With $174.6 million in debt due in just about two weeks, word has come out that Sirius XM Radio Inc. are in "advanced" talks about taking on that debt.
According to the Wall Street Journal, people familiar with the matter are saying that Sirius XM is in advanced discussions with "several investors" about taking on the debt.
WSJ also points out that some - but not all - of the participants hold existing Sirius debt.
If Sirius XM can clear this hurdle, there's still $350 million due in May, $400 million due at the end of the year, and another $230 million in convertible notes come due in 2011.
"It's a long road back," given the economic conditions, says RBC Capital Markets analyst David Bank.
[Wall Street Journal]
WSJ also points out that some - but not all - of the participants hold existing Sirius debt.
If Sirius XM can clear this hurdle, there's still $350 million due in May, $400 million due at the end of the year, and another $230 million in convertible notes come due in 2011.
"It's a long road back," given the economic conditions, says RBC Capital Markets analyst David Bank.
[Wall Street Journal]
Hopefully Everything works out, and that Sirius/XM Radio is around for years to come!!!!
Uh oh Mel..... You got some splaining to do....
I could see this playing out something like...
- Investors get paid in shares and maybe company assets (they get the buildings/satellites/whatever and lease them back to Sirius).
- Delusional Mel Karmazin fanboys say "That's awesome! They took on a bajillion shares-- why would they do that if they thought the company was going to tank? I knew Mel would steer us through this! LONG SIRI!!!!" and the share price rises a few cents.
- Investors dump their stock and cash out, making it even more worthless than it is now. Sirius is left without any hope of paying the remaining debt, so they swoop in and buy out the company for pennies on the dollar.
- Preparing for a sale could also explain the seemingly suicidal price increase. Sirius would take all of the PR damage, then pass the higher-revenue subscribers on to the new company.
"Please Lord forgive me.
I made a huge mistake signing Howie and running this company into the ground. Please forgive me for bubba the love towel, love handles,love...oh you know who I mean. Please show me away out of this mess. May my nice hire, the Maxwell Show, be better so I can make lots of money!!
Thank You Lord"
Don't worry... Obama is in charge now!!! He will bail SatRad out!!!
Don't worry... Obama is Prez now! Bailout money for everyone!!!
Could this end up like Circuit City? Wasn't Circuit City *this* close to securing financing from different companies in order to keep the company afloat but at the last minute the deals fell through and Circuit City had to liquidate all assets? I'm not a stock guy by any means but is this situation at all similar? Was Circuit City in way worse financial trouble than SiriusXM is? Or am I way off base here???
Yup this could be the end, hate to say it, but exactly how long can a company go on and not show a profit.
I am feeling sorta bitter over this because they(the brain surgeons) that engineered this disaster and ran this company into the ground.The merger was supposed to save the company, well you just have a bigger company with bigger debt that will just sink faster.
Paying talent too much money and trying to grow the companys too fast are two ways they killed it, oh did I mention they now are raising rates to drive even more subs away, Brilliant, what a great strategy, that will really pull people away from i pods and Slacker won't it.
All I can do is sit back and watch the patent slowly die.
O-BAMA PREZIDENT NAH!!!!!!!
Mel has effed this company.
Cash flow positive 2009.
Shorts will get squeezed very soon!
Burn shorts burn.
37 % institutional ownership!
They are still buying today.
The mother of all short squeezes, 219 million!
This should be fun to watch them squirm.
I will sell you my shares @ 20.00!
burn shorts burn
1) Mel didn't sign Howard Stern. He was signed before he arrived.
2) Mel has said he wouldn't have signed Howard at $500 million, that he was overpriced.
3) Much of this debt is actually XM's debt, not SIRIUS'.
Advanced Discussions...
Mel: Well, Gary, what about all this debt?
Gary: Don't know, Mel. Its a bunch. What did you have mind?
Mel: I thought you knew.
Gary: Me? I'm not running this show. I thought David Frear had it under control?
Mel: Well, we can just issue shares. The way I figure it we should be able to get a nickel a share. At that, we can issue 20 Billion shares and be debt free. What do you think?
