GM Urged To Consider Alliance With Nissan
June 30, 2006 DETROIT (Reuters) — One of the largest investors in General Motors (GM) on Friday urged the world's largest automaker to consider a three-way partnership with Nissan Motor and Renault. In a letter to GM Chief Executive Rick Wagoner, Tracinda, the investment arm for billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian, suggested the automaker form a committee to "immediately and fully explore" the possibility of a partnership under which Nissan and Renault would buy a "significant minority interest" in GM. "We believe that participating in a global partnership-alliance with Renault and Nissan could enable General Motors to realize substantial synergies and cost savings and thereby greatly benefit the company and enhance shareholder value," Tracinda wrote in the letter. GM shares surged in premarket trade on the news. 6/30/2006 09:53:00 AM
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DaimlerChrysler (a Sirius exclusive) to boost Sales
 June 30, 2006DaimlerChrysler to unveil employee pricing, challenger model - WSJWSJ reports the co's Chrysler Group is preparing to unveil details of an employee-pricing discount plan for consumers and the faster-than-expected release of an anticipated new model in an effort to pump up lackluster sales. Chrysler's new incentive blitz, parts of which have been in the media over the last week, will cut pricing for a limited time to the level that co employees normally pay for most Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep vehicles, dealers briefed on the plan said. In addition, customers will be offered interest-free loans of up to 36 months and a guarantee allowing them to return vehicles within 30 days if they are unsatisfied, the dealers said. Tomorrow, Chrysler is expected to announce at a Nascar race in Daytona Beach, Fla., that it will produce a new V8-powered Dodge Challenger coupe styled after the 1970s muscle car of the same name, people familiar with the co's plans said. Although the car won't arrive in dealerships until next year, it will be featured in summer promotions that Chrysler hopes will pull customers into showrooms, these people said. 6/30/2006 07:44:00 AM
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New Sirius PNP Radios
Our InsideSiriusAlliance partner, GSI ( http://getsiriusinfo.blogspot.com/) posted the article below (Perhaps these new units replace those that were rumored to be "pulled" from the online store?). New SIRIUS PNP Radios - We got the Photos..
GSI has gotten some photos of the NEW "Streamer GT3" the Brix version of the Starmate (note the GT3 will not have replay functions), and the Streamer 3 is the Brix version of the Sportster, with a Amber display in place of the blue found on the Sportster 4, the Streamer 3 will not have replay functions. We are also told that the Sportster 3 will be out with an Amber display and will not have replay.. This will be the "poor mans" new Sportster... We are told the Amber display is cheaper and will be found on the "lower" end units.. The blue display is an upgrade, and will be on more costly units.. From what we are told the Streamer GT3 (and a new Starmate unit) will be the first in the Starmate Family that will be dockable. We are told the Sportster 4, Streamer 3, Streamer GT3 will fit in the same dock! (Also look for some new units from Directed that will also fit into a Universal Plug N Play dock and boombox! Here is the photos - Streamer GT3 - ST3TK1B Available November 2006  - Bright 5-Line Amber Display - Easy to Use Cross-Hair Navigation - GameAlert, GameZone - 30 Presets, S-Seek - Slimmer/Lighter Design - Docking Connector Enabled Streamer 3 - SP3TK1B - Available November 2006 - Large Streamer Sized Display - Rotary Encoder Knob - Amber Backlighting  - GameAlert, GameZone - Up to 30 Artist & Song Alerts - One-Touch Jump - 30 Presets (3 bands; A, B, C) - Full-Frequency Wireless FM Transmitter - Full-Frequency Wireless FM Transmitter - FM Preset Short-cut Button - Common Accessories with Streamer GT3 - Support for “Smart” Docks & Accessories Some may see this and say nothing new here.. (but some would be wrong) but the big news is that the new Starmates and Sportsters will fit and work in the same docks.. 6/30/2006 04:53:00 AM
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Sirius is Balancing Audience, On the Left and On the Right
  June 30, 2006Bill Gaither to Host New Radio Program on Sirius 06-30-2006 12:06 Southern gospel program will debut on July 9 on channel 62 Southern gospel and contemporary Christian music icon Bill Gaither will be hosting a new weekly radio program beginning July 9 on Sirius Satellite Radio.“Bill Gaither’s Homecoming Radio,” will feature three hours of classics and new music from the southern gospel genre, and will air Sundays on channel 62, The Roadhouse at 9 am ET and again at 9 pm ET. “I am very excited for this opportunity to team up with Sirius to take encouraging, positive music to their many listeners on a weekly basis,” said Gaither. “It is always rewarding when our programming finds its way into new places, but in this case it is particularly thrilling to be a part of the rapidly-expanding world of satellite radio.”Bill Gaither’s Homecoming Radio expands Sirius’ commercial-free Christian music offerings, which includes channel 66, Spirit (Christian hits), channel 67, Revolution (Christian rock) and channel 68, Praise (gospel). 6/30/2006 04:43:00 AM
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Politicians, Music and Fair Use
  June 29, 2006 Satellite Standard group keeps you informed. UPI Correspondent Jessica Taylor wrote an interesting piece on copyright laws, fair use laws, and the issues that Sirius and XM find themselves in regarding this hot topic. Article Excerpts: WASHINGTON, June 29 (UPI) -- New radio technologies have music industry and radio officials at odds over fair use of audio and video digital transmissions.
The implementation of audio and video flags to block unauthorized distribution and replication could be one solution, experts testified Tuesday before the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet. However, opponents of the flags say they would still block even legal use of music by consumers.
The Audio Broadcast Flag Licensing Act, currently pending before the committee, would authorize the Federal Communications Commission to implement technologies to prohibit unlawful transmission and copying from satellite and HD radio.
"Specifically, it provides that technical licensing agreements currently taking place between satellite/HD radio and developers of digital audio broadcast systems include a broadcast flag or similar technology that limits the unauthorized dissemination, duplication and redistribution of the content," said Rep. Mike Ferguson, R-N.J., sponsor of the proposed bill.......
The article goes on to discuss this important topic in great detail and icludes quotes from Sirius as well as XM, and others. SSG Readers are encouraged to read the whole article HERE
6/29/2006 11:21:00 PM
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Sirius' OutQ To Be Exclusive Radio Broadcast For Gay Games VII
  June 29, 2006 Sirius Satellite Radio's OutQ will be the exclusive radio broadcaster of the Gay Games VII in Chicago. the event will take place from July 15th through the 22nd. Sirius will cover all aspects of the games including the opening ceremony at Soldiers Field and the closing ceremony at Wrigley Field. Other sponsors giving the Gay Games two snaps include Walgreens, The New York Times, American Airlines, Gatorade and Ernst & Young. The Gay Games will also feature performances/appearances by Cyndi Lauper, Megan Mullally, Margaret Cho, former Olympian Greg Louganis and "Star Trek"s George Takei (Also a Howard Stern announcer) among others. Interested SSG readers can learn more HERE and HERE6/29/2006 10:59:00 PM
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Pro Surfer Gets Sirius
 June 29, 2006 Sirius satellite Radios' channel 28, Faction, gives some of the most interesting and compelling content on radio. There is a regular staple of stars on faction, but their guests bring aspects to the channel that make faction unique. The show also inspires a growing following in various extreme sports, and other outdoor activities that have become so popular today. We here at satellite Standard group came across this interesting piece from Global Surf News: Article excerpt: Pro Surfer Ryan Helm Featured on Sirius Satellite Radio - Radio Faction Channel 28
Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 29 June, 2006 : - - Los Angeles, CA -
Pro Surfer Ryan Helm was recently interviewed by Faction Radio's Mike Tully. Helm speaks about the honor of being named to represent the U.S. East Coast Surf Team in the ESPN X Games this Summer and of his time spent living in mainland Mexico and surfing the Mexican Pipeline in Puerto Escondido, home of the 12th Annual ESPN X Games Surfing Comp.
When asked about the venue for this year's X Games Surfing competition, Helm responds with a wry grin; "I like the Power, very few places in the world have the energy that Puerto has; it will be an excellent stage to showcase our talents for the X Games". Having lived and surfed in Mainland Mexico for 5 years (2 months spent at the Mexican Pipeline) Helm is considered by some to be a darkhorse rookie, named to the X Games squad just this year by head coach Matt Kechele.
