Oh sure, there's a merger going on so everyone's one big happy family right? Not exactly. Everyone still wants to see how Sirius' and XM's satellite radio subscribers are stacking up against each other.

So here's some charts and numbers using the latest subscriber information to break it all down for you.

Total Satellite Radio Subscribers:

Sirius Satellite Radio: 7,142,538
XM Satellite Radio: 8,250,000

The above chart shows the total cumulative subscribers starting from the fourth quarter of 2001 and how both Sirius and XM subscribers have grown comparative to each other.

Quarterly Net Subscribers

Sirius Satellite Radio: 561,493
XM Satellite Radio: 338,000

Here you can see how Sirius and XM have added NET subscribers on a quarterly basis, going back to 2005. For the seventh consecutive quarter, Sirius has beaten out XM in net satellite radio subscriber additions.

Quarterly Gross Subscribers:

Sirius Satellite Radio: 1,002,145
XM Satellite Radio: 942,000

This chart shows the quarterly GROSS subscriber additions between XM and Sirius. I find that gross subscribers are a very important metric to track, because it eliminates variables (like churn) and shows the true market penetration. For the third consecutive quarter, Sirius has outpaced XM in gross subscriber additions. This even beats out the "Stern Effect" from last year.

The Parents Television Council (PTC) has once again publicly praised XM and Sirius satellite radio for the proposed A La Carte pricing as well as their "family-friendly" packages offered as a benefit of the two companies merging.

"This announcement by XM and Sirius constitutes the best set of parental controls we’ve ever seen to not only prevent children’s access to adult-themed programming, but to enable the marketplace to decide what it wishes to purchase and pay for," said PTC President Tim Winter.

"If the merger is approved and satellite radio gives its customers real choice in programming, it will be a groundbreaking moment for the future of subscription-based entertainment," Mr. Winter continued.  "There is no question that greater control of graphic content, combined with giving consumers the ability to have some control over packages and pricing is in the public interest and certainly in the interest of parents and families."

These are some hefty words, considering that the PTC is arguably the single biggest influence on indecency regulation in America. The PTC regularly launches massive campaigns to file complaints with the FCC over content they deem to be 'indecent' broadcasts.

"We call upon the cable and satellite television industries to follow the lead of XM and Sirius and give real choices to their own customers who are deeply offended by many of the channels families are forced to buy just to get access to the quality family programming available on cable," said Mr. Winter.

This isn't the first time the PTC has come out in favor of the merger thanks to the "block and rebate" programs. But the repeated strong show of support must have some weight with regulators. I'm not sure which group is more annoying to the folks over at the FCC: the NAB or the PTC?

From a personal standpoint, and as a parent myself, the best 'regulation' can also be called 'parenting.' (Crazy thought right?) But regardless, I really do agree with this final statement by Mr. Winter.

"Only a meaningful solution like this one will allow the marketplace to decide for itself what it wants and what it is willing to pay for."

And that's the truth.

Starting tomorrow, the new Dave Matthews Band "Live Trax" CD will be exclusively available at Starbucks locations throughout North America. The CD features recordings of Dave Matthews Band performances dating back to 1995.

As part of the launch, XM and Starbucks are kicking off a promotion to support the "Live Trax" release and to introduce customers to the newly re-launched Starbucks music channel on XM, Starbucks XM Café (Ch 45).

From July 31st through August 31st, Starbucks will offer customers the chance to win tickets, passes and a meet and greet with Dave Matthews at The Hollywood Bowl on October 2nd, among other prizes. All you have to do is sign up for a free trial of XM Radio Online.

Complete details will be available online starting July 31st (pssst, that's tomorrow, so don't click the link yet).

In addition to the in-store sweepstakes, XM will air special Dave Matthews Band programming on the Starbucks XM Café channel with special episodes of the music show "The Daily Grind," highlighting songs from the new album throughout the week.

"The Daily Grind" can be heard weekdays at 3pm ET on the Starbucks XM Café channel, with encores airing weeknights at 1am.

XM Satellite Radio and auto-enthusiast magazine publisher Primedia are kicking off the "Coolest Car Challenge" starting today at XMCoolestCar.com.