Gary: Sigh.
Circus City had Best Buy kick'n it's ars! Competition is not the same in this game. Sirius is a monopoly right? or at least some argue that it's close to it. Much different than Circut City. Much. SiriusXM is the leader, and if i was a bank... or had the cash, i wouldn't think twice about loaning cash to them. They have a huge future, and will be in devices (iPhone, etc.) everywhere. If yoi want fresh content -NOW, there is only one source better, t.v., and that is in a league of its own. Who's #1 in radio? SiriusXM.
Perhaps we Mel can ask the BIG guns to spur sales and increase listenership. Let's see, Oral n Anal should add about $36 a month. That's on top of the $72 they're brought in. Maybe ron n pez can give handies to make up the rest. They've had plenty of experience with that "side project".
Stern brought satellite into the mainstream and added more listenership than any other "talent". Unlike the other dead weight "talent" he did what was asked.
At this point I don't really give a damn what they do. I've been a subscriber for years and years but the whole "charge for listening online" thing sent me over the deep end. I'm getting a slacker as soon as my next paycheck clears.
I wish that someone would do a real analysis about what would actually happen if debt problems persist or things go south. And closed comments, because seriously, people, you should read what you say out loud before you post.
I just can't see the service going away. SatRad fills a need that other alternatives can't match. It will continue in some form.
On the plus side, with OutQ joining the XM lineup now all of my shows are part of the marquee lineup so should things fail horribly I know that all my shows have an excellent chance of surviving a shakeup.
I don't know if you can get the sh*t back into the horse, but this merger needs to be unmerged! You don't make one struggling and drowning company successful by merging with another struggling and drowning company. What the fu*k were they thinking????? Now that the merger has happened, most of the music channels are unlistenable. R.I.P. satellite radio. I hope I can sell my receivers on Ebay before the company pulls the plug and deorbits their birds!
With Obama as Prez and the type of 'Stimulus Package (spending bill) they are about to pass, Sirius may get money, but in the long run we as a nation are robbing Paul to pay Peter are going to spend our way into a third world country with hyperinflation and owned by China.
Wow! Mel having a wakeup call?
Sirius has turned into utter garbage. It's nothing more than paid
FM radio complete with blabbering DJs, morning shows on the music
channels and limited playlists.
Why would anyone with an iPod or CD player that can deliver higher
quality audio (over the tin can sound of Satellite) want to go with Sirius?
Sirius needs to concentrate on being a music delivery service with a
higher bitrate, widened playlists and NO DJs.
>>> 2) Mel has said he wouldn't have signed Howard at $500 million, that he was overpriced.
a) The contract wasn't $500 Million. It was more like $700-750 Million.
b) Mel CLAIMED he offered to extend Howard's contract on the same terms early on.
Howard, more than any other person, is responsible for the death of satellite radio. It is no coincidence that he is one of the few who got out with his money. Howard knew when they handed him the stock that it was at the top, and he bailed immediately for that reason. Can't blame him.
Come with me/....join the SLACKER ARMY!
"Stern brought satellite into the mainstream and added more listenership than any other "talent". Unlike the other dead weight "talent" he did what was asked."
Seems to me that Howard is the dead weight. He's the one sinking the boat.
Im sure they are in ADVANCED(ie final discussions) regarding debt as the deadline is feb 15th(plus they get 30 dy grace period as ive read) Mel stated he wanted to get this done by March 1---The terms are what im worried about as this is a bad time for ANY company to refinance--I hope he cut the crap out of expenses so that the merger synergies are better then expected as well asPOSITIVE cash flow, the price increase adds unexpected cash with prepays to lock in, and cars sales start to improve slowly
I am officially about to be a former XM listener after 7 years of listening. The final straw is this bullshit where my 2 accounts at $19.94 are going to run $27.92 for no improvements in my listening experience.
I just bought a Slacker G1 and paid the $44 for the year long premium subscription. This thing is great and a much cheaper alternative to Sirius XM. With the economy going in the shitter like it has, I see no reason why I should want to spend more for a service that is seriously declining in quality when there are better and cheaper alternatives available. I am saving money and getting something I actually enjoy. Probably will used my saved money and selling my Inno to get a nice loaded out Slacker G2.