With Mexican salsa coursing through his veins, many feel that Helm may actually be the East's (not so) Secret Weapon, in defense of their 4th consecutive Gold Medal against a California dominated West Coast Team. "Ryan Helm's Puerto and mainland Mex experience will add strength to the over-all team. Ryan brings a lot of versatility... his natural ability with Tube riding along with his incredible flexibility will allow him to squeak out the deepest of Doggy Door's...... Sirius Satellite Radio is catching on in many ways, and it is content such as faction that differentiate Sirius from traditional radio. Interested SSG readers can read the whole Global Surf News column as well as see some pretty cool pictures HERE 6/29/2006 10:47:00 PM
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CIBC Weighs in on Satellite Radio
Satellite Standard likes to keep you informed. This morning, CIBC issued the following: Briefing.com, Live In Play 29-Jun-06, 09:31 Sat Radio: Revising 2Q subscriber ests, shifting retail shares to SIRI - CIBC CIBC says that following XMSR's product shortages and widely publicized NPD figures for April and May, they are raising their full-year ests for SIRI and lowering estimates for XMSR. They believe that slower industry sales are product & marketing related, not demand driven. They say June/July sales should support this thesis. The firm is increasing their est. on SIRI for 2Q net adds to 561k, from 532k, which now assumes a 55% retail share (was 52%). They are also increasing our 2H subs ests, resulting in FY subscribers of 6.39 mln, up from 6.29 mln, above consensus of 6.3 mln. and co guidance of 6.2 mln. For XMSR, they are lowering their 2Q net adds est. to 401k (was 462k), below consensus of 436k. They says this assumes lower retail share (45% vs. 48%), reflecting flat retail subs YoY. Firm is also lowering 2H sub ests, resulting in year-end subs of 8.36 mln, from 8.50 mln, and below consensus of 8.47 mln. Firm says 2Q results should reflect continued momentum for SIRI, suggesting better NT appreciation. 6/29/2006 08:05:00 PM
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Stiletto Sighting - Sirius
 June 29, 2006 The quick eyes at engadet got ahold of this. During the Convergence 2.0 conference Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin talked about a new, fully-portable Sirius receiver/MP3 player. He even took a beta version of the device out of his pocket and flashed it to the crowd. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera handy, and thought the opportunity was lost. Luckily, another photographer working for The Deal was front and center and captured the picture to the right (close up below). Below you'll see an exerpt from the transcript of Karmazin's keynote in which he describes the new device, in little detail. — Brian Ward "Regarding the iPod, I wish it didn't exist [laughter]; I wish over the air radio didn't exist anymore, but there's only 24 hours in the day, the consumer has a ton of choices. I don't really think about the iPod as being any more of a competitor than any other distraction that a customer or subscriber could have, so we have a product, it's in my pocket; I was listening to it on the way over, it's in beta testing now; we've said that we will have that product in the stores by the end of the summer, but what it is, is a product that, in a wearable mode, will get you live satellite radio, so you can walk around, and this is the size of it, listen to it in satellite radio, and you'll be able to store all of your music that you might want on it, so the idea is that we sort of have everything that an iPod might have, which is your ability to store and navigate through your music, and have the ability to get live satellite radio at the same time, but if you're spending time on your iPod, that means you're not spending time on Sirius, so therefore, I do think of it as a competitor, and something that we keep our eye on." Link HERE for story 6/29/2006 07:57:00 PM
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NasCar Goes Upscale
 June 29, 2006 Amongst the satellite radio community, the mention of NasCar brings out a rather passionate debate. NasCar has been on XM Satellite Radio for some time, but will be switching to Sirius satellite Radio in 2007. The debate often centers around whether or not fans will follow NasCar to Sirius, or whether NasCar brings additional subscribers. Here is what we do know. NasCar is GROWING. A BusinessWeek article recently explained the attraction to NasCar, and why the appeal now translates to a bigger audience each year. Article Excerpt: As many of those fans know, NASCAR long ago outgrew its Southern, working-class roots. The 40-week schedule, which runs February through November, includes weekends in Chicago and Las Vegas, and could one day include New York, Seattle, and Denver. Upscale brands such as Sony , Gulfstream, and watchmaker Tissot have signed on as sponsors, and developers are furiously adding trackside luxury condos, private clubs, and corporate suites. For example, Phoenix International Raceway just opened a chic lounge above the track's first turn where fans can nibble sushi and sip wine or mixed drinks. A weekend pass to the lounge during November's Checker Auto Parts 500 will run $2,400, but the raceway is only selling 100 such tickets.
Go to BusinessWeek Online to view the slideshowEven celebrity chefs are getting into the act: Food Network's Mario Batali just penned a cookbook for race-day tailgaters; Wolfgang Puck will open a café at the track in Fontana, Calif., in September. "The image of [NASCAR as] the Bubba sport is not true," says Larry DeGaris, a sports-marketing expert whose clients include United Parcel Service, PepsiCo, and Bank of America.A day at the track has become a coveted perk for executives whose companies spend millions to sponsor NASCAR -- and their clients. Debbie Acocella, a customer business manager for Kellogg's in New York, got her first taste of the sport in June when she hosted two supermarket buyers and their families at the Neighborhood Excellence 400 in Dover, Del. Their Sunday included a catered breakfast, lunch, and snack in the relative quiet of the company's suite, a tour of the pits, and a pre-race visit from Kyle Busch, who drives the Kellogg's car. The group watched the start of the race up close before turning to the suite. "You can see why we have a car," Acocella says. "I finally understand it."Interestingly, the stats that surround NasCars growing audience are very appealing. The number of people who spend six or more hours a week following the sport has grown almost 20% in the last five years, to 75 million, according to market researcher Ipsos Insight.Done right, NasCar on satellite radio has a huge potential. Shows that relate to the preparation for the next race, and discussion of drivers and teams can be quite compelling for both listeners, and sponsors. There is a reason that companies spend big bucks to sponsor a car. They want their name out there. There is a reson you hear conversation that mentions sponsors all of the time. Drivers have taken on their sponsors name as part of their identity. Take the Home Depot for example. The driver is Tony Stewert, but he just as often refered to as "Home Depot #20 Car". There is no doubt that NasCar is gaining popularity. How that impacts satellite radio is yet to be seen, but being involved with Nascar certainly can't hurt. Interested SSG reader can read the entire BusinessWeek piece HERE6/29/2006 03:32:00 PM
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Ford Shifts Focus From Hybrids
 June 29, 2006 Sirius Satellite Radio OEM partner Ford has announced that they are shifting their focus away from hybrid cars and moving towards cars that can run on fuels other than gasoline, suh as E85. In a NY Times article, Ford discussed this move in some detail: Article Excerpt: Hybrid vehicles will still be in the company's lineup, but they are more likely to be cars than trucks or sport utility vehicles, officials at the company said.
The move represents an increasing focus among American automakers on ethanol, a fuel derived from grain alcohol, as a gasoline substitute.
In September, the automaker's chief executive, William Clay Ford Jr., announced the ambitious hybrid goal as part of a marketing campaign that touted the company's green credentials.
In an interview today, Mr. Ford acknowledged he was likely to face criticism for backing off the company's hybrid vehicle goal.
"This is in no way a lack of commitment to hybrids," Mr. Ford said. "It's an expansion of our commitment to other technologies."
Mr. Ford, known for his lifelong interest in environmental causes, went on: "The goal all along is a sustainability goal. It is not a hybrid goal."
