A "high profile source" is saying that Google Inc. is on the verge of buying out Sirius Satellite Radio Inc., according to a blog posting on ClickZ News.
Hard to say anything else - as there's no other information - but the blog post does come from Zach Rodgers who's the Managing Editor for ClickZ (he's been with the company for over 6 years).
Just over a year ago, Google and XM inked a partnership to provide targeted ads to satellite radio subscribers. Is there a connection? Who knows, that's what makes "rumors" so much fun.
Somebody been smokin too much crack.
Ha..Ha. what a horrible thing, Id rather merge with XM then to be bought out by (GREEDY AD SUPPORTED!!) google.. But hey, thats just my 2 cents.
Scary thing is, google's willing to pay mega bucks for that 700mhz...people, this may happen...for the good or bad...but god, i hope it doesnt..
Any thoughts?
MEL wouldnt give it up, and wtf would google do with sat radio if they couldnt advertise. They arent that stupid to start advertising on sat radio this early. People would get pissed and stop paying. I know I would...
Next, this is another example of Google getting off target! Google tried to get into print advertising, it flopped. Google bought YouTube, congragulations, it's a fucking copyright infringement lawsuit waiting to hit the fan. Now Satellite Radio? Fuck off. Also, the Sirius stock is very low and Google's hihg, I'm personally not interested in whatever deal they would strike right now, not that my little opinion would matter.
Companies need to diversify in order to keep growing, especially after they've dominated their original sector, but Google purchases never seem to amount to much. Yes YouTube was high profile, but was it smart? Other than get a TON of press, what has it done for them? Ah yes, they'll spread video ads around the Internet, well Google Video could have done that on its own. Google already had the biggest online advertising empire, video would have been easy.
They're nouveau riche, like Saudi sheeks with twenty Ferraris: buy buy buy.
It's not as far fetched as you think. Google bought out dMarc/Scott Studios ... one of the major suppliers of radio broadcasting automation equipment. Google downloads commercials through those systems directly to hundreds of radio stations each day. Go here to learn more about the system: http://scottstudios.dmarc.net/ and here for information about a job opening for an Audio Field Trainer for the Google Audio/Scott Studio automation systems: http://www.google.com/support/jobs/bin/answer.py?answer=44997&query=dallas&topic=&type=dallas
Go here: http://scottstudios.dmarc.net/services/dmarc_detaile783.html?id=94
Guy from from no where again.Thats not what google is buying..........
Make no mistake about it, somebody is going to buy Sirius before too long. It would make more sense to do it after the merge. They could get the entire satrad enviroment in one tidy sale. Some conglomerate will step up to the plate. Terrestial radio is not just going to sit there and watch satrad eat their lunch. Money will talk!
If they do, there couldn't be a merger.
Google would control 100% of the satellite radio market, yes? And THAT would create an unfair monopoly. So there. No merger. The end.
If it helps the stock price I'm for it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If it helps the stock price I'm for it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i think a more resonable rumor would be that once google gets the 700mghz spectrum and finish building their "igoogle phone" you could proly see some siri content on said mobile phone.
They been talking about a Google and Sirius getting together since July. So the odds are better then 80% that they will. The only thing is why Google won`t admit that they have been looking into a Sirius merger since July.
This is totally speculation, but someone said that as soon as Google started running ads, that they'd stop paying for the service... and I'm thinking, maybe that's the point.
Isn't it conceivable that Google could run ads on satellite radio and offer the service for FREE? Isn't that the Google model-- "free ad-supported services"? It would be just like FM, except they'd have a *national* audience and the bandwidth to keep some of the niche channels. I think it's conceivable.
Of course, I also think it's not likely. At least I hope not.
I'd be more concerned with Mel and ads than Google. If the merger goes through advertising will noticably go up and will only continue to do so. Mel is an advertising salesman.
First, even with the 6 million some od subscribers, they're not in the black yet, so I doubt Sirius would flip to a free format, there's no way advertising could work out to that much money. Hell they have advertising already and it doesn't bring in a whole lot.
Second, 80% likely? What part of "this is a rumour" did you misunderstand?
Third, it won't help your SIRI stock, it will simply exchange you shares for GOOG at some decided ratio, maybe slightly better than market rates now, but not much. Sirius is very low right now and Google is perennially high, so it would only fuck us.
Fourth, might help the merger, Google is a giant, evil company that could fist-fuck the NAB.
In my opinion, Mel isn't going to continue running any Satellite Radio Company. He's a dealmaker and what he does is flip companies for profit. He's not really interested in running the company long term. Short term, make money and sell the company to Google or Apple. They need satellites and the backseat TV idea will explode within the next 5 years.
Mel starts showing cartoons. Espn, abc, nbc, fox, will all come along and in 5 years everyone will be enjoying their backseat theatres. No more calling for Shotgun!
If leveraged buyout occurs.....Google would have pay the $175 Million break up fee (small change to google)....In regard to advertising on Sat radio...they would simply advertize on talk and sports stations....you would still receive the 60 plus commercial free music channels... I wouldn't rule this scenario out!
Go SIRI!
I would love it if Google bought SIRI and the merger never happened...
Random Snarker:
You said: "Google would control 100% of the satellite radio market, yes? And THAT would create an unfair monopoly. So there. No merger. The end."
It's no more or less of a monopoly if Google doesn't buy the merged company. Either it's the [insert new Sirius/XM name] or it's Google Sat Radio. Either way, it's only one sat radio company.
I'm still on the fence about the merger, but I don't want Google buying Sirius -- I'm an XM listener and having the competitor with Google's deep pockets and reach would be bad for XM (and if it bought XM, it would be bad for Sirius).
My fear is that the XM that I've been tuning to for almost 6 years (in December) will be something entirely different, and perhaps not as good.
The fact that SIRI moved so much based on this rumor really shows the power of Orbitcast. No one picked up on the Google rumor until it was written here.... an amazing show of how influential this blog has become.
Great job Ryan, and keep it coming! My retirement depends on it :-)
Think about it! SIRI with all the bills paid= "Pure Prophet"!!!
This is an interesting "rumor", particularly at this point in time. We are at the cusp of knowing whether the regulators will approve the merger, and now this?
If GOOG buys SIRI, it will be a dark day for SIRI. Google is worse than Mel when it comes to advertising.
I suppose rumors of cbs buying xm will start going around again too.
If this happens it could in fact be a royal knee to the nuts of the merger... or not...
Here's a humorous take on where all of this might be going -- somewhere down the line!
Future News: Google Acquires Sirius-XM
http://www.medianewsandviews.com/2008/07/future-news-google-acquires-sirius-xm