Friday, December 29, 2006 Satellite Radio: Upcoming 1st Quarter Trade Shows
Put these on your calendar: New York Boat Show - December 29, 2006 to January 07, 2007 CES 2007 in Las Vegas - January 07-11, 2007 Detroit/NAIAS Auto Show 2007 - January 06-21, 2007 Chicago Auto Show 2007 - February 06-18, 2007 Miami Boat Show 2007 - February 14-19, 2007 MERA 2007 in Knoxville - March 16-20, 2007 Mid-Atlantic Truck Show 2007 in Louisville - March 21-24, 2007 New York Auto Show 2007 - April 03-15, 2007 12/29/2006 03:32:00 PM
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The SatRad Trader: Short Covering
Both SIRI and XMSR have been profitable short positions for 2006. Eventually, the shorts will have to cover, but when will it all begin? Will it be at CES when new product announcements and subscriber additions take center stage, or at the Auto show when new partnerships are disclosed? I'm not sure what the catalyst will be, but for those who were expecting a short covering rally this week, you will just have to wait. "IRS-sensitive" investors are likely to close out their profitable trades in early 2007 rather than in late 2006. By delaying by just one trading day, they are able to defer the payment of taxes on these profits for a year. 12/29/2006 03:17:00 PM
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Evil Dave Letterman Phone Call Update
December 29, 2006 Due to an error on our part, we are requesting that those that were interested in the New Years greeting form Evil Dave Letterman send an e-mail to satellitestandard@gmail.com with your information again. Our original web form had an error, and we have no way to contact those that applied. We have corrected the issue, and want to be sure that those who were interested get a chance to participate. Our apologies for the error and confusion. For those who may still be interested there are still a few slots available. Simply go HERE and fill out the appropriate information, or send an e-mail with your name, e-mail, recipients name, and recipients phone number. The slots are available on a first come first served basis. 12/29/2006 12:47:00 PM
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Start Off 2007 With A Call From Evil Dave Letterman
If you listen to Howard Stern, you have likely heard of the guy known as "EVIL DAVE LETTERMAN". This man has a voice that is exactly like Dave Letterman's, and has the persona of the "REAL DAVE LETTERMAN" down to a "T", including the laughs and chuckles. Satellite Standard Group has arranged for a limited number of people to give the gift of a phone call from "EVIL DAVE LETTERMAN". For $42.50 you can have "EVIL DAVE" call anyone you desire and give a News Years greeting complete with Dave Letterman type humor. This is not a pre-recorded call....This is a LIVE CALL that includes interaction with "EVIL DAVE LETTERMAN". We were able to reserve slots for 25 New Years greetings with "EVIL DAVE", and they will be filled on a First-Come-First -Served basis. This can be a gift or a gag that is sure to get laughs from the recipient, and is something unique that is sure to be remembered. This is a unique chance to give that friend, loved one, co-worker, or emplyee(s) a gift that will start off the New Year with laughter. Make 2007 special for someone. To participate simply fill out the form below. We will e-mail the first 25 people back with payment instructions (paypal) and a confirmation of the details. Submissions must be made no later than Saturday morning at 9:00 AM Eastern. 12/29/2006 12:33:00 PM
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XM-Samsung Helix: A Brilliant Idea
State of the Art
Brilliant Ideas That Found a Welcome
By DAVID POGUE, Dec 28th, The New York Times It may take a village to raise a child, but that’s a trivial task compared with the act of bringing a new electronic gadget to market. Marketers determine what the masses want, product managers guide the design, engineers bring the thing to life — it’s a lot of cooks. No wonder so many people across the country are, at this very moment, staring at newly unwrapped electronic holiday gifts in utter bewilderment. Even so, brilliant ideas sometimes make it off the drawing board, past the layers of lawyers and onto store shelves. Sometimes, a delicious idea is part of a triumphant overall product. Other times, the flash of greatness is wasted on a turkey. Here, then, is my second annual Top 10 List — not of the greatest tech products of the year, but of the greatest ideas, individual features, that surfaced. It’s a little tip o’ the egg nog to the great thinkers whose ideas made it out of committee... ... A RECORD RADIO BUTTON Samsung Helix is a regular music player, like an iPod (though smaller). But it’s also an XM satellite radio receiver.
That’s already a good idea, but here’s the clincher: When you hear a song that you like on one of XM’s 70 themed, ad-free music channels, one button-press records that song from the beginning — even if you were a little late hitting record. In all, this gadget can hold about 25 hours’ worth of recorded radio.
Long-suffering music fans could probably have predicted that XM would be sued over this glorious idea, and, well, sure enough. Maybe what’s so great about this idea isn’t so much its ingenuity as its bravery...read more: here
12/29/2006 10:50:00 AM
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Motley Fool Knows What Sells
Talk about upping the "page load" ante...Motley Fool has had so many articles about Sirius and XM recently that I can barely keep track. Mostly, they say the same thing, altermating positive and negative commentary. I guess their staff knows that these widely followed stocks will generate the clicks! 12/29/2006 07:49:00 AM
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Ford To Unveil In-Vehicle Operating System At CES
(I have heard that Sirius will be incorporated)Ford Aims to Jazz Up Its Fleet With Microsoft Pact
Sync System Will Allow Hands-Free Cellphones, Email, Music DownloadsBy JOHN D. STOLL, December 29, 2006; Page B3, The Wall Street Journal Ford Motor Co. is hoping an effort with Microsoft Corp. to bring much of the connectivity of a personal computer into a car's cockpit will spruce up its U.S. product portfolio. The Dearborn, Mich., auto maker will unveil next month a hands-free Bluetooth wireless system and in-vehicle operating system developed by Microsoft that will eventually be an option for its entire Ford brand lineup, according to people familiar with the matter. The new system, to be dubbed Sync, will allow for hands-free cellphone communication and other wireless information transfers inside the car, including the ability to receive email and download music, these people said....read more: here12/29/2006 07:37:00 AM
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Thursday, December 28, 2006 New Sirius Forum Launches
 December 28, 2006 If you are involved in satellite radio you are likely well aware that there are many outlets from which to express your ideas, or discuss these companies. We here at SSG were recently contacted by a group that is launching a new form for those interested in chatting about Sirius Satellite Radio. The new form is called Sirius Uplink, and the site is crisp clean and new. Anyone can read the forum content and members can post. Joining the forum is easy and straight forward, and the site is easy to navigate. Give it a try. 12/28/2006 04:38:00 PM
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Short Interest Highlights, Dec 2006
SIRI Dec 15: 141,092,901 Nov 15: 148,301,811 Change: Down 4.86% XMSR Dec 15: 33,106,575 Nov 15: 32,034,550 Change: Up 3.35% 12/28/2006 03:04:00 PM
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RIAA's Battle Against All-Of-MP3
 December 28, 2006 Those invested in the satellite radio sector are well aware of the RIAA, what it represents, and the issues surrounding how the RIAA impacts the music industry. Currently the RIAA has a law suit filed against XM Satellite Radio for the popular Inno device. The suit with XM seeks $150,000 per song downloaded onto each Inno, and the implications of that suit can be huge, both financially and in precedent. Satellite radio is not the only company facing the RIAA lawyers. A Russian based down-load service caller All-Of-MP3 is also in the crosshairs. Today in Wired News, there is an article about this very subject and how All-Of-MP3 is fighting back. All-Of-MP3 cites that their service complies with Russian law, and thus the RIAA has no standing in their suit. ARTICLE EXCERPT: AllofMP3.com sells non-DRM downloads and charges roughly one dollar for albums and only a few cents for individual songs. The U.S.-based iTunes Store on the other hand sells DRM downloads at ten dollars an album and one dollar for songs.
The RIAA’s lawsuit against Media Services, owner of AllofMP3, claims the website is an illegal service and infringes on copyrights owned by the RIAA’s members. The RIAA alleges 11 million songs have been “pirated” using AllofMP3.com.
The RIAA lawsuit seeks $150,000 in damages per violation, which puts the total at over $1.65 trillion, which, as some have already pointed out, is just slightly less than the Gross National Product of Great Britain.Satellite radio investors will quickly see that the $150,000 figure in this suit falls right in line with the damages sought from XM Satellite Radio. Because this issue has direct ties to Sirius and XM, we would suggest that investors keep up to date with the various suits in play. As you can see, the RIAA is not fooling around, as the damages sought are more than the GDP of many nations!!!!Interested readers can read the entire Wired article HERE12/28/2006 02:31:00 PM
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Sirius Bankruptcy Rumors, Part 2
Think about it...Sirius bonds are trading near par. This would not be the situation if bankruptcy were looming. After speaking to a few fund managers, the stock sell-off is most likely related to year-end tax loss selling. Additionally, managers do not want to get caught with losers in their portfolios when they disclose holdings to investors at year end. Thus, a common strategy is to load up on the winners, and sell the losers, more commonly known as " window dressing". I suppose the best part for investors is that this year is almost over! 12/28/2006 01:53:00 PM
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Sirius Bankruptcy Rumors
A couple of blogs have jumped on the bandwagon discussing a Sirius bankruptcy, claiming that this would be the only option to get out from under the debt load. Despite scant credentials, these bloggers, who are certainly entitled to their opinions, seem to influence traders in a market where momentum rules. Perhaps these guys don't understand the satellite radio subscription model. The business is based on the highly successful cable and satellite TV and cellular carrier formats, which started out in exactly the same way, very high upfront costs, high debt, and significant competitive threats, until they became profitable. It's certainly been a disappointing year for investors in the sector, but, unless there's something that I'm missing, bankruptcy does not usually immediately proceed CFBE. 12/28/2006 10:22:00 AM
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Wednesday, December 27, 2006 Live New Years Eve Concerts On Sirius
If you are not going to be at home to listen, you can schedule recordings on your Stiletto! 6 '60s VibrationsThe Beach Boys LIVEJanuary 1 @ 12:30 am ETCatch the legendary band LIVE from the Luxor Theatre in Las Vegas. See times.7 Totally '70sThe DY-NO-MITE Satellite SurveyDecember 30 & 31 We're counting down to 2007 with the 40 grooviest party songs of the '70s! And don't forget to join Magic Matt and his celebrity friends for a totally groovy bash to ring in '07 '70s style! See times.10 The Who ChannelThe Who in ConcertDecember 31 @ 9 pm ET Catch this July 2002 show from The Gorge in George, WA. See times.13 Elvis RadioBill Rock's New Years in VegasJanuary 1 Elvis Radio’s Bill Rock hosts five hours of the King’s Las Vegas concert performances. Plus, don't miss Elvis’ celebrity friends who drop by to say "Happy New Year!" See times.17 Jam_ONString Cheese Incident and Galactic performaces, LIVEJanuary 1 Jam_ON has TWO concerts for New Year's Eve: first, we're broadcasting Galactic's show from Tipitina's in their hometown of New Orleans, LIVE at 12:30 am ET. Then, at 2:45 am ET, we'll have String Cheese Incident, LIVE from the Concourse Theater in San Francisco. See times.18 The SpectrumThe Baker’s Dozen: The Final Countdown… of 2006December 30Mark Goodman counts down the most popular Spectrum songs of the year. See times....read more: here12/27/2006 09:48:00 PM
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Bridge Ratings, Updated Dec. 27th
The Bridge Ratings Consumer Trend Report: Satellite Radio Q4 Subscriber Trending - Year End, Updated Wednesday December 27, 2006Satellite Retail Not Keeping Pace with Holiday Shopping Trends Bridge Ratings' trending of Satellite Radio subscribers continues through 2006. The purpose of this on-going study is to analyze consumer preferences related to satellite service brand and satellite radio in general. This report represents an overall view of the sector based on our year-long interviews. Year-end Update: 1. All retail, including satellite radio, did not live up to expecations going into the Christmas holiday weekend. Retail sales overall were up 6.6% compared to an 8.7% increase during the same period in 2005. 2. Satellite radio sales for the quarter are down 40% compared to the same period last year. However, these comparisons to the phenomenal growth spurt during Q4 of 2005 put into perspective the impact of Sirus satellite radio's Howard Stern push. 2005 fourth quarter subscriptions for Sirius hit 1,142,000 and XM brought in 898,315 new subscribers for a total sector Q4 205 tally of 2,040,315. Q4 2006 projections now estimated to be 1,224,189. 3. Full-year satellite radio retail subscriptions should end up at 13,528,880 up 4,428,880 or a 46.5% increase over full-year 2005, an eye-opening growth rate no matter how one slices it...read more: here12/27/2006 05:33:00 PM
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Tom McIntyre Is Negative On Satellite Radio
I call this "dodging bullets"...if you want to take the time to listen, scroll to 27 mins, 30 secs, to hear his negative comments on SIRI and XMSR. I wonder if Tom is related to Doug McIntyre of wallst24/7, a persistent bear on satellite radio. Buy Avis Budget, Wyndham Money manager predicts buyouts for Cendant breakouts By MarketWatch Last Update: 12:31 PM ET Dec 27, 2006 BOSTON (MarketWatch) -- Some of the companies spun out from Cendant in the summer of 2006 may become takeover targets, according to money manager Tom McIntyre of McIntyre, Freedman & Flynn in Orleans, Mass...read more: here
12/27/2006 12:48:00 PM
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Bedside Astrologer Gets Sirius on New Years
 December 27, 2006 Press Release Source: SIRIUS Satellite Radio Cosmopolitan's 'Bedside Astrologer' Comes to Radio With Exclusive Predictions for 2007 on Sirius Satellite RadioWednesday December 27, 10:00 am ET Listeners Invited to Call Cosmo Radio Channel for Day-Long New Year's Predictions NEW YORK, Dec. 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- SIRIUS Satellite Radio and Cosmopolitan magazine today announced that Cosmo Radio will kick off 2007 with a special New Year's Day marathon broadcast hosted by Cosmopolitan's very own bedside astrologer, Hazel Dixon Cooper, who will offer predictions for love, life and more in the year ahead. The all-day "star-studded" special will air Monday, January 1, 2007, from noon to midnight (12:00 pm ET - 12:00 am ET) exclusively on Cosmo Radio, SIRIUS channel 111. In the magazine's trademark sexy, savvy style, Cooper will discuss a wide-range of astro predictions, including: -- Personal horoscopes for listeners calling into the show, clueing them in on all aspects of their lives, from love to work to friendships ... -- A complete personality profile highlighting the characteristics of each zodiac sign ... -- The year ahead for celebrity couples - whose relationship will sizzle and whose will fizzle ... -- Bedside Matchmaker: a segment for chicks on the prowl, with insights on which signs to seek out and which ones to avoid ... -- Astro-relationships: a segment for couples that will answer the question: Is this a match made in heaven or hell? -- Guy Signs: forecasts telling women exactly what the stars have in store for the men in their lives ... -- New Year's Resolutions: Surprising but do-able goals for each sign in 2007 ... ... and much, much more! The go-to spot for fun, fearless females, Cosmo Radio features the same smart relationship advice, beauty and fitness tips, health news and entertainment that has earned the magazine its iconic brand status. 12/27/2006 10:59:00 AM
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In Case You Missed Opie & Anthony On The Tonight Show
December 27, 2006  Video: Opie & Anthony on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (via www.orbitcast.com) If you missed Opie & Anthony on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, you can catch the video: Here
12/27/2006 10:56:00 AM
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National News On Satellite Radio
 December 27, 2006 I learned this morning of the passing of the 38th President, Gerald Ford, on my morning drive. First and foremost, SSG would like to extend condolences to the Ford Family and to join the nation as we honor the life and works of President Ford. Ford was a healer and a decent man who brought the nation together at a time when divisions seemed to big to overcome. While at that time some of his decisions were not viewed as popular, the years that have passed have proven beyond a doubt that Ford made the correct decisions for the nation. I could have caught this news anywhere, and on virtually any radio station, and I would have had the basic facts. I caught this news on Fox News via Sirius Satellite Radio. Events such as this always make me appreciate satellite radio even more. Because I have satellite radio, I can tune to several NATIONAL BROADCASTS to get varied opinion as I navigate my way on the highways. This is something that terrestrial radio simply can not match. The Fox News coverage, or any national news outlet, has the best access to special guests that can comment on subject matter. I got to hear from people that were close with or worked with Ford during the 60's and 70's. I heard from Richard Nixon's brother, and I truly appreciated getting that type of analysis. Sure, my local radio would have carried the news, but they likely would not have access to the guests that a Fox or CNN can deliver. Once at my destination, I could also tune in a television, and not miss a beat from what the news was covering, again, something that traditional radio could not offer. Sometimes it takes an event such as this that makes someone appreciate the little things that we might otherwise take for granted. Having been a subscriber to satellite radio for years, I sometimes forget how much I utilize the national news broadcasts on satellite radio. 12/27/2006 09:47:00 AM
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Subscribers or CFBE - Which Carries More Weight?
  December 27, 2006 Christmas has passed, and New Years is fast approaching. At this time last year all of the chatter was about how many subscribers Sirius and XM were going to announce at CES. In fact, there was also a lot of chatter about CES. This year differs, and that could perhaps be very good news for the sector. The attention to subscribers and hype of new products has shifted to the financials, and is a sign of a maturing company. Lowered subscriber guidance from both satellite radio companies took the shine off of that category, and expectations of investors seem to indicate that both equities will hit their respective ranges. In the third quarter of this year both satellite radio equities were able to announce narrower losses, and it looks as though that may well be the beginning of a new trend for the sector. The fact that people are now anticipating this, as well as Cash Flow Break Even (CFBE) means that these companies need to perform well in these areas. Investors need to have confidence that the business model for satellite radio is not a cash drain, but a cash creator. Both Sirius and XM have publicly announced that they anticipate reaching CFBE this quarter, but as with many things, there are differences in what the statement means. Sirius anticipates CFBE with the inclusion of capital expenditures. XM anticipates CFBE with the exclusion of capital expenditures. True CFBE falls in the method Sirius is using, but that should in no way take away from what XM is stating. Part of XM's capital expenditures tie to payments for their recently launched satellite, and thus the CAPEX for XM has a substantial impact that will not be seen in future quarters or years. For their part, Sirius has plans of launching a satellite in a bit over a year, and there will be financial impacts as that date approaches. However, Sirius will have the benefit additional subscribers and revenue at that point, and thus should be able to maintain CFBE. Both companies are sitting in good positions in terms of CFBE. Investors should be aware that CFBE does not mean profits. Profits typically follow CFBE by 12 months to 18 months. CFBE does mean that the company can operate without having to borrow money or dilute the stock. This should be a welcomed event for this sector, and goes a long way towards proving the viability of satellite radio. Whether you are invested in Sirius, XM, or both, these financial metrics will go a long way in showing that the sector as a whole can do well. Does all of this mean that subscriber no longer matter? NO. The subscriber numbers will still be watched. There is a lot happening with satellite radio, and the financial metrics are closely tied to subscribers. It is very important that these equities continue to gather subscribers, and illustrate growth in this category. Subscribers mean quite a bit, but it is now that investors are beginning to look at what a subscriber truly means to these companies. 12/27/2006 09:13:00 AM
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New Appian Device Records Sirius and XM Radio Online
 New Streaming Video and Radio Recorder Creates Files That Play on Any DeviceSAN ANSELMO, Calif., Dec. 27 /PRNewswire Applian Technologies today announced Replay A/V version 8, a versatile all-in-one streaming media recorder and file converter. Replay A/V 8 will capture video clips and music,record live, schedule recordings, and automatically convert to 36 differentvideo and audio formats. Replay A/V 8 includes all the favorite features of the earlier version ofReplay A/V:-- Capture streaming video and audio from Windows Media(TM), Real(TM), Flash(TM), Shoutcast(TM), iTunes(TM) Radio and other formats. -- Capture Podcasts. -- Record Sirius(TM) and XM Radio(TM) Online.
-- Record clips instantly, or schedule recordings...read more: here
12/27/2006 08:23:00 AM
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www.unstrung.com: 2007: A Look Ahead
 2007: A Look Ahead Dusting off the good ole crystal ball, Unstrung editors look ahead with bold and unflinching predictions for wireless technologies and companies in 2007. All predictions guaranteed accurate or your money back! In-Flight Connectivity: Connexions, the inflight wireless service launched by Boeing in 2000 and abandoned by the aircraft giant in August, looks to be all-the-way-dead as a group led by Lufthansa and Panasonic now says it is delaying plans to create a transition plan for the expensive system. Nevertheless, Denver-based airborne communications provider Aircell Inc. is moving forward with plans for inflight WiFi. Having outbid Verizon Wireless and other major carriers air-to-ground bandwidth in the FCC spectrum auctions last summer, AirCell says it will announce agreements to install WiFi services on board commercial planes by the end of the first quarter of 2007, with actual service following by end-of-year. (See AirCell Set for Takeoff.)... ...Sat-Radio Sellout: Drawing new customers and rave reviews but hemorrhaging cash, one of the dueling satellite-radio companies -- either XM or Sirius, likely the latter -- will be bought out by a major carrier or media company. The synergies and business-model affinities between, say, a big cable operator and sat-radio are too obvious, and too appealing, to be ignored. Time-Warner Satellite, anyone? (See Sat Radio: Looking Up.) ...read more: here12/27/2006 07:30:00 AM
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Tuesday, December 26, 2006 Ford & Toyota In Talks
Ford, Toyota chiefs held talks in Tokyo -report Tue Dec 26, 2006 3:51 PM ET, Reuters The chief executive of Ford Motor Co. met with the chairman of Toyota Motor Corp.<7203.t> as the first step in potential partnership negotiations, the Japanese business daily Nihon Keizai Shimbun said on Tuesday.
The newspaper reported in its online edition that Ford CEO Alan Mulally and Toyota's Chairman Fujio Cho met last week. The meeting was also attended by Ford Executive Vice President Mark Fields, who is in charge of restructuring the automaker's loss-making North American operations, the newspaper said.
The newspaper cited unnamed sources familiar with the talks as saying that Ford was interested in Toyota's hybrid and fuel-cell technologies as well as its work in reducing manufacturing and parts procurement costs.