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Chevy Starts Big Promotion
 June 29, 2006 XM satellite Radio OEM partner Chevy is beginning a promotion that should start off the third quarter with a bang. Chevy is running a 0% for 6 years promotion now through July 5, 2006. 0% promotions such as this tend to move a lot of cars. For XM satellite Radio, that means a lot of XM equipped cars, which should get things off on the right foot for XM in Q3. An eaxample of the promotion:  6/29/2006 01:30:00 PM
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Willie Nelson Joins XM
 June 29, 2006 XM's 'Hank's Place' to Re-open Under New Management as 'Willie's Place' on July 10 WASHINGTON, June 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- XM Satellite Radio, the nation's leading satellite radio service with more than 6.5 million subscribers, announced today that country music legend Willie Nelson will join XM to launch "Willie's Place" (XM 13), XM's traditional country music channel, formerly known as "Hank's Place." In his new role as "proprietor" of "Willie's Place," Nelson will provide creative direction for the channel, as well as contribute exclusive programming to "Willie's Place" and other XM commercial-free music channels. "Willie's Place" will begin broadcasting July 10. "I've been a fan of XM and Hank's Place since the very beginning. They put a lot of thought and hard work into making the channel sound as good as it does, so I feel privileged to be a part of it," said Willie Nelson. "It's an honor to have an American music icon like Willie Nelson take the reins of our traditional country music channel," said Eric Logan, executive vice president of programming, XM Satellite Radio. "Like the channel itself, Willie embodies the heart and soul of country music. His involvement further underscores XM's commitment to country music nationwide with the most country channels and innovative content for country fans." In addition to changing the channel name, XM is building new studios for "Willie's Place" in Carl's Corner, TX, located in the Willie Nelson's BioDiesel Truck Stop. "Willie's Place" will begin broadcasting live from Carl's Corner in 2007. "Willie will be a great addition to the channel and I know we'll have a great time down in Carl's Corner," said Eddie Kilroy, on-air personality for Hank's Place. This announcement comes just a few days in advance of Willie Nelson's Annual Fourth of July Picnic concert. XM will air Willie's legendary concert, now in its 33rd year, on its progressive country channel X Country (XM 12) Tuesday, July 4 from 12 noon until 12 midnight ET. XM on-air hosts Jessie Scott and Eddie Kilroy will broadcast live from the concert site at the historic Fort Worth Stockyards. In addition to Willie Nelson and the Family, other artists scheduled to appear include: Kris Kristofferson, David Allen Coe, Ray Price, Billy Joe Shaver, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Leon Russell, Randy Rogers Band, Harmonic Tribe, Shooter Jennings, Paula Nelson, Noel Haggard, Folk Uke, Stoney LaRue, Titty Bingo, Johnny Bush, Del Castillo, Bonnie Bishop, Pauline Reese, The Mothertruckers, The Geezinslaws, James Hand, Freddy Powers and Bill McDavid, No Justice, Jimmy Lee Jones, Mike Graham and Heather Myles. About XM Satellite Radio XM is America's number one satellite radio service with more than 6.5 million subscribers. Broadcasting live daily from studios in Washington, DC, New York City, the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, Toronto and Montreal, XM's 2006 lineup includes more than 170 digital channels of choice from coast to coast: the most commercial-free music channels, sports, talk, comedy, children's and entertainment programming; and the most advanced traffic and weather information. XM, the leader in satellite-delivered entertainment and data services for the automobile market through partnerships with General Motors, Honda, Toyota, Hyundai, Nissan and Porsche, is available in more than 140 different vehicle models for 2006. XM's industry-leading products are available at consumer electronics retailers nationwide. For more information about XM hardware, programming and partnerships, please visit http://www.xmradio.com/. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements in this press release include demand for XM Satellite Radio's service, the Company's dependence on technology and third party vendors, its potential need for additional financing, as well as other risks described in XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc.'s Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on 3-3-06. Copies of the filing are available upon request from XM Radio's Investor Relations Department. 6/29/2006 01:00:00 PM
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Sirius' S50 Wins High Praise As A Best Product Design
 June 29, 2006 Sirius satellite Radios S50 has won some high praise. Today in a Businessweek Online article, the hardware was recognized as one of the panels favorite products. Article Excerpt: BEAUTY AND EASE. ZIBA had the most wins of any single design consultancy—four medals, three of them golds. It won a gold research-strategy award for one of the jury's favorite products, the Sirius S50 satellite radio (SIRI). This product reinvented the prevailing idea of satellite radio by simplifying the experience while allowing people to save and manage the music they get from satellite. "They put it all together so well," said juror Alistair Hamilton, vice-president for corporate design and human interfaces at Symbol Technologies. "Now you can take your satellite music with you and manage it."If the panel was impressed with the S50, they are sure to be impressed by Sirius' next offering due out this summer. The Stiletto will sport a "live wearable" mode, more memory, WIFI capability, and some other intersting capabilities that have not yet been announced.SSG readers can read the entire BusinessWeek article HERE6/29/2006 10:02:00 AM
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Forbes Reports Good Fathers Day For XM
  June 29, 2006 Forbes.com has published a story regarding Fathers Day sales for XM Satellite Radio. The story quotes respected analyst Robert Peck of Bear Stearns who reportrs that XM's second quarter retail sales seem to be on track. Story Excert: Web traffic to XM's website peaked around Father's Day at levels "significantly higher" than average, indicating a possible increase in interest around the holiday, said Peck. Sirius Satellite Radio's traffic stayed within the average range, but spiked after Father's Day, he added.
In addition, Peck said he's found a "significant relationship" between XM's retail gross subscriber additions and sales of Apple Computer's iPod.
Based on this model, the analysis reiterated his second-quarter net subscriber additions estimate of 395,000 for XM.
Bear Stearns still rates XM at underperform, and states that they feel that XM needs to meet expectations for a number of quarters to sustain a rally.
SSG Readers are encouraged visit Bear Stearns for more information on XM's analysys HERE
The link to the Forbes.com story is HERE 6/29/2006 09:53:00 AM
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Sirius and Variety Will Launch Radio News Bureau
  June 29, 2006 Sirius Satellite Radio continues to ad value for their listeners by announcing a deal with Variety. Up-to-the-minute box office reports and breaking news and views on movies, TV, and entertainment SIRIUS to air Variety Radio News multiple times each hour every day NEW YORK, June 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- SIRIUS Satellite Radio (Nasdaq: SIRI - News) and Variety, the "show business bible," today announced the launch of a radio news bureau, based in Variety's Los Angeles offices, that will provide the latest in entertainment news to SIRIUS' national radio audience multiple times each hour of every day. Source: SIRIUS Satellite Radio Launching this fall, Variety Radio News will broadcast regular reports on SIRIUS' Los Angeles channel 150. With contributions from veteran Variety reporters and editors and SIRIUS' national reach, listeners will now be able to hear the latest from the worlds of film, TV, publishing and online media, as well as industry gossip, anywhere they are, including as they drive to and from work and industry functions. Variety is recognized throughout the world as the entertainment industry's newspaper of record, covering the global media and entertainment marketplace in 84 countries. With its seasoned editorial team and the largest newsgathering staff in the industry, Variety delivers breaking news, exclusive "scoops," box office reports, plus film and TV production charts. "Variety delivers an insider's view on film, TV, music, the internet, and publishing with concise and provocative insight," said Scott Greenstein, SIRIUS President, Entertainment and Sports. "Variety Radio News will become as indispensable to the industry as the magazine itself, and also make it possible for anyone in the country to be as up-to-date as any movie insider. Whether it's on the way to work, a screening, or anywhere life takes them, SIRIUS will put Variety right there with them." Peter Bart, Variety Editor-in-Chief, said: "Variety chose SIRIUS as our partner because of its already strong credibility in the entertainment world and SIRIUS' unrivaled ability to reach a national audience. There is clearly an appetite for news from the world of media and entertainment that is both timely and credible. It is our intention to get it first and also get it right." About SIRIUS SIRIUS delivers more than 125 channels of the best programming in all of radio. SIRIUS is the original and only home of 100% commercial free music channels in satellite radio, offering 67 music channels available nationwide. SIRIUS also delivers 61 channels of sports, news, talk, entertainment, traffic, weather and data. SIRIUS is the Official Satellite Radio Partner of the NFL, NBA and NHL and broadcasts live play-by-play games of the NFL, NBA and NHL. All SIRIUS programming is available for a monthly subscription fee of only $12.95. SIRIUS products for the car, truck, home, RV and boat are available in more than 25,000 retail locations, including Best Buy, Circuit City, Crutchfield, Costco, Target, Wal-Mart, Sam's Club, RadioShack and at shop.sirius.com. SIRIUS radios are offered in vehicles from Audi, BMW, Chrysler, Dodge, Ford, Infiniti, Jaguar, Jeep®, Land Rover, Lexus, Lincoln-Mercury, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, MINI, Nissan, Rolls Royce, Scion, Toyota, Porsche, Volkswagen and Volvo. Hertz also offers SIRIUS in its rental cars at major locations around the country. Click on http://www.sirius.com/ to listen to SIRIUS live, or to purchase a SIRIUS radio and subscription. Any statements that express, or involve discussions as to, expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, assumptions, future events or performance with respect to SIRIUS Satellite Radio Inc. are not historical facts and may be forward-looking and, accordingly, such statements involve estimates, assumptions and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements. Accordingly, any such statements are qualified in their entirety by reference to the factors discussed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2005 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Among the key factors that have a direct bearing on our operational results are: our dependence upon third parties, including manufacturers of SIRIUS radios, retailers, automakers and programming partners, our competitive position and any events which affect the useful life of our satellites. About The Variety Group/Reed Business Information (RBI) The Variety Group, Daily Variety, Daily Variety Gotham, Weekly Variety, Variety China, and Variety.com, are all owned by Reed Business Information (RBI), the largest business publisher in the U.S. RBI and is a member of the Reed Elsevier Group plc (NYSE: RUK - News and ENL - News) -- a leading publisher and information provider operating in the science and medical, legal, education and business-to-business industry sectors. 6/29/2006 08:45:00 AM
