doubt that the production he's requested will be expensive - but anyone that owns shares in this co. can do that.
I don't think he'll get anywhere - but if Mel K is feeling pressure, then that's good. He and his team have really made XM and Sirius into a mediocre content provide and a dismal financial mess.
No sympathy for Mel. None.
Hartlieb is probably dillusional but I'm starting to think he's a publicity whore. He wants to be known for something.
He's the know it all from HS that couldn't get any attention. Still trying....still not working.
I just went to Hartleib's website SaveSirius.org and saw his interview on the Fox Business Channel. Talk about the ramblings of a madman, even the Fox anchor couldn't figure out what he trying to do.
He needs to knock off the whiner-baby crap about his stock loses and suck it up like everybody else.
I did.
I'd love to see this guy make Mel have to show his books. It would be fantastic to think that somehow, some way, Mel will get what's coming to him in this life. But it will never happen, and nothing will ever stick to Mel for all the trouble he's caused.
Evil people prosper in this life because the Devil runs the world. So...see you in Hell, Mel.
What trouble has Mel Karmazin caused you, you big freakin child. What exactly has Mel done to cause your hatred....oh I get it, he fired your precious DJ's and changed the format of some channels on both services. The stock price was going to tank no matter what, have you seen the stock market lately? On top of that, is he really a bad guy for trying to shore up the business and trim the fat? But i'll bet you're still a subscriber, I bet you're still buying the service. Take that one, chump.
Foosball is the devil. Not Mel.
Things are about to get very exciting!www.SaveSirius.org
I must say sense the merger murder of XM radio and Sirius radio, It has gone down hill dramatically. I used to love the service, but now I find wider playlists on my local FM radio stations. Thanks Mel for taking a great service and awesome idea and turning it into shit. :)
>What exactly does Hartleib looks to achieve with this information? That's a damn good question.
It's also a key legal question as to whether he'll have to produce the books and records. With a public company, it's not a slam dunk that they have to provide them - you have to deliver a valid reason.
I bet, without litigation on the point, that they'll never get info on interoperable radios - it's not like making a FOIA request.
Greg
Does your local FM play 80's New Wave, 40's or 60's music. Local FM is no substitute for the variety available on Satellite Radio.
The playlists could be deeper. I think the way they handled the channel merger was horrible. They should have, from August to October, slowly reduced XM's playlist while increasing Sirius playlists. That way by October all that people would have had to deal with was the name and DJ changes. I believe the sweet spot for Sirius XM customer-wise is the baby boomers and to eliminate Strobe was beyond stupid. A mistake I am glad the reversed.
What evil has Mel done?
In terrestrial AND satellite radio, thousands of jobs due to stupidity and greed. Each job was not just a number on a piece of paper...it was a human who had to pay rent, buy food for their kids, pay their bills. Each job is a life.
Mel and Howard make untold millions and the people that do the actual work get screwed. The radio industry (ALL radio) has been decimated by corporate pieces of shit like Mel, cutting costs and consolidating everywhere to pad their own pockets, and THAT'S why no one listens. THAT'S what he's done.
It's just too bad you don't have the guts to even post your name. Or maybe you're just afraid to put your name on such a gutless, inaccurate post. Way to go.
it's "delusional"
This Hartleib guy is just irritating and is actually hurting Sirius XM even more by continuous to drum up bad publicity as the ramblings of a douche who believes he is of some importance in the world.
The merger delays were not Mel's fault and the resulting fall out of that is not his either. This is about big $$ from competitors trying to hurt their competition. The same thing as Microsoft funding groups to hinder moves by Google.
Lets be realistic and realize that the services changes have been minimal. On terrestrial I've woken up and found my favorite dance station turn into country for gods sake!
Two points:
1. I hate to see people lose jobs, but I know for a FACT, that the people on the XM side got HUGE severance payments. It's not a substitute for a job, but some of those people are being paid their salary for a full YEAR while they don't work. It certainly gives them plenty of time to find a new job. I just want to point that about because in many jobs, you get laid off, you get nothing - or maybe one week - or 2. But the minimum XM offered people was THREE MONTHS. And since they were so top heavy there, all those EVP's etc, I am sure, got closer to a FULL YEAR of pay. So while it's sad that anyone lost a job, please keep in mind that many of them were praying to get laid off. And if they weren't, getting FULL SALARY while you do a job search is not bad.