A spokesman for Ford said the automaker would neither confirm nor deny the report...read more: here12/26/2006 06:48:00 PM
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Monday, December 25, 2006 Sports Programming on Satellite Radio
I did not get satellite radio for it's sports programming, nor could I grasp the demographic of the person that would. From a marketing perspective, I thought the co-branding opportunities were significant, but I, personally, never turned my dial to listen to any games. Yesteday, I was invited to a friend's home. When I walked in, even though the TV was on, all the guys were sitting in front of a Sirius receiver LISTENING to a football game. I was totally amazed. I asked why they were listening to the game on radio rather than watching it on TV. They responded that the game that they were interested in was "blacked out" and not available on TV. I asked how they were able to visualize the plays from listening to a radio announcer. They said that announcers on radio are able to capture the game in words that convey the actual plays. Perusing satellite radio message boards, I have seen comments by posters questioning the viability of sports on radio when games are available on TV. Now I totally get it...for those who don't want to pay gobs of money for the cable or satellite TV sports packages, want to have access to a variety of games, or if their game has been blacked out, satellite radio is a great option. Another reason given for listening to sports on satellite radio is that these guys are sensitive to being catagorized as "couch potatoes". If they listen to sports doing chores in the yard or in their cars while running errands, rather than sitting in front of a TV, they find that their wives are less likely to complain. I had extensive conversations with these guys over the course of the afternoon, and now I think I understand! 12/25/2006 03:24:00 PM
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Friday, December 22, 2006 Bonaduce Goes To The Dark Side
 December 22, 2006 Danny Bonaduce has made his choice. He chose the form of radio that existed in his glory days with the Partridge Family instead of the format that would let him express himself in a manner that fans have come to expect. With satellite radio available, it always makes one scratch their head when an edgy talent such as Bonaduce makes a conscious decision to tie their hands in the form of their expression for the dollars being offered by content challenged terrestrial stations. The wave of the future of radio is with satellite, and those that establish a foothold in the satellite radio medium now are at a bigger advantage in the future. Best wishes Danny. Free 97.1 PRESS RELEASE Fresh off the season two conclusion of the hit non-scripted cable television show, Breaking Bonaduce, Danny Bonaduce will join THE ADAM CAROLLA SHOW as a featured member of the morning drive program (6-10:00AM, PT) beginning on Tuesday, January 2, 2007. Broadcast live out of the showÂs flagship station, KLSX-FM in Los Angeles, THE ADAM CAROLLA SHOW is carried on six CBS RADIO stations on the West Coast, and syndicated to a host of additional stations. The four-hour program also features Teresa Strasser in the studio. "If you asked me why I wanted to join AdamÂs show, my first reaction would be to say poverty," said Bonaduce, "followed quickly by the fact that IÂm a big fan and have a lot of respect for his work. ThereÂs nothing quite like doing live radio especially with a veteran like Adam. Having done his show in the past I know that there is something unique about what we bring to the table. IÂm thrilled to be included and look forward to being back on the air full time." Bonaduce has spent a lifetime in show business. His radio career began in Philadelphia and brought him to Chicago, Detroit, New York and Los Angeles, where he was among the most listened to personality in the market. Bonaduce starred in the series The Partridge Family for a better part of the 1970s, and his other television credits include Eight is Enough, That 70's Show, Sabrina, The Teenage Witch, The Drew Carey Show, The Other Half talk show as well as several Partridge Family reunion and dedication programs. 12/22/2006 08:34:00 PM
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Windstream Inks Deal With XM
 December 22, 2006 DALTON - Windstream Communications, the largest communications and entertainment provider focused on rural America, has announced an agreement with XM Satellite Radio to offer XM Satellite Radio products in Georgia.As part of the pilot program, Windstream is now offering XM Satellite Radio receivers and accessories to all Georgia customers. Equipment will be sold through call centers, technicians and in retail stores in Cornelia, Blairsville, Canton, Cleveland, Commerce, Dahlonega, Dalton, Dawsonville, Hiawassee and Jasper. For added convenience, Windstream customers can purchase XM Satellite Radio receivers at Windstream retail stores and pay later by adding the purchase price to their monthly Windstream bill. Customers must activate subscriptions through XM Satellite Radio to access its more than 170 digital channels of commercial-free music, as well as news, sports and children's programming. "We've talked to our customers and are excited to expand their radio programming options in rural America by offering XM Satellite Radio", said Roger Woziwodzki, Windstream vice president of strategic business development. "This new product will give our customers a variety of excellent channels and expands our portfolio of entertainment products." 12/22/2006 10:29:00 AM
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Sirius Catholic Channel To Broadcast Christmas Mass From St. Patrick's
 Sirius Covers Christmas Mass from St. Patrick's Cathedral(via www.orbitcast.com) The Catholic Channel (ch 159) on Sirius Satellite Radio will be broadcasting Christmas Midnight Mass and Christmas Day Mass from NYC's historic Saint Patrick's Cathedral, live with Edward Cardinal Egan. Midnight Mass will begin at 12-midnight ET. Eric Cutler of the Metropolitan Opera will will sing "O Holy Night." and will also accompany the world famous Cathedral Choir of Saint Patrick. On Christmas morning, The Catholic Channel will broadcast Mass for Christmas Day with Cardinal Egan starting at 10:15am ET...read more: here
12/22/2006 09:52:00 AM
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Fund Managers: Year End Window Dressing, Buy The Winners, Sell The Losers
XMSR and SIRI are down big this year, so it will be difficult to convince managers to show them as holdings through Dec. 31. Hopefully, January will be a turning point. Street Sleuth,The Wall Street Journal Managers Dress Up Portfolios for Year End
Attempt to Emphasize Winners Pushes Top Performers Higher; 'It's Like Watching 'The O.C.' '
By GREGORY ZUCKERMAN and KAREN RICHARDSON, December 22, 2006; Page C1 It's that time of year again. Money managers finish their holiday shopping, pack for the family vacation -- and jump into the quarterly ritual of furiously dressing up their investment portfolios to make them look as good as possible to investors. When firms send out their investor reports after each quarter, they usually list their top holdings, to provide a sense of what stocks they own. To make it look like they picked lots of winners, it appears many money managers, from mutual funds to hedge funds, spend this time of year selling off picks that performed poorly in the previous 11 weeks or so and buying up the quarter's best performers. Some also buy even more shares of their biggest winners, which can drive the price to boost returns, at least temporarily. "I've never heard anybody tell me they do it, but it's like watching 'The OC,' " says Thomas Russo, portfolio manager at Gardner Russo & Gardner, an investment adviser in Lancaster, Pa. "Nobody admits they watch [the Fox television show] and say they're watching PBS instead. But the ratings show something different." Mr. Russo insists he doesn't engage in window dressing, as the practice is known. How successful is this window dressing? In the past 16 years, the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index's best-performing stocks of the first 11 weeks or so of the fourth quarter trounced the overall index by an average 2.6 percentage points in that final week, according to a research report by Thomson Financial. The stocks have beaten the market in each of those 16 years...read more: here12/22/2006 07:44:00 AM
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Washington Post: An Outsider Tours XM HQ
Outsider's Guide to XMBy Yuki Noguchi December 22, 2006; 12:01 AM ET
Ground zero for satellite radio is someplace where you might not expect it to be: Across the way from the new Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms building, a Wendy's and in the crosshairs of some of the worst traffic congestion known to man. There, along New York Avenue on the eastern edge of Washington DC, is XM Satellite Radio's headquarters---one of the most creative looking offices in the area. Inside one of many creatively decorated offices sits Dan Turner, senior vice president of programming operations and program director for the oddball holiday music channel, Special X-Mas. (Photo by Leslie Walker, Washington Post) Several editors and I arrived stopped by for a visit earlier this week and immediately noted that the place was far too cool for any of us, starting with the guy with piercings, long hair and red and black mismatched shoes smoking cigarettes with his similarly edgy co-workers outside the building. The building itself is a century-old renovated printing press where National Geographic and Newsweek were once printed. Now, the inside looks like a glass-encased oasis of loft-like architectural coolness reminiscent of workspaces at high-tech companies in California....read more: here12/22/2006 06:06:00 AM
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Thursday, December 21, 2006 Motley Fool On SatRad AGAIN! Should They Merge?
Should XM and Sirius Merge?
Mac Greer, The Motley Fool, December 21, 2006 It's been a rough year for shareholders in satellite radio. Shares of both XM ( Nasdaq: XMSR) and Sirius ( Nasdaq: SIRI) have lost almost half their value for the year, and both companies continue to lose money. XM has more subscribers. Sirius has the bigger market cap. XM has Major League Baseball, Oprah, and Dylan. Sirius has the NFL, Martha, and Howard. And with the divide-and-conquer approach producing mixed results, merger speculation is heating up. Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin fueled the speculation with his recent comments extolling the virtues of consolidation...read more: here12/21/2006 10:55:00 PM
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Motley Fool Critical of XM and Sirius
 December 21, 2006 In separate articles issued today, The Motley Fool calls Sirius and XM the worst stocks of 2007. Sector investors hoping for better news as the year comes to a close have received instead a lump of coal as report after report take a look at these equities with a critical eye. Are reports such as these correct in their view? Readers will have to determine that for themselves. There is little doubt that there are some things with each company that are not on the "good news" side of the fence, but there are also positive indicators that exist, and an outlook that sees Free Cash flow Positive and narrower losses happening in the near future. As with anything, investors should look at these equities from ALL SIDES. The Motley Fool Sirius article can be found HEREThe Motley Fool XM article can be found HERE12/21/2006 10:04:00 AM
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Satellite Radio: Get With The Program...Pre-Owned Cars Is Where It's Happening!
CarMax Blows Past Wall Street ForecastsBy Will Swarts, Smart Money, December 20, 2006 The NewsCarMax investors were in the driver's seat Wednesday after the used-car vendor ran over Wall Street's earnings estimates. Shares closed up 9% after peaking at a 52-week high of $55.20 earlier in the session. The Richmond, Va.-based company, which runs 74 stores in 22 states, mostly in the South and West, reported fiscal third-quarter earnings of 42 cents a share, up from 22 cents a year ago. Analysts expected the company to earn 25 cents a share for the three months ended Nov. 30, according to earnings tracker Thomson Financial. CarMax, which doesn't issue quarterly guidance, said it now expects to earn $1.75 to $1.85 a share for its fiscal year ending Feb. 20, up from an earlier estimate of $1.55 to $1.65 a share. Wall Street analysts expected full-year earnings of $1.64....read more: here12/21/2006 09:37:00 AM
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The Gift Card Effect
December 21, 2006 There is a new satellite radio, it is smaller than any SDARS receiver ever manufactured and it will appear under holiday trees across the nation. The receiver sizes up at only 3.9” wide x 2.1” tall x .02” thick, and is capable of giving the user either Sirius, XM, or both!!!!! Enter the GIFT CARD and the GIFT CARD EFFECT. While gift cards have been around for quite some time, they have traditionally carried little impact in Q4 for satellite radio. The reason is that in the past, selection of satellite receivers after Christmas has been slim or non-existent. Sirius and XM have both run into short supply in previous years. This year differs. For the 2006 holiday season both Sirius and XM stuffed the retail channel. This, coupled with weaker sales means that satellite radios will be in ready supply in the week between Christmas and New Years. Add to this the fact that the post Christmas week is capped by a weekend, and we have potential for satellite radio purchases and activations that simply have not happened in the past. Will this make a substantial difference? That is an unknown. There is little doubt that a subscription based service makes a more difficult gift than other types of items, but gift cards will facilitate that process, allowing the recipient to choose whatever they desire. Another factor to consider as 2006 comes to a close is that there is 1 weekend left, and that will mean a very busy Saturday and Sunday at retail. Satellite Radio could be the benefactor of last minute gift ideas. Both Sirius and XM have choices that can deliver a receiver and a short term subscription for about $100. Will the GIFT CARD EFFECT be huge? No, not likely, but it will have a small impact on the sector, and should help insure that these companies meet their respective subscriber guidance targets. 12/21/2006 09:13:00 AM
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Bridge Ratings, Updated Dec. 20th
The Bridge Ratings Consumer Trend Report: Satellite Radio Q4 Subscriber Trending Updated Wednesday December 20, 2006 Satellite Retail Not Keeping Pace with Holiday Shopping Trends This Week's Update: Retail sales severely slipped this past week as the satellite radio retail activity seems to be getting lost in the rush of the season. While foot traffic improved (and has been building weekly) purchase activity as a percentage of shoppers continues to disappoint. Sirius regained its dominance of what retail there is as XM had been pacing stronger the last couple of weeks. This week, however, the retail profile returned to pre-holiday shopping patterns with Sirius dominating what sales activity there was this week...read more: here12/21/2006 07:19:00 AM
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Yusef Islam (Cat Stevens) & Sirius Make The New York Times
Music Review 'Yusuf Islam'
The Return of a Man Once Called Cat
By JON PARELES. The New York Times, Dec 21 Yusuf Islam, who used to call himself Cat Stevens, is easing back into the public eye by way of the ears. Last month he released “An Other Cup” (Atlantic), his first album of pop songs in 28 years. This week, after arriving in the United States on Sunday, he chose radio broadcasts for his first performances here since the 1970s. Those included a Sirius Satellite Radio show which will be repeated today at 6 p.m...read more: here12/21/2006 06:56:00 AM
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Wednesday, December 20, 2006 The Un-Fool
 December 20, 2006 Today Rick Aristotle Munarriz of The Motley Fool published an article titled “4 Stocks To Sell In 2007”. In the piece he identified XM Satellite radio as a stock to sell. His reasoning is in the excerpt below: XM Satellite Radio Yes, XM's stock is up 65% since bottoming out this summer -- but why are the fundamentals singing a different tune? The former Motley Fool Rule Breakers recommendation has had to hose down its year-end subscriber targets three times this year, and retail sales are slumping. The few sales taking place at the consumer-electronics superstores seem to be favoring rival Sirius and its sleek Stiletto model, yet even Sirius has talked down the industry's near-term performance.
A lot of the air in XM's shares lately stems from buyout speculation that may never come to fruition. Even if a deal is struck, it may not get regulatory approval. I'm guessing that the Grinch may stick around until attractive add-ons like backseat video materialize in 2008 or 2009.
We here at SSG would like to take a look at this point by point. Yes, XM's stock is up 65% since bottoming out this summer -- but why are the fundamentals singing a different tune?
The fundamentals may well be swinging to the other direction going forward. XM is on the cusp of CFBE (after capex), and could very well be reporting narrower losses each quarter going forward. This would illustrate stronger fundamentals than Mr. Munarriz is indicating.
The former Motley Fool Rule Breakers recommendation has had to hose down its year-end subscriber targets three times this year, and retail sales are slumping. The few sales taking place at the consumer-electronics superstores seem to be favoring rival Sirius and its sleek Stiletto model, yet even Sirius has talked down the industry's near-term performance.
Yes, XM did have to lower guidance on a few occasions this year. The equity took a big hit as a result. This, coupled with other bad news took its toll on XM throughout the year. The recent subscriber guidance held the line though, which was indicative that the worst has happened. This could well be a case of the bottom being set for this equity. While it is true that Sirius has had an advantage at retail, XM is still selling units.
A lot of the air in XM's shares lately stems from buyout speculation that may never come to fruition. Even if a deal is struck, it may not get regulatory approval.
While there has been a run-up that has in part been fueled by buy-out and merger talk, it is not the sole reason for the price increase. Respected professionals who follow the issue believe pretty strongly that regulators could look favorably on a buy-out or merger, and if it were to come to fruition, the shareholders could see a nice benefit in a short time frame. If it were to not happen, then the narrowing losses, and CFBE should be more than enough to keep the stock price stable, and allow for growth going forward.
Satellite radio has only scratched the surface of potential subscribers, and satisfaction among those that do subscribe is very high. Improved financial metrics and a strong subscriber base are the fuel that will lead to profits.
XM a Sell in 2007? It may well be a buy. Personally I feel that there is a stronger argument for a buy than for a sell at this point. At a bear minimum, it is a hold. To call a sell only 2 weeks prior to the end of the quarter, and 3 weeks prior to CES where there is sure to be news seems foolish in my eyes. 12/20/2006 04:59:00 PM
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Motley Fool: Negative on XM Today
4 Stocks to Sell in 2007
Rick Aristotle Munarriz, The Motley Fool, December 20, 2006 Have you finished your holiday shopping? I hope so, because I've got some regifting ideas for you. These are stocks you don't want sitting under your tree, because the year ahead may prove challenging to their already-buoyant share prices. These stocks aren't all dogs. At least one is an active newsletter recommendation (so your mileage may vary). One has shot up 65% over the past five months. One is a perennial market darling, while the other has been sent to the doghouse. I can almost bet that you'll disagree with me vehemently on a few. That's OK. A little balance in opinion will do your due diligence some good. If I'm wrong, you win. If I'm right, you won't be blindsided... ...XM Satellite Radio ( Nasdaq: XMSR) Yes, XM's stock is up 65% since bottoming out this summer -- but why are the fundamentals singing a different tune? The former Motley Fool Rule Breakers recommendation has had to hose down its year-end subscriber targets three times this year, and retail sales are slumping. The few sales taking place at the consumer-electronics superstores seem to be favoring rival Sirius ( Nasdaq: SIRI) and its sleek Stiletto model, yet even Sirius has talked down the industry's near-term performance. A lot of the air in XM's shares lately stems from buyout speculation that may never come to fruition. Even if a deal is struck, it may not get regulatory approval. I'm guessing that the Grinch may stick around until attractive add-ons like backseat video materialize in 2008 or 2009....read more: here12/20/2006 03:28:00 PM
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SSG ShoutOut - December 20, 2006
December 20, 2006 It has been a while since we have published SSG Shout-Outs in a group. The holidays, and site re-design have hampered efforts, but finally, we are getting to some of the shout-outs: READER COMMENT - Andy K - Boston, MAThe battle for supremacy in the satellite radio market over the past fiveyears is shown in the Compete.com blog today. XM Radio and Sirius have beenjockeying for position, but the gap could be widening. Just last month they hadtheir biggest separation ever in page views to their websites. Check out the post tosee the numbers. We hope you find this article interesting and would be happy if youwould like to link to it or write about it. Thanks a lot. LinkSSG ResponseThank You for your input to the site. Your article is quite interesting and offers some insight that readers may not have considered. Keep in touch.READER COMMENT - Leesburg, VAThe 'SIRIUS Alpha' video that was found on Youtube seems to be from the CES05 era. Since it shows early footage of Howard Stern (taken from Private Parts) andAl Franken from Air America (which has since sold themselves out to XM,) it isobviously not recent. In addition, SIRIUS is still using the 'Radio Your Way' sloganfrom CES, as opposed to 'The Best Radio on Radio.'SSG ResponseThe video was created by a fan of Sirius, not Sirius themselves. It is an interesting concept, and the fan did a good job in the creation of it.READER COMMENT - Mark S. - Louisville, KYClearly we did not see an institutional exodus on the subsciber downgradenews. I think the the loss was due primarily to individual investor panic. The most important metric right now is CFBE and if Mel and David confirm that Sirius will reach this watershed mark, investors should be rewarded with at least a recovery of the losses on the revised subscriber news. Note that the comments of each Mel andDavid have recently been more firm on the issue of when CFBE will be reached. Listen closely to the words chosen by each when addressing this issue tomorrow at the conferences.SSG ResponseThere was some negative impact with the lowered guidance, and investors did not take the news lightly. I agree that CFBE is importantant. It helps validate the business model -IF- CFBE is maintained. i believe that we will see "losses narrow" headlines for both Sirius and XM going forward. This will be welcomed news for those that have followed these equities.READER COMMENT - Mike D - Rockaway, NJYou're absolutely correct. Why would a so-called independent firm likeBridge Ratings feel the need to quote BOA? Perhaps you could take a look back andcheck their previous projection performance. It's beyond me how they can predictoverall sub adds when they have no insight into OEM, Online retailers, andSirius.com. When it comes to overall subs, I'll stick with SIRI's recentlyreitertated guidance.SSG ResponseThe key to information such as Bridge and NPD is that people understand what goes into collecting the data, and what that information is indicative of.READER COMMENT - NDK - NJNew site sux. I'll use GSI to see if you have anything worth reading or toget to the linked sites I have become used to from your list. Good Luck.SSG ResponseWe have been modifying the site for some time now, and perhaps it is better tuned to what you are looking for. We have had a lot of positive feedback, and always take reader input seriously. Please drop us a note, and let us know what specifically you did not like.READER COMMENT - Kovachs - Pleasantville'Recording Capacity: The Stiletto is about double, 2 GB, and can record upto 10 hrs of individual songs recorded from Sirius channels and 100 hours of othercontent. The Inno, 1 GB, is about 8 hrs of XM songs, and 50 hrs of content.' The above is at best poorly written. The Inno allows you to record 50 hours ofindividual songs or 50 hours of content.SSG ResponseAgreed. Thank You for the clarification.READER COMMENT - B.R. - New YorkHello There... just a quick comment on your last story about valuation. Onxm you have to look at the new shares that were converted..there share count will beclose to 305 million shares now...So there market cap is a lot higher then the 4billion you posted...please look at the deal for the convertibel notes...which hasbeen closed...thanksAgreed. The outstanding shares for both companies have had some changes. As always, we highly recommend that investors consider float as well as the fully diluted count. Thanks for the comment.12/20/2006 03:27:00 PM
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Heading Into The New Year...