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XMSR vs RIAA in new issue of BusinessWeek
"Copyrights And Wrongs
The record biz could lose by winning its lawsuit over XM's recorder BusinessWeek online, June 29,2006, Technology & You
TECH & YOU PODCAST I'm a fan of Bob Dylan's new Theme Time Radio Hour show on XM Satellite Radio ( XMSR ), but I'm often not around at the times it is aired. So the idea that Pioneer's brand-new inno portable receiver can record XM broadcasts seemed perfect. But there's a problem. The recording industry doesn't want consumers to be able to buy an inno -- or anything like it.A group of record companies, backed by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), has filed a suit in federal court in New York claiming the inno's recording ability violates copyright law. The complaint seeks a ban on the sale plus damages -- as high as $150,000 for every song XM plays. Unlike the music industry's fight against file sharing, this dispute has nothing to do with piracy. The inno, which we'll look at in detail in a future column, can store music recorded from XM. But once saved, the songs are locked in the device until they are deleted or the XM subscription lapses, when they vanish. And XM is paying about 7% of its gross revenues in music royalties. In other words, XM pays for broadcast rights and would-be pirates are thwarted. THE CONSTITUTION AUTHORIZES COPYRIGHTS specifically "to promote the progress of science and useful arts." But the record companies, like the movie studios, are using copyright laws to try to protect their business models from innovative but disruptive technologies. This hurts us all.The XM suit is complicated. (Surprise.) The basic claim is that the royalties XM pays allow it to provide an "evanescent satellite radio broadcast," but because the inno can record, XM effectively becomes a download service. XM has not formally responded to the suit, but Chance Patterson, vice-president for corporate affairs, calls it "baseless and without merit." The suit claims that the inno would discourage subscribers from paying for legitimate downloads. Wrong, says Patterson. The inno lets users tag songs they want to buy, he notes, and when they connect it to a PC, the tagged songs are automatically marked for purchase at Napster. ( NAPS ) Complete the purchase, and the songs download to the inno as MP3s. Like all such lawsuits, this one's about money; the record companies want to extract more of it from XM and competitor Sirius Satellite Radio ( SIRI ). The latter avoided a lawsuit by signing a license with three major record companies to pay extra royalties for its recording-capable S50 player. XM refused to roll over. But the XM case is also part of the futile effort by entertainment companies to control how customers use their products. More than 20 years ago the Supreme Court ruled it was permissible for consumers to tape television shows for personal viewing at a later time. The entertainment companies have been trying to win back ground ever since.The studios say recording is allowed only if customers listen to the tracks exactly as XM sends them out. "The [XM] service is not designed for the purpose of permitting the user to listen to the program at a more convenient time...," the suit argues. "[But the inno] is designed to free subscribers from ever having to experience XM's transmissions as a unified, integrated radio broadcast." I am not a lawyer, and I have no idea what the judge will do in this case. But I think this is one battle the record companies could lose by winning. The entertainment industry has grudgingly yielded ground in efforts to control how customers use its products. The TV networks have gone furthest toward giving up their established business model by letting customers watch selected shows where and when they want. Rather than emulating the movie studios, which are trying to defend their control over the times and places that films are available in different forms, the record companies should follow TV's lead and give customers what they want.Changing a successful business model is painful. But businesses that fight the tide of consumers who want to push new technology to the max are likely to end up drowned. For past columns and online-only reviews, go to Technology & You at businessweek.com/go/techmaven/By Stephen H. Wildstrom" 6/29/2006 05:56:00 AM
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Pure Vanilla - New Sirius Advertiser
 June 28, 2006 Sirius Satellite Radio is getting a lot of attention from companies looking for ways to market their products. Sirius offers many platforms where a sponsor can advertise, and because it is satellite radio, advertisers can be pretty creative with their ads. Pure Vanilla is a new Sirius sponsor that has had some ads on the Howard Stern Show. Not only is Pure Vanilla a new sponsor, but they are a fairly new business as well. Pure vanilla launched beta testing of their product in April, and expects to have their cards widely available in stores nation wide this month. What may be of particular interest to readers is that this company is brand new and publically traded. Pure Vanilla trades under the ticker symbol PVNX. So what exactly is Pure Vanilla??????
Pure Vanilla, through http://www.purevanilla.com/ and in-store sales of Pure Vanilla cards, is the first anonymous payment solution to facilitate purchase of Adult content online.
Pure Vanilla is popular with consumers because its unique payment option is anonymous, time-efficient, and pre-paid. Pure Vanilla is popular with on-line merchants because its system enhances financials through accelerated cash flow, the elimination of charges backs, reduced processing fees and free exposure through the Pure Vanilla listing.
Pure Vanilla can leverage its patent pending technology to sign-up thousands of consumer online accounts and merchants daily. Thus, as the only Adult Industry adopted payment system, Pure Vanilla is expected to lead and dominate the payment processing for a significant global industry.
Why Use Pure Vanilla?????CONSUMER-Complete AnonymityPure Vanilla is the first cash based payment solution that enables cardholders to make totally anonymous purchases of Adult Content online. Pure Vanilla does not pass any personal information on to any web site you choose to view, at any point. Your usage is truly anonymous; your privacy is guaranteed  now you are just a number.
-No Risk of ID Theft - No Credit Card Fraud Pure Vanilla is effectively a cash transaction and does not require a credit card. Retail consumers are not required to give any personal information to purchase the Card (except age verification at point of purchase). At the retail level we do not collect any email, private or personal information at all. The Pure Vanilla card eliminates the risk of ID Theft, Credit Card Fraud and presents no online credit risk whatsoever to the Consumer. Click here to open a Pure Vanilla account online.
-Transact Online Without Credit CardsPure Vanilla enables you to transact online without any dependency on credit cards. No more monthly bills which can clearly show charges for online usage. Simply go to a participating retailer to purchase or reload your Pure Vanilla Card, go online and access the Adult content site of your choice; all the traditional worry of on line transactions are a thing of the past. Pure Vanilla is a secure, anonymous online payment engine.
Purchasing the Pure Vanilla CardGo to our online zip code locator and simply enter your zip code to find what locations are in your neighborhood or simply click here to open your Pure Vanilla account online.
MERCHANT
-Today, Pure Vanilla retail agents throughout the United States, Canada, South America, Central America, the Caribbean and Europe.Throughout the coming months, we will be increasing our footprint in the Americas, Europe, Asia and Australia.
-Delivering Incremental Qualified ConsumersPure Vanilla brings you customers that previously could not or would not partake based on credit limitations and or concerns about anonymity.
Pure Vanilla delivers a steady stream of qualified consumers to your websites. As Pure Vanilla is totally cash based, your customers are pre-approved to transact at your website.
-Zero Charge backsWith Pure Vanilla there are NO charge-backs. Only Pure Vanilla eliminates chargebacks because every transaction is pre-paid.
-More Reasonable FeesPure Vanilla reduces processing and ancillary fees associated with maintaining an online adult site significantly.
-96 hour Cash Flow to content providersWith Pure V proceeds are available in as little as 96 hours.
RETAIL AGENT
-No Out of Pocket Expense or Ongoing Inventory Carrying CostsThe Pure Vanilla card is a cash-based card meaning there are no out of pocket expenses to the retail agent.
-We will take credit cards in stores. Guaranteed Profit on Every Transaction
-Increased Foot Traffic - Ancillary SalesPure Vanilla, through its Retail Locator, identifies you as a participating retailer and at no fee to you adds you to their store location by zip code section thereby driving new and repeat customers to your establishment, creating ancillary sales and increased traffic earnings.
-New Source of Revenue / No Added Overhead CostsPure Vanilla is one of the hottest new products that will stimulate repeat and new business without any additional overhead spending.
-New Customer basePure Vanilla is adding new customers every day, potentially increasing your business without any financial outlay on your part.