This contest puts 64 cars, ranging from the Ferrari 612 to the Toyota Prius, head-to-head in a tournament-style bracket. Contestants are asked to pick the best of the bunch (and all the cars available, of course, are XM equipped). The 'challenge' is to have your selections match up with the selections by the Editors at Primedia.

Primedia publishes some of the top auto-enthusiast magazines like Motor Trend, Automobile, Sport Compact Car, Hot Rod, etc.

Match the Primedia selections, pick for pick, and you could win $10,000 towards the purchase of an XM Coolest Car (winner will be announced on October 30th).

Along with sponsoring the contest, XM is buying about eight pages total in Motor Trend and Automobile, spread out from the September through November issues. It’s the first print buy in those titles in more than a year.

I think the concept of associating the XM brand with "cool cars" is a good one, but the execution on the website could be a little better. The copy is too self-loving (from both XM's and Primedia's side) and comes across as contrived. So you're reminded that this is all advertising, and it loses the fun of the concept. Tone it down a bit, and you're golden.

Criticism aside, auto-enthusiasts are definitely the right target market to go after though. Satellite radio needs to be associated with other "must have" features in the vehicle, and the best way to do this is to convert the influentials into believers.

[MediaWeek]

XM Satellite Radio's African American talk channel, The Power (ch 169) will soon be airing "The Al Sharpton Show," along with "2 Live Stews" and "The Warren Ballentine Show" according to a report.

The shows will replace "We Ourselves" and "Make it Plain," on The Power which were removed from the lineup according to the Redding News Review.

The new lineup which includes Sharpton's show starts on Monday, August 13th. "The Al Sharpton Show" will air from 1pm - 4pm ET, followed by "The 2 Live Stews" from 4 - 7pm ET, and Warren Ballentine will air mornings from 10am - 1pm ET.

“This is a major boost and I am excited that people will be able to hear it everywhere,” said Reverend Sharpton.

The Power is programmed by Radio One, which specializes in African American and urban radio formats. Syndication One, which is a joint venture between Radio One and REACH Media, will be providing the programming to the XM channel.

[Press Release via Redding News Review] 

NASCAR superstar Dale Earnhardt Jr. was at XM studios in Washington, DC on Wednesday to host a concert with Vancouver singer/songwriter Matthew Good. Matthew Good is one of Dale Jr's favorite artists.

The concert will air later on XM. Dates and deets will be announced soon.

Dale also was making the rounds at XM. First he dropped by XM Sports Nation (ch 144) studio to do a quick interview with the beloved Claire B. Lang, host of "Dialed In." Dale also met up with David Barker, who was lucky enough to buy an XM radio at Circuit City and won an all-expense paid trip to The Eck and the opportunity to meet Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Pictured above is a photo of Dale Jr with Matthew Good (note that he only hosted the concert, sadly, he didn't perform). After the jump, check out photos of Dale in the XMSN studio and with a very happy David Barker.

When Sirius and XM submitted their plans for A La Carte pricing tiers earlier this week, they undoubtedly raised their chances of having the merger approved by the FCC. Chairman Kevin Martin has always had A La Carte on the top of his agenda, and the proposed Sirius-XM plans sets a precedence for the rest of the media industry. Moreover, it supports the thought that the merger is in the public interest, which is the main guiding factor the FCC considers in approving deals like this.

But what about the DOJ?

The Department of Justice has a less transparent process, but their decision to define the relevant market is the keystone to this whole deal.

Luckily. a recent report by Washington Analysis, a firm that conducts economic and political legislative and regulatory analysis, has provided some updates on the review process over at the DOJ. They are optimistic that the merger will be approved by the DOJ, actually going against the current consensus. Here's some key takeaways:

Document Gathering
The DOJ is still in the document gathering stage. Washington Analysis said they "have reason to believe that there are no smoking guns" as was the case in the Wild Oats-Whole Foods review. No news is good news.

Customer Support
The support of OEM auto manufacturers and retailers like Circuit City weighs heavily on the process. These partners have the most to lose if the merger wasn't going to move more units, and the A La Carte pricing should do just that.