Lots of folks are heading out this week, so below is information on upcoming (and newsworthy) events to give you a jump start when you return after the New Year: 2007 International CES (The main event in the Consumer Electonics industry) Location: Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas Hilton Exhibit Dates: Mon., Jan. 8, 2007 through Thurs., Jan. 11, 2007 Link to website: http://www.cesweb.org/The North American International Auto ShowLocation: COBO Conference/Exhibition Center, located on the bank of the Detroit River Exhibition dates: Jan 7-9: Press Preview Jan 10-11: Industry Preview Jan 12: Charity Preview Jan 13-21: Public Show Link to website: http://www.naias.com/12/20/2006 03:10:00 PM
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XM Shares Issued To Members of Management
 December 20, 2006 Yesterday XM Satellite Radio brought on a new member of the Board of Directors, and also issued shares to her as well as some of the senior management. The shares that XM issued differ slightly from the types of transactions investors recently saw from Sirius. With Sirius the shares were options, which had an exercise price, and could expire unless actions were taken by the individuals. The shares issued by XM are restricted shares, and had no cost to the recipient whatsoever, and thus, the need for a paperless transaction does not exist. This is a breakdown of the shares issued, as well as the total shares held by the individuals: Joan Amble - 10,000 shares at a cost of $0 - 10,000 - Joan now holds 10,000 shares of XM. Dara Altman - 60,000 shares at a cost of $0 - These shares are restriced, and the restricted stock vests in three equal annual installments beginning on December 15, 2007. Dara now holds 161,300 shares of XM. Stephen Cook - 50,000 shares at a cost of $0 - These shares are restricted, and the restricted stock vests in three equal annual installments beginning on December 15, 2007. Stephen now holds 183,767 shares of XM which excludes 480,000 shares underlying vested and unvested stock options held by the Reporting Person. Joe Euteneuer - 60,000 shares at a cost of $0 - These shares are restricted, and the restricted stock vests in three equal annual installments beginning on December 15, 2007, Joe now holds 258,488 shares of XM which excludes 500,000 shares underlying vested and unvested stock options held by the Reporting Person. Joe Titlebaum - 25,000 shares at a cost of $0 - These shares are restricted, and the restricted stock vests in three equal annual installments beginning on December 15, 2007. Joe now holds 119,254 shares of XM which excludes 380,000 shares underlying vested and unvested stock options held by the Reporting Person. Erik Toppenberg - 75,000 shares at a cost of $0 - These shares are restricted, and the restricted stock vests in three equal annual installments beginning on December 15, 2007. Erik now holds 202,061 shares of XM which excludes 100,000 shares underlying vested and unvested stock options held by the Reporting Person. UPDATE: I had a comment from a reader brought to my attention READER COMMENT:"Your bias against Xm continues to show. Can't you guys get anything correct? Or at least get all the details out there correctly instead of more spin? Your blog states the following,"The shares issued by XM are restricted shares, and had no cost to the recipient whatsoever, and thus, the need for a paperless transaction does not exist." This is not correct, or at least is very misleading. The shares vest in 3 equal parts over the next 3 years. When each amount vests, there will be a taxable situation in which the holder must pay capital gains taxes on the difference between the grant price and the price on the day of the vesting. Which is when you typically see employees do paperless transactions to cover the taxable event. There will very much be a "cost" to the recipient when they vest. Xm began granting restricted stock in place of stock options to its management about a couple years ago, just as many companies are doing today around the country. YOUR LINK How you can even possibly put this event as "slightly different" than what occured with Sirius mangements' cashless exercise of expiring stock options recently, is beyond comprehension. The two situations aren't even remotely similar. To claim that the difference between the two is "slight" is downright spin. Your comparison of the two shows just how desperate you are to spin all things Sirius. And why your "blog" is most likely one of those new "flog's" that are coming to light these days. Plus the fact that you dont allow public comments on your commentaries speaks volumes toward the biases of your postings, and just how out of control your flog really is. YOUR LINK Just Ask Sony!"SSG RESPONSEI guess the best way is to take this comment one issue at a time.You State:Your bias against Xm continues to show. Can't you guys get anything correct? Or at least get all the details out there correctly instead of more spin? Your blog states the following.....SSG Response:I have both services. I have both equities. As a consumer I do e a preference with regards to which satellite radio service I listen to most. Perhaps your perception of this site makes you feel as if there is a bias. The article was simply pointing out the fact that the transactions happened, and how it differs from the stock options transactions of sirius a few weeks ago. people love to make comparisons of these companies, and often the comparisons simply can not be made because of the difference in how things are structured does not allow for an apples to apples look.You State:"The shares issued by XM are restricted shares, and had no cost to the recipient whatsoever, and thus, the need for a paperless transaction does not exist." (quoting SSG)This is not correct, or at least is very misleading. The shares vest in 3 equal parts over the next 3 years. When each amount vests, there will be a taxable situation in which the holder must pay capital gains taxes on the difference between the grant price and the price on the day of the vesting. Which is when you typically see employees do paperless transactions to cover the taxable event. There will very much be a "cost" to the recipient when they vest. SSG Response:The point of the article was to go over how the transactions differ, and not looking at 1, 2, or three years down the road, but since you want that level of deatil, I would be happy to assist. You charge that my statement was misleading, but it is not. The issuance of restricted shares does not trigger a paperless transaction at the time the shares are issued (in this case December 19). The holder simply has those shares set aside for them, and the shares will vest as stated (in this case over the next three years.Your comment that there will be a cost is well off base. The holder has NO COST for the shares. That clearly sjhows in the SEC documentation. At the point that the shares vest, their tax papers will aslso CLEARLY SHOW that there is NO COST for the shares. This is called the COST BASIS, and these shares all have NO COST BASIS.you are correct that Uncle Sam will want his portion of the CAPITAL GAIN. The CAPTIAL GAIN is determined by the price AT THE TIME OF VESTING less the COST BASIS. The COST BASIS is $0. Thus, the CAPITAL GAIN would be the share price multipleied by the number of shares that vest. At that point in time, the holder may elect to do a paperless transaction.All of this goes into more detail than I intended, but at the end of the day there is NO COST to the shares.You State:Xm began granting restricted stock in place of stock options to its management about a couple years ago, just as many companies are doing today around the country. Your Link HereSSG Response:There are indeed many companies that issue restricted grants instead of options. There are also many companies that use options, and companies that use a combination.You State:How you can even possibly put this event as "slightly different" than what occured with Sirius mangements' cashless exercise of expiring stock options recently, is beyond comprehension. The two situations aren't even remotely similar. To claim that the difference between the two is "slight" is downright spin.SSG Response:The difference between the two events is in options to buy vs. the issuance of restricted shares. There are many factors involved in the determination of which way to issue shares. The bvottom line is that whether they are options or grants, they are designed as compensation to employees, and they are shares that will increase the float. There is no "spin" involved. Both Sirius and XM compensate employees in one form or another with stock. For you to claim a "vast difference" is simply not correct. The shares are issued as compensation, the float increases. This is not a debate about the number of shares, the value of the shares, nor whether the individuals deserve that number of shares. I had no intention of taking the issue into next year, because at this point it was not material to the intent of the article. Yes, next year 90,000 shares will vest, and some of the holders may well use a paperless transaction to pay their taxes. If XM were to be at $20, the capital gain involved would be about $1,800,000. If taxes were about half, then 45,000 shares could well be sold to cover the taxes. this however is conjecture at this point, and that was something that is better left until this time next year.You State:Your comparison of the two shows just how desperate you are to spin all things Sirius. And why your "blog" is most likely one of those new "flog's" that are coming to light these days. Plus the fact that you dont allow public comments on your commentaries speaks volumes toward the biases of your postings, and just how out of control your flog really is. Your Link Just ask Sony!SSG Response:Again, you seem to want to insinuate that there is some sort of bias here, and then go on to insinuate that SSG is a "flog" rather than a "blog". If you are insinuating that SSG has any connection to Sirius or XM, you are quite wrong, and well off base. SSG has no relationship whatsoever with either of these equities. Your comment about public comments.......Well, here is your comment alive and well in living print. You can also email us at satellitestandard@gmail.com, or use the "SSG Shout-Out" link to submit your comments. We are more than happy to publish reader comment provided they are on the subject and do not contain profanity.SSG makes efforts to balance our coverage. A lot of what we do happens from reader submissions. More readers tend to submit information about Sirius than for XM. Additionally, because most of my satellite radio listening is on Sirius, I tend to have more day to day comments about what is playing on Sirius. When I do listen to XM, I am more than happy to cover it. The same is true for other contributors. In addition, we would always love to add additional people to the site. Readers can submit articles for consideration, and anyone interested in participating is welcomed to contact us. Thank you for your readership, and thank you for your comments. It is my hope that the clarifications delivered here are to your satisfaction. Happy Holidays. Labels: shares issued, xm 12/20/2006 11:18:00 AM
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The SatRad Trader: Year-End Strategies
  December 20, 2006 Here are some things to ponder as 2006 comes to a close: Now that the pair trade "premium" between XMSR and SIRI has evaporated, and the tax loss selling season has come and gone, where is the opportunity? With just 7 trading days left in 2006, will the shorts feel compelled to cover to lock in profits or will traders be complacent and maintain their positions? Will the potential for positive announcements in January at CES and the Auto Show reverse the downward trend, and propel the "Dogs of the NASDAQ" into next year's winners? Will SatRad, the laggards of the stellar media sector, finally be recognized for their growth as OEM installs increase and new hardware hits the market? Although 2006 has been a disappointing year for investors in SatRad stocks, we look forward to a bright 2007 and beyond. As Apple co-founder, Steve Wozniak says, "Once you encounter it, it is a one-way street. You go through it and you don't back out." 12/20/2006 10:30:00 AM
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Tuesday, December 19, 2006 Estimating Holiday Sales: Brick & Mortar vs. Non-Traditional Retailers
Despite tough year-over-year comparisons, SatRad growth in 2006 has still been very strong, jumping almost 50%, from 9.3 million subscribers to an estimated 13.8 million by year end. Projecting exactly how strong has left many analysts scratching their heads. How accurate the widely followed surveys, ie, Bridge and NPD? These results only cover Brick & Mortar Retailers (B&M's) like Best Buy and Circuit City, but do not include the non-traditional retailers (NTR's) like TSS-Radio, Skyboxusa and SRS, which are grabbing an increasing market share. B&M's are claiming a slowdown in sales, however, I wonder if pricing has anything to do with this. Based on advertised prices, the NTR's seem to be selling at 20-30% discounts. For example, the Stiletto 100 is approximately $380 ($340 plus tax and shipping) at the B&M's while the same item is $300 (no tax, free shipping) at the NTR's. The Inno is $240 at the NTR's and $330 ($290 plus tax and shipping) at the B&M's. In addition to significant cost savings, many consumers chose to shop at the NTR's because their informed staff actually understand the products they are selling. We will get a better idea of the NTR's impact, and the accuracy of NPD and Bridge surveys when subscriber numbers are released in early January. Until then, the analysts might be stabbing in the dark. 12/19/2006 10:50:00 PM
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Tan Dun's Met Opera Debut To Be Broadcast On Sirius
 Composer Tan Dun to make Met Opera debutBy MARTIN STEINBERG, Associated Press Writer, Tue Dec 19, 5:58 PM ET He collected folk songs in villages in his native China, then planted rice during the Cultural Revolution. Later, he played music on the streets of New York to buy food. Now, composer Tan Dun is making his Metropolitan Opera debut. "The First Emperor," starring Placido Domingo in the title role of a production with a reported cost of up to $3 million, has its world premiere Thursday night — on stage and in cyberspace. No stranger to success, Tan won an Oscar in 2001 for the music for the martial arts fantasy "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." His other compositions include "The Map," a cello concerto written for Yo-Yo Ma; and the score for the 2002 movie "Hero," with violin solos by Itzhak Perlman...READ MORE: HERE12/19/2006 10:05:00 PM
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BusinessWeek Highlights Satellite Radio As iPod Alternative
iPod Alternatives
New portable music playersDec. 16, BusinessWeek With a 75% market share, Apple's iPod dominates the MP3 market. But, competitors aren't shying away. We look at the latest portable satellite radio offerings from XM and Sirius, and MP3 players from Sansa and Microsoft with features like voice recorders, WiFi and online music subscriptions. View with Windows Media/Flash link to article: here12/19/2006 09:12:00 PM
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Pizza Ranch Corrals Sirius
 December 19, 2006 Clearwater, FL, December 19, 2006– The Pizza Ranch has added music to their Midwest values. Little league pizza parties and chicken dinners will now be set to 67 commercial-free music channels provided by Applied Media Technologies Corporation. The Pizza Ranch has partnered with AMTC to provide SIRIUSBusiness for just $24.95 per month, contract-free, as well as all sound equipment at a discounted rate.“The Pizza Ranch’s slogan is ‘Good Things, Every Day,” said Justin Mulder, Construction Consultant for The Pizza Ranch. “With SIRIUS Satellite Radio we can provide our valued customers and employees with good music, every day.” Mulder also noted that AMTC’s technical support and installation services are unparalleled in the industry. “Community was stressed over and over as part of the The Pizza Ranch culture,” said Connie Locke, Account Executive for AMTC. “We hope to be the part of that community that provides a great music that their customers will truly enjoy.” Privately held AMTC is headquartered in Clearwater, FL. AMTC is the exclusive provider of SIRIUS Satellite Radio (NASDAQ: SIRI) for business use, under the brand name SIRIUSBusiness. SIRIUSBusiness includes 67 channels of 24-hour, commercial-free music, with all music royalties paid, and presents the first meaningful competition to Muzak in the business music arena. AMTC also manufactures a full line of professional sound equipment and provides TelAdvantage, the world’s most recognized brand of telephone “on hold” messaging products and services. Since 1991, AMTC has served over 15,000 customers around the globe, including names like Bally Total Fitness, Bridgestone-Firestone, Continental Airlines, DaimlerChrysler, Ford Motor Co. and Morgan Stanley. For additional information, visit www.amtc.com Starting as a single store in Hull, Iowa, the Pizza Ranch, which specializes in pizza and chicken, has grown steadily and now has franchises in eight states. Pizza Ranch is one of the largest pizza chains in the Midwest, and is now the largest regional pizza chain in Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. For additional information, visit www.pizzaranch.com Chat in real-time, all the time - get Windows Live Messenger!Starting as a single store in Hull, Iowa, the Pizza Ranch, which specializes in pizza and chicken, has grown steadily and now has franchises in eight states. Pizza Ranch is one of the largest pizza chains in the Midwest, and is now the largest regional pizza chain in Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. For additional information, visit www.pizzaranch.com 12/19/2006 03:55:00 PM
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Motley Fool On Satellite Radio Today
Satellite Radio's Grinchy Holiday
Rick Aristotle Munarriz, The Motley Fool, December 19, 2006 'Twas the week before Christmas, When all through the store, Not a sat-rad receiver, Was sold off the floor... This won't be much of a holiday to remember for satellite radio. Sirius ( NASDAQ: SIRI) and XM Satellite Radio ( NASDAQ: XMSR) have already lowered previous year-end subscriber targets, and weakness on the retail front is to blame. Retail sales of satellite radios have fallen for three consecutive months through October. The momentum is apparently not improving as we dig into the critical holiday selling season. In addressing the crowd at the Credit Suisse Media & Telecom Week conference earlier this month, XM Chairman Gary Parsons was realistic in his assumptions. His company's channel-checks through consumer-electronics stores found that retailers were looking at 5% improvement in comps, but satellite-radio sales were yielding to other big-ticket items, such as high-def televisions and next-generation game consoles. Some of you weren't convinced. "No consumer is trying to decide between buying a flat-panel TV or XM radio," one Fool wrote me. "It costs about $1,000 to $2,000 for a flat-panel TV, and about $50 for an XM radio. The comparison is absurd."...read more: here
12/19/2006 03:15:00 PM
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Raw Dog Gets NASCAR Flair
 December 19, 2006 NASCAR is shifting to Sirius, and the buzz is starting to happen. You can even see the NASCAR influence on Raw Dog channel 104. Raw Dog is promoting the new "RAW DOG 500". This special event kicks off this weekend, and features the top 500 comedy clips of all time as voted by the listeners. The action starts on December 23rd at midnight and runs through 1:00 PM on Christmas day. Sirius subscribers will be able to hear some side-splitting routines as Raw Dog helps to welcome NASCAR. 12/19/2006 12:40:00 PM
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Audi Canada To Make Sirius Standard On All Models
 December 19, 2006 Sirius Satellite-SIRI and Audi Canada announce long-term agreement ( www.theflyonthewall.com, Dec 19) - Audi Canada and SIRIUS Canada today announced an e Sirius Satellite-SIRI and Audi Canada announce long-term agreement - Audi Canada and SIRIUS Canada today announced an exclusive long-term agreement that will make SIRIUS Satellite Radio receivers a factory option in virtually all Audi vehicles sold in Canada. Audi Canada will offer factory-installed SIRIUS Satellite Radio receivers with a three month subscription to SIRIUS Canada's premium 110 channel satellite radio service. S.FO HOTS.FLY SIRI 12/19/2006 11:13:00 AM
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Janco Initiates Coverage on Sirius and XM
 December 19, 2006 Janco has initiated coverage on Sirius and XM SIRI - Market Perform XMSR - Buy 12/19/2006 10:15:00 AM
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New Board Member for XM
 December 19, 2006 American Express Senior Executive Joan Amble Joins XM Satellite Radio Board of Directors Tuesday December 19, 8:17 am ET WASHINGTON, Dec. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- XM Satellite Radio (Nasdaq: XMSR - News) today announced that Joan Lordi Amble has joined the company's board of directors. Ms. Amble is Executive Vice President and Corporate Comptroller for American Express Company. The announcement was made today by Gary Parsons, Chairman of XM Satellite Radio. "We are very pleased to welcome Joan to the XM Board," Parsons said. "With her experience at American Express, GE, Ernst & Young, and the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), she brings considerable financial expertise and insight to the board." "I look forward to working on the XM Board and Audit Committee as XM continues to grow and develop this exciting new consumer entertainment service," said Amble. As a senior executive at American Express, Ms. Amble is responsible for all controllership finance functions across the four major divisions of the company. Her accountabilities include oversight of all aspects of the company's global reporting, control, technical advisory and financial shared service center functions. Prior to joining American Express, Ms. Amble served as chief operating officer and chief financial officer of GE Capital Markets, a service business within GE Capital Services, Inc., overseeing securitizations, debt placements and syndication, as well as structured equity transactions for General Electric Company business. From 1994 to March 2003, Ms. Amble served as vice president and controller for GE Capital, where she played an important role in designing the company's control strategy. From 1992 to 1994, she served as Chief Financial Officer for GE Commercial Real Estate. Prior to joining GE, from 1984 to 1989, she specialized in pensions and other financial instruments for the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). She also spent seven years in public accounting with Ernst & Young. Ms. Amble, a CPA, obtained her undergraduate degree in Accounting from Pennsylvania State University, and attended graduate school at University California, Los Angeles (UCLA). 12/19/2006 10:14:00 AM
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Monday, December 18, 2006 Cramer At the 92nd St Y: Has To Mention SIRI & XMSR
 December 19, 2006 But Jim, What Do You Really Think? Mad-man Jim Cramer on hedge fund "predators," must-go CEOs, and more Jim Cramer is one of the hottest acts in cable news, mixing wild antics and stockpicking rants on his frenetic hour-long show, Mad Money. Cramer sat still for an interview with BusinessWeek Editor-in-Chief Stephen J. Adler as part of the Captains of Industry series at the 92nd Street Y in Manhattan. He talked about his days as an extremely successful hedge fund manager, revealed the inspiration behind his on-air persona, and, of course, shared his investing insights. Some excerpts: ... Now it's time for the Captains of Industry lightning round. First, Sirius Satellite Radio (SIRI ).If Mel Karmazin does not merge with XM (XM ), he will not make it. That company cannot stand alone… Sirius Satellite is not going to have a good quarter. I do not want to own that stock unless he calls XM and they get a merger...read more: here12/18/2006 08:39:00 PM
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Ford Canada To Make Sirius Factory Standard In All Models
 Ford-F of Canda will make Sirius-SIRI factory standard in virtually all models(theflyonthewall.com 12/18 10:43:23) The Ford Motor Company of Canada and SIRIUS (SIRI) Canada announced that SIRIUS Satellite Radio receivers will become a factory-standard feature in virtually all Ford and Lincoln vehicles sold in Canada. By the end of2007, nearly every new Ford vehicle sold in Canada will come equipped with SIRIUS Satellite Radio and a subscription to SIRIUS Canada's premium 110 channel satellite radio service. 12/18/2006 10:44:00 AM
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Rock N' Roll Plays Back-up to Rhythm N' Blues
 December 18, 2006 XM Completes New State-of-the-Art Satellite System With 'Rhythm' and 'Blues'MondayXM-4 Satellite Begins Broadcasting to the XM Nation
WASHINGTON, Dec. 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- XM Satellite Radio, the nation's leading satellite radio company serving the XM Nation of more than 7 million subscribers, today announced the completion of its new two-satellite broadcast system. On Friday, XM began broadcasting through its recently launched XM-4 satellite (known as "Blues") manufactured by Boeing Satellite Systems International, Inc. The combination of "Rhythm (the XM-3 satellite launched in early 2005)" and "Blues" provides a solid foundation to deliver a full complement of digital broadcasts to the XM Nation across the next two decades. "The Rhythm and Blues satellites form the most powerful and stable delivery system in satellite radio," said John Dealy, XM Senior Advisor who leads the Company's Satellite Systems Team. "Both satellites are healthy and expected to deliver excellent service beyond their contract requirement of 15 years, providing the richest entertainment content to XM subscribers for the long-term." Rhythm and Blues replace XM's original satellites, "Rock" and "Roll," launched in 2001, which will serve as in-orbit spares for the near-term. Boeing Satellite Systems International, Inc. is the world's leading manufacturer of government and commercial communications satellites. 12/18/2006 08:34:00 AM
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The Judith Regan Saga Continues...Listen To Her Show On Sirius
Fired Editor’s Remarks Said to Have Provoked Murdoch
By JULIE BOSMAN and RICHARD SIKLOS. The New York Times, Dec 18 Rupert Murdoch personally ordered the dismissal of Judith Regan, the publisher of a widely criticized O. J. Simpson book, after he heard reports of a heated conversation Ms. Regan had with a company lawyer on Friday that included comments that were deemed anti-Semitic, according to two people familiar with the News Corporation’s account of the firing. Mark Jackson, a lawyer with HarperCollins, a division of the News Corporation that includes Ms. Regan’s imprint, reported the alleged comments from a phone conversation with Ms. Regan to Jane Friedman, HarperCollins’s president and chief executive. “And then Jane called Rupert and Rupert said he won’t tolerate that kind of behavior,” said one of the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity... ... It was an abrupt decision that ended a tumultuous few weeks for Ms. Regan. She had publicly defended herself from what she called the “backstabbers at HarperCollins” during the taping of her Sirius Satellite Radio show on Thursday, according to the industry blog GalleyCat. And within the company, she had become convinced that there were “people trying to take her down,” said a person familiar with the situation....read more: here12/18/2006 07:03:00 AM
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Saturday, December 16, 2006 Oprah Reality Series: A Boost For XM
Oprah Winfrey reality series headed to prime time
Fri Dec 15, 6:17 PM ET, Reuters Talk show host and media mogul Oprah Winfrey is venturing into prime-time television with two new reality series, at least one of which will feature Winfrey herself, the ABC network and producers said on Friday. No time frame has been set for the two shows, both described as combining elements of wish fulfillment and charity -- favorite themes of Winfrey on her long-running daytime talk program, the highest rated in broadcast syndication. The show's concepts were laid out in a joint press release issued by her Harpo Productions company and the Walt Disney Co.-owned ABC, many of whose network-owned stations and affiliates currently carry the "The Oprah Winfrey Show." The first new series, tentatively titled "Oprah Winfrey's The Big Give," presents 10 people with large sums of money and other resources and challenges them to find "the most powerful, sensational, emotional and dramatic ways to give to others." The contestants will gradually be narrowed as the group confronts a "big catch" each week complicating their efforts, with the winner getting his or her "wildest dream come true." A similar format figured in a recent two-episode broadcast of Winfrey's talk show in which she gave members of her studio audience $1,000 gift cards and implored them to find ways to help as many people as possible...read more: HERE12/16/2006 07:07:00 AM
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Friday, December 15, 2006 Update...Sirius Rumors Today: Is Service Down In L.A./Sacramento?
Thanks. readers! Several subscribers have gotten back to me saying that they DO have service in the L.A./Sacramento area. I have not received any responses from people who do not have service.So far, my checks are indicating no outages in these areas. If any SSG readers have additional information, please e-mail me at ssgfive@yahoo.comSirius Satellite Radio Out In Sacramento Area (CBS13) SACRAMENTO If you usually enjoy commercial free satellite radio on your way into work in the morning, you'll get nothing but silence today. Sirius radio is out in Sacramento and Los Angeles right now. The company says towers in both cities have failed and the signal is now longer being transmitted. Technicians are working on the problem but say it may take much of the day to fix. In the meantime Sirius subscribers may get occasional bursts of programming. Sirius uses satellites combined with land based repeaters to deliver its signal. 12/15/2006 01:42:00 PM
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If You Missed Howard On Conan Last Night...
The links to the show: HERE and HERE (bearing gifts, but thankfully, minus the Santa Claus robe!) 12/15/2006 10:14:00 AM
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Lehman Sees BIG Upside to a Sirius and XM Merger
  December 15, 2006 It is no secret that a combined Sirius and XM would have a huge financial savings. Today, a Lehman report considers the merger and some implications. Report Excerpts: On the regulatory side, we believe market definition would be the key issue in approving orrejecting a merger. We think the prospect of a merger increases if event of a merger, the operational cost savings would likely be substantial(we estimate $1.3BN/year by 2013), while capex savings would likely belimited until current satellite fleets reach end of life late next decade. We estimate total value created through the transaction would beapproximately $9BN, on an NPV basis.-Key regulatory question in assessing merger is likely to be marketdefinition. If DOJ/FTC views market as "satellite radio services," thenapproval is highly unlikely, but if DOJ/FTC views market as "subscription audio services" or "car audio," then even a combined satellite radio companywould be a relatively small portion of the market. We believe a merger would likely be a net positive for customers (wider array of content, pricinglikely stable), but a negative for content suppliers and OEM partners due toshifted negotiation leverage.-Technical migration would be challenging, as satellite networks and radios are not interoperable would need to maintain both services for multiple years in order to service installed base of aftermarket and OEM customers. Assuming that SIRI's platform were to be adopted and XM OEM sales ceased at YE 2008, we would still expect more than7MM XM-equipped vehicles on the road by YE 2015E.-We would not expect material changes in the revenue pictures. Combined revenue of two independent companies. We could see a modest increase in subscribers (such as customers who will sign up for a service with both MLB and NFL, but not just one of the two, for example), although we are not modeling any increase in our pro forma. We would not expect prices to rise more than expected under the stand alone scenario, given negative perception implications and fundamental consumer price elasticity.-Combining the two companies could generate material operational cost savings, in the range of $1.3BN/year, a potential 23%reduction. Potential savings include lower marketing expense (50% ofsavings, with 2013E industry SAC down to $58 from $77), lower OEM revenue share payments (25% of savings), and lower content (for branded content) and fixed operating costs (25% of savings).-Potential long-term satellite capex savings material($80MM/year), but limited in near-term, as both current satellite fleets would both need to be maintained in order to support existing customer base. Replacement costs could be saved in next satellite replacement cycle late next decade. -Estimate transaction would potentially create $9BN insynergy value on an NPV basis. If all the synergies are allocated to XM, then XM would be worth $45/share; if all the synergies were allocated toSIRI, then SIRI would be worth $9.50/share (using current market prices as astandalone baseline). Obviously, the allocation of synergies would need to be fair to both parties for a transaction to receive shareholder support. The report is very detailed and goes deeper into the issues revolving around a merger. One thing that can not be denied is that there would be substantial savings in merging. 12/15/2006 10:01:00 AM
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Thursday, December 14, 2006 Yusef (Cat Stevens) On Sirius
Rare Performance and Interview With Yusuf (Cat Stevens) Will Be Broadcast Exclusively on SIRIUS Satellite Radio
SIRIUS Performance is His First in America in Decades Interview With Performance on SIRIUS' Spectrum Channel to Air on December 20 NEW YORK, Dec 14, 2006 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX SIRIUS Satellite Radio ( SIRI) will broadcast a rare, exclusive performance and interview with British singer-songwriter Yusuf, formerly known as Cat Stevens. Yusuf will visit SIRIUS for an in-studio performance, his first in America in decades, and to discuss his first album of modern pop songs in 28 years, An Other Cup (Ya/Atlantic). His SIRIUS interview and performance will be broadcast on The Spectrum, channel 18, on Wednesday, December 20 at 12 pm ET. It will be rebroadcast on Thursday, December 21 at 6 pm ET, and on Saturday, December 23 at 10 am ET. As Cat Stevens, Yusuf Islam began recording in 1967, and made his US chart debut in 1971 with the acclaimed album Tea for the Tillerman. Over the next seven years he had seven top 10 albums and became one of the most important figures in the folk-rock movement. His albums as Cat Stevens currently sell more than 1.5 million copies a year, and his many worldwide hits include "Wild World," "Peace Train," "Oh Very Young" and "Morning Has Broken." His song "First Cut is the Deepest" has been covered by Rod Stewart and Sheryl Crow (who earned a 2005 GRAMMY(R) award nomination for her version)...read more: here12/14/2006 08:55:00 PM
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Forbes Confuses the Stern Deal
 December 14, 2006 Today Forbes.com issued a story titled The Biggest Celebrity Paydays of 2006. In the excerpt attributable to Stern, Forbes notes that Stern got $192,000,000 NET from shares issued to him on January 5, 2006. Article Excerpt: "Howard Stern debuts on Sirius Satellite Radio. Even before his arrival, Stern helped recruit roughly 2.7 million subscribers by touting his new gig while still on air for CBS. That earned him a Sirius stock bonus worth $192 million (net a standard capital gains tax) for exceeding subscriber targets. That bonus is on top of his $500 million, five-year contract with the satellite radio provider. Stern, who kicked the show off with the sound of flatulence, unleashed the F-bomb 68 times over the course of the first five-hour, commercial-free broadcast."The error in this piece on the part of Forbes is that the shares were NOT "on top of his $500 million, five-year contract."Review of the SEC filings notes the following: We have directed The Bank of New York, the transfer agent for our common stock, to issue on January 9, 2006 an aggregate of 34,375,000 shares of common stock for the benefit of Howard Stern and Don Buchwald, his agent. Pursuant to our October 2004 agreement with Stern, we agreed to deliver these shares in December 2010, or earlier if as of the end of any fiscal year we exceeded agreed upon subscriber targets. Our December 31, 2005 subscriber total exceeded the subscriber target we agreed upon with Stern in October 2004.