What is clear is that Pure Vanilla understands their market niche very well, and that they offer a service that is unique to the industry. The potential for Pure Vanilla is international, and the exposure they are sure to get from the Howard Stern Show (now available on the internet globally) is sure to set them off on a course for success. pure vanilla offers a simple and discreet payment option for an industry that rakes in BILLIONS every year. You can learn more about Pure Vanilla HERE 6/28/2006 10:58:00 PM
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Sirius Broadcaster Bob Papa to Get Roasted
 June 28, 2006 New York, June 27--Talented boxing blow by blow man and WFAN Radio's (660 AM) Giants play by play voice Bob Papa will “swim with the fishes,” at least for one night, when Sopranos star Joe Gannascoli (Vito Spatafore) is the mob boss of roasters at Ram Roast II to benefit Fordham University athletics on Thursday night, June 29, at Tavern on the Green. Papa will receive the Ram Tough Award from his alma mater for sitting in the hot seat, while Gannascoli will be joined on the dias firing way at Papa by football coaching legend Dan Reeves, former Giants stars Carl Banks (WFAN/Sirius Radio) and Howard Cross (YES Network), YES Network’s Yankees voice Michael Kay, WB/11’s Sal Marchiano, Sirius Radio's Steve Cohen, boxing promoter Dino Duva, and Jack Curry of the New York Times. Kay, Curry and Marchiano are also Fordham alum. WFAN midday host Joe Benigno will serve as Roast Master General, the Master of Ceremonies. Papa, a product of Fordham's WFUV Radio and a 1986 graduate, is also a broadcaster for NBC Sports on Olympics and AFL, as well as Sirius Radio host and Westwood One play by play broadcaster. Papa was the long time blow by blow man for ESPN2's Friday Night Fights, as well as NBC's Olympic boxing. Celebrity guests also include former Giant Super Bowl champ Karl Nelson, actor Joe Lisi, boxing Hall of Famer Lou Duva, WABC televison sportscaster Marvel Scott, WABC radio sportscaster Warner Wolf, and Papa's fellow Fordham grads Nets play by play voice Chris Carrino, Lakers radio voice Spero Dedes, and WFAN Knicks analyst John Andariese In addition, the WB/11’s longtime newsman Marvin Scott will receive the Best of the Bronx Award as one of the borough’s favorite sons for his contributions to the industry and his hometown. For tickets and information call 212-972-5337. This story via East Side Boxing HERE6/28/2006 10:49:00 PM
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XMSR Puts Spotlight on Comedy in July
 June 28, 2006 www.fmqb.comJune 28, 2006 XM Satellite Radio has designated July as "Laugh Out Loud" month. The satcaster plans to celebrate the art of comedy by highlighting original specials and other programming featuring some of the biggest names in the game. For example, every night at 10 p.m. throughout July, XM will air a different episode of Stand Up, Sit Down, the series where comics discuss their careers and craft with XM Comedy host Sonny Fox. Lewis Black, George Carlin, John Cleese, Dane Cook, Bill Cosby, Jim Gaffigan, Gilbert Gottfried, Mitch Hedberg, Robert Klein, Richard Lewis, Kathleen Madigan, Carlos Mencia and many others will be featured on the show throughout the month. Also, XM will showcase other comedy programming, including classic cuts from Bob Hope, Phyllis Diller, Bob Newhart and others; the greatest comedy duos; the best in Canadian comedy; timeless comedy routines from the Monty Python group, and more. "Since XM became the first to offer the 24-hour uncensored comedy format anywhere on radio - satellite or terrestrial - our comedy offerings have grown from mere concept to four channels with some of the strongest listenership on the platform," said Eric Logan, EVP of Programming for XM Satellite Radio. "The response to XM's comedy programming has far surpassed expectations with XM Comedy alone consistently ranking as one of the top five most listened to channels on XM." 6/28/2006 09:51:00 PM
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Bridge Ratings Examines Digital Media Impact on Radio
 | from www.fmqb.com |  | June 28, 2006
Bridge Ratings has released a survey of 4000 radio listeners to see how different types of digital media affect their listening, with the results broken down by their favorite format. Those surveyed were asked if their usage of satellite radio, Internet radio, recorded music in general, P2P file sharing, podcasting and MP3 players was affecting listenership to terrestrial radio. Overall, the competing mediums are taking a bite out of regular radio, with an overall decline in the total amount of listening. Many respondents did say that other mediums cause them to listen to the radio more often, especially podcasting (58 percent), P2P file sharing (51 percent) and MP3 players (42 percent). However, radio is losing out mainly to Internet radio, with 55 percent saying it cause them to listen to less traditional radio. When separated by formats, there was an overall net loss on listenership all the way around, with Rock losing the most listenership to other mediums (-15 percent), followed by CHR (-12 percent) and News/Talk (-10 percent). Other results of the study show that Adult Hits listeners spend more time with terrestrial radio than other choices and Urban listeners spend more time using their MP3 players than listening to their favorite stations. Alternative fans also use other mediums to better inform their radio choices. "We saw in this study that traditional radio listening benefits from some digital media alternatives," Bridge Ratings President Dave Van Dyke sums things up, saying. "Peer-to-peer file trading, podcasting and MP3 player use can cause increased time spent listening to traditional radio depending on format, while satellite radio and Internet radio can cause reduced listening to conventional radio." "Knowing which form of digital entertainment benefits your format can be a key to battling the new TSL issues the industry faces today," adds Van Dyke. The complete survey results can be found here. |
6/28/2006 09:48:00 PM
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A Closer Look at the Sirius-Zing Wearable Device
 June 28, 2006 www.siriusbackstage.com posted this informative article highlighting Sirius-Zing Partnership: " A Look at ZINGEarlier this month we learned of SIRIUS’ partnership with digital media platform developer ZING. Rather than launching a “swiss-army-knife” radio, we predict SIRIUS has opted for an “it just works” philosophy, dramatically improving the out-of-the-box experience and focusing on ease-of-use and reliability. All of the power will be under the hood and seamless to the user. ZING VP of Hardware Development Michael Gifford “believes a product needs to look as beautiful on the outside as it does on the inside.” Gifford had a hand in producing the Mac mini and the XBOX. To fully understand the SIRIUS-ZING collaboration, look no further than ZING CEO Tim Bucher. A former Apple Computer executive, Bucher headed up Macintosh Engineering, where he produced the Mac mini. Bucher was also directly involved in technology development for the iPod, and helped with Microsoft’s UltimateTV. However, probably the most overlooked figure at ZING is visionary Arthur van Hoff. van Hoff was the guy who started Strangeberry, a Internet content distribution startup that was eventually acquired by TiVo. The beauty of Strangeberry, and the reason TiVo gobbled them up, is that “it will recognize incoming programming (JPEG images, video, MP3s, or whatever) and route it to the appropriate device in your living room.” This was the holy grail of the so-called “digital hub.” Here’s some commentary on the top-secret Strangeberry: So what are they really building? My best guess is that Strangeberry crew, all former Sun folks, developed a piece of software that actually makes finding devices on the home networks as easy as turning on the power switch. And it is using some variant of Apple’s Rendezvous technology. I remember these guys had released some variation of Rendezvous for Java in the early days of their operation. Rendezvous is a technology which can and does work with all sort of networks - Wi-Fi, Ethernet or powerline networks. After joining TiVo, van Huff launched TiVoToGo, a service that allows the transfer of shows from TiVo to personal computers and portable devices. So, How does this all affect SIRIUS? The ZING platform is described as “the first portable audio and entertainment solution that can combine wireless and satellite radio capabilities.” With this in mind, we can only imagine the great engineering going on at ZING. The potential features of a ZING-enabled SIRIUS Radio may include: Automatic roaming from Satellite to WiFi (hotspots become SIRIUS repeaters) Always connected / Updates downloaded via the Internet Timeshift SIRIUS shows / Download Songs Automatic discovery of music on your network Create dynamic playlists mixing the SIRIUS service and your personal music collection A combination of TiVo’s simple-yet-powerful interface, recording capabilties, with Apple’s hip and minimal style, the SIRIUS-ZING Portable Media Player may be something out of this world. Comment here. Posted by TulaneJeff on Wednesday, June 28th, 2006 at 8:07 pm ET." 6/28/2006 09:41:00 PM
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Blog e-mail Alert Test
This is a test for our new feature which will send you e-mail alerts when new articles are posted on our site. 6/28/2006 09:15:00 PM
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What Does FLW Mean To Sirius?
 June 28, 2006 What does FLW Outdoors mean to Sirius satellite Radio????? SERIOUS EXPOSURE FLW Outdoors is growing rapidly, and they get plent of exposure in the process. As of now FLW events are broadcast to over 430,000,000 homes world-wide. Only 10 years ago the tour was in it's infancy. Total pay-outs were in the neighborhood of $800,000. It made it hard to be a profession angler. Now FLW Pays out over $40,000,000, and puts on events like you cant imagine. The big change was the sponsorship of Wal Mart. The organization began to blossom, and smart corporations have jumped on to the bandwagon. This year Sirius Satellite Radio not only signed on as a sponsor, but also sponsors one of the many professional anglers on the tour, Chip Harrison. SSG readers should be familiar with Chip through our interviews and coverage of his season. Recently, there was an interesting piece on the news regarding FLW and its massive growth. The piece is three minutes long, and will take a while to download, but it is worth watching. It gives you a flavor of what FLW is all about, and the growth potential that exists. View the Video: HERE (via Youtube)HERE (via Rapidshare (High Quality Quicktime))and watch for Sirius Satellite Radio's Eric Pollard in the interview. The Championship FLW event is only a month away. Chip Harrison, the Sirius Satellite Radio angler, will be on the lake in a Sirius satellite Radio boat. The exposure will be huge. FLW has a loyal following, and being a sponsor of FLW gives Sirius Satellite Radio a "leg up" with a growing audience. Visit www.flwoutdoors.com to learn more about the various events around the country. 6/28/2006 04:07:00 PM
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Merger Talks Heat Up
  June 28, 2006 The topic of a megrer between Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio seem to be all the rage these days, but this article is not about the satellite radio rivals. It is about two of the companies that supply music to Sirius and XM. EMI and Warner Music have each made takeover bids for the other company, and both companies have rejected each others offer. Excerpts From Associated Press: Warner Music made a cash offer for EMI on Tuesday of 320 pence ($5.84) per share, valuing the company at 2.5 billion pounds ($4.6 billion), EMI said. It rejected the bid, calling it "wholly unacceptable" considering the potential synergies of a combination and the range of options EMI has.