2. Regarding savesirius.org = I assume that guy is a shareholder. Knowing that Mel has a reputation for cooking books in the past - what is he hoping to find? Is he trying to oust Mel? If that happened, would the ousting of Mel lead to a better chance of this company going bankrupt? Am I correct that IF the company went bankrupt that all the shareholders would LOSE their stock - and thus completely lose their investment????
Yeah- we're all holding our breath.
He has every right to ask for this stuff, but it really doesn't help all the people that got screwed and ARE sane when an insane guy is doing this crap.
I really wish someone with half a brain was doing what Hartlieb is. In the absence of that, at least a crazy man is doing it. Crazy guys are at least determined.
Now Hartleib is pimping his website.. Get a life... You sir are a douche..
>>Does your local FM play 80's New Wave, 40's or 60's music. Local FM is no substitute for the variety available on Satellite Radio.
These are the same people that sold their personal integrity down the crapper while writing letters telling the FCC that there was no reason not to approve the merger because Local FM radio was in fact, A DIRECT SUBSTITUTE for SDARS.
Of course, this was their true opinion all along, but thought they had a seckret handshake with Mel, and Mel was going to reward them for their "lapse" in personal integrity.
All they got from the sale of their "personal integrity" was a visit from Karma.
Eveyone who supported the merger got exactly what they are due. The employees of the respective companies got laid off. The subscribers got less content for the same money. (That's a price increase)as the content keeps getting weaker and weaker (See Bubba). And the shareholders got tied to the stake and burned.
Karma's a Btch!!
And so it goes,
PCSTEL
"In terrestrial AND satellite radio, thousands of jobs due to stupidity and greed. Each job was not just a number on a piece of paper...it was a human who had to pay rent, buy food for their kids, pay their bills. Each job is a life."
Awwww....let me break out my violin. Give me a break. As much as I don't like people losing thier jobs, I really don't feel bad for DJ's losing thier gig. Sorry...there's far too many more important people in the world who have much more education and much more important jobs than those who push buttons and talk into a microphone for a living.
"Mel and Howard make untold millions and the people that do the actual work get screwed. The radio industry (ALL radio) has been decimated by corporate pieces of shit like Mel, cutting costs and consolidating everywhere to pad their own pockets, and THAT'S why no one listens. THAT'S what he's done."
THEN STOP LISTENING....stop consuming the product! You kill me....everyday you and every other critic has nothing good to say about anything, yet you still continue to come back and still continue to criticize. You still bitch and moan about how bad things are, yet you wouldn't know how to run a company if your family's life depended on it. So please, spare me the crap about how someone is paid more than you....stop playing the income card and maybe look into why you're not getting promoted at your job before you cast stones at people that are more successful than you'll ever be.
"It's just too bad you don't have the guts to even post your name. Or maybe you're just afraid to put your name on such a gutless, inaccurate post. Way to go."
Yeah, I know....because "The Amazing Rando" is really your name. Throw that one in your pipe and smoke it, chump.
SatRad will go the way of Fm thanks to Mel--Internet Radio is here and will overtake everything!
And "Anonymous" is not YOUR name. At least I make the attempt to distinguish myself from every chickenshit who doesn't want to put ANY name on their opinions. Have the guts to back up your worthless post, or be prepared not to be taken seriously. Be a man next time.
Hey Rando (because i'm sure that's your real name)....I make a choice to not put a stupid name like "the amazing rando" or "Bill" or a name on my post because we're ALL anonymous! I don't care if you put a name on something or not, there's still a good chance that its not your real name. As for backing up my "worthless post", I know what i'm talking about, do you? It is your choice on whether to take my arguments seriously or not, but its clearly bothering you that I actually HAVE an argument and you don't.
Sat radio is a dinosaur now being run by a dinosaur. iPods/iPhone and internet radio + stupid management have destroyed it.
mel did NOT sign howard stern with his huge contract and bonus.