The shares of common stock will be issued in a transaction exempt from registration pursuant to Section 4(2) of the Securities Act of 1933 and will be restricted securities as defined in the Securities Act. We intend to file a shelf registration statement with the SEC to register these shares for resale. In October 2004 we disclosed that the aggregate fixed obligations under our agreement with Stern would be approximately $100 million per year commencing in 2006. The 34,375,000 shares issued to Stern and Buchwald were valued at that time at approximately $110 million and were included as part of the aggregate fixed obligations under the agreement.The key wording in this SEC filing is "were included as part of the aggregate fixed obligations under the agreement." Aggregate is defined as:
-amount in the aggregate to
-a sum total of many heterogenous things taken together
-gathered or tending to gather into a mass or whole; "aggregate expenses include expenses of all divisions combined for the entire year"; "the aggregated amount of indebtedness"
-sum: the whole amount
-gather in a mass, sum, or whole
-formed of separate units in a cluster; "raspberries are aggregate fruits" Thus, the shares issued to Stern were a part of, or inclusive in the terms of the agreement. The SEC documentation clearly states that the 34,375,000 shares carried a value of roughly $110,000,000 at the time of issuance. Thus, the fixed obligations under the deal were $390,000,000 in cash payments and 34,375,000 shares. If one looks at the documentation HERE (the 8K filed on January 5th), there is no possible way that one can infer that the shares were "on top of the $500,000,000 five-year deal." The documentation is quite clear. 12/14/2006 12:43:00 PM
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Sirius Announces Major Upgrade To NASCAR Programming
All you NASCAR enthusiasts, you know how significant this is...SIRIUS Satellite Radio to Put Listeners in 'The Driver's Seat' With Exclusive Access to NASCAR Drivers on SIRIUS NASCAR Radio
'The Driver's Seat,' Daily Call-in Show Launching January 1, Will Air Exclusively on SIRIUS Satellite Radio Veteran Broadcaster John Kernan to Co-Host With a Roster of Past and Present Drivers Including Buddy Baker, Ricky Craven, John Andretti and Johnny Benson NEW YORK, Dec 14, 2006 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- SIRIUS Satellite Radio ( SIRI) , the Official Satellite Radio Partner of NASCAR starting in 2007, announced today that it will debut The Driver's Seat, an exclusive daily talk show hosted by veteran broadcaster John Kernan and a roster of current and former NASCAR drivers, on January 1. The Driver's Seat will air every weekday (11:00am-3:00pm ET) only on SIRIUS NASCAR Radio / channel 128, the new 24/7 year-round radio channel dedicated to NASCAR that launches January 1. The Driver's Seat will feature Kernan and a different driver taking calls from listeners, interviewing special guests and discussing the latest news from the world of NASCAR. Featured co-hosts will include legendary Hall of Famer Buddy Baker; 1995 NASCAR Busch Series champion Johnny Benson; two-time NASCAR Busch Series champion Randy LaJoie; two-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion Ron Hornaday; former Busch and Cup Series Rookie of the Year Ricky Craven; former Cup and Busch series driver Phil Parsons, who is now the color commentator for Speed Channel's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race broadcasts; and John Andretti, one of the sport's most versatile drivers who has made his mark racing USAC Midgets, Indy cars, NHRA Top Fuel dragsters and NASCAR stock cars. The Driver's Seat, produced in conjunction with Performance Racing Network (PRN), will air exclusively on SIRIUS...Read more: here12/14/2006 08:45:00 AM
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Howard Makes The Rounds: Conan Tonight
 Howard Stern will be a guest on NBC's Late Night With Conan O'Brien. Here is the LINK to more information. 12/14/2006 06:52:00 AM
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Wednesday, December 13, 2006 The Satellite Ready Home Hits San Destin
 December 13, 2006 We have entered a digital age, and in today’s world, being connected means everything....well almost everything. It also helps to have a nice roof over your head. This newly constructed house in the exclusive Burnt Point San Destin Florida will have you living in style, and connected. The house features almost 20,000 feet of audio and video cable, and that means that no matter where you are you can have the best that the audio and video world has to offer.  Are you a fan of Sirius or XM? They have you covered. Want to catch sirius' "The Pulse" by the pool, you can do it. Want to hear XM's "Lucy" in the exercise room? No problem at all. Every detail has been thought out, and every comfort is yours. You see...this home was constructed by an early adopter of satellite radio. The builder has and loves Sirius, and passers by could always hear the tunes during the construction process. It was only fitting to make satellite radio installation a breeze for the people that buy this home.  From his and hers showers with pre-heaters, to an outdoor living area which includes a kitchen, to a wine cellar, to a solid cherry kitchen that would make an Amish craftsman proud, this is one wonderful piece of real estate. Oh, and the views are simply stunning. Set on one of San Destin’s finest golf courses, this home has it all.  This house is an example of the direction more and more builders are taking today. A grand home is fine, but a grand home with miles of audio/video cables mapped out in the walls is simply awesome, and as a fan of satellite radio, this home delivers in a way many homes could not think of only 5 years ago. This house represents San Destin living at it's finest. The price......$4,200,000. The comfort, amenities, setting, and community……priceless. If you are interested in learning more about this home, you can visit San Destin Real Estate Sales This home is 3511 Burnt Pine Lane. Do yourself a favor and click on the views, and virtual tour.
 12/13/2006 10:53:00 PM
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Motley Fool On XM Today
Fool on the Street: XM Is on the Air By Rick Aristotle Munarriz (TMFBreakerRick)12/13/2006 One hundred and seventy digital channels and nothing's on? You will rarely find XM Satellite Radio (Nasdaq: XMSR) at a loss for something to hear. Whether it's the 70 commercial-free music channels or the balance of talk, sports, and weather-related programming, XM subscribers don't have a lot to complain about. XM shareholders, on the other hand, may be hissing more than tunnel static. Since peaking two years ago, shares of XM have fallen by 63%. If it's any consolation, more recent investors are doing a lot better. The stock is trading 56% above this summer's low. Which side of the glass do you want to sip from these days? Chairman Gary Parson and CFO Joe Euteneuer opted for the upbeat as they spoke at the Credit Suisse Media & Telecom Week this past Thursday...read more: here12/13/2006 07:47:00 PM
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(Terrestrial) Radio Is Killing Music (via Orbitcast)
Radio is Killing MusicDec 13, via www.orbitcast.comFebruary 5, 1996 - New York City loses country music when WYNY changes formats (it was resurrected as Y-107 in the surrounding areas, only to be killed off again on May 7, 2002). May 11, 2005 - San Francisco loses country music when KZBR changes formats. June 3, 2005 - New York's WCBS-FM, an oldies-based station for over three decades, abruptly switches to the Jack FM format. No more oldies on New York's FM dial. On the same day - WJMK in Chicago also switches to Jack FM, leaving no oldies for Chicago either. August 17, 2006 - Los Angeles' KZLA switches formats to Adult Contemporary, leaving L.A. with no country music stations. December, 2006 - Washington D.C.'s 60-year-old classical music station, WGMS, is set to be acquired and turned into a Redskins based sports-talk format station - marking the end of classical music in the Washington D.C. area. It's an ongoing theme that we're seeing over and over again. Regular radio continues to kill off music genres one at a time, leaving those areas devoid of any way of discovering new music. Commercial classical music stations have dropped from 40 stations in 1998, to only 27 - nationwide - a number that goes from surprising, to really surprising...read more: here12/13/2006 04:43:00 PM
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Here's The Replay of Stern On Letterman Last Night
Video: Howard Stern on David Letterman (via www.orbitcast.com) Did you miss seeing Howard Stern on David Letterman last night? Then you missed some a pretty funny interview and an even more interesting outfit that Howard was wearing. Well turn that frown upside down kids (did you know it takes more muscles to frown than it takes to smile?) because you can watch a highlight clip of Stern's appearance on Letterman .
View the video here (RealPlayer) and watch Howard talk about Bryant Gumbel's Christmas Party. UPDATE: Forget the highlight clip, the full appearance of Stern on Letterman is below...read more: here
12/13/2006 04:41:00 PM
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FMC Releases Study, Claims Consolidation Has Led To Fewer Programming Choices, Harmed Public
FMC Releases Study On Local Radio And Diversity
December 13, 2006, via www.fmqb.comThe Future of Music Coalition (FMC) has released its extensive report on radio station ownership consolidation. Entitled "False Premises, False Promises: A Quantitative History of Ownership Consolidation in the Radio Industry," the study claims that consolidation has led to fewer programming choices for listeners, as well as harming the listening public and music & radio industry employees. The FMC study found that the top four station ownership groups have almost half of all radio listeners and that local ownership has declined by almost one-third from 1975 to 2005. Also, just 15 formats make up three-fourths of all commercial programming and formats with different names can overlap up to 80 percent in terms of the songs played on them...read more: here12/13/2006 04:35:00 PM
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Bridge Ratings Report, Updated Dec. 13
The Bridge Ratings Consumer Trend Report: Satellite Radio Q4 Subscriber Trending
Updated Wednesday December 13, 2006Retail Management Expressing Concerns Bridge Ratings' trending of Satellite Radio subscribers continues through 2006. The purpose of this on-going study is to analyze consumer preferences related to satellite service brand and satellite radio in general. This Week's Update: Retail sales continue to pace behind 2005 for satellite radio as this week' retail traffic in satellite radio departments around the country visited by Bridge Ratings, foot traffic was improved but purchase activity continues to disappoint. In-store management at 55% of the locations expressed concern about the reduced sales activity and overall interest for satellite radio. While Sirius continues its dominance of what retail there is, XM continues to experience improved brand scores and sales perhaps due to solid advertising and marketing support...read more: HERE
12/13/2006 04:33:00 PM
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November 2006 NPD Sales
 December 13, 2006 November 2006 retail sales, as tracked by NPD, for satellite radio have come in (Click Chart To Enlarge). For the month of November Sirius Satellite Radio picked up 3 points in share over last month, and tallied 59% of the NPD sales in November. This represents 15 consecutive months that Sirius has outperformed XM in NPD tracking. Overall, year over year sales showed a decline, which is the steepest decline to date this year. The sector saw a decline of about 44%, with XM seeing a 41% decline vs. 45% for Sirius. November sales typically mark the beginning of the holiday rush. The disappointing kick off to the holiday season saw Sirius lower their guidance. Year to date the retail share remains unchanged with Sirius at 58% vs. 42% for XM. While retail sales have been slower, the year to date data for the sector is still above last years pace, but only slightly. Through November, NPD tracked sales are up slightly over 1% over this time frame last year. 12/13/2006 03:50:00 PM
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FastSigns Gets Sirius
 December 12, 2006 FASTSIGNS International, Inc., a worldwide sign and graphics franchisor, has made SIRIUSBusiness the recommended background music for FASTSIGNS centers. FASTSIGNS, whose headquarters are in Carrollton, Texas, has nearly 500 sign centers worldwide. SIRIUSBusiness consists of 67 channels of 24-hour, commercial-free music from SIRIUS Satellite Radio (NASDAQ: SIRI). Under the agreement, AMTC will also provide sound equipment to FASTSIGNS franchise operators. "SIRIUSBusiness is clearly an exceptional value for store music. The variety and quality of music are terrific, and the $24.95 price is amazing," said Jimmy Screws, Vendor Relations Manager at FASTSIGNS. "FASTSIGNS is a company that understands the significance of a brand, and we're delighted that they have chosen SIRIUSBusiness as a part of the brand image they convey in their stores," acknowledged Tom Coppola, Retail Industry Sales Manager. In addition to endorsing SIRIUSBusiness, FASTSIGNS has also endorsed AMTC's TelAdvantage as an approved telephone "on hold" messaging program. TelAdvantage is the world's most recognized brand of telephone "on hold" messaging products and services, serving over 15,000 customers globally. AMTC is the exclusive provider of the state-of-the-art iQueue II digital message player, which connects directly to business telephone systems as "music on hold" and is the first "on hold" messaging solution to feature distribution of messages via the Internet. 12/13/2006 02:41:00 PM
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Bernstein: Comments On SIRI and XMSR
Sirius Satellite-SIRI downgraded to Mkt Perform from Outperform@BERN -
(theflyonthewall.com 12/13 08:54:34) The firm has revised its sub forecasts for the industry. The firm downgraded SIRI as they are more reliant in the Retail aftermarket than outperform rated XMSR. SIRI target to $4. XM Satellite Radio-XMSR target lowered after sector review, reit OP@BERN -(theflyonthewall.com 12/13 09:04:37) Bernstein lowered XMSR's target to $19 from $24 after a review of the sectorand lowering industry forecasts by -14% for 2010 due to maturation of theretail channel. They also believe relative valuation gap between XMSR andcompetitor SIRI will close. Bernstein recommends a pair trade: longXMSR/short SIRI. 12/13/2006 08:57:00 AM
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Tuesday, December 12, 2006 Joe Claytons Stock Sale Simplified
December 12, 2006 Today sirius filed an SEC Form 4 for the sale of stock by Joe Clayton. This type of transaction is oft misunbderstood, and we thought that we would take a minute to explain this type of sale. More likely than not this sale had nothing whatsoever to do with how Joe Clayton feels about Sirius stock or the company. Joe Clayton did a paperless transaction. He had an option to buy 3,000,000 shares of sirius at a price of $1.04. That option expired on December 31st of this year. If he did not act on the option prior to December 31st, his option would expire and he would get nothing. Joe Clayton had a choice 3 choices: 1. Let the options expire and receive nothing 2. Walk into Sirius with a check for $3,120,000 and buy the shares 3. Perform a paperless transaction. The paperless transaction means that Joe does not need to walk into the Sirius offices with a check for $3,120,000. Instead, he agrees to sell enough shares to cover the excercise price, commissions and taxes. Any shares left over go into Joes holdings. Thus, he sold 1,846,475 shares for $7,053,535. $3,120,000 of that covered his cost to excercise options on 3,000,000 shares. That leaves $3,933,535 to cover taxes and brokerage fees. Joe Clayton got to keep 1,153,525 shares. He now holds 3,800,785 shares of Sirius stock. The rational above is exactly the reason that I can pretty comfortably state that Joes sale likely has nothing to do with his sentiment about Sirius or the stock. He ADDED to his position. He sold only that which was required to aquire the shares and pay the fees and taxes. This type of transaction happens a lot when employees receive stock options. 12/12/2006 09:52:00 PM
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SatRad Adopts The Cell Phone Business Model
 SkyBox USA is offering the Inno at a discounted price for new subscribers. This is beginning to parallel the business model used by cellular providers to attract new customers. It's a great way to jump start activations. GEX INNO1 After $50 Rebate Offer ( New XM Customers Only) $189.77 List Price $349.99 Read more: here12/12/2006 09:18:00 PM
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Forbes: "Texas Instruments and Best Buy hit by competition, not lack of demand"
As mentioned in my earlier post, Best Buy beat on revenucs but got hit on the margins/EPS due to competition. This means that inventory is selling, but it's a tough pricing environment. That's actually OK for satellite radio...the more units that are sold, the more subs, ie SatRad makes money on capturing the consumer (recurring revenue), not the one time equipment purchase. Electronics Are OkayMatthew Kirdahy, 12.12.06, 4:46 PM ET, Forbes Market Scan Rumors of the demise of consumer electronics appear to be exaggerated. Investors spent Tuesday morning digesting – and worrying – about lower-than-expected earnings from electronics retailer Best Buy and an earlier revenue warning from chipmaker Texas Instruments. Taken together, the reports raised fears that American consumers were avoiding electronics purchases, a potential indicator of recessionary pressures widening beyond the housing sector of the U.S. economy. The implications are broad, since U.S. shoppers are important to exporters in other countries, not least the makers of consumer electronics. But the problems appear to be more of competition than of lack of demand. On Tuesday, Best Buy, the No. 1 U.S. retailer of flat-screen televisions, video-game consoles and the like, said net income for the third quarter rose 8.7%, to $150 million, or 31 cents per share, from $138 million, or 28 cents per share, a year ago. But analysts polled by Thomson Financial had expected earnings of 35 cents per share. Revenue was just above forecasts of $8.42 billion. Best Buy shares ended down 4.9%, or $2.62, to $51.30, in Tuesday trading. RBC Capital Markets analyst Scot Ciccarelli said demand for consumer electronics remains strong, especially at Best Buy. Sales rose 4.8% for the latest quarter, better than the 4.0% expected, and its website generated a 30% sales increase over last year. Flat-panel TVs were the prime reason...read more: here12/12/2006 08:24:00 PM
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Motley Fool: Steve Wozniak On The Future Of Satellite Radio
Satellite Radio, Digital Music, and the Woz
http://www.fool.com/news/commentary/2006/commentary06121218.htm By Mac Greer12/12/2006 What does the future hold for satellite radio? Will Microsoft's (Nasdaq: MSFT) Zune take a bite out of Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) iPod? And why has the Segway been such a slow roller? I recently talked about these topics with Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, author of the new book iWoz: From Computer Geek to Cult Icon: How I Invented the Personal Computer, Co-Founded Apple, and Had Fun Doing It. Mac Greer: Steve, I'll spot you up with a few different things happening in society and ask you, if they were stocks, would you be buying, selling, or holding? XM (Nasdaq: XMSR) and Sirius (Nasdaq: SIRI) have seen their stocks tumble a bit. So buy, sell, or hold the future of satellite radio? Steve Wozniak: I would buy. Once you encounter it, it is a one-way street. You go through it and you don't back out. You just discover that there are more stations of the types you want at a very reasonable price and so they basically ... will hold their clientele, and it is large enough. I have to say, I am biased. I actually got to be a DJ on XM Radio a few weeks ago. Mac Greer: Next up is a consumer item. There is a lot of buzz surrounding this. I know you are an early adopter -- in fact, I think, the first consumer adopter of this. Buy, sell, or hold the Segway? ...read more: here12/12/2006 05:09:00 PM
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Howard To Interview Martha On Sirius
Howard Stern To Interview Martha Stewart For The First Time Exclusively On SIRIUS Satellite Radio
Martha celebrates the one-year anniversary of her SIRIUS channel, Martha Stewart Living Radio, with her first visit to 'The Howard Stern Show' NEW YORK, Dec 12, 2006 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- SIRIUS Satellite Radio ( SIRI ) announced today that Howard Stern will interview Martha Stewart for the first time as she celebrates the one-year anniversary of her SIRIUS Satellite Radio Channel -- Martha Stewart Living Radio -- with a visit to The Howard Stern Show on Thursday, Dec. 14 at 7:30 AM ET. ..read more: here12/12/2006 03:43:00 PM
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 December 12, 2006 Bubba The Love Sponge would call this "RADIO GOLD". For the first time, Martha Stewart has agreed to be interviewed by Howard Stern, and it can only be found on Sirius satellite Radio. Press Release Source: SIRIUS Satellite Radio Howard Stern To Interview Martha Stewart For The First Time Exclusively On SIRIUS Satellite Radio
Martha celebrates the one-year anniversary of her SIRIUS channel, Martha Stewart Living Radio, with her first visit to 'The Howard Stern Show'
NEW YORK, Dec. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --
SIRIUS Satellite Radio (Nasdaq: SIRI - News) announced today that Howard Stern will interview Martha Stewart for the first time as she celebrates the one-year anniversary of her SIRIUS Satellite Radio Channel -- Martha Stewart Living Radio -- with a visit to The Howard Stern Show on Thursday, Dec. 14 at 7:30 AM ET.
On Martha Stewart Living Radio, SIRIUS channel 112, Martha Stewart and her team of lifestyle experts teach, advise, and inspire round the-clock with shows about cooking, gardening, collecting, crafts, pet care, weddings and much more.
The Howard Stern Show airs weekday mornings on SIRIUS channel 100 beginning at 6:00 AM ET and on channel 101 beginning at 6 AM PT.