That offer came four days after EMI bid $31 per share to acquire Warner Music, valuing the company at $4.2 billion, EMI said. Warner rejected that offer.
EMI said it also rejected Warner's bid of 315 pence per share made June 14.
New York-based Warner Music did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
A combination of EMI and Warner Music would control about 25 percent of the recorded music market, surpassing BMG in the rankings and moving into second place behind Universal, according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry......
As many satellite radio investors are aware, the music companies are at the center of the new devices that Sirius and XM have on the market. Sirius has come to terms with the group on their S50 unit, while the RIAA is in litigation with XM over the INNO, Helix, and Nexus devices.Just how such a merger/takeover in the music industry would effect satellite radio is unknown, but investors should keep their eyes on this issue. Interested SSG readers can read more HERE via Yahoo and the AP 6/28/2006 03:03:00 PM
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Delphi Hires Temp. Workers
 June 28, 2006 Satellite Standard Group keeps you informed. In the wake of a massive employee buy-out program for early retirement of union workers, Delphi has now hired about 2,000 temporary workers to maintain their operations. The Delphi issue was central to General Motors lately, and the potential of a Delphi Strike would have caused production issues for GM. The success of the buy-put programs make a Delphi strike very unlikely at this point. XM Satellite Radio, the exclusive satellite radio partner of GM would have been impacted with a production stoppage at GM. Delphi also is the brand name on some XM Satellite Radio hardware, but the manufacturing happens elswhere, so the impact on that aspect of XM's business would have been small. The big news here for shareholders of XM is that GM production will continue as planned. Reuters Excerpt: Delphi on Monday said about 12,600 UAW members opted to take early retirement offers -- about 87.5 percent of those eligible for Troy, Michigan-based Delphi's initial program.
Thousands more union workers may leave under an additional offer to UAW workers and offers of buyouts or early retirements to the International Union of Electrical Workers-Communications Workers of America earlier in June.
Delphi will seek bankruptcy court approval on Thursday for those additional plans. Workers will have 45 days from approval and company roll-out to sign up, making exact participation unknown until at least mid August.
Delphi, which filed for bankruptcy last October, had said it expected to cut four-fifths of its more than 33,000 U.S. hourly workers and thousands of salaried employees while shedding noncore business and plants in the United States.
The company remains focused on a comprehensive restructuring, of which the attrition plan, temporary hires and wage rates are only parts, Williams said.
Interested SSG readers can read the story HERE via Reuters
6/28/2006 02:40:00 PM
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S & P Downgrades Ford Rating
 June 28, 2006 Satellite Standard Group keeps you informed. Ford, an exclusive OEM partner to sirius Satellite Radio, had their corporate credit rating downgraded today. S & P cites a difficult year for Ford as part of their reasoning. Ford recently announced an aggressive advertising campaign, and is ramping up Sirius satellite Radio installs. LONDON (AFX) - Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said it has lowered its corporate credit rating on the Ford Motor Co group to 'B+' from 'BB-' and affirmed its 'B-2' short-term rating, with a negative outlook. S&P removed the ratings from credit watch, however, where they were placed on May 25. 'The downgrade reflects our view that 2006 will be a more difficult year for Ford than previously anticipated,' said S&P analyst Robert Schulz. The agency forecast that a difficult 2006 would leave Ford more exposed to adverse market developments during the next two years. The motor company had consolidated debts of 151 bln usd at March 31, S&P noted. Interested SSG readers can read the news HERE via Forbes.com 6/28/2006 01:30:00 PM
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Honda To Build Car Plant In Indiana
 June 28, 2006 Satellite Standard Group keeps you informed. XM Satellite Radio OEM partner Honda has plans of building a new car plant near Greensburg Indiana. The $550,000,000 plant is expected to employ about 2,000 workers, and ultimately produce about 200,000 vehicles each year (That means a lot of XM Satellite Radio Installs) . It is anticipated that construction will be complete in 2008. Once complete the U.S. production of Honda vehicles will increase by almost 15%. 6/28/2006 11:39:00 AM
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Apollo Management Involved in Big Deal
June 28, 2006 Satellite Standard Group keeps you informed. One of the major shareholders in Sirius Satellite Radio is getting into the plastics business. NEW YORK (Reuters) - Private equity firms Apollo Management LP and Graham Partners on Wednesday said they agreed to buy Berry Plastics Corp., a maker of plastic container tops and packaging, for $2.25 billion. Berry Plastics, which has annual sales of about $1.3 billion, is currently owned by Goldman Sachs Capital Partners (GS.N) and JPMorgan (JPM.N) Partners. The firms are the private equity arms of their respective investment banks. Berry Plastics put itself up for sale in March, as its owners were looking to exit the business after owning it since 2002, when they purchased it for $870 million. Declining raw material costs made the company an attractive target for private equity buyers. The deal is expected to close by the end of the third quarter. Apollo is among the largest private equity firms and is investing from its roughly $12 billion buyout fund. Graham Partners is a Philadelphia-based private equity firm focused on the industrial sector. SSG readers can see the article HERE via the Washington Post 6/28/2006 09:48:00 AM
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Bob Dylan's XM Radio Show Donated to National Baseball Hall of Fame
  June 28, 2006 One of America's Classic musicians now has a place in the home of the greats from one of America's treasured sports thanks to XM Satellite Radio. COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. and WASHINGTON, June 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Bob Dylan is once again headed for Cooperstown. The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum has added to its archive the "baseball" episode from legendary singer-songwriter Bob Dylan's critically acclaimed music show on XM Satellite Radio, "Theme Time Radio Hour." The one- hour episode contains Dylan singing an a cappella rendition of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game," along with classic baseball calls, such as Curt Gowdy's legendary call of Ted Williams' home run in his final at-bat with the Boston Red Sox, and baseball original compositions, such as Buddy Johnson's "Did You See Jackie Robinson Hit That Ball" and "The Ball Game" by Sister Wynona Carr, among others. The "Theme Time Radio Hour" airs weekly on XM and features an eclectic mix of music based around a theme. The CD will be added to the National Baseball Hall of Fame Library archive, which features more than 10,000 hours of recorded audio and video, and will be available for researchers to access. Dylan's "Theme Time Radio Hour" airs Wednesdays at 10 a.m. ET on XM Satellite Radio, which is also the official satellite radio network for Major League Baseball (MLB). The recording joins an historic cross-section of baseball-related cultural enterprises in the Hall of Fame Library archive, such as Abbott and Costello's Who's on First, interviews with other cultural icons about their love of baseball, along with a wide collection of sheet music and original baseball-themed recordings. The National Baseball Hall of Fame Library is open year-round, Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. Appointments are recommended and can be arranged by calling 607-547-0330. Selected recordings from the Library audio and video collection are available for purchase by calling 607-547-0330. Open seven days a week the year round, with the exception of Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day, the Hall of Fame is open from 9 a.m. until 9 p.m. through Labor Day. Individual one-day ticket prices are $14.50 for adults (13 and over); $9.50 for seniors (65 and over) and for those holding current memberships in the VFW, Disabled American Veterans, American Legion and AMVets organizations; and $5 for juniors (ages 7-12). Friends of the Hall of Fame members are always admitted free of charge and there is no cost for children six years of age or younger or for active and retired card-carrying military personnel. For more information, visit our Web site at baseballhalloffame.org or call 888-HALL-OF-FAME (888-425-5633). XM is America's number one satellite radio service with more than 6.5 million subscribers. Broadcasting live daily from studios in Washington, DC, New York City, the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, Toronto and Montreal, XM's 2006 lineup includes more than 170 digital channels of choice from coast to coast: the most commercial-free music channels, sports, talk, comedy, children's and entertainment programming; and the most advanced traffic and weather information. XM, the leader in satellite-delivered entertainment and data services for the automobile market through partnerships with General Motors, Honda, Toyota, Hyundai, Nissan and Volkswagen/Audi, is available in more than 140 different vehicle models for 2006. XM's industry-leading products are available at consumer electronics retailers nationwide. For more information about XM hardware, programming and partnerships, please visit http://www.xmradio.com. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements in this press release include demand for XM Satellite Radio's service, the Company's dependence on technology and third party vendors, its potential need for additional financing, as well as other risks described in XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc.'s Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on 3-3-06. Copies of the filing are available upon request from XM Radio's Investor Relations Department. SSG readers can see the story HERE via Yahoo 6/28/2006 09:25:00 AM
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Will the Shift to Fuel Efficient Cars Spur an Increase in Sales?
