A recent Associated Press report shows that XM Satellite Radio Inc spent $240k on lobbying in the second quarter of 2008.
Meanwhile, Orbitcast has learned from recent disclosure reports with the House clerk's office that Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. spent approximately $475k on lobbying during the same period.
This brings the total spent on lobbying by Sirius XM Radio Inc. to $715,000 for the second quarter of 2008.
The merger wasn't the only reason for the lobbying - but I'm sure it took a lionshare of activity. Other topics included "copyright issues," and legislative/policies impacting the SDARS licenses (read: merger stuff).
Compare this to the $1.2 Million in lobbying spent by Clear Channel Communications Inc., much of which was in opposition of the Sirius XM merger.
Ryan ,
One other minor thing . It seems, at the top of the Orbitcast page , it seems that the " all things satellite radio " is sitting on top of Orbitcast . The story lines seem ok now .
Money well spent Mel. NOT
Way to go, way to continue to waste large amounts of money that SiriusXM will never have.
It's all over. SiriusXm is DONE.
that's all?
Go check out what the NAB spent on Lobbying... And they STILL lost! ;-)
Looking at the results and the loss of Billions of dollars in market cap as compared to when the merger was announced or even compared to when it closed, I'm not so sure that the NAB lost anything.
Massive refinancing does not seem likely to me. If companies that actually make money cannot get financing at decent rates - how does a company that has never made money expect to get loans - Free Cash Flow Positive was promised in 2007 - we never saw that then; won't see that anytime in the future with SIRI XM.
Great product, lousy management.
Mel is a smooth salesman , but no matter how great the company is , when a losing company buys a losing company it will take a miracle to have it succeed, i bought 80,000 shares at $206,000, today its worth $68,000. i need a miracle and i dont think mels capable of that.We need new management. Fire him and his buddies they are losers and bring in new blood.
These figures only cover their lobbying expenses. They don't include the millions of dollars they spent on their FCC and Dept of Justice lawyers, or their economic and engineering consultants, or their public relations firms and others. All for what?