12/12/2006 03:42:00 PM
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SDARS Bowl Game Schedules
December 12, 2006 If you are a College Football fan satellite radio has you covered. Between 16 offerings from XM, including the championship game, and 12 by Sirius, a college football fan has plenty of content to listen to. A SDARS Schedule is listed below. Click to enlarge or print:  12/12/2006 03:35:00 PM
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YouTube Video Ads
There have been many Sirius and XM videos uploaded on YouTube, including several in commercial format. There has been speculation regarding when and where these spots will be aired, however, what is interesting is, whether they are seen on TV or not, they are becoming their own form of "viral" advertising, just by their existence on YouTube. See for yourselves...here are links to recent searches with keywords " Sirius Radio" and " XM Radio" posted by ssg5 12/12/2006 02:33:00 PM
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Sirius Ramps Up With NASCAR
SIRIUS Taps David Poole and Marty Snider to Host Daily All-NASCAR Morning Show NEW YORK, Dec. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ SIRIUS Satellite Radio(Nasdaq: SIRI), the Official Satellite Radio Partner of NASCAR starting in2007, announced today that renowned NASCAR beat reporter and columnist DavidPoole and veteran broadcaster Marty Snider will host a daily talk show, SIRIUSNASCAR Radio's The Morning Drive, exclusively on SIRIUS. Starting January 1, The Morning Drive will air every weekday morning from7:00-11:00 AM ET exclusively on SIRIUS NASCAR Radio / channel 128, the new24/7 year-round radio channel dedicated to NASCAR. Snider and Poole willdelve into NASCAR's latest news and rumors, interview prominent guests, andtake calls from listeners. "We're thrilled to have Marty and David, two of the most experienced andknowledgeable figures in NASCAR, kick off our daily programming lineup onSIRIUS NASCAR Radio," said Steve Cohen, SIRIUS' Vice President of SportsProgramming. "With SIRIUS, listeners across the country will have exclusiveaccess to the insights and opinions of NASCAR experts like these and they'llbe able to call in to the show to discuss the topics that are relevant to thefans. Programming like this will make SIRIUS NASCAR Radio a must-have forNASCAR fans." posted by ssg5 12/12/2006 01:14:00 PM
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XM Adds More College Football
XM Radio Adds 12 More College Football Bowl Games(PR Newswire 12/12 12:30:09) College football fans can tune intothe biggest bowl games of the season on XM Satellite Radio, including theexclusive satellite radio broadcasts of the 2007 Bowl Championship Series(BCS) National Championship Game, the Sugar Bowl, the Orange Bowl, and theFiesta Bowl. XM today announced the addition of 12 more bowl games to its line-up,including the Rose Bowl, the Gator Bowl, and the Capital One Bowl, for a totalof 16 bowl games on XM. "For college football fans, the biggest bowl games are on XM Radio," saidEric Logan, executive vice president, programming, XM Satellite Radio. "Theonly place to get all of the BCS games on satellite radio is XM. You can tuneinto the XM Sports Nation channel and hear the games, whether you're on theroad, at home, or at the stadium." The full schedule for the 2006-07 college football bowl games on XM Radiois located below. For more information about bowl games on XM, you can visit http://www.xmradio.com/onxm/features/bcs-2007.xmcposted by ssg5 12/12/2006 01:11:00 PM
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Howard Stern On Letterman Tonight
Here's the LINK for additional information. posted by ssg5 12/12/2006 11:52:00 AM
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Volkswagen Canada To Offer Sirius
Volkswagen Canada to offer SIRIUS satellite radio Tuesday December 12, 8:00 am ET, AJAX, ON, Dec. 12 /CNW/ - Volkswagen Canada is pleased to announce that it will offer factory-installed SIRIUS satellite radio on selected models, starting next year. Beginning in early 2007, this feature will be available on eligible 2007 Rabbit, Jetta, New Beetle, New Beetle Convertible, Passat sedan, and Passat Wagon models. Activation and a complimentary three-month subscription to SIRIUS Canada's premium 110 channel satellite radio service upon delivery and activation is also included with this option. From broadcast studios in Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal and New York, SIRIUS Canada delivers 110 premium channels of the best commercial-free music plus leading sports, news, talk and entertainment programming. With a total of 65 commercial-free music channels - the most in Canada - SIRIUS is the original and only home of 100% commercial-free music. SIRIUS offers the broadest range of Canadian content on satellite radio with 11 English and French channels. SIRIUS Canada is the Official Satellite Radio Partner of the CFL, NHL, NFL and NBA and broadcasts live play-by-play games of these leagues and associations. In addition, SIRIUS Satellite Radio is home to broadcasts of U.S. College Football, English Premier League Soccer and coming in 2007 - NASCAR...read more: hereposted by ssg5 12/12/2006 11:17:00 AM
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New Sirius Ad On YouTube
I got this link from several readers. Thanks for the input, guys! Here is what one SSG reader sent: "This is the best marketing video of Sirius I have ever seen. Someone, not me, posted on You Tube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=al_9QrZ48Kg" posted by ssg5 12/12/2006 11:03:00 AM
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iTunes Sales Collapsing
www.briefing.com, In Play Apple Computer: iTunes sales 'collapsing' - The Register (88.22 -0.53) The Register reports Apple's iTunes has experienced a collapse in sales revs this year according to analyst co Forrester Research. Secretive Apple doesn't break out revs from iTunes, but Forrester conducted an analysis of credit card transactions over a 27-month period. And this year's numbers aren't good. While the iTunes service saw healthy growth for much of the period, since January the monthly rev has fallen by 65%, with the average transaction size falling 17%. The previous spring's rebound wasn't repeated this year. And it isn't just Apple's problem. Nielsen Soundscan has grimmer news for prospective digital download services, indicating three consecutive quarters of flat or declining revs for the sector as a whole. posted by ssg5 12/12/2006 10:21:00 AM
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Subscription Services Stocks On A Tear
Is it just a matter of time until Satellite Radio catches up? Check out the charts of the following companies: Satellite TV Direct TV (DTV) Dish Networks (DISH) Cable TV Comcast (CMCSK) Charter (CHTR) TimeWarner (TWX) posted by ssg5 12/12/2006 09:23:00 AM
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Best Buy: Beats On Revs, Misses on EPS, Higher Sales, But Lower Prices Hurt Margins
Best Buy Earnings Live In Play, www.briefing.com, 12-Dec-06, 08:08 BBY Best Buy misses by $0.05, cites margin pressure, reaffirms FY07 EPS outlook (53.92 ) Reports Q3 (Nov) earnings of $0.31 per share, $0.04 worse than the Reuters Estimates consensus of $0.35; revenues rose 15.5% year/year to $8.47 bln vs the $8.45 bln consensus. BBY says very competitive climate put pressure on our margins, resulting in earnings below expectations. CEO comments, "The market share gains we saw, and the new customers we acquired, give us momentum as we begin our fourth quarter, which generates the largest percentage of our earnings for the year." Co reaffirms guidance for FY07, says co is still on track to deliver EPS $2.65-2.80 vs. $2.82 consensus. Co sees FY07 same store sales to rise 4-5% vs previous co guidance of 3-5%. posted by ssg5 12/12/2006 08:14:00 AM
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Holiday Shopping Perking Up
Holiday Shopping Outlook More Jolly
Morgan Stanley, Barron's, Dec 12 OUR HOLIDAY SHOPPING SURVEY (conducted in late November 2006) predicts a stronger holiday season than November sales or our retail sales lead indicator predict. Our lead indicator, up until last month, had been suggesting a modest 100 basis-point deceleration. Consumers in our survey appeared more optimistic, suggesting that retailer claims that weather and gift card growth are good excuses for lackluster sales results in November. Spending intentions improved versus 2005, with the ratio of those planning to spend more versus less up anywhere from two to eight percentage points. Electronics leads intentions with average overall spend up 9% and 75% of heavy spenders expecting to spend more in 2006 than 2005. For those avoiding retail due to short-term demand concerns, our survey should help alleviate those fears. While high gasoline prices are a reason to spend less for 24% of respondents, that figure is down from 40% a year ago. Inflation is the number-one worry with 30% of consumers calling rising prices a headwind....read more: hereposted by ssg5 12/12/2006 06:50:00 AM
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Monday, December 11, 2006 SDARS Sales
December 11, 2006 Investors in SDARS can help themselves out by being prepared for and knowing things befgore they happen. In the coming days, old news will hit the wires and be perceived as a negative for the sector. A prepared investor has a distinct advantage if they know the news ahead of time. There are times where news that is already known hits the wires again, andthat news can have the ability to impact the price of the stock. this is about to happen this week. The news is already old, and should already be priced into SIRI and XMSR, but we all know how this works. The retail sector has shown some weakness in November. This news has already been delivered to investors in analyst reports as well as in Sirius lowering their guidance in response to a weaker than anticipated November. Very soon the NPD numbers for November will be released. These numbers will show and confirm the weaker November, and analysts will certainly write reports based on the data. Do not expect the reports to be rosey. Even if December has seen better traction in the last two weeks, the news of November sales will carry the day because there is no information available for December. It is expected that Sirius still maintaines an NPD advantage for November, but that both companies will post sales off when compared to last year. Traders will sieze this information and try to profit from news that is already known, but will gain headlines again because new data will now be available. Some analysts do their own channel checks, and we here at SSG suggest that investors do the same. Stop by a store and ask a few questions. Ask at the department, ask at the register, and ask at the install bays. My own channel checks have shown a pick up in SDARS in the last couple of weeks. One retailer we spoke to reported their busiest sales Monday today. Reports of a recent pick up in SDARS sales is welcomed news for SDARS investors. Other reports that are also heartening are surveys that show that over half of the people have not yet started their holiday shopping. While November may have been disappointing, there are at least some informal indications that December is looking better and things are picking up rather nicely. The purpose of this write up is to encourage people to perform their own checks, and let investors know that there is some old news that will resurface soon. 12/11/2006 10:40:00 PM
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Google Begins Testing In Radio Ad Market
Google Audio Ads Test BeginDec 11, via www.orbitcast.comLate last week, Google formally began selling radio ad spots through their AdWords platform entitled Googel Audio Ads. The new Google Audio Ads are being sold in the same manner that typical keyword ads are sold: advertisers set criteria and bid using an open online marketplace. Back in August Google announced that they've partnered with XM Satellite Radio - reportedly along with "hundreds" of other radio stations - to be included in the Google Audio Ads program. Much like AdWords, the advertiser can only select geographical area, demographics of the radio audience, time of day and radio format - but we don't know what station/service the ad will be run on. D. Scott Karnedy, XM's Senior VP of Sales and Marketing Solutions said that Google had sold "hundreds, if not thousands of ads" since August. Great news, but at what price? Are these sold at a premium because of Google's targeting abilities? Or at a discount because of the lack of inventory? Advertising revenue, just like subscriber revenue, is key to the survival and growth of the satellite radio industry...read more: hereposted by ssg5 12/11/2006 07:57:00 PM
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XM And Sirius Offering Great Deals To Boost Subs
Sirius and XM are rolling their sleeves up to spread the word and attract subsctibers. This is what is needed to generate more buzz and greater exposure. These sales are "too cheap to refuse", which is the same tactic used by cellular providers to infiltrate the mass market.  Sirius is offering a free month of service or a free radio to subscribers ( LINK) XM is offering a "welcome back" subscription price of only $4.99 a month for three months. The offer is only available to previous subscribers, and it expires on 12/22/06 ( LINK)  12/11/2006 07:45:00 PM
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Satellite Radio: Cars As Living Rooms On Wheels
Cars: the rolling entertainment hub
New technology allows your car to be your livingroom. Plus, it's got wheels. By Peter Valdes-Dapena, CNNMoney.com staff writer, December 11 2006: 4:17 PM EST Minivans and big SUVs are sometimes referred to as "living rooms on wheels." As entertainment technology improves, shrinks and becomes more portable, that expression is becoming more and more literal. Computers and hard drives installed in car dashboards allow for "ripping" and storing MP3s right in the car. There are also new radio options besides the old AM and FM. And, if you really want to feel like you're at home, you can even watch live TV in your car... ...Radio of the future
Satellite radio, from either Sirius (Charts) or XM (Charts), is an option available from nearly all car manufacturers today. They offer hundreds of channels of music and talk defined down to the sub-sub-sub-genre. XM Radio, for example offers three slightly different alternative music channels called "Fred," "Ethel" and "Lucy." (No, there is no Latin Alternative channel called "Desi.")
A subscription to either service costs about $13 a month. Some carmakers offer a free subscription period when you get satellite radio as an option in your car.
Satellite-enabled radios can also be bought as aftermarket items and installed in any car. Some even double as portable satellite radio receivers for use in your home...read more: hereposted by ssg5 12/11/2006 07:41:00 PM
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BusinessWeek: HD Not Much Of A Threat To Satellite Radio
You Heard Right: HD Radio Dec 11, BusinessWeek
Most Americans probably realize we are moving to a digital TV format called high-definition television, or HDTV, but few people are aware of its audio counterpart, HD radio. As the name implies, this format aims to deliver big improvements in quality and a wealth of new services. But as with digital television, HD radio's reality falls far short of its promise. Like its digital cousins, XM Satellite Radio ( XMSR ) and Sirius Satellite Radio ( SIRI ), HD radio relies on special equipment to produce much better sound than conventional analog broadcasts. HDFM offers near-CD quality, about what you hear on XM or Sirius, and HDAM is supposed to approximate conventional FM, according to promoters. But the only digital AM stations I found offered nothing but yak. Both the AM and FM varieties are mercifully free of static and hiss, though with a weak signal the sound breaks up like a bad wireless phone call. Unlike XM and Sirius, HD radio is free to anyone with the equipment to receive it. I tried two different systems, the high-end Polk Audio I-Sonic ($599), which can also get XM service, and the much cheaper Radio Shack ( RSH ) Accurian Tabletop HD Radio ($179). Not surprisingly, the I-Sonic sounded a lot better and did a better job pulling in weak signals. Will people spring for this costly equipment just for the superior sound? I doubt it. In the case of satellite radio, it's the programming, not the improved audio quality, that justifies spending $12.95 a month. Alas, HD radio—at least as it exists today—is largely the same vast wasteland as conventional radio, with stations offering short playlists of music in a few repetitive formats...read more: hereposted by ssg5 12/11/2006 05:13:00 PM
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Legislation of "Audio Flag" Would Hurt Rollout Of HD Radio
NAB Continues Opposition To Audio Broadcast Flag
December 8, 2006, www.fmqb.comThe National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) and the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) sent letters to the leaders of the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate this week, reaffirming both organizations' opposition to the broadcast audio flag legislation. "Preserving the rollout of HD Radio is of critical importance to broadcasters, manufacturers, and consumers, and we remain opposed to any mandated, legislative approach on the audio flag," wrote NAB President/CEO David Rehr and CEA President/CEO Gary Shapiro. In the letters; addressed to Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid; Rehr and Shapiro write that any attempt to legislate the broadcast 'audio flag' would hurt the continued rollout of HD Radio. "Legislation being promoted at the end of the 109th Congress would jeopardize the rollout of HD Radio at a time when the number of stations delivering digital broadcasts is increasing and as consumer demand is on the rise," they write, adding that "During the course of the year, broadcasters have worked with the recording industry toward a private, voluntary agreement on content protection and combating piracy. While those discussions have been very productive, these meetings must ultimately involve other interested stakeholders. Broadcasters and manufacturers remain committed to finding a voluntary solution that balances the rights of consumers, protects copyright holders, and preserves the continued rollout of HD Radio channels and products." 12/11/2006 09:36:00 AM
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Sunday, December 10, 2006 Sirius S-8 - a Deeper Look
On December 9th I did an article for which the purpose was to outline the Sirius Long Term Incentive Plan. I prefaced that article with this paragraph, and it seems that my one paragraph genererated more response than the entire long term Incentive plan. The paragraph was this: "Sirius filed an SEC document after hours friday outlining the issuance of 40,000,000 shares. These shares were part of the 401K plan and the Long Term incentive Plan. The 401K accounted for 1,000,000 shares leaving 39,000,000 as part of the Long Term Incentive Plan. These shares can be used for many things. To help investors better understand, we are providing the long term incentive plan below. It is to early to jump to conclusions as to the "home" for these shares, but it is good to understand the plan:"some readers pointed out that the shares were not ISSUED, and that the S-8 was a REGISTRATION FOR THE ISSUANCE of shares. The reader is 100% correct. The shares have now been registered for issuance.My statement was not intended to state that the shares have been issued, and perhaps I should have been more clear. Personally, once the shares are registered, I tend to put those in the category of the outstanding shares, which is the same thing many do, albeit technically not correct, and for the readers, it would be best to keep the technical side of things accurate. To be clear, these shares were registered for a purpose. There are many contracts that Sirius have that have incentive payments under the Long Term Incentive plan. to assume that those shares will be earned is something that investors need to consider when looking at an equity, and thus, many act as if they will be or already are issued. this is one reason that the fully diluted share count should be taken into consideration by investors. Some incentive deals will be earned, and others will not. There are likely a good number of warrants that will not be earned by Sirius affiliates, but again, I tend to operate under the assumption that they can be earned until such a time that they are not. For example, the NFL has many warrants which I feel may never be earned since they are tied to the aquisition of subscribers DIRECTLY attributable to each team. If you think about how that is measured, there is basically one way for that to happen.....someone buys a Sirius radio through a LINK on an NFL team website, or buys a radio at an NFL game through a promotion. a fan walking into Best Buy because he wants to listen to his favorite team which happens to be out of market is not directly attributable, and can not be tracked. The S-8 document filed with the SEC registers these shares for issuance. It does not mean that the shares have been issued. The reason people typically make the automatic assumption that the shares are issued is because there is no other filing needed from this point forward should they decide to issue the shares (save the major shareholder (insider) rules). Again, the intent of the piece on the 9th was simply to outline the Long Term Incentive plan. I agree that I should have made a better choice of words in the opening paragraph, and in the future will make every attempt to be clear on such items. 12/10/2006 08:47:00 PM
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Barron's Research Reports: Signal Hill Comments On Sirius
Research Reports, Barron's, Dec 11 How Analysts Size Up Companies Edited by ANITA PELTONEN Sirius Satellite Radio - SIRI-NNMBuy - Price 4.17 on Dec. 4, by Signal Hill Sirius lowered its 2006 year-end subscriber guidance from 6.3 million to a range of 5.9 million to 6.1 million, as the pace of sales following Black Friday has been lower than anticipated. Management's new guidance range implies a 14% to 32% year-over-year decline in net new-subscriber additions in 4Q06...as the company moves away from the positive impact of Howard Stern. We expect shares of Sirius to remain volatile in the near term, but advise clients to buy on weakness as the company progresses toward sustainable free-cash-flow generation. We are lowering our 2006 subscriber estimate to 5.9 million, from 6.1 million. We are raising our EPS estimate to (81 cents) from (82 cents), reflecting lower...expenses in the quarter....read more: hereposted by ssg5 12/10/2006 08:40:00 PM
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Saturday, December 09, 2006 Sirius' Long Term Incentive Plan
December 9, 2006 Sirius filed an SEC document after hours friday outlining the registration of 40,000,000 shares. These shares were part of the 401K plan and the Long Term incentive Plan. The 401K accounted for 1,000,000 shares leaving 39,000,000 as part of the Long Term Incentive Plan. These shares can be used for many things. To help investors better understand, we are providing the long term incentive plan below. It is to early to jump to conclusions as to the "home" for these shares, but it is good to understand the plan: SIRIUS LONG TERM INCENTIVE PLAN SIRIUS SATELLITE RADIO 2003 LONG-TERM STOCK INCENTIVE PLAN SECTION 1. Purpose. The purposes of this Sirius Satellite Radio 2003Long-Term Stock Incentive Plan are to promote the interests of Sirius SatelliteRadio Inc. and its stockholders by (i) attracting and retaining employees of,and consultants to, the Company and its Affiliates, as defined below;(ii) motivating such individuals by means of performance-related incentives toachieve longer-range performance goals; and (iii) enabling such individuals toparticipate in the long-term growth and financial success of the Company. SECTION 2. Definitions. As used in the Plan, the following terms shall havethe meanings set forth below: 'Affiliate' shall mean any entity (i) that, directly or indirectly, iscontrolled by, controls or is under common control with, the Company or (ii) inwhich the Company has a significant equity interest, in either case asdetermined by the Committee. 'Award' shall mean any Option, Stock Appreciation Right, Restricted StockAward, Restricted Stock Unit Award, Performance Award, Other Stock-Based Awardor Performance Compensation Award made or granted from time to time hereunder. 'Award Agreement' shall mean any written agreement, contract, or otherinstrument or document evidencing any Award, which may, but need not, beexecuted or acknowledged by a Participant. 'Board' shall mean the Board of Directors of the Company. 'Change of Control' shall mean the occurrence of any of the following: (i) the sale, lease, transfer, conveyance or other disposition, in one or aseries of related transactions, of all or substantially all of the assets of theCompany to any 'person' or 'group' (as such terms are used in Sections 13(d)(3)and 14(d)(2) of the Exchange Act), (ii) any person or group is or becomes the'beneficial owner' (as defined in Rules 13d-3 and 13d-5 under the Exchange Act,except that a person shall be deemed to have 'beneficial ownership' of allshares that any such person has the right to acquire, whether such right isexercisable immediately or only after the passage of time), directly orindirectly, of more than 50% of the total voting power of the voting stock ofthe Company, including by way of merger, consolidation or otherwise or (iii) during any period of two consecutive years, individuals who at thebeginning of such period constituted the Board (together with any new directorswhose election by such Board or whose nomination for election by thestockholders of the Company was approved by a vote of a majority of thedirectors of the Company, then still in office, who were either directors at thebeginning of such period or whose election or nomination for election waspreviously so approved) cease for any reason to constitute a majority of theBoard, then in office. 'Code' shall mean the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended from time to time. 'Committee' shall mean a committee of the Board designated by the Board toadminister the Plan and composed of not less than two directors, each of whom isrequired to be a 'Non-Employee Director' (within the meaning of Rule 16b-3) andan 'outside director' (within the meaning of Section 162(m) of the Code) to theextent Rule 16b-3 and Section 162(m) of the Code, respectively, are applicableto the Company and the Plan. If at any time such a committee has not been sodesignated, the Board shall constitute the Committee. 'Company' shall mean Sirius Satellite Radio Inc., together with anysuccessor thereto. 'Exchange Act' shall mean the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. 'Fair Market Value' shall mean (i) with respect to any property other thanShares, the fair market value of such property determined by such methods orprocedures as shall be established from time to time by the Committee and(ii) with respect to the Shares, as of any date, (1) the mean between the highand low sales prices of the Shares on the Nasdaq Stock Market for such date (or if not then trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market, the mean between thehigh and low sales price of the Shares on the stock exchange or over-the-countermarket on which the Shares are principally trading on such date), or, if therewere no sales on such date, on the closest preceding date on which there weresales of Shares or (2) in the event there shall be no public market for theShares on such date, the fair market value of the Shares as determined in goodfaith by the Committee. 'Incentive Stock Option' shall mean a right to purchase Shares from theCompany that is granted under Section 6 of the Plan and that is intended to meetthe requirements of Section 422 of the Code or any successor provision thereto. 'Negative Discretion' shall mean the discretion authorized by the Plan to beapplied by the Committee to eliminate or reduce the size of a PerformanceCompensation Award; provided that the exercise of such discretion would notcause the Performance Compensation Award to fail to qualify as'performance-based compensation' under Section 162(m) of the Code. By way of example and not by way of limitation, in no event shall any discretionaryauthority granted to the Committee by the Plan including, but not limited to,Negative Discretion, be used to (a) grant or provide payment in respect ofPerformance Compensation Awards for a Performance Period if the PerformanceGoals for such Performance Period have not been attained or (b) increase aPerformance Compensation Award above the maximum amount payable under Section4(a) or 11(d)(vi) of the Plan. Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary,in no event shall Negative Discretion be exercised by the Committee with respectto any Option or Stock Appreciation Right (other than an Option or StockAppreciation Right that is intended to be a Performance Compensation Award underSection 11 of the Plan). 'Non-Qualified Stock Option' shall mean a right to purchase Shares from theCompany that is granted under Section 6 of the Plan and that is not intended tobe an Incentive Stock Option. 'Option' shall mean an Incentive Stock Option or a Non-Qualified StockOption. 'Other Stock-Based Award' shall mean any right granted under Section 10 ofthe Plan. 'Participant' shall mean any employee of, or consultant to, the Company orits Subsidiaries eligible for an Award under Section 5 and selected by theCommittee to receive an Award under the Plan. 'Performance Award' shall mean any right granted under Section 9 of thePlan. 'Performance Compensation Award' shall mean any Award designated by theCommittee as a Performance Compensation Award pursuant to Section 11 of thePlan. 'Performance Criteria' shall mean the criterion or criteria that theCommittee shall select for purposes of establishing the Performance Goal(s) fora Performance Period with respect to any Performance Compensation Award underthe Plan. The Performance Criteria that will be used to establish thePerformance Goal(s) shall be based on the attainment of specific levels of performance of the Company (or an Affiliate, division or operational unit of theCompany) and shall be limited to the following: return on net assets, return onshareholders' equity, return on assets, return on capital, shareholder returns,profit margin, earnings per Share, net earnings, operating earnings, earningsbefore interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, number of subscribers, growth of subscribers, operating expenses, capital expenses, subscriberacquisition costs, Share price or sales or market share. To the extent requiredunder Section 162(m) of the Code, the Committee shall, within the first 90 daysof a Performance Period (or, if longer, within the maximum period allowed underSection 162(m) of the Code), define in an objective fashion the manner ofcalculating the Performance Criteria it selects to use for such PerformancePeriod. 'Performance Formula' shall mean, for a Performance Period, the one or moreobjective formulas applied against the relevant Performance Goal to determine,with regard to the Performance Compensation Award of a particular Participant,whether all, some portion but less than all, or none of the PerformanceCompensation Award has been earned for the Performance Period. 'Performance Goals' shall mean, for a Performance Period, the one or moregoals established by the Committee for the Performance Period based upon thePerformance Criteria. The Committee is authorized at any time during the first90 days of a Performance Period, or at any time thereafter (but only to theextent the exercise of such authority after the first 90 days of a PerformancePeriod would not cause the Performance Compensation Awards granted to anyParticipant for the Performance Period to fail to qualify as 'performance-basedcompensation' under Section 162(m) of the Code), in its sole and absolutediscretion, to adjust or modify the calculation of a Performance Goal for suchPerformance Period to the extent permitted under Section 162(m) of the Code inorder to prevent the dilution or enlargement of the rights of Participants,(a) in the event of, or in anticipation of, any unusual or extraordinarycorporate item, transaction, event or development affecting the Company; or(b) in recognition of, or in anticipation of, any other unusual or nonrecurringevents affecting the Company, or the financial statements of the Company, or inresponse to, or in anticipation of, changes in applicable laws, regulations,accounting principles, or business conditions. 'Performance Period' shall mean the one or more periods of time of at leastone year in duration, as the Committee may select, over which the attainment ofone or more Performance Goals will be measured for the purpose of determining aParticipant's right to and the payment of a Performance Compensation Award. 'Person' shall mean any individual, corporation, partnership, association,limited liability company, joint-stock company, trust, unincorporatedorganization, government or political subdivision thereof or other entity. 'Plan' shall mean this Sirius Satellite Radio 2003 Long-Term Stock IncentivePlan. 'Restricted Stock' shall mean any Share granted under Section 8 of the Plan. 'Restricted Stock Unit' shall mean any unit granted under Section 8 of thePlan. 'Rule 16b-3' shall mean Rule 16b-3 as promulgated and interpreted by the SECunder the Exchange Act, or any successor rule or regulation thereto as in effectfrom time to time. 'SEC' shall mean the Securities and Exchange Commission or any successorthereto and shall include the Staff thereof. 'Shares' shall mean the common stock of the Company, $.001 par value, orsuch other securities of the Company (i) into which such common stock shall bechanged by reason of a recapitalization, merger, consolidation, split-up,combination, exchange of shares or other similar transaction or (ii) as may bedetermined by the Committee pursuant to Section 4(b) of the Plan. 'Stock Appreciation Right' shall mean any right granted under Section 7 ofthe Plan. 'Substitute Awards' shall have the meaning specified in Section 4(c) of thePlan. SECTION 3. Administration. (a) The Plan shall be administered by theCommittee. Subject to the terms of the Plan and applicable law, and in additionto other express powers and authorizations conferred on the Committee by thePlan, the Committee shall have full power and authority to: (i) designateParticipants; (ii) determine the type or types of Awards to be granted to aParticipant and designate those Awards which shall constitute PerformanceCompensation Awards; (iii) determine the number of Shares to be covered by, orwith respect to which payments, rights, or other matters are to be calculated inconnection with, Awards; (iv) determine the terms and conditions of any Award;(v) determine whether, to what extent, and under what circumstances Awards maybe settled or exercised in cash, Shares, other securities, other Awards or otherproperty, or canceled, forfeited, or suspended and the method or methods bywhich Awards may be settled, exercised, canceled, forfeited, or suspended;(vi) determine whether, to what extent, and under what circumstances cash,Shares, other securities, other Awards, other property, and other amountspayable with respect to an Award (subject to Section 162(m) of the Code withrespect to Performance Compensation Awards) shall be deferred eitherautomatically or at the election of the holder thereof or of the Committee;(vii) interpret, administer or reconcile any inconsistency, correct any defect,resolve ambiguities and/or supply any omission in the Plan and any instrument or agreement relating to, or Award made under, the Plan; (viii) establish, amend, suspend, or waive such rules and regulations and appoint such agents asit shall deem appropriate for the proper administration of the Plan;(ix) establish and administer Performance Goals and certify whether, and to whatextent, they have been attained; and (x) make any other determination and takeany other action that the Committee deems necessary or desirable for theadministration of the Plan. (b) Unless otherwise expressly provided in the Plan, all designations,determinations, interpretations, and other decisions under or with respect tothe Plan or any Award shall be within the sole discretion of the Committee, maybe made at any time and shall be final, conclusive, and binding upon allPersons, including the Company, any Affiliate, any Participant, any holder or beneficiary of any Award, and any stockholder. (c) The mere fact that a Committee member shall fail to qualify as a'Non-Employee Director' or 'outside director' within the meaning of Rule 16b-3and Section 162(m) of the Code, respectively, shall not invalidate any awardmade by the Committee which award is otherwise validly made under the Plan. (d) No member of the Committee shall be liable to any Person for any actionor determination made in good faith with respect to the Plan or any Awardhereunder. (e) With respect to any Performance Compensation Award granted to a CoveredEmployee (within the meaning of Section 162(m) of the Code) under the Plan, thePlan shall be interpreted and construed in accordance with Section 162(m) of theCode. (f) Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Committee may delegate to one or more officers of the Company the authority to grant awards to Participants who arenot officers or directors of the Company subject to Section 16 of the ExchangeAct or Covered Employees (within the meaning of Section 162(m) of the Code). SECTION 4. Shares Available for Awards. (a) Shares Available. Subject to adjustment as provided in Section 4(b), theaggregate number of Shares with respect to which Awards may be granted from timeto time under the Plan shall in the aggregate not exceed, at any time, 15% ofthe sum of (i) the issued and outstanding Shares, (ii) any Shares which areissuable as a result of any conversion, exchange or exercise of any preferredstock, warrant or other security of the Company which is outstanding on the dateof determination; and (iii) the Shares which have been issued or are issuable to employees, consultants and directors of the Company pursuant to the Plan, theCompany's 1999 Long-Term Stock Incentive Plan, the Company's Amended andRestated 1994 Stock Option Plan and the Company's Amended and Restated 1994Directors' Nonqualified Stock Option Plan; provided, however, that the aggregatenumber of Shares with respect to which Incentive Stock Options may be grantedunder the Plan shall be 40,000,000. The maximum number of Shares with respect towhich Options and Stock Appreciation Rights may be granted to any Participant inany fiscal year shall be 40,000,000 and the maximum number of Shares which maybe paid to a Participant in the Plan in connection with the settlement of anyAward(s) designated as 'Performance Compensation Awards' in respect of a singlePerformance Period shall be 40,000,000 or, in the event such PerformanceCompensation Award is paid in cash, the equivalent cash value thereof. If, afterthe effective date of the Plan, any Shares covered by an Award granted under thePlan, or to which such an Award relates, are forfeited, or if an Award has expired, terminated or been canceled for any reason whatsoever (other than byreason of exercise or vesting), then the Shares covered by such Award shall again be, or shall become, Shares with respect to which Awards may be granted hereunder. (b) Adjustments. Notwithstanding any provisions of the Plan to the contrary,in the event that the Committee determines in its sole discretion that anydividend or other distribution (whether in the form of cash, Shares, othersecurities, or other property), recapitalization, stock split, reverse stocksplit, reorganization, merger, consolidation, split-up, spin-off, combination, repurchase, or exchange of Shares or other securities of the Company, issuance of warrants or other rights to purchase Shares or other securities of theCompany, or other corporate transaction or event affects the Shares such that an adjustment is appropriate in order to prevent dilution or enlargement of the benefits or potential benefits intended to be made availableunder the Plan, then the Committee shall, equitably adjust any or all of(i) the number of Shares or other securities of the Company (or number and kindof other securities or property) with respect to which Awards may be granted,(ii) the number of Shares or other securities of the Company (or number and kindof other securities or property) subject to outstanding Awards, and (iii) thegrant or exercise price with respect to any Award or, if deemed appropriate,make provision for a cash payment to the holder of an outstanding Award inconsideration for the cancellation of such Award, which, in the case of Options and Stock Appreciation Rights shall equal the excess, if any, of the Fair MarketValue of the Shares subject to such Options or Stock Appreciation Rights overthe aggregate exercise price or grant price of such Options or StockAppreciation Rights. (c) Substitute Awards. Awards may, in the discretion of the Committee, bemade under the Plan in assumption of, or in substitution for, outstanding awardspreviously granted by the Company or its Affiliates or a company acquired by theCompany or with which the Company combines ('Substitute Awards'). The number ofShares underlying any Substitute Awards shall be counted against the aggregate number of Shares available for Awards under the Plan. (d) Sources of Shares Deliverable Under Awards. Any Shares deliveredpursuant to an Award may consist, in whole or in part, of authorized andunissued Shares or of treasury Shares. SECTION 5. Eligibility. Any employee of, or consultant to, the Company orany of its Affiliates (including any prospective employee) shall be eligible to be selected as a Participant. SECTION 6. Stock Options. (a) Grant. Subject to the terms of the Plan, the Committee shall have sole and complete authority to determine the Participants to whom Options shall be granted, the number of Shares to be covered by each Option, the exercise price therefor and the conditions and limitations applicable to the exercise of theOption. The Committee shall have the authority to grant Incentive Stock Options, or to grant Non-Qualified Stock Options, or to grant both types of Options. In the case of Incentive Stock Options, the terms and conditions of such grants shall be subject to and comply with such rules as may be prescribed by Section422 of the Code, as from time to time amended, and any regulations implementing such statute. All Options when granted under the Plan are intended to beNon-Qualified Stock Options, unless the applicable Award Agreement expressly states that the Option is intended to be an Incentive Stock Option. If an Optionis intended to be an Incentive Stock Option, and if for any reason such Option(or any portion thereof) shall not qualify as an Incentive Stock Option, then,to the extent of such nonqualification, such Option (or portion thereof) shallbe regarded as a Non-Qualified Stock Option appropriately granted under thePlan; provided that such Option (or portion thereof) otherwise complies with thePlan's requirements relating to Non-Qualified Stock Options. (b) Exercise Price. The Committee shall establish the exercise price at thetime each Option is granted, which exercise price shall be set forth in the applicable Award Agreement. (c) Exercise. Each Option shall be exercisable at such times and subject to such terms and conditions as the Committee may, in its sole discretion, specifyin the applicable Award Agreement. The Committee may impose such conditions withrespect to the exercise of Options, including without limitation, any relatingto the application of federal or state securities laws, as it may deem necessaryor advisable. Options with an exercise price equal to or greater than the FairMarket Value per Share as of the date of grant are intended to qualify as'performance-based compensation' under Section 162(m) of the Code. In the sole discretion of the Committee, Options may be granted with an exercise price that is less than the Fair Market Value per Share and such Options may, but need not,be intended to qualify as performance-based compensation in accordance withSection 11 hereof. (d) Payment. (i) No Shares shall be delivered pursuant to any exercise of an Option until payment in full of the aggregate exercise price therefor isreceived by the Company. Such payment may be made in cash, or its equivalent, or(x) by exchanging Shares owned by the optionee (which are not the subject of anypledge or other security interest and which have been owned by such optionee forat least six months) or (y) subject to such rules as may be established by the Committee, through delivery of irrevocable instructions to a broker to sell the Shares otherwise deliverable upon the exercise of the Option and to deliver promptly to the Company an amount equal to the aggregate exercise price or by a combination of the foregoing, provided that the combined value of all cash andcash equivalents and the Fair Market Value of any such Shares so tendered to theCompany as of the date of such tender is at least equal to such aggregateexercise price. (ii) Wherever in this Plan or any Award Agreement a Participant is permitted to pay the exercise price of an Option or taxes relating to the exercise of anOption by delivering Shares, the Participant may, subject to procedures satisfactory to the Committee, satisfy such delivery requirement by presenting proof of beneficial ownership of such Shares, in which case the Company shalltreat the Option as exercised without further payment and shall withhold such number of Shares from the Shares acquired by the exercise of the Option. SECTION 7. Stock Appreciation Rights. (a) Grant. Subject to the provisions of the Plan, the Committee shall havesole and complete authority to determine the Participants to whom StockAppreciation Rights shall be granted, the number of Shares to be covered by each Stock Appreciation Right Award, the grant price thereof and the conditions andlimitations applicable to the exercise thereof. Stock Appreciation Rights with agrant price equal to or greater than the Fair Market Value per Share as of thedate of grant are intended to qualify as 'performance-based compensation' underSection 162(m) of the Code. In the sole discretion of the Committee, Stock Appreciation Rights may be granted with an exercise price that is less than theFair Market Value per Share and such Stock Appreciation Rights may, but need not, be intended to qualify as performance-based compensation in accordance withSection 11 hereof. Stock Appreciation Rights may be granted in tandem with another Award, in addition to another Award, or freestanding and unrelated toanother Award. Stock Appreciation Rights granted in tandem with or in additionto an Award may be granted either before, at the same time as the Award or at alater time. (b) Exercise and Payment. A Stock Appreciation Right shall entitle theParticipant to receive an amount equal to the excess of the Fair Market Value of a Share on the date of exercise of the Stock Appreciation Right over the grant price thereof. The Committee shall determine in its sole discretion whether aStock Appreciation Right shall be settled in cash, Shares or a combination of cash and Shares. (c) Other Terms and Conditions. Subject to the terms of the Plan and anyapplicable Award Agreement, the Committee shall determine, at the grant of aStock Appreciation Right, the term, methods of exercise, methods and form of settlement, and any other terms and conditions of any Stock Appreciation Right. The Committee may impose such conditions or restrictions on the exercise of anyStock Appreciation Right as it shall deem appropriate. SECTION 8. Restricted Stock and Restricted Stock Units. (a) Grant. Subject to the provisions of the Plan, the Committee shall havesole and complete authority to determine the Participants to whom Shares ofRestricted Stock and Restricted Stock Units shall be granted, the number of Shares of Restricted Stock and/or the number of Restricted Stock Units to be granted to each Participant, the duration of the period during which, and theconditions, if any, under which, the Restricted Stock and Restricted Stock Units may be forfeited to the Company, and the other terms and conditions of such Awards. (b) Transfer Restrictions. Shares of Restricted Stock and Restricted StockUnits may not be sold, assigned, transferred, pledged or otherwise encumbered,except, in the case of Restricted Stock, as provided in the Plan or theapplicable Award Agreements. Certificates issued in respect of Shares ofRestricted Stock shall be registered in the name of the Participant and deposited by such Participant, together with a stock power endorsed in blank,with the Company. Upon the lapse of the restrictions applicable to such Shares of Restricted Stock, the Company shall deliver such certificates to theParticipant or the Participant's legal representative. (c) Payment. Each Restricted Stock Unit shall have a value equal to the FairMarket Value of a Share. Restricted Stock Units shall be paid in cash, Shares, other securities or other property, as determined in the sole discretion of the Committee, upon the lapse of the restrictions applicable thereto, or otherwise in accordance with the applicableAward Agreement. Dividends paid on any Shares of Restricted Stock may be paiddirectly to the Participant, withheld by the Company subject to vesting of the Restricted Shares pursuant to the terms of the applicable Award Agreement, ormay be reinvested in additional Shares of Restricted Stock or in additional Restricted Stock Units, as determined by the Committee in its sole discretion. SECTION 9. Performance Awards. (a) Grant. The Committee shall have sole and complete authority to determine the Participants who shall receive a 'Performance Award', which shall consist of a right which is (i) denominated in cash or Shares, (ii) valued, as determinedby the Committee, in accordance with the achievement of such performance goals during such performance periods as the Committee shall establish, and(iii) payable at such time and in such form as the Committee shall determine. (b) Terms and Conditions. Subject to the terms of the Plan and any applicable Award Agreement, the Committee shall determine the Performance Goals to be achieved during any Performance Period, the length of any Performance Period, the amount of any Performance Award and the amount and kind of any payment or transfer to be made pursuant to any Performance Award. (c) Payment of Performance Awards. Performance Awards may be paid in a lumpsum or in installments following the close of the Performance Period or, inaccordance with procedures established by the Committee, on a deferred basis. SECTION 10. Other Stock-Based Awards. (a) General. The Committee shall have authority to grant to Participants an 'Other Stock-Based Award', which shall consist of any right which is (i) not an Award described in Sections 6 through 9 above and (ii) an Award of Shares or an Award denominated or payable in, valued in whole or in part by reference to, orotherwise based on or related to, Shares (including, without limitation, securities convertible into Shares), as deemed by the Committee to be consistentwith the purposes of the Plan; provided that any such rights must comply, to the extent deemed desirable by the Committee, with Rule 16b-3 and applicable law. Subject to the terms of the Plan and any applicable Award Agreement, the Committee shall determine the terms and conditions of any such Other Stock-BasedAward, including the price, if any, at which securities may be purchased pursuant to any Other Stock-Based Award granted under this Plan. (b) Dividend Equivalents. In the sole and complete discretion of theCommittee, an Award, whether made as an Other Stock-Based Award under thisSection 10 or as an Award granted pursuant to Sections 6 through 9 hereof, may provide the Participant with dividends or dividend equivalents, payable in cash, Shares, other securities or other property on a current or deferred basis. SECTION 11. Performance Compensation Awards. (a) General. The Committee shall have the authority, at the time of grant of any Award described in Sections 6 through 10 (other than Options and Stock Appreciation Rights granted with an exercise price or grant price, as the case may be, equal to or greater than the Fair Market Value per Share on the date of grant), to designate such Award as a Performance Compensation Award in order to qualify such Award as 'performance-based compensation' under Section 162(m) ofthe Code. (b) Eligibility. The Committee will, in its sole discretion, designate within the first 90 days of a Performance Period (or, if longer, within the maximum period allowed under Section 162(m) of the Code) which Participants will be eligible to receive Performance Compensation Awards in respect of such Performance Period. Designation of a Participant eligible to receive an Award hereunder for a Performance Period shall not in any manner entitle the Participant to receive payment in respect of any Performance Compensation Award for such Performance Period. The determination as to whether or not such Participant becomes entitled to payment in respect of any Performance Compensation Award shall be decided solely in accordance with the provisions ofthis Section 11. Moreover, designation of a Participant eligible to receive an Award hereunder for a particular Performance Period shall not require designation of such Participant eligible to receive an Award hereunder in any subsequent Performance Period and designation of one person as a Participant eligible to receive an Award hereunder shall not require designation of any other person as a Participant eligible to receive an Award hereunder in such period or in any other period. (c) Discretion of Committee with Respect to Performance Compensation Awards. With regard to a particular Performance Period, the Committee shall have full discretion to select the length of such Performance Period, the type(s) ofPerformance Compensation Awards to be issued, the Performance Criteria that willbe used to establish the Performance Goal(s), the kind(s) and/or level(s) of thePerformance Goals(s) is/are to apply to the Company and the Performance Formula. Within the first 90 days of a Performance Period (or, if longer, within themaximum period allowed under Section 162(m) of the Code), the Committee shall,with regard to the Performance Compensation Awards to be issued for such Performance Period, exercise its discretion with respect to each of the mattersenumerated in the immediately preceding sentence of this Section 11(c) and record the same in writing. (d) Payment of Performance Compensation Awards. (i) Condition to Receipt of Payment. Unless otherwise provided in the applicable Award Agreement, a Participant must be employed by the Company on the last day of a Performance Period to be eligible for payment in respect of a Performance Compensation Award for such Performance Period. (ii) Limitation. A Participant shall be eligible to receive payment inrespect of a Performance Compensation Award only to the extent that: (1) thePerformance Goals for such period are achieved; and (2) the Performance Formula as applied against such Performance Goals determines that all or some portion of such Participant's Performance Award has been earned for the Performance Period. (iii) Certification. Following the completion of a Performance Period, the Committee shall meet to review and certify in writing whether, and to what extent, the Performance Goals for the Performance Period have been achieved and, if so, to calculate and certify in writing that amount of the Performance Compensation Awards earned for the period based upon the Performance Formula.The Committee shall then determine the actual size of each Participant's Performance Compensation Award for the Performance Period and, in so doing, may apply Negative Discretion, if and when it deems appropriate. (iv) Negative Discretion. In determining the actual size of an individualPerformance Award for a Performance Period, the Committee may reduce oreliminate the amount of the Performance Compensation Award earned under thePerformance Formula in the Performance Period through the use of NegativeDiscretion if, in its sole judgement, such reduction or elimination is appropriate. (v) Timing of Award Payments. The Awards granted for a Performance Period shall be paid to Participants as soon as administratively possible following completion of the certifications required by this Section 11. (vi) Maximum Award Payable. Notwithstanding any provision contained in thePlan to the contrary, the maximum Performance Compensation Award payable to anyone Participant under the Plan for a Performance Period is 40,000,000 Shares or, in the event the Performance Compensation Award is paid in cash, the equivalent cash value thereof on the last day of the Performance Period to which such Awardrelates. Furthermore, any Performance Compensation Award that has been deferred shall not (between the date as of which the Award is deferred and the paymentdate) increase (i) with respect to Performance Compensation Award that ispayable in cash, by a measuring factor for each fiscal year greater than a reasonable rate of interest set by the Committee or (ii) with respect to aPerformance Compensation Award that is payable in Shares, by an amount greater than the appreciation of a Share from the date such Award is deferred to the payment date. SECTION 12. Amendment and Termination. (a) Amendments to the Plan. The Board may amend, alter, suspend,discontinue, or