June 28, 2006  (Thus, an increase in satellite radio subscribers...)"Daimler Hopes Americans Are Finally Ready for the MinicarNew York Times, June 28, 2006 By MARK LANDLERFRANKFURT, June 27 — Are Americans finally ready to get Smart? DaimlerChrysler, which shelved an earlier plan to bring its Smart minicar brand to the United States, plans to announce Wednesday that it will introduce the tiny two-seat vehicle to the American market early in 2008, according to several executives at the company. The German-American carmaker is betting that with stubbornly high gasoline prices, mounting concerns about global warming, and waning interest in sport utility vehicles, consumers in the United States will welcome a car that is no larger than a good-size riding mower. "Now is the right time to go to the U.S.," said a senior executive at DaimlerChrysler, who spoke on the condition that he not be identified because the plans were not yet public. "The world, and the U.S., has changed in the last two years." The Smart car has won a hip image in European cities like Rome and Paris, with their serpentine streets and snug parking spaces. It was recently featured in the thriller "The Da Vinci Code," as well as in the remake of "The Pink Panther," in which it served as the ride of choice for Inspector Jacques Clouseau...." Link to full article: HERE6/28/2006 08:16:00 AM
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Barbara Walters' "The View" in the News
 June 28, 2006More press for Barbara (who will have her own show on Sirius soon)New York Times, June 28, 2006 Star Jones Reynolds's Departure From 'The View' Was in the Works for Months
By JACQUES STEINBERGStar Jones Reynolds's departure from "The View," which she announced on the show yesterday after weeks of rumors, was actually in the works for far longer than even savvy viewers realized. It came more than six months after ABC executives decided not to renew her contract when it expires later this summer, Barbara Walters, the show's co-executive producer, said in an interview after the broadcast. "They had done a great deal of research, and her negatives were rising," said Ms. Walters, who, like Ms. Jones Reynolds, has been a co-host of the program since its inception nine years ago. "Not so much because of what she did on the air. It was things she did off the air. The audience was losing trust in her. They didn't believe some of the things she said." Ms. Walters declined to specify what in particular had concerned the network, but Ms. Jones Reynolds drew criticism when she arranged for suppliers to donate items for her wedding in 2004, apparently in exchange for being mentioned on the show...." Link to full article: here6/28/2006 08:10:00 AM
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Sirius Releases S50 Firmware Update
 June 28, 2006The S50 has been upgraded!www.siriusbackstage.com posted this story last night:"SIRIUS has released new firmware for the S50 this evening.
Improvements and features in this release include: New 4 Hour Scheduled Recording Limit Change in the Sort Order of Recorded Shows Improved Stability Expect the S50 product page to be updated with release details later this week. To update your S50 to the latest firmware: Launch the My Sirius Studio application on an Internet-enabled PC Connect your S50 unit via USB. Click on the gear icon ( ) next to the S50 device icon, or go to File -> Device Settings, and choose “Check for Software Update”. This is a screenshot of the screen showing an update is available. You can discuss the new S50 release here and get support on the SIRIUS Backstage S50 forum." 6/28/2006 06:31:00 AM
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Cramer's Show: Can't stop mentioning Sirius!
 June 28, 2006 Aaron Task, co-executive editor of TheStreet.com, is filling in for Cramer this week. Although his comments are basically innocuous this time, I find it amazing that they dedicate so much air time to one stock! "RealMoney Radio Recap: Bigger Is Better6/27/2006 5:32 PM EDT Not Fun in the Summertime Task asked Gabrielski how he was dealing with the current market environment. It hasn't been easy, Gabrielski said. In general, the key to speculating is finding companies that are profitable, because then you have a downside valuation target. Investors can then value the company on something, he said. For example Sirius Satellite Radio (SIRI:Nasdaq) is not profitable, Gabrielski said. "So subscriber growth is not a good valuation model?" Task asked. It's a good data point in an up market, but you have to adjust your strategy in a sour market, Gabrielski replied. " 6/27/2006 08:16:00 PM
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DaimlerChrysler comments on auto sales
 June 28, 2006DaimlerChrysler says incentives, inventory too highTue Jun 27, 2006 5:29 PM ET NEW YORK, June 27 (Reuters) - DaimlerChrysler AG Chairman Dieter Zetsche on Tuesday said the company's U.S. unit was struggling with unacceptable levels of vehicle inventory and was spending too much on incentives to clear the glut. "Our sales projection was too optimistic," Zetsche told reporters. The remarks come just days before Chrysler is to roll out a new sales promotion campaign for July, expected to include employee-level pricing for any car buyer, money-back guarantees and a new advertising campaign featuring Zetsche as the face of the automaker. Zetsche said that he expected overall U.S. vehicle sales would be near 17 million units on an annualized basis in June, up from May but down from a year earlier when GM first rolled out employee-level pricing, touching off a summer price war. "For anyone but Toyota, it was a relatively slow month," he said of June. Zetsche said that the company's marketing research showed that consumers had a favorable impression when the chief executive came out in direct support of its products. The strategy recalls Chrysler's promotions of the late 1980s and early 1990s, when then-CEO Lee Iacocca brought the company back from the brink with an ad campaign that featured him and the memorable line, "If you can find a better car, buy it." Zetsche, known for his trademark wire-rim glasses and walrus-moustache, conceded that he had very low name recognition outside the U.S. auto industry. "The vast majority of people don't know me," he said. U.S. dealers who have seen the television ads featuring Zetsche say they promote Chrysler's German engineering and American heritage. That marks a shift in marketing approach by Chrysler, which has so far kept itself at arm's length in the U.S. market from the parent company's German-based luxury-car unit, Mercedes-Benz. But Chrysler executives said last week that the company would promote next year's launch of a more fuel-efficient, diesel version of its Jeep Grand Cherokee by pointing out that its turbo-charged engine was being built by Mercedes. And Zetsche, who also heads the Mercedes unit, said Chrysler Group had suffered in the market earlier this year because of the financial problems for rivals General Motors Corp and Ford Motor Co. "We were perceived as one of the Big Three," he said. DaimlerChrysler's U.S. sales have fallen about 1 percent in the first five months of the year. The company has also had to resort to deep incentives of up to $5,000 on the Dodge Durango SUV in order to clear unsold inventory. The average per-vehicle spending on sales incentives was just over $2,200 in June, according to the Power Information Network. But Chrysler was spending almost $4,000 on average, according to the market tracking firm. 6/27/2006 06:06:00 PM
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GM comments on auto sales
 June 28, 2006GM sees weaker auto market, offers limited saleTue Jun 27, 2006 4:05 PM ET (By Kevin Krolicki) DETROIT, June 27 (Reuters) - General Motors Corp. on Tuesday cautioned that overall 2006 U.S. auto sales could fall short of last year's total because of higher interest rates and volatile gas prices. GM, which last year sparked a price war by offering U.S. consumers the same discounts that it gives to employees, confirmed it would launch a limited-time, zero-percent financing offer on many of its 2006 models over the upcoming U.S. holiday weekend. But executives at the world's No. 1 automaker said the company would stick to its strategy of avoiding massive discounts of the kind that pushed shipment volumes to record highs last summer, even though such a move translates to sharp year-on-year declines in sales. "It's fair to say that the industry is tracking a bit below expectations," said Paul Ballew, GM's chief market analyst. "It's not that the industry is dramatically different from what we expected, but we are seeing it come in a bit soft." GM, which has seen its U.S. auto sales slip 8 percent in the first five months of the year, must now hold onto its U.S. share of just above 23 percent in order to avoid further wrenching cost cuts, analysts have said. The company is trying to protect its flank from aggressive Asian rivals. The automaker's employee pricing offer of last June was matched a month later by both Ford Motor Co. and DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group. The discounts boosted sales to record levels but eroded the U.S. automakers' profitability. CHRYSLER SEEN JUMPING ON DISCOUNTS Chrysler, which has been the most aggressive in offering discounts to clear an inventory of unsold vehicles this year, is expected to announce renewed employee-level discounts starting in July, a move that increases the pressure on its domestic rivals. GM Vice President Mark LaNeve said last summer's sweeping promotions would mean that this year's sales would fall far short for GM. "Our year-on-year comps (comparable sales) are going to be especially brutal," he said. Ballew said GM's June retail sales were the best they have been all year, in part because of strong interest in heavily-equipped models of the company's new line of full-sized sport utility vehicles, such as the Tahoe, Yukon and Escalade. But GM's overall sales might fall more than 30 percent from a year earlier, down to 2004 levels when sales also lacked the boost of a big discount program, he said. Overall sales should be near 17 million units on an annualized basis, he said. "It's not unexpected," he said. "It's where we thought