HOWARD STERN did bring in at least 1 million subs. and upto maybe 3 million subs. either way howard was a smart move.
with MEL at the stern, we went from about 3 or 4 million subs, and we now have 20 MILLION SUBS, ok ok, lets just say only 16 MILLION ARE PAYING SUBS.....
way to go MEL. U ARE A BASTARD.
Actually it IS my real name, or close enough.
I'm only mentioning this because you left off the end of your name...Coward. As for an argument, you don't have one. You and your kind will defend your heroes Mel and Howard to the end, and there's just no reasoning with you.
Now go and get your fuckin' shine box.
Rando, i'm still waiting for your counterargument to everything I said, i'm still guessing you don't have one. That's why all you have is "why don't you release your name, coward", and you don't even have that because you're just as anonymous as I am. Be a man and admit it, you clearly have a problem with people that make more money than you, and are more successful than you....period. I'll bet you still have that subscription too. Let me educate you, there's a big difference between criticizing a service that you pay for and wishing someone "go to hell", who do you think you are? Mel and Howard and all these rich guys that you hate have families and celebrity to juggle....you ever think about that? Yes, I will defend thier right to make as much money as they possibly can and live the life they want to live. You're like the talk show caller that's really a blogger on some underground website that calls in with Nazi propaganda just to shock the audience and rile up the talk show host....you throw your hand grenade and you run. I'm not calling you names, and i'm not wishing ill will towards you or your family....so what makes you or those DJ's you wanna protect so bad (like those people really care about you, i'm so sure of it) any different?
I don't know what details Hartlieb is seeking wrt interoperable radios but the following post was made under a different Orbitcast article about the new dual-service radio:
This device should have been out years ago. It was a requirement of the DARS license each company was issued.
Both Sirius and XM actively pursued R&D on an interoperable radio long ago. Rumors circulated before the merger plan was announced in February 2007 that such a device was in the possession of CEOs Mel Karmazin and Hugh Panero.
If you look at XM's 2007 10-K report on page 12, XM recognizes that it is obligated to comply with the interoperable radio requirement and claims that it has done so. Then, on page F-43:
"Joint Development Agreement
Under the terms of a joint development agreement with Sirius, the other holder of an FCC satellite radio license, each party is obligated to fund one half of the development cost for a common receiver platform for satellite radios. Pursuant to the joint development agreement, in November of 2003, XM and Sirius formed a limited liability company for this purpose. During the years ended 2007, 2006 and 2005, the Company incurred costs of $1.0 million, $1.0 million and $1.3 million, respectively, in relation to this agreement. These costs are being expensed as incurred in research and development."
The same text appears in the 2006 10-K on page F-44 with 2004 replacing 2007 and the associated figure of $.9M. Similarly, the 2005 10-K, on page F-40, shows 2003 costs of $.6M.
So XM has spent at least $4.8M on a Sirius-XM device. It is reasonable to assume that Sirius incurred similar costs related to this project so this means it is likely that at least $9.6M has been spent during the period from 2003 through 2007 to develop an interoperable radio.
Despite the regulatory mandate to produce an interoperable radio, such a device was apparently developed yet it was not made available to the consumer. The FCC failed in its enforcement of that license stipulation both before the merger and in its review and approval of the merger. Then, post-merger it took this long to get it on the market?
This whole thing stinks on so many levels.
Crazy is someone who talks to himself and answers himself. Crazy is someone who continues to do the same thing over and over again and expects a different outcome. Talk to myself yes, answer myself no, continues to do the same thing over and over yes but in a different way so I guess I am only half way there! Stay tuned as things are about to get interesting!!
How far are you gonna go with this?
Seriously. You're wasting your time and mine and you have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. You don't know anything about me and you feel you have the right to judge others just because you know how to use a keyboard in your mom's basement. I don't have to justify myself or my actions to you...you don't EXIST, Anonymous Coward.
Want to debate me? Pick a name besides "Anonymous". Want to keep posting to this same thread, even though everyone else has moved on? Feel free to. Not having a job probably affords you the free time to do this. But I don't have that luxury. I've moved on to more recent subjects. If you want to keep kissing Mel and Howard's asses (which is what you seem to do best), go right ahead. I don't know what you have to gain by sucking up to corporate scum who don't care about YOU and wouldn't care if you died...but you seem to have your own retarded agenda.