terminate the Plan or any portion thereof at any time; providedthat no such amendment, alteration, suspension, discontinuation or terminationshall be made without stockholder approval if such approval is necessary to comply with any tax or regulatory requirement applicable to the Plan; and provided, further, that any such amendment, alteration, suspension, discontinuance or termination that would impair the rights of any Participant or any holder or beneficiary of any Award previously granted shall not be effective without the consent of the affected Participant, holder or beneficiary. (b) Amendments to Awards. The Committee may waive any conditions or rights under, amend any terms of, or alter, suspend, discontinue, cancel or terminate, any Award theretofore granted; provided that any such waiver, amendment,alteration, suspension, discontinuance, cancellation or termination that would impair the rights of any Participant or any holder or beneficiary of any Award previously granted shall not be effective without the consent of the affectedParticipant, holder or beneficiary. (c) Adjustment of Awards Upon the Occurrence of Certain Unusual or Nonrecurring Events. The Committee is hereby authorized to make equitable adjustments in the terms and conditions of, and the criteria included in, all outstanding Awards in recognition of unusual or nonrecurring events (including, without limitation, the events described in Section 4(b) hereof) affecting theCompany, any Affiliate, or the financial statements of the Company or anyAffiliate, or of changes in applicable laws, regulations, or accounting principles, whenever the Committee determines that such adjustments are appropriate in order to prevent dilution or enlargement of the benefits orpotential benefits intended to be made available under the Plan; provided that no such adjustment shall be authorized to the extent that such authority oradjustment would cause an Award designated by the Committee as a Performance Compensation Award under Section 11 of the Plan to fail to qualify as 'performance-based compensation' under Section 162(m) of the Code. SECTION 13. Change of Control. In the event of a Change of Control, anyoutstanding Awards then held by Participants which are unexercisable orotherwise unvested shall automatically be deemed exercisable or otherwise vested, as the case may be, effective as of immediately prior to such Change ofControl. SECTION 14. General Provisions. (a) Nontransferability. (i) Each Award, and each right under any Award, shall be exercisable only by the Participant during the Participant's lifetime, or, if permissible under applicable law, by the Participant's legal guardian or representative. (ii) No Award may be sold, assigned, alienated, pledged, attached or otherwise transferred or encumbered by a Participant otherwise than by will or by the laws of descent and distribution, and any such purported sale, assignment, alienation, pledge, attachment, transfer or encumbrance shall be void and unenforceable against the Company or any Affiliate; provided that the designation of a beneficiary shall not constitute a sale, assignment, alienation, pledge, attachment, transfer or encumbrance. (iii) Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Committee may in the applicable Award Agreement evidencing an Option granted under the Plan or at any time thereafter in an amendment to an Award Agreement provide that Options granted hereunder which are not intended to qualify as Incentive Options may be transferred by the Participant to whom such Option was granted (the 'Grantee') without consideration, subject to such rules as the Committee may adopt to preserve the purposes of the Plan, to: (1) the Grantee's spouse, children or grandchildren (including adopted and stepchildren and grandchildren) (collectively, the 'Immediate Family'); (2) a trust solely for the benefit of the Grantee and his or her Immediate Family; or (3) a partnership, corporation or limited liability company whose only partners, members or shareholders are the Grantee and his or her Immediate Family; (each transferee described in clauses (1), (2) and (3) above is hereinafter referred to as a 'Permitted Transferee'); provided that the Grantee gives the Committee advance written notice describing the terms and conditions of the proposed transfer and the Committee notifies the Grantee in writing that such a transfer would comply with the requirements of the Plan and any applicable Award Agreement evidencing the Option. The terms of any Option transferred in accordance with the immediately preceding sentence shall apply to the Permitted Transferee and any reference in the Plan or in an Award Agreement to an optionee, Grantee or Participant shall be deemed to refer to the Permitted Transferee, except that (a) PermittedTransferees shall not be entitled to transfer any Options, other than by will orthe laws of descent and distribution; (b) Permitted Transferees shall not be entitled to exercise any transferred Options unless there shall be in effect a registration statement on an appropriate form covering the Shares to be acquired pursuant to the exercise of such Option if the Committee determines that such aregistration statement is necessary or appropriate, (c) the Committee or theCompany shall not be required to provide any notice to a Permitted Transferee, whether or not such notice is or would otherwise have been required to be givento the Grantee under the Plan or otherwise and (d) the consequences of termination of the Grantee's employment by, or services to, the Company underthe terms of the Plan and the applicable Award Agreement shall continue to beapplied with respect to the Grantee, following which the Options shall be exercisable by the Permitted Transferee only to the extent, and for the periods, specified in the Plan and the applicable Award Agreement. (b) No Rights to Awards. No Participant or other Person shall have any claimto be granted any Award, and there is no obligation for uniformity of treatment of Participants, or holders or beneficiaries of Awards. The terms and conditions of Awards and the Committee's determinations and interpretations with respect thereto need not be the same with respect to each Participant (whether or notsuch Participants are similarly situated). (c) Share Certificates. All certificates for Shares or other securities ofthe Company or any Affiliate delivered under the Plan pursuant to any Award orthe exercise thereof shall be subject to such stop transfer orders and other restrictions as the Committee may deem advisable under the Plan or the rules, regulations, and other requirements of the SEC, any stock exchange upon which such Shares or other securities are then listed, and any applicable Federal or state laws, and the Committee may cause a legend or legends to be put on any such certificates to make appropriate reference to such restrictions. (d) Withholding. (i) A Participant may be required to pay to the Company orany Affiliate and the Company or any Affiliate shall have the right and is hereby authorized to withhold from any Award, from any payment due or transfermade under any Award or under the Plan or from any compensation or other amount owing to a Participant the amount (in cash, Shares, other securities, otherAwards or other property) of any applicable withholding taxes in respect of an Award, its exercise, or any payment or transfer under an Award or under the Planand to take such other action as may be necessary in the opinion of the Company to satisfy all obligations for the payment of such taxes. The Committee may provide for additional cash payments to holders of Awards to defray or offsetany tax arising from the grant, vesting, exercise or payments of any Award. (ii) Without limiting the generality of clause (i) above, a Participant maysatisfy, in whole or in part, the foregoing withholding liability by delivery of Shares owned by the Participant (which are not subject to any pledge or other security interest and which have been owned by the Participant for at least sixmonths) with a Fair Market Value equal to such withholding liability or by having the Company withhold from the number of Shares otherwise issuablepursuant to the exercise of the option a number of Shares with a Fair MarketValue equal to such withholding liability. (iii) Notwithstanding any provision of this Plan to the contrary, inconnection with the transfer of an Option to a Permitted Transferee pursuant toSection 14(a), the Grantee shall remain liable for any withholding taxes required to be withheld upon the exercise of such Option by the PermittedTransferee. (e) Award Agreements. Each Award hereunder shall be evidenced by an AwardAgreement which shall be delivered to the Participant and shall specify the terms and conditions of the Award and any rules applicable thereto, including but not limited to the effect on such Award of the death, disability or termination of employment or service of a Participant and the effect, if any, of such other events as may be determined by the Committee. (f) No Limit on Other Compensation Arrangements. Nothing contained in thePlan shall prevent the Company or any Affiliate from adopting or continuing ineffect other compensation arrangements, which may, but need not, provide for the grant of options, restricted stock, Shares and other types of Awards provided for hereunder (subject to stockholder approval if such approval is required),and such arrangements may be either generally applicable or applicable only inspecific cases. (g) No Right to Employment. The grant of an Award shall not be construed asgiving a Participant the right to be retained in the employ of, or in any consulting relationship to, the Company or any Affiliate. Further, the Companyor an Affiliate may at any time dismiss a Participant from employment or discontinue any consulting relationship, free from any liability or any claimunder the Plan, unless otherwise expressly provided in the Plan, any AwardAgreement or any applicable employment contract or agreement. (h) No Rights as Stockholder. Subject to the provisions of the applicableAward, no Participant or holder or beneficiary of any Award shall have any rights as a stockholder with respect to any Shares to be distributed under thePlan until he or she has become the holder of such Shares. Notwithstanding theforegoing, in connection with each grant of Restricted Stock hereunder, the applicable Award shall specify if and to what extent the Participant shall notbe entitled to the rights of a stockholder in respect of such Restricted Stock. (i) Governing Law. The validity, construction, and effect of the Plan and any rules and regulations relating to the Plan and any Award Agreement shall be determined in accordance with the laws of the State of New York, applied without giving effect to its conflict of laws principles. (j) Severability. If any provision of the Plan or any Award is or becomes or is deemed to be invalid, illegal, or unenforceable in any jurisdiction or as to any Person or Award, or would disqualify the Plan or any Award under any law deemed applicable by the Committee, such provision shall be construed or deemed amended to conform the applicable laws, or if it cannot be construed or deemed amended without, in the determination of the Committee, materially altering the intent of the Plan or the Award, such provision shall be stricken as to such jurisdiction, Person or Award and the remainder of the Plan and any such Award shall remain in full force and effect. (k) Other Laws. The Committee may refuse to issue or transfer any Shares or other consideration under an Award if, acting in its sole discretion, itdetermines that the issuance or transfer of such Shares or such other consideration might violate any applicable law or regulation or entitle the Company to recover the same under Section 16(b) of the Exchange Act, and anypayment tendered to the Company by a Participant, other holder or beneficiary in connection with the exercise of such Award shall be promptly refunded to the relevant Participant, holder or beneficiary. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, no Award granted hereunder shall be construed as an offer to sell securities of the Company, and no such offer shall be outstanding, unless and until the Committee in its sole discretion has determined that any such offer, if made, would be in compliance with all applicable requirements of the U.S. federal securities laws. (l) No Trust or Fund Created. Neither the Plan nor any Award shall create or be construed to create a trust or separate fund of any kind or a fiduciary relationship between the Company or any Affiliate and a Participant or any other Person. To the extent that any Person acquires a right to receive payments fromthe Company or any Affiliate pursuant to an Award, such right shall be no greater than the right of any unsecured general creditor of the Company or any Affiliate. (m) No Fractional Shares. No fractional Shares shall be issued or delivered pursuant to the Plan or any Award, and the Committee shall determine whether cash, other securities, or other property shall be paid or transferred in lieu of any fractional Shares or whether such fractional Shares or any rights thereto shall be canceled, terminated, or otherwise eliminated. (n) Headings. Headings are given to the Sections and subsections of the Plan solely as a convenience to facilitate reference. Such headings shall not bedeemed in any way material or relevant to the construction or interpretation ofthe Plan or any provision thereof. SECTION 15. Term of the Plan. (a) Effective Date. The Plan shall be effective as of the date of itsapproval by the stockholders of the Company. (b) Expiration Date. No Award shall be granted under the Plan after December31, 2012. Unless otherwise expressly provided in the Plan or in an applicableAward Agreement, any Award granted hereunder may, and the authority of the Boardor the Committee to amend, alter, adjust, suspend, discontinue, or terminate any such Award or to waive any conditions or rights under any such Award shall,continue after December 31, 2012. 12/09/2006 10:48:00 PM
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Sirius Files S-8 Registration Statement
Full Title: SIRIUS SATELLITE RADIO INC. 401(K) SAVINGS PLAN AMENDED AND RESTATED SIRIUS SATELLITE RADIO 2003 LONG-TERM STOCK INCENTIVE PLAN LINK: http://investor.sirius.com/edgar.cfmPosted by ssg5 12/09/2006 07:12:00 AM
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BusinessWeek Comments On XM, Sirius Merger
Technology December 8, 2006, 12:00AM EST, BusinessWeek Obstacles to an XM, Sirius MergerTo go beyond talk of joining forces, the rival satellite radio services must get in tune with regulators, shareholders, and their own executives When they first launched at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in 2001, the two major satellite service companies XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio were bitter rivals. So bitter, in fact, that executives from both companies took every chance they could to smack each other down in public. In press conferences and statements, they'd decline to refer to each other by name. And though their spaces on the trade-show floor were near each other, the walls of each were positioned so that you couldn't see one when standing in the space of the other. Half a decade later, officials from XM and Sirius are talking about each other a lot—and now it's in reference to a possible merger. Public statements by Sirius ( SIRI) Chief Executive Mel Karmazin, its Chief Financial Officer David Frear, and XM ( XMSR) Chairman Gary Parsons indicate the companies are circling each other, wondering if it would be worthwhile to bury the hatchet...read more: herePosted by ssg5 12/09/2006 07:09:00 AM
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WSJ: Comments On SatRad Holiday Season
What a Difference a Year Has Made For Once-Highflying Satellite Radio
By SARAH MCBRIDE, December 8, 2006; Page B1, The Wall Street Journal Opening a package from his brother and finding a shiny new Sirius satellite car radio inside was one of Dan Krokosky's best gift experiences ever. But as much as he loves his radio, the San Francisco-based oil company executive won't be doling any out to friends or family this holiday season. "I would want to include the subscription for a year, and that would make it pretty expensive," he says. "Also there's the issue of installation. Too complicated." Recent sales data suggest Mr. Krokosky isn't alone. And that's adding up to big headaches for not just Sirius Satellite Radio Inc., but rival XM Satellite Holdings Inc. Earlier this week, Sirius cut its subscriber projections for this year by at least 200,000 to a range between 5.9 million and 6.1 million subscribers, blaming weaker-than-anticipated retail sales since the Thanksgiving holiday. XM has been trimming its forecasts all year, most recently telling investors it will end the year with between 7.7 million and 7.9 million subscribers. The situation is a sharp contrast to last year, when satellite radio was one of the hottest gifts around. The industry was generating unprecedented buzz. Morning radio host Howard Stern was about to join Sirius, accompanied by a saturation marketing and publicity campaign that reported every move Mr. Stern made. Much of the attention spilled over to XM, which launched its own advertising campaign to counter the Sirius blitz. Both companies signed up record numbers of subscribers...read more: herePosted by ssg5 12/09/2006 07:06:00 AM
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Thursday, December 07, 2006 Special Sale On Sirius Hardware at TSS Radio
 December 7, 2007 The guys at TSS-Radio contacted us to let us know that they are offering a special that makes the gift of giving Sirius much easier. This promotion starts December 8th. Buy One radio at the advertised price and get $20 off of each additional radio you buy. This makes buying Sirius for gifts easier on the wallet. All Sirius models are included with the exception of the Sirius One. This offer is available through December 27th. For more information vistit TSS Radio12/07/2006 10:48:00 PM
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The Merger Issue
December 7, 2006 The merger topic is once again a centerpiece for discussion surrounding Sirius and XM. What ivestors need to do is strip away their emotions regarding the companies, forget for a moment about the issues surrounding management of a merged company, and ask one very important question: "WOULD A MERGER MAKE ME MONEY?" I don't care what company you are a fan of. I don't care whether you love one company and hate the other. I don't even care if you are a consumer of the product or not. All I care about is whether or not a merge would benefit my portfolio. If a merge were to happen, it would likely result in a recapitalization of the stock. Outstanding shares would be at a reasonable figure, and the newly formed company could go about it's business with new found synergies. Think about it: Double the bandwidth. A better negotiating position for content negotiations. A better negotiating position with OEM partners. A faster adoption rate for OEM installs. Satellites that can deliver the best of audio content, video content and data services. Streamlined overhead costs. Streamlined manufacturing. Real Estate that could be sold or renegotiated. No more in sector fighting. An alligned front against other media delivery devices and systems. Streamlined marketing. Higher ad revenue. Instant value for expansion and growth. Every major sport covered with one service. Every major personality covered. The ability to add additional content. and more and more and more. From an investors perspective there is simply no downside. XM shareholders and sirius shareholders would both see immediate value in the merged company. A merger at this point in time has huge synergies NOW, and even bigger benefits going forward. Imagine being able to trim costs while at the same time adding $1.00 or $2.00 to the subscription price. imagine what that would do to the expense line nad the revenue line. Take your emotion out of the picyure and ask yourself the one important question..... WILL THE MERER MAKE ME MONEY? If you ask yourself this honestly, you can only come to but one answer. personally, I think that it should be considered by sirius and XM. In fact, I think it should be strongly considered. Lets face it, there are many companies out there with dollars to spend. One way or the other, one or both of these companies will be bought or merged within the next few years......unless they were to combine forces now. If for no other reason, this alone should give people pause for thought. 12/07/2006 10:29:00 PM
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What Cramer Said On MadMoney Tonight
Cramer's 'Mad Money' Recap: Dolby Stock Still HumsDec. 7 After Sirius Satellite Radio ( SIRI - news - Cramer's Take - Rating) lowered its sales outlook this week, Cramer realized that although he thought it didn't need to merge with XM Satellite Radio ( XMSR - news - Cramer's Take - Rating) to do well, he was wrong. He said he's going back to the way he felt originally, which is that there's too much competition and not enough demand for Sirius to succeed without merging with XM. "It's probably not going anywhere except slightly down unless it gets that merger with XM Radio," Cramer said...read more: hereposted by ssg5 12/07/2006 08:07:00 PM
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XM's Parsons Interviewed On CNBC
Live In Play, www.briefing.com 07-Dec-06, 15:28 XMSR XM Satellite Chairman appears on CNBC (14.83 +0.13) -Update-
When asked about XMSR/SIRI speculation, says rumor has been around for 2 years, and he tries to avoid addressing the speculation because speculation is what it is. Notes that the two of them (XMSR & SIRI) are very good, very healthy competitors, and they work together on regulatory matters. Says he leaves the speculation to reporters and analysts. Says the mkt they compete in is a much larger, broader mkt, and he thinks it could have a positive regulatory review. When asked if co is engaged in any conversation on the subject, says the "factual inquiry is no." (Note that XMSR discussed merger speculation at the Credit Suisse conference earlier today as well -- see 10:35 comment for details) 10: 35 XM Satellite Credit Suisse conf call summary (15.14 +0.44) -Update-
On a potential merger with SIRI, co said that clearly the two co's operating in larger mkt than sat radio, primary competitor is terestrial radio, not each other. On cost synergies the co said yes, there would be significant synergies but there are also significant differences in co's focus. Thinks there are market place imbalances on valuations of co's. Notes that there are other opportunities for both co's, beyond a merger, in other strategic directions. Both co's are doing well in capturing market share, no urgency. Co says that it appears more spending is going into HDTV's and video game systems this holiday. Says that clearly Sat radio is not as strong this holiday as it was last holiday. Co continues to see softness across the board in retail, some shift to from big box to direct channels. 12/07/2006 03:35:00 PM
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XM's Parsons: No Basis For Regulatory Hurdles If Merger
XM: No basis for regulatory hurdles if mergerDec 7, MarketWatchXM Satellite Radio Chairman Gary Parsons said Thursday if it and rival Sirius Satellite Radio wanted to merge, regulators would have no basis to think the combination would endanger competition in the radio industry. "We are operating in a much larger marketplace than satellite radio ... The competition is predominantly terrestrial radio," Parsons told a gathering at the annual Credit Suisse Media & Telecom Week conference in New York. At this time, Parsons said, "there's no urgency" for XM to merge with Sirius, as the companies are "doing a good job" of exploiting the market for satellite radio. The executive said retail sales of XM radios do look weaker than those of last year's fourth quarter, when the imminent arrival of Howard Stern at Sirius raised overall awareness of satellite radio and fueled sign-ups. Parsons said that the ongoing enhancement of XM products would provide new retail markets to pursue, and help increase overall retail sales. (Corrects name and title of XM executive.) posted by ssg5 12/07/2006 12:08:00 PM
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UBS & CSFB Conference Comments
Both XMSR and SIRI presented at the UBS and CSFB conferences. In essence, neither company denied the possibility of a merger. Although the technologies are different, their non-music content offerings have very little overlap. The FCC is bound to notice that competition is not limited to terrestrial radio...as iPods invade the dashboard, HD radio ups the ante, and as Ford and GM explore their options for consolidation, merger prospects become enhanced. I am disappointed that XM still feels the need introduce negative comparisons with Sirius. XM played up their reduced reliance on retail, their lower SAC, and and methodology for counting subscribers. Sirius restrains itself from commenting on the accounting that creates this lower SAC, and weakness in the OEM market. I believe that competition is healthy, but that in this case, it should be limited to the realm of consumers, not to analyst conferences. As I have said in the past, in a sector with just 2 competitors, it's more mature to keep those negative comments to oneself. posted by ssg5 12/07/2006 11:43:00 AM
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Stern To Appear On Letterman
 December 7, 2006 Today on his show Howard stern confirmed that he would be appearing on the Late Show With david letterman on Tuesday, December 12, 2006. Some feel that Stern has not made many promotional appearances this Christmas season. There has been a big friends and family push on Sirius, and on his show, but a push outside of the Sirius broadcasts has been absent until now. It could prove interesting to see how the retail channel plays out as Christmas closes in. 12/07/2006 09:59:00 AM
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XMSR: Here Is The Conference Presentation
Regarding XM's presentation, when is XM going to realize that their stock price performance is linked to that of Sirius and it is in their best interest to stop making negative comparisons? In a sector with only 2 competitors, both companies should be perceived in a positive light. XM should be competitive with consumers, not analysts. XM Satellite Radio has posted a new presentation to its Investor Relations website. Presentation: Credit Suisse Media & Telecom Week PresentationDate(s): 12/7/2006 9:40:00 AM To access this item, please click here12/07/2006 09:48:00 AM
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What Howard Said About Sirius' Revised Subscriber Guidance
SIRIUS Subscriber Forecast Lowered, Howard To Blame? 12/06/06. 6:15am, via www.marksfriggin.comHoward took a call from a guy who said that he was watching some news last night and they were doing a news report about how Howard wasn't going to be the savior for SIRIUS because they've dropped their estimates this year. Howard said that the press likes to spin him to look like a loser. He said that in under a year they've gone from 600,000 subscribers to now an estimated 6.3 million. Yesterday Mel Karmazin came out and said they have lowered that number to 5.9 to 6.1 million so the news picked up on that and started calling him a loser and saying that the Stern Effect is over. Howard said that XM has lowered their predictions a couple of times this year, this is the first time SIRIUS did it this year. He said that they've already got over 5 million subscribers and he doesn't see how he's a loser. Robin said that SIRIUS has said that Howard had already brought in more people than they expected he would. Howard said the press hates him and they love to report on him in that way. Howard said that this has nothing to do with him, it has to do with SIRIUS and the way they make their predictions. He said he wishes that they wouldn't make predictions at all and just announce it when they get subscribers...read more: hereposted by ssg5 12/07/2006 06:53:00 AM
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GM: New Products To Help Drive Market Share Gains
GM says U.S. retail market share has bottomedWed Dec 6, 2006 9:58 PM ET, NEW YORK, Dec 6 (Reuters) - General Motors Corp.'s U.S. market share has bottomed out and new products such as crossover vehicles are going to help drive market share gains, GM executives said on Wednesday.
The company is also making progress in key negotiations on labor and contract issues with former unit Delphi Corp. , though it has no timeline for completing a deal.
Asked about GM's U.S. market share, Mark LaNeve, its North American sales chief, said: "We stabilized it, and it's going to trend up." He added that GM's retail market share was about 22 percent.