we would be." But LaNeve said GM would avoid fire-sale promotional tactics to boost sales and shore up market share. "Do I want (market share) to be higher? Absolutely. But we've got to do it in the right way," he told reporters and analysts on a conference call. "We have to do it on product strength and pricing in the market that's not dependent on incentives." PRICES UP, EVEN AS SALES SLIP LaNeve said GM had decided not to extend a special promotion announced in May that subsidized gasoline purchases for buyers of mid-size cars and SUVs in Florida and California. At the time, some analysts had speculated that GM could be readying a national introduction of that program. "It was not a big enough sales lift to go through on an expanded basis," LaNeve said. Another challenge for GM is the shifting U.S. consumer preference away from the light-duty trucks that have dominated the market for the last decade, Ballew said. The truck share of the overall U.S. market slipped 2.8 percentage points in the first five months of this year to 51.7 percent, GM said. That was led by a drop in sales of mid-sized SUVs, which had emerged as the American family car of choice in the mid-1990s. Sales in that category are down almost 50 percent since 2003, Ballew said. "The challenge in the second quarter has been a little more severe," he said. But Ballew said that GM was below the industry average in terms of sales incentives and had seen an increase in average transaction prices that topped the industry-wide performance. The average U.S. vehicle sold for $25,908 in the year to date, up $365. By contrast, GM has increased its average sales price by $1,200 to $26,341, he said. Those gains reflect stronger sales of GM's new SUVs, including the Escalade, which has an average price of just under $60,000. GM has gained share in the SUV market, despite the tougher sales climate, and executives have been surprised by the demand for margin-boosting vehicle options, like navigation systems, LaNeve said. "We've been struggling with the richness of the mix," he said. 6/27/2006 06:01:00 PM
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Shaeffer's Research on SIRI and XMSR Short Interest
June 28, 2006  Shaeffer's Research discusses hedge funds, convertible bonds and their relation to short interest, (ie, large short positions do not necessarily reflect negative sentiment).Tuning into Satellite Radio www.Shaeffersreseach.comBill Feingold--> 6/27/2006 2:37 PM ET Let me start with an admission--I love satellite radio. I've always enjoyed radio programming, but most of the commercials you hear these days grate on me more than fingernails scraping down a chalkboard. Satellite frees you from that tyranny on the music stations, and even the ones you get on the talk stations are pretty easy to take. O.K., now to the markets. Mel Karmazin of Sirius Satellite Radio was on the tape yesterday, saying he'd like to buy XM Satellite Radio Holdings at the right price, but that he would expect regulatory issues because of the duopoly status of the industry. That generated some good feelings in a couple of stocks that have been having a rough go of it. Coincidentally, the most recent Nasdaq short-interest data were published today. They indicate that Sirius has the second-most short shares outstanding, with more than 147 million shares of short interest, behind only the Nasdaq-100 Trust. Now, a large reason, of course, is that Sirius is a $4 stock, so the number is a touch misleading. Still, that's a lot of short stock. To illustrate this, Sirius' latest 10-Q indicated 1.4 billion shares issued and outstanding (also known as "the float"), so more than 10 percent of the float has been sold short . By comparison, Yahoo!, one of the most heavily shorted companies, has 1.4 billion shares outstanding, of which 81 million have been shorted, representing less than six percent of the float. But here's the catch. Sirius hasn't been getting the money to pay Howard Stern from the money it earns from its subscribers--not yet, anyway, and not for some time to come. Who's been paying Howard? Mostly, it's been the convertible bond market. In the past three years, Sirius has issued three convertible bonds, raising proceeds of more than $700 million even after giving the investment bankers their cut. Even with the stock's poor performance during the past 18 months, the bondholders as a whole can't complain too much--all of the convertibles are trading above the issue price. In fact, the first of these convertibles, issued nearly 18 months B.H.S.(Before Howard Signed), is now quoted around 340 percent of par, even with the stock down about 50 percent from its all-time high. As you may have gathered by now, a lot of convertible bonds are held by hedge funds, who sell short the underlying stock and try to profit from mispricings between the convertible and the stock as well as from the stock's volatility. I conservatively assumed that half of Sirius' convertibles are held by hedge funds. Because all of Sirius' convertible bonds trade with fairly small conversion premiums (the difference between the bond's market price and its value if immediately converted into stock), the bonds are relatively easy to hedge and thus are particularly attractive to hedge funds as long as they are able to short the stock. Based on the approximate theoretical hedges of the bonds, I have estimated that about 75 percent of the short interest in Sirius is related to convertible bonds. The moral of the story is that if you were tempted to run out and buy Sirius stock expecting to benefit from a huge short squeeze, think again. Most of the short interest is actually hedging the convertibles. In fact, the nature of convertible arbitrage requires hedge funds to short more stock as it goes up, so that you could easily get the opposite of a squeeze--you are more likely to run into additional supply from hedge funds adjusting their positions. A couple of other things are worth mentioning. First, the short-interest table published today shows a large increase from mid-May to mid-June in Sirius' short interest, from 119 million to 147 million shares. Sources in the convertible market tell me that much of this increase was caused by selling pressure from outright (unhedged) accounts. Outright convertible accounts seek to profit mostly from directional stock moves as opposed to the small discrepancies hedge funds often look for. But when they sell their bonds, they rarely sell directly to other outright holders. Rather, the bonds end up with hedge funds, who will only buy them if they can establish an offsetting short position. So, the increase in short interest, while still attributable to worsening sentiment (the outright seller, after all, must have decided he didn't like the stock any more), probably does not represent a big new risky bet that could lead to covering at inflated prices. Let's close by taking another look at XMSR, Sirius' competitor. XMSR too is among the short-interest leaders, with 37 million shares shorted in the latest report. Interestingly, XM's most active convertible security is a busted (i.e., not currently stock-sensitive) bond that matures in three years. One might assume that the short interest is thus entirely fundamental, since busted convertibles are not typically hedged with much stock. But XMSR issued some convertibles privately about three and a half years ago when its subscriber base was just beginning to build. You or I could not have bought these bonds--they went to several of XMSR's suppliers and partners (including GM) as well as to private-equity firms. The bonds had a 10-percent coupon, were secured by XMSR assets, and were convertible at $3.18 per share. Even with the rotten year the stock is having, the convertible is worth well over four times its original value, not even considering the 10-percent coupon. Because of the private nature of that deal, it's hard to know who owns those bonds now, but it's a good bet that at least some of the holders have shorted stock to hedge them or have sold the bonds to someone who did. Now, if Sirius were to buy XMSR, they'd either need to raise about $5 billion cash that they don't have or give the XMSR holders Sirius stock. The latter is a lot more likely. In that event, we could see a very interesting situation. One of the best-known hedge-fund strategies is merger arbitrage, where the hedge-fund manager buys the stock of the company being acquired and shorts the stock of the acquirer, assuming the deal is a stock swap. When the deal closes, the position unwinds automatically, as the long position is replaced with by stock in the surviving company, which in turn covers the short position. So, the hedge funds, if such a deal were to be announced, would buy XMSR and sell short SIRI. The idea would be that they would essentially be buying SIRI, via XMSR, at a lower price than they were simultaneously selling it. The trade makes money as long as the deal is consummated, although the longer the deal takes to close, the lower the annualized returns are. But there might be a problem with availability of Sirius stock to short, since so much of it has been shorted against the convertibles. Since the two companies have fairly comparable market values, this would not be a "drop in the bucket" to Sirius by any means. Instead, you would likely see a mad scramble to get or keep the borrowable Sirius stock, a fight between the convertible and merger hedge-fund managers. If this all does come to pass, two consequences are likely. Sirius convertible bonds would lose some of the premium to their pure stock value since they would become much more difficult and expensive to hedge. A convertible hedge-fund manager will naturally pay less for a position that he's in danger of being unable to hedge. So, if this happens and you like Sirius stock, think about asking your broker if you can swap it into some convertible bonds. You might be able to pick up some income without giving up any real upside, courtesy of some panicking hedge fund. The "risk-arbitrage" spread would be fairly wide. In other words, because of the difficulty in establishing a hedge, you might be able to buy $100 worth of Sirius stock for $85 or $90 via XMSR. 6/27/2006 05:34:00 PM
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