Feel free to post all the comments you want to this. I won't be responding. You're not worth my time, and I'm not reading old threads any more. You LOSE. The end.
Rando, I never judged you. You're the one that tells people to "burn in hell" because they did something you don't like....and you don't believe in debating, that's why I don't feel like releasing my name or creating a stupid name. No one here really believes in debating, they believe in dropping their hand grenade and running. I actually have a job, and its a pretty good one. But you wouldn't know that anyway, and I don't expect you to.
But once again, you have failed to address any of my counterarguments i've laid out so eloquently in my previous posts. Instead, you've stooped to the level of insults and namecalling, which shows your maturity right there. I guess it was my fault for thinking someone of your low intellect could even debate in the first place. How about this, since you "won't be responding any longer"....how about when someone debates your points thread by thread, that you actually respond to those points with a "counterargument"....that's what debating is. Pretty simple, right? We all have agendas my friend, including this nutjob Hartleib. So, that's fine....drop your Molotov cocktail and run. That's what you seem to do best, RANDO.
Current management has markedly worsened satellite radio as a product. Yes, I'm still a customer. You don't just automatically throw in the towel every time something doesn't go your way. But I listen less, am less committed to it, and more disheartened every day that the service I enjoyed so much has been so severely compromised.
I guess I don't understand any argument in which someone defends the actions of current management of this company. They've done absolutely nothing for me as a listener. I find it highly arrogant that they destroyed XM, the service I chose because I preferred it, and replaced it with a service that's not at all comparable, taking off a lot of very good channels and replacing them with mediocre substitutes.
But they definitely have the right to do that - no argument there. We'll see how it works out for them.
I don't know that much about this Hartlieb character, and whether or not he is wasting his and everybodies time or not. If Mel is on the up and up ( I hope he is, though he comes across like a sneaky used car salesman), then he has nothing to worry about. If he is up to fraudulent activity that is harmful to subscribers and shareholders, then I hope they fry his ass at halftime of the Super Bowl!
As far as the service is concerned, I would say that it has deteriorated since the merger. I find myself changing the channels more often, a sure sign that songs are being repeated more often, or that annoying chit chat is bastardizing the programming. They know we don't like it, but they (management) seem to be oblivious to subscribers feelings most of the time. If I had 20 million people paying into a business that I was running, I would gladly go out of my way to kiss their asses each day of my life. I guess I have an old school work ethic or something. Or maybe a conscience.
I got into some fat chicks car the other day ( what a pig - I don't want to get into it) and she was listening to terrestrial radio. What was coming out of that radio was, to my ears, unlistenable. I couldn't wait to get out of the car. It was extremely unpleasant, and not at all entertaining. I don't hate too many things in this life, but I can say uneqivocally that I hate terrestrial radio. It made me realize that satelllite radio, though far from perfect, is light years ahead of AM/FM. I hope to hell they don't keep compromising the progamming. If they would simply cut the bullshit and listen to the subscribers, then it would be a win win situation all around. It makes you wonder just how intelligent some of these people are.
I was probably an idiot for getting so hyped about satellite radio, and investing a small fortune in it. I still think it's a great product, and I still enjoy it every day.
I have never felt that the management of this company has my back, or the backs of all the other subscribers. It sounds really corny, but I have to believe that things would be a lot better if the management of Sirius/XM simply gave a damn!
I have one vehicle without satellite radio, so I do get back to AM and FM sometimes, and I do agree with a lot of what you say about the difference between satellite and terrestrial. The thing that I notice, though, is how much better FM sounds.
Hi all, perhaps slightly OT but when will SIRI issue this Reverse-split of between 1-to-10 and 1-to-50?
Anyone know this?
It was OK-ed by the shareholders, not?
Curious,
Isaac
The fact Hartlieb wrote a letter to Sam Brownback speaks volumes. He was the "former" senator who along with the NAB, tried stop the merger and destroy satellite radio by having it regulated, the same as free over the air radio. I think that although I agree Hartlieb has a right to speak his mind, Sirius-Xm is making a mistake by not taking him on.