Wow Ned I have said this before. Howie's lil doggie company had only 7 Million subs to XM's over 9M so how is his "revolution". Doing???? O&A and Ron & Fez Are twice the talent for a fraction of the hook nose's contract. Explain the "revolution" to me Stern Zombies. I DON'T GET IT????? Wow Howie can swear and work only 4 days a week... Sirius wants to save money???? FIRE ARTIE (Love the guy) But in any other business his ass would have been fired a LONG time ago saving the company $700g a year.
A got this from a insider that Slacker might shut down in near future or have to put advertisements in their radio station similitar to Pandora or pay royalties. They passed the bill in congress about this.
Its a great service minus sports news and Howard and all the nice SIRIUS content. I wouldnt put too much money in Slacker equipment.
I don't think that the synergies from the merger will be realized this immediately. I'm not an accountant but all of the layoffs came with severance packages - 6-12 months,etc. Wouldn't this remain on the books as an expense until they stop paying off severed employees?
If he is looking for cash flow he seriously needs to dump "Dead Weight" Talent AKA All these music channel DJs. If this is what you Sirius subscribers have been putting up with I feel bad for you people. SHUT UP AND PLAY Music. Shade 45 I think its called that cause they shade 45 minutes of talk by playing 15 minutes of music an hour. And do I really need washed up 80's MTV VJs????? Ahhhh NO!!! Yeah commercial free but the babble is a bit much. How about you relocate even more people to that massive XM complex in DC??? Dump that NYC office and save some cash. Already working on dumping the studios on West 57th. Are they closing Lincoln Center Too??? And why did you dump a cheaper IN-House Traffic and Weather Service run out of DC for a more Expensive service. Step up Mel and do the right thing like not get paid till you pull a profit..... That would make people happy. Yes I know XM carried most of the Debt in the deal. That was because they spent it all on technology and better radios, not all these wacky DJs and other USELESS crap.
Honestly, would the two or three shills for slacker radio stop advertising it on this forum. This post isn't about slacker. Geez. I'm starting to think Slacker must be doing poorly the way they shill the thing on here.
To slacker- when you have LIVE content, news, sports (MLB, NFL, NCAA, PGA, NASCAR) and talk radio along the likes of Howard Stern, Opie & Anthony, and the hundreds of other personalities available on Sirius/XM I will be interested. But otherwise, why would I buy a devise that is essentially an IPOD shuffle? IPOD shuffles suck.
I think going to the iphone will hurt sirius. Unless you like howard what else is there.
Slacker and Pandora are better for music.
You wrote "Come join the Slacker army."
Slacker is too much damn work. I hardly ever use mine. Between hitting buttons to ban and favorite songs (and I also do a lot of skipping because whatever formulas they use to pick songs for me are wildly inaccurate) and the need to refresh at Wi-Fi spots, Slacker is a big hassle. Songs follow each other with no sense of what a music set is. I'll rely on my inno.
Get your facts stright O&A fool. XM had more listeners before Howard came on. Sirius had 600,000, when he came on, and more than trippled that in almost 2 years. O&A haven't brought a damn thing to SAT RAD. What is it with O&A fans always bashing howard? Like if their show is soooo much better. O&A are a poor man's copy of Howard. XM had more listeners because they had more auto contracts before Sirius took them over. But why confuse you with the facts that O&A conviniently seem to leave out.
Can I listen to Slacker in my 18 wheeler or my car? I travel a lot...
everything is mel's fault. i wouldn't be surprised if they accused mel for giving eve the forbidden apple and causing the holocaust, the black plague and american slavery at the same time.
i wonder if they are aware that all of radio is hurting right now and the delay of nearly a year is the main factor in accumulating and not paying off all of this debt. go join that whacko who wants to "save sirius" by dissolving the merger which will then kill it off probably never having the technology return again.
"everything is mel's fault. i wouldn't be surprised if they accused mel for giving eve the forbidden apple and causing the holocaust, the black plague and american slavery at the same time."