Chief Economist
Last September, Professor Dennis Carlton was appointed Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Economic Analysis. According to Washington Analysts, Carlton is from the "dynamic market" school of thought and is likely to have a more expansive view of the audio entertainment sector. The relevant market in turn wouldn't be confined to two satellite radio companies.

Efficiencies
The merger was reviewed by an independent third party which concluded that there would be hundreds of millions in annual savings. Washington Analysis feels this is important in the DOJ review, because it supports the argument that rates would come down after the merger.

The DOJ is generally hard to gauge during interviews because they like to play devil's advocate for each party they talk to. If they think you're in favor of the merger, they'll ask questions that argue in opposition. If they think you oppose it, they'll ask favoring questions. I've talked to several who were interviewed by the DOJ, and they weren't able to determine which way the DOJ was leaning.

From a timing standpoint, you can expect the DOJ to make the first move, followed by the FCC. They didn't in the DirecTV-EchoStar deal, but they acted pretty close to each other (and both rejected the deal so it didn't matter anyway). We can probably expect the DOJ to make their move sometime in late-Fall.

Nothing's changed obviously, it's still a discretionary matter. But this report definitely has some interesting insight behind the process. And in the end, it's only a few more months before this madness is over.

XM Satellite Radio may potentially be getting access to more spectrum from cell-tower operator Crown Castle.

You might recall XM's failed attempt at acquiring WCS Wireless last year. XM had planned to buy WCS Wireless and its adjacent 2.3GHz band, under the assumption they would offer multimedia subscription services, including video and data. WCS pulled out of the deal and was later acquired by NextWave.

Now two XM investors - Telcom Ventures and Columbia Capital - have formed a venture to lease the 1.67-1.675 GHz spectrum in the top 300 markets from Crown Castle. The two companies had previously been investors in WCS Wireless, while Crown Castle once planned for a nationwide mobile-TV service for their spectrum (aka Modeo).

The leasing deal by the two XM investors gives XM another possible means of obtaining the additional spectrum, according to TWICE. That is... only if Telcom Ventures and Columbia Capital have no plans to pursue Crown Castle's mobile-TV initiative.

As part of the lease arrangement, Crown Castle will be the provider of the infrastructure for future tower sites needed by Capital and Telecomm. The $13 million annual lease (Crown Castle has about $10m in annual network costs) runs from July 23, 2007 until October 1, 2013, after which lessee gets the right to acquire the spectrum for $130 million, plus inflation, or renew the lease for up to 10 years at $14.3 million per year.

Interesting.

[TWICE]

XM Satellite Radio (XMSR) announced their 2Q06 earnings results, showing that net loss was down  $176 million from $229 million a year earlier. Revenue for this year's second quarter increased 22% year over year to $277 million compared to $228 million in the 2006 second quarter.

XM ended 2Q07 with more than 8.25 million subscribers.

In Q2 2007, XM had 942,000 gross subscriber additions and 338,000 net subscriber additions - compared to 926,000 gross and 398,000 net subscriber additions in the same period last year.

2Q07 SAC came in at $75 compared to $67 in 2Q06. Second quarter 2007 SAC includes $10 for inventory-related charges as well as a $10 increase as a result of continued OEM growth from increased production by our newer automotive partners.

CPGA in the 2007 second quarter rose to $121 compared to $112 in the second quarter of 2006.

Adjusted operating loss (formerly adjusted EBITDA) was $47 million compared to a loss of $46 million in the same period of 2006. This adjusted operating loss includes $4 million in expenses related to XM's pending merger with Sirius Satellite Radio.

Full financial report after the jump. Earnings call is scheduled for 10am ET, and as usual, Orbitcast will be live-blogging the call...

And along with the Sirius post-merger line up, here's the XM version. Pretty much the same concept (makes sense since they're merging) as Sirius' line up, but with the appropriate XM channels.

Again, the reason why you see "Select Sirius" channels is because the content agreements likely haven't been fully negotiated yet. Another difference that many will notice (and already have noticed) is the pricing of each services' shock jocks. Howard Stern is priced at an additional $6 while O&A are at $3.

Though note that Oprah is priced at $3 and XM's Sports Package is priced at $6, while Sirius' Sports Package is priced at $5.

Either way, that's not the point. Check out the rest of XM's post-merger line up after the jump...