You know, now that you mention it. I believe it is!!
I hope that the service survives in some form because it can't be any worse than FM even when it hits bottom. Besides, if it dies than Davy Rehr ender and the NAB will have won in the end. Only the shills want that.
Dead on! About time someone made sense on this site...
Really??? Did you know that Sirius would report that BRAND new cars sitting on lots with their 3 month free trials as subs???? That's how they grew so fast. HOWARD has done NOTHING for Satellite. BOTH of the companies got ALOT of subs by Over The Road Truck Drivers. Yes Daddy Mel is a GREAT salesman HORRIBLE Business man. He destroyed Viacom (CBS Radio) and now he has RUINED 2 Satellite companies. XM could have stayed it's own company. It was better in more ways then the lil doggie could ever dream of.
@anonymous:
The Maxwell Show SUCKS. You probably are that fat one-market zero trying to draw attention to yourself. You and Rover both try to draw attention to yourselves, and you constantly compare yourself to Stern. You're a hack, and boring, AAND PUHNT!.
Oh my god, Slacker having problems? Royalty issues? Impending Financial Problems? Commercials? Who could have forseen this perfect storm of calamity? Pretty much anyone.......
XM: "Better in more ways then that "lil doggie could ever dream of"
WELL SAID!!
Mel & minions philosophy: "Throw out the seed corn so we will have more room in the corn crib for next growing season!!!
The merger should have never happened. The Feds had no backbone and were bought off by slick Mel (A Huckster if there ever was one), XM should have succeeded or failed on its own
SatRad's quality and reputation is fading fast.
"The System" - GONE
"Soul Street" - GONE
"XM Comedy" - GONE
"Audiovisions" - GONE
"Catfish & Kilroy" on "Willie's Place" - GONE
"Rawdog" - PLAIN PITTIFUL (I've not heard Lewis Black once on "Rawdog")I have basically quit listening to "Rawdog",it's just too disjointed.
"BLUE COLLAR" - Just how many times can I hear Jeff Foxworthy,Larry The Cable Guy or Bill Engeval in a damn day???
Decreasing playlists & yappy DJ"s - HERE TO STAY??
Increased rates & lies - HERE NOW
Thanks a lot assholes & that bunch of dumbshit ignorant programmers. You people took a GREAT product and have totally f**ked it up.
XM subscriber since Feb 2002
The bottom line is that Sirius does not care.
I and others have been talking with Jon Zellner, the person
directly responsible for ruining XM programming in its later
years and now continuing forward with Sirius.
This is the only company that I have ever dealt with whose
philosophy is "The Customer Is Always Wrong." Despite a rash
of complaints about the transformation of satellite into a glorified
paid FM station, the company still feels it is on the right track.
A complaint to customer service garnered this textbook reply...
=================================
Thank you for contacting SIRIUS! We appreciate the time you have taken
to email us regarding the on-air personalities. We are here to help!
Ronald, our emphasis is on the music and entertainment you want. Master music programmers and on-air personalities, who are true experts, host our music. They back up the music with compelling information about the song being played. We do not consider announcements and on-air host discussions "commercials”, we simply want to ensure that our listeners remember who they are listening to so they can come back to their favorite channels and make requests. We apologize for any frustration caused by the announcements and on-air host discussions.
We have forwarded your comments to our programming department and will take your suggestions into consideration. We are committed to providing you with the best in customer care. If you have any more questions, please feel free to contact SIRIUS Customer Care.
=================================
So, despite the fact that every satellite radio has the capability
of displaying song and artist information, they still feel that the
service needs a DJ to tell you the name or interesting facts about
the song.
The truth is, the DJs seldom give history information behind the
song. Most of the time they are making horrendous jokes and
anecdotes, commenting on a celebrities fat ass, or basically running
their own personality show instead of just playing the music.
If the company wants to save money, get rid of the DJs. If I walked
into a satellite company on the verge of bankruptcy, that is the first
thing I would do. Do you know how much Sirius could save on staff
costs?
If anyone from Sirius is reading this, look at the complaints posted in this thread. Go to other stories on ORBITCAST and read those complaints. Go over to other Internet radio discussion forums and read those complaints. The complainers are no longer the vocal minority. Your subscribers are FED UP with programming that has turned to crap and now subscription rates that are on the rise without any sort of improvement in service.
Sirius ruined XM. I've been a subscriber with two radios since the beginning. XM was a music lover's dream come true. XM and it's programmers backed by Lee Abrams respected music and it's history. They saw it as more than entertainment. You could tell that with EVERY music channel that XM had. My favorites were Deep Tracks, Top Tracks (NEVER A BAD SONG), and Fine Tuning. I loved Cinemagic also at times and of course the classical and christian and kids channels. My wife loved Audiovisions. And XM knew how to do holiday music. Halloween music was awesome with Special X and Christmas was also.
I was really disappointed this last year with the holiday offerings and there was basically no Halloween music at all.
I knew that when Sirius merged with XM everything would change toward the bad. It has. Deep Tracks and XM Classics (or Symphony Hall now) are really the only two things that are almost the same. The awesome XM Kids has changed to something NOT so awesome. And they cancelled the excellent Fine Tuning.
I'm not even going to go into DJs. I mean that is just gotten out of hand. MEL...listen to my WORDS...SATELLITE RADIO IS NOT FM.
I hope it is not too late to return what is now a dirge of pseudo-FM tripe into the glory that was once XM, but I'm afraid the end is nigh.
Lady B and the other Backspin DJs did just that. They provided historical information, context and even talked about their own personal experiences with the artists. Of course they were let go in November, Sweet.
Exactly.
If you are going to use DJs, use them for the purpose of providing
background information.
On the other hand, DJs like "Magic Matt" are more interested in
carrying their own personality show complete with awful jokes
and background sound effects rather than making the music the
focal point.
Slacker already worked out the rates with the R.I.A.A and the comercials are only on the free version(about one an hour).SatRad is dying fanboy!
Here is my favorite thing Daddy Mel has done. Not only did they take Fungus off, but the re-write of Lou Brutus's bio to remove all references to anything punk... Yep, no Ramones reference, no Joe Strummer reference and what happened to the Johnny Thunders reference...
So to close, I would link to give a big FU to Daddy Mel, FU!
Very well said, Michael Rhoden.
With the destruction of XM, people who love good radio have really lost a lot. When I listen to the eight or so hours of X Country programming I still have stored in my radio, it's amazing to think that such a quality channel was axed and replaced with a channel that's not even remotely similar.
Hell, even 20 on 20, seemingly a hard one to screw up, with big ratings numbers doing the easy programming they were doing, just playing a tight playlist of hits, has been jacked with. I think NJRonbo is right: They are just so sure that they're right and whatever XM did was wrong -- despite XM's higher subscriber numbers -- that everything needs the Sirius touch.
Well, that touch appears to be turning things not to gold but to dog crap.
To the 18 wheeler dude if you have a smart phone or laptop in the truck that has Internet access yes.
I have not been to where there is not 3G service yet so that would be the thing that would concern me. But it is nice to put on music and get music. I am not a shill for slacker but I am frustrated with the music on Sirius. Slacker is not perfect but much better then sirius for music.
NJRonbo,
On Siriusly Sinatra, the hosts of the shows keep their pie holes shut, unless they have some pertinent information that is related to the music. The inane blather on some of the channels is reminiscent of AM/FM at its worst, and it is distracting and annoying.
Wouldn't you think that the management of this company would realize that this kind of B.S. is the very reason people switched to satellite in the first place? Boy are these guys at Sirius/XM totally CLUELESS !!!
Since XM was the older company it did have more contracts. Again Look for some facts before you start to repeat the bull that O&A say just to try to make themselves look better than Howard. No matter what they say. Howard brought in most of Sirius' listeners. O&A hasn't made a dent. Again check up on things before you take what O&A say at face value.
Who needs satellite? I get all my music from Pandora and if you needs news, talk, sports, ect...download Stitcher on your iphone. Free app that works like Pandora for all the talk stuff!