"I believe that is the bottom," LaNeve said at a GM holiday event in New York. "We think we're going to gain incremental share with some new products we're bringing into the market."...read more: here
posted by ssg512/07/2006 06:25:00 AM
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Despite A Slow Start, Microsoft Expects 1 Million Zune Sales By June
Microsoft Predicts Zune Sales Will Hit 1 Million By June
by Emily Burg, Thursday, Dec 7, 2006 5:00 AM ET, Media Post MICROSOFT YESTERDAY SAID SALES OF its Zune portable music player are on track, and it expects to sell 1 million of the devices by next June. It's been three weeks since the launch of the MP3 player, which Microsoft is marketing for its "social" ability to share tunes wirelessly. The Zune hardware has drawn some strong reviews, but the actual music downloading process has received less enthusiastic marks in comparison to Apple's market-dominating iPod and iTunes...read more: herePosted by ssg5 12/07/2006 06:20:00 AM
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Nothing Can Stop An Idea Who's Time Has Come
  December 6, 2006 Nothing can stop an idea who’s time has come. This statement has applied to many companies and people over the years. The perseverance of great individuals and companies has brought to fruition many things that are considered today to be very basic. These things did not come easily, and there were hardships and challenges along the way. Recently, I had the opportunity to see Mr. Gordon Morton speak. His speech centered around innovation, and the fact that most innovations have many hurdles along the way. What is compelling however is the fact that NOTHING CAN STOP AN IDEA WHO’S TIME HAS COME. SATELLITE RADIO’S TIME HAS COME, AND NOTHING CAN STOP IT. How do I know that the idea of satellite radios time has come? I know this because: -Consumers want and demand better sound quality -Consumers want and demand better variety. -Consumers want and demand more for their money, but are willing to pay for quality. -Traditional Radio does not offer this. -I-Pods and MP3 Players require users to spend countless hours downloading. -The best talent in the business is a part of it. Challenges come when a revolution is happening. The status quo is easy, and it is human nature to initially rebuff change. However, it is also human nature to be curious, and that is what has already happened to satellite radio. The curious consumers have tried, loved, and adopted satellite radio. They tell a friend, and the idea begins to take root. Those tied to the traditional methods will fight to save their traditional ways, but there is no holding back AN IDEA WHO’S TIME HAS COME. Take Clarence Birdseye for example. In 1910 while studying biology in the arctic he noticed that freshly caught fish froze solid almost immediately when placed on the ice, yet they still tasted fresh when they were thawed. The fast freezing happened so quickly that ice crystals were minimized and the structure and texture of the fish remained intact. Birdsey took this concept and developed flash freezing methods. The idea was seen as awesome, and was heralded as an answer to world hunger. People now had the ability to keep foods longer, and consumers were thrilled with the idea. Then the challenges began. Fresh food markets saw Birdseye’s product as a threat. They began to talk bad about the freezing process. They stated that the nutrition was taken away by freezing (something that was untrue). They spoke of the huge expense to keep the food frozen, and slandered the taste of the frozen food. They were used to the status quo, and lacked the vision to accept change, and make changes themselves to maximize the Birdseye ideas. Those that failed to see the greatness of the idea soon fell by the wayside. Those that were intuitive enough to see that the IDEA’S TIME HAD COME took advantage of it. They modernized their stores. They saw the value in being able to sell corn in the off season. They understood the greatness that this idea represented. Birdseye knew however that his idea was great, he maintained his composure and continued to expand his business…..always keeping a tight focus on what he was doing. He developed freezer programs for stores, and developed freezer railroad cars to broaden his reach. HE HAD AN IDEA WHO’S TIME HAD COME and nothing was going to stop it. It can be argued that Clarence Birdseye was the father of not only frozen food, but frozen food shipment, as well as the modern supermarket. There are many stories that are similar…..The Toni Permanent, the microwave oven, and even the radio itself. Friends of Marconi were on the verge of having him committed to an insane asylum because of all of his banter about sound traveling on waves. How long would we have waited for the radio had that happened. NOTHING CAN STOP AN IDEA WHO’S TIME HAS COME. In my opinion this applies not only to the concept of satellite radio, but to the equities themselves. The idea of satellite radio has now taken root. People who try it love it, and they refer friends and family. The concept is sound, and satellite radio delivers unprecedented value in terms of variety for the money. Despite the campaign of terrestrial radio, satellite radio will march on. Despite the RIAA filing suits, and demanding exorbitant fees, satellite radio will thrive. Despite the statements of those that want to stay with the status quo, satellite radio will continue to grow. The equities are now getting to the point of seeing there initial seeds take root. In the third quarter both Sirius and XM reported narrower losses. Both companies are on the verge of Cash Flow Break Even. Both companies are projected to report narrower losses each quarter going forward. Both companies are projecting huge revenue growth going forward as well. The negative press will try to argue differently. The shorts will argue that losses continue. The nay-sayers will point to lowered guidance. All of these people lack the vision to understand what is happening. They do not see the 95% of the U.S. population that has yet to be exposed to this form of entertainment and subscribe. They do not see that satellite radio has gone from no listeners to nearly 24 million in only 5 years. They do not grasp the growth potential. They do not grasp the amounts of revenue that will be generated. They look at next week instead of next year. The transition from a stock price based on subscriber numbers, content deals, and partners to a stock price based financial metrics is happening. Some want to hang on to the old ways, and some have seen the new metrics that determine real value. As that balance shifts towards the financials, the volatility will ease. Day traders will lose the swing factor, and shorts will begin to lose the ability to argue based on hypothetical situations. As the next few quarters pass, and it becomes clear to the masses that the TIME HAS COME for these equities, the ones that see that 3 year vision will be at a distinct advantage. SATTELITE RADIO’S TIME HAS COME AND NOTHING CAN STOP IT. 12/07/2006 12:41:00 AM
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Wednesday, December 06, 2006 Setting The Stage For SatRad Merger: FCC Encouraged To Loosen Media Ownership Rules
Broadcasters, Newspapers Encourage FCC To Reform Media Ownership
December 6, 2006, www.fmqb.comA collection of broadcasters and newspaper owners have sent a letter to the FCC, encouraging the Commission to loosen the much-debated media ownership rules. The letter is signed by all four major TV networks, the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), Clear Channel, Cox Enterprises, Bonneville, Hearst-Argyle, Tribune and many more. In the letter, the coalition writes, "Technological and marketplace developments -- especially the growth of multi-channel programming distributors and the Internet -- have fundamentally altered the landscape in which the commission’s ownership rules were originally adopted. Consumers nationally and in local markets of all sizes now enjoy access to, and benefit from, a vast array of information, opinion, and entertainment from a wide range of diverse sources, including television and radio stations, nonbroadcast and multichannel outlets, print publications, and the virtually unlimited voices available on the Internet. As a result of this explosion of outlets and new technologies, television and radio broadcasters are experiencing unprecedented challenges in maintaining their audience shares and the advertising revenues essential to the survival of nonsubscription media. Indeed, the primary challenge facing local stations in today’s highly competitive environment is remaining economically viable and accordingly able to continue to serve their communities with free, over-the-air entertainment and informational programming -- including news, emergency information, and other local programming that their audiences need and expect."...read more: here12/06/2006 08:25:00 PM
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"Janey Cakes" - Bubba's Mom - Dishes Up a Sirius Meatloaf
 December 6, 2006 Those that listen to Bubba The Love Sponge will likely recall the segment where food critic Ryan DuVall paid a visit to Jane and tried her meatloaf recepie. DuVall raved about the meatloaf and even got the sectrets to a successful meat loaf. Article Excerpt: Bubba’s mom makes Sirius meatloaf Shock jock’s mother cooks up outstanding meal in Warsaw By Ryan DuVall Restaurant critic Janelle Sou Roberts/The Journal Gazette A regular guest on her son’s Sirius Satellite Radio show, Jane Edmond’s cooking was as good as advertised. Jane Edmond’s Italian Meatloaf will leave you stuffed. Sirius Satellite Radio personality Bubba the Love Sponge, aka Todd Clem, is a native of Warsaw and a graduate of Warsaw High School. Jane Edmond makes a world-famous meatloaf. Well, maybe not world famous, but famous in the world of satellite radio. The Warsaw native is the mother of Sirius Satellite Radio personality Bubba the Love Sponge, who grew up in Warsaw as Todd Clem. During a recent surprise visit to Tampa, Fla., to see her son, Edmond, known to Bubba’s listeners as “Janie Cakes,” had to whip up several pans of her Italian meatloaf, a load of her homemade scalloped potatoes and several old-fashioned cream pies for his staff. Bubba spent an afternoon on air lauding her meatloaf to his throng of listeners, which included this restaurant critic and admitted meatloaf lover. No sooner was Edmond back home in Indiana than she got a call from me wanting to sample her goods. All about the cook A retired former Warsaw city department head who spent 24 years as a working mom, Edmond said her recipes are truly hers because she is a self-taught cook. Her mother died when she was a teenager, and it wasn’t until she had kids that she really started to learn to cook. “There was a lot of trial and error, and I have made my share of flops,” she said. But Bubba and Edmond’s husband, Jeff, have handled the flops – including a breakfast casserole Bubba still refers to by a four-letter-word inclusive surname – because the dishes that don’t flop are so good....... Read more HEREJaneys recipies for the meal Janie Cakes’ recipes
Italian Meatloaf2 pounds lean ground sirloin 1 cup Italian bread crumbs 2 eggs beaten Salt and pepper to taste 1 cup ketchup 2 tablespoons brown sugar 1/2 cup chopped onion (sautéed) Mix all ingredients together, and place half of meat in loaf pan. Make a tunnel in meat loaf mixture, and pack in 1 1/2 cups of Mozzarella cheese. Place other half of meat over top, and seal edges. Place in oven at 350 degrees for 1 hour. After 1 hour, remove meatloaf and cover top with a paste of 1/2 cup ketchup and 2 teaspoons brown sugar mixed together. Put back in oven for 15 minutes to a half an hour. Let stand about 15 minutes before cutting. Scalloped Potatoes with Cheese5 tablespoons of butter or margarine 1/4 cup flour 3 cups of milk 8 to 10 ounces of shredded American cheese Salt and pepper to taste 6 to 7 potatoes peeled and sliced thin Melt butter in large saucepan, add flour, stir well until blended. Slowly add 3 cups of milk and stir until thickened. Add cheese, salt and paper and stir until melted. Place potatoes in greased casserole dish, and over sauce. Place in oven at 350 degrees for 1 hour, or until potatoes are tender, when checked with a fork. Old Fashioned Cream Pie
1 cup of sugar 1/4 cup corn starch 2 cups of half-and-half One baked 9-inch pie crust Cook sugar, corn starch and half-and-half in sauce pan over medium heat, stirring constantly until bubbly and thickened. Remove from heat and add 1 stick of butter, and one teaspoon vanilla. Stir until butter is melted. Pour into pie crust, and sprinkle with cinnamon. Bake in oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. 12/06/2006 04:38:00 PM
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CNets James Kim Found Dead
 December 6, 2006 Those that follow satellite radio or the tech world are likely familiar with CNET. Senior Editor James Kim was found dead today. His wife and two children were rescued December 4th. Satellite Standard Group would like to express our sorrow at the loss of James Kim. Please refer to CNET HERE for more information 12/06/2006 04:30:00 PM
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Bridge Ratings, Updated Dec. 6th
The Bridge Ratings Consumer Trend Report: Satellite Radio Q4 Subscriber Trending
Updated Wednesday December 6, 2006 Holiday Shoppers: Satellite Radio Not High on Their Lists Bridge Ratings' trending of Satellite Radio subscribers continues through 2006. The purpose of this on-going study is to analyze consumer preferences related to satellite service brand and satellite radio in general. This Week's Update: Retail sales continue to pace behind 2005 for satellite radio as this week' retail traffic in satellite radio departments around the country was down slightly from last week's improved activity. Sirius continues its dominance of what retail interest there is though XM has improved its brand scores over the last few weeks primarily due to solid advertising and market support and clever stealth marketing. Starting this week, Bridge Ratings has begun asking retail shoppers to provide a list of their top 10 "wish list" electronic items. From the 4000 national sample this week, 23% were willing to provide their electronic wish list from a list of 48 items. read more: here12/06/2006 03:47:00 PM
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TheStreet.com Comments On Karmazin At UBS
Karmazin Strikes BackBy Scott Moritz Senior Writer12/6/2006 2:01 PM EST Sirius (SIRI) CEO Mel Karmazin shrugged off the pay radio broadcaster's subscriber-guidance disappointment Wednesday, saying the company's growth rate remains "extraordinary." Speaking at a Credit Suisse media and telecom conference in midtown Manhattan, Karmazin defended Sirius' prospects, even in the wake of Monday's year-end user-roll target cut. "I don't see it as a slowdown," Karmazin said of the slow post-Thanksgiving retail sales rate that caused New York-based Sirius to trim its year end subscriber target to around 6 million from the previous 6.2 million. He reiterated comments that even at a slower growth rate, 2006 will be Sirius' best year ever and the fourth quarter will rank as the year's second-best quarter. Karmazin said the best-ever quarter was the first quarter of 2006, which benefited from the addition of shock jock Howard Stern. Karmazin noted that Sirius is expected to post revenue of $1 billion next year, up from this year's $600 million-plus, and that only two free radio companies are that big. "I'm not sure I understand what the problem is," Karmazin said of Sirius' growth rate...read more: here12/06/2006 02:35:00 PM
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Wall Street Journal: Why iPods Die (I Could Have Written This Article)
When iPods Die
Gripes Over Breakdowns GrowAs Players Become Ubiquitous;The Drop-Start Technique By NICK WINGFIELDDecember 6, 2006; Page D1, The Wall Street Journal This holiday season Apple Computer Inc.'s iPod is once again a top seller in stores and the music player's white earphones remain a nearly ubiquitous sight on city streets and at gyms. But as it reaches deeper into the mainstream, more users are becoming familiar with a new sense of loss: the death of an iPod. Among users of the device, it's long been common to hear of iPods laid low by batteries that no longer hold a charge, malfunctioning hard disks and screens with cracks. In some cases, problems are caused by users who accidentally drop their iPods or otherwise subject them to abuse, but other users say their iPods go belly up even after normal use...read more: here12/06/2006 02:05:00 PM
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Briefing.com: Sirius Presentation Summary At UBS
Live In Play, www.briefing.com, 06-Dec-06, 12:01 SIRI Sirius Satellite UBS conf call summary (3.86 +0.01)
On the call the company ran through the basic business review as usual there was nothing new in that part of the presentation. In the Q&A period, the company said that the TV product incremental cost is not significant. Co Does not intend to subsidize the cost of hardware for TV product. Doesn't really move the needle, expects it to be cash accretive from almost day one... On International expansion the co said it will look to maximize shareholder return in North America first, would be happy to affiliate with someone but is unlikely to be driving force in international expansion... On consolidation the co had no comment on synergies valuations... on the used car market co thinks it is a huge opportunity but the question is how do you get to that consumer. 12/06/2006 12:10:00 PM
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Ford Ramps Up Incentives To Boost Sales
Ford ramps up deals again, Automaker extends $1,000 bonus cash to 12 more models, including Mustang and Focus
Sharon Terlep / The Detroit News, Dec 6 Ford Motor Co. offered the biggest incentives of any major U.S. carmaker in November, but that failed to translate into better sales. Now, the Dearborn automaker is ratcheting up discounts again in a bid to end the year on a high note. On Tuesday, Ford added $1,000 in year-end bonus cash on 12 more models, including the Mustang coupe and Explorer SUV. Ford is now offering the bonus cash on 19 Ford and Mercury models. Customers can use the bonus cash on top of existing rebates or interest-rate deals. While Ford spent $4,231 on average to sell its cars and trucks in November -- a 50 percent increase from a year ago -- the month's sales were down 10.6 percent. Ford ended November with a 93-day supply of unsold vehicles, compared to 90 days at General Motors Corp. and 76 days at DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group. Ford acknowledges the sales slump, which pushed it into fourth place in the U.S. auto market last month. GM remains in first place, followed by Toyota Motor Corp. and DaimlerChrysler. Despite the problems, Ford is happy with inventory levels that have been declining for months, company spokesman George Pipas said. Ford's inventory level, which dropped to 627,800 vehicles at the end of November from 752,900 at the end of November 2005, is a sign the company is having success bringing its production more in line with consumer demand, Pipas said. "Admittedly, it's been painful," he said. "But from an inventory standpoint, our situation is outstanding." Ford last month rolled out new incentives that included extending no-interest loans for 2006 models as well as some cashback and low-interest financing on 2007 models. GM has moved to pare back heavy discounts, which can erode vehicle resale values, confuse consumers and cut into profits. Ford's problems were most pronounced in the crucial truck segment. Demand for Ford trucks was down 51 percent from a year ago, despite a 51 percent increase in incentive spending. GM's incentive spending on trucks is down 13 percent for the same period, and sales were up 16 percent...read more: here12/06/2006 11:31:00 AM
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Orbitcast Reviews The Delphi SkyFi3
Delphi SkyFi3 - Orbitcast Review, Dec 5
We saw the Delphi SkyFi3 Unboxed and now after spending some hands-on time with the unit (courtesy of The Radio Place) here's the full Orbitcast Review.The Delphi SkyFi3 XM Satellite Radio is best described as a new "hybrid" plug-and-play receiver. OK so technically it's a plug-and-play receiver because in it's base form it can only receive the XM signal when docked, but it joins a growing category of receivers that offer on-the-go functionality. Receivers like the Sirius S50 and Samsung NeXus come to mind instantly. Where the SkyFi3 differs is that it's primarily meant for vehicle use - where a majority of radio listening is done...read more: here12/06/2006 10:03:00 AM
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24/7 Wall St Comments On Sirius & XM Merger
December 05, 2006, 24/7 Wall St How Sirius & XM Would Look As a Merged CompanyThis story was originally posted at 5:00PM EST earlier today. No data has been changed or altered. While many are guessing or speculating on a merger between XM Satellite (XMSR) and Sirius (Satellite Radio (SIRI), very few have shown what a combined company would look like and what issues would need to be overcome. No one can say the deal is a shoe in, but it is more than worth investigating what a combined operation would look like. The Department of Justice might block a deal FCC may not allow a merger of the two satellite radio companies, but, if one gets into significant financial difficulty, that might change. If they are both running very well and they are still going to grow, then they have to put on a salesman hat to win approval, but if both companies have growth issues and a potential survival issue and then all of a sudden neither can run profitably then they would have a better case of pressing the DOJ & FCC to approve a merger. There would be some conditions, but if the FCC had to see a near monopoly or had to see yet another failure of a space venture they just might be inclined to go along without blocking the deal from the start. There are some regulatory issues that would be there as noted, and at least Mel Karmazin has already addressed that as a real issue. He of course also has expressed interest in acquiring XM. If this were to happen soon before a new administration that may or may not be more hawkish on blocking mergers, the issues could potentially be worked out. After all, there are others that have at least some capabilities of offering a competing service in the US and Canada. Satellite radio is also not going to be deemed as important as terrestrial radio to an FCC or to a DOJ...read more: here12/06/2006 10:01:00 AM
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NASCAR Increases Awareness With New Format
DirecTV (And Sirius) to Take NASCAR Fans Inside CarsBy JENNA FRYER 12.05.06, 5:04 PM ET , Forbes The sport that already offers unprecedented fan access is going one step further in 2007, allowing DirecTV viewers to watch an entire NASCAR race from behind the wheel. NASCAR HotPass will debut on DirecTV (nyse: DTV - news - people ) at the Daytona 500 in February and offer fans at home the opportunity to watch a race from a driver's vantage point. Subscribers will have access to five channels dedicated to individual drivers, who will change every week.... ...DirecTV isn't the only medium offering new access next season. Sirius Satellite Radio (nasdaq: SIRI - news - people ) plans to offer 10 driver channels that will combine the overall race broadcast with driver-to-pit crew chatter in 2007.
"By layering the driver chatter over the race broadcast and alternating between the two, we'll provide a way to follow the race like never before," said Scott Greenstein, president of Entertainment and Sports.
Dick Glover, vice president of broadcasting and new media for NASCAR, said the DirecTV and Sirius deals show how committed the sport is to providing new and exciting ways for fans to enjoy it...read more: here12/06/2006 09:55:00 AM
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Directed Electronics Cuts Profit Outlook
Directed Electronics Cuts Profit OutlookWednesday December 6, 7:57 am ET, AP Directed Electronics Trims Its Profit Guidance on Sluggish Sales of Satellite Radio Receivers Directed Electronics Inc., which makes security and entertainment systems for automobiles, on Wednesday lowered its earnings guidance for 2006 because of lower than anticipated sales of satellite radio receivers. The company said it now expects pro forma earnings in the range of $1.04 per share to $1.08 per share, compared to its previous guidance of $1.09 per share to $1.13 per share. Directed Electronics, which supplies satellite radios to retailers for Sirius Satellite Radio Inc., now anticipates revenue in the range of $430 million to $440 million, compared to its previous guidance of $440 million to $460 million. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial presently had expected a profit of $1.11 per share on revenue of $443.6 million...read more: here12/06/2006 09:50:00 AM
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NAVTEQ To Acquire The Map Network
NAVTEQ Announces Agreement to Acquire The Map NetworkWednesday December 6, 9:00 am ET Local Content Provides Data 'Down to the Last Mile' CHICAGO, Dec. 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- NAVTEQ (NYSE: NVT - News), a leading global provider of digital maps for vehicle navigation and location-based solutions, has agreed to acquire The Map Network, a privately-held Washington DC based producer of official maps for travel destinations, special events and major hotels and marquee venues for $37.5 million in cash, subject to certain adjustments and closing conditions. The Map Network's content and capabilities are a natural extension of NAVTEQ's core map business and will enable NAVTEQ to augment its portfolio with rich, location-specific detail....read more: here12/06/2006 09:47:00 AM
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FCC's Robert McDowell: SatRad Merger "Intriguing"
McDowell: Sat radio merger 'intriguing'By Georg Szalai
Dec 6, 2006, The Hollywood Reporter NEW YORK -- The FCC's Robert McDowell in a rare media investor conference appearance Tuesday said that a satellite radio merger could be "an intriguing idea" to look at and signaled that he feels no need for his regulatory agency to mandate a la carte content offerings.Addressing a room packed with Wall Street folks, McDowell said "the core mission of the FCC is to promote freedom" of consumers and entrepreneurs. The agency's main goals must be to enable free markets and free ideas and remove barriers to entry with any government measures to address market failures having to be narrowly tailored, he added.Asked about a potential merger of XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio and whether it would abolish competition, McDowell said it is an "intriguing idea" and that he'd "be happy to look at it."Asked about a much-suggested merger of satellite TV giants DirecTV Group and EchoStar Communication, he referred only to recent comments made by FCC chairman Kevin Martin, who had said he hasn't seen enough evidence to justify a satellite merger.Questioned about his stance on the a la carte content debate, in which Martin has shown an interest, McDowell said, "We already live in an a la carte world." Pointing to his children's habit of watching content whenever and wherever they want, he said that companies that don't react to changed consumer behavior will suffer the consequences in the marketplace...read more: here12/06/2006 09:44:00 AM
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Martha Stewart Expands Her Brand
Live In Play, www.briefing.com 06-Dec-06, 08:42 MSO Martha Stewart: Next up for Martha Stewart brand: Line of food - AdAge.com (21.82 ) According to AdAge.com, Fresh from stamping the Martha Stewart name on new housing communities and home renovation products, MSO is planning its first line of food products, according to Susan Lyne, CEO of the company. It's probably the category we are best known for since we do a lot of cookbooks. We've done a lot of research into and when we enter that category," she told the financial community at the annual Credit Suisse First Boston Media conference. Come April, the multimedia lifestyle brand will also unveil a line of scrapbook products that will open the door to a $30 bln crafts business that currently lacks a national dominant brand. MSO is to unveil a revamped website next year and one element will be an improved search function. The company is also planning a fresh video series featuring "great chefs" from around the world demonstrating their technique. 12/06/2006 09:41:00 AM
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NY Post On Sirius Subscriber Guidance
SHOCK STOCK: SIRIUS DROP COSTS HOWARD BIG
By PETER LAURIA, The New York Post, December 6, 2006 -- The slice of Sirius Satellite Radio owned by Howard Stern and his agent got $11 million lighter yesterday, as investors sheared nearly 8 percent off the stock on news it had cut customer-growth projections. Citing weakness in the retail sector since the Thanksgiving holiday, Sirius trimmed its year-end subscriber forecast to between 5.9 million and 6.1 million from a previous forecast of 6.3 million. Sirius had 5.1 million subscribers as of the end of the third quarter. Investors didn't react kindly to the news, shedding 7.7 percent, or 32 cents, off Sirius shares to close yesterday at $3.85 on volume just shy of four times its average. It was the biggest stock drop for the satellite radio company since February 2005. Unlike rival XM Satellite Radio, which has reduced its subscriber guidance several times already this year, Sirius' announcement caught many on Wall Street flat-footed since it was the first time the company trimmed its forecast since Stern's arrival at the company in January...read more: here12/06/2006 09:39:00 AM
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Cardinal Egan Launches Talk Show On Sirius
His Eminence Edward Cardinal Egan to Host Weekly Talk Show Exclusively on SIRIUS Satellite Radio
The Cardinal Debuts Dec. 7 During the First Week of Advent, Exclusively on The Catholic Channel / 159 NEW YORK, Dec 06, 2006 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX The Archdiocese of New York and SIRIUS Satellite Radio ( SIRI) announced today that His Eminence Edward Cardinal Egan, Archbishop of New York, will host a one-hour weekly talk show exclusively on SIRIUS. The Cardinal's program is scheduled to debut Thursday, December 7th (12-1pm ET) and to air Thursdays throughout the year on The Catholic Channel. On the program, Cardinal Egan will discuss a variety of topics, addressing what is happening in the Archdiocese of New York and other significant issues in the Church. The Catholic Channel is 159 on SIRIUS. In addition to hosting his own weekly program, Cardinal Egan will be one of the regular celebrants of the Mass broadcast each day on The Catholic Channel from the Cathedral of Saint Patrick in New York City and the Cardinal will also appear on other regularly scheduled programs on the Catholic Channel. The Catholic Channel features a modern format with an open dialogue focused on Catholicism in the 21st century. Listeners call in to talk about the issues that are on their mind and in the news -- everything from what's happening in the Church today, to the headline stories of current events, and the latest in the world of entertainment, the arts and sports....read more: here12/06/2006 09:35:00 AM
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Tuesday, December 05, 2006 Stiletto Gets A Positive Mention In The New York Times
On the Road (in the Air) Again?
By JEFFREY SELINGO, Dec 6, The New York Times IN some ways, traveling is harder than ever. Lines at airports are long, with people still adjusting to carry-on rules for liquids. Planes are near capacity on many routes. And roads are clogged with traffic even when it is not rush hour. Luckily, technology can make traveling much easier, with devices that allow people to stay connected to work or be entertained.... ... If it is radio you must have while away, the Stiletto SL100 ($350), Sirius’s new portable satellite radio, not only offers live reception of its programming, but also Wi-Fi connectivity, allowing users to listen to anything on the Internet. Its two-gigabyte hard drive can store up to 100 hours of Sirius programming and alert users when a favorite sporting event is being broadcast...read more: here12/05/2006 10:44:00 PM
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Wall Street Journal: Can XM Profit In Slowing Market?
Can XM Profit in Slowing Market?
Controlling Costs Is a Key As Subscriber Growth Wanes By STEPHEN GROCER December 6, 2006 The Wall Street Journal Once a darling of Wall Street, XM Satellite Radio Holding Inc. has stumbled badly this year. The company lowered its subscriber forecasts three times, faced product delays and watched its market share shrink at the hands of its smaller rival, Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. Shares of Washington-based XM are down about 45% in 2006. Bullish analysts, though, point out that the sector offers huge growth opportunities, and XM is moving closer to profitability by strictly managing its costs. But the more bearish analysts are wary of stiff competition from Sirius, slowing subscriber momentum and a softening retail market for satellite radio...read more: here12/05/2006 09:54:00 PM
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Joan Lappin: "The future seems rosy, even though the road to get there may be taking a bit longer to find on the map than most of us expected"
Sirius Blinks in the Satellite-Radio Wars By Joan Lappin RealMoney.com Contributor12/5/2006 3:43 PM This column was originally published on RealMoney on Dec. 5 at 11:37 a.m. EST. It's being republished as a bonus for TheStreet.com readers. It's been less than two weeks since Santa Claus rode down Broadway in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, but he doesn't seem to have brought a ton of shoppers with him. First, we heard from Wal-Mart (WMT) that business was not exactly robust, and now Sirius (SIRI) is pulling in its horns. Investors may be on their own shopping spree, buying stocks on Wall Street, but signs are not robust for many retailers for the holiday selling season...read more: here12/05/2006 09:42:00 PM
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Sirius Radio Player For Smart Phones Released
 SiriusCE 2 - Sirius radio player for Windows Mobile - releasedDecember 05, 2006. www.msmobiles.comNow powered by .NET CF 2.0 and SQL CE 3, brings much more features (including real-time display of information about current broadcast) and works for both Windows Mobile platforms: MS Smartphone and Pocket PC. Yes, with Windows Mobile phones you can do something that you cannot do with Symbian phones, namely you can listen to Howard Stern live: ... ask Martha Stewart a question about lifestyle (yes, both Howard and Martha have live phone-in on Sirius!): ... or listen to one of many excellent music channels of Sirius...read more: here12/05/2006 08:36:00 PM
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SatRad Trader: Follow-Up
As a follow-up to my post last night, the market players took Sirius' guidance revisions to heart and were indeed punitive. Despite a few "buy" reiterations, the downgrades carried the weight. Over the past few months, a number of analysts had publicly expressed their disbelief regarding the 6.3 million target. This, combined with the large short position, lead me to believe that the news was already reflected in the stock price. But alas, this issue seems to be management credibility, and their handling of investor expectations. Perhaps the presentations by Mel and David tomorrow will shed some light on this, and potential catalysts for growth. I certainly hope so. 12/05/2006 04:08:00 PM
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XMSR: Gary Parsons To Speak At UBS And CSFB Conferences
XM Satellite Radio Chairman Gary Parsons to Speak at UBS and Credit Suisse Conferences
WASHINGTON, Dec. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- XM Satellite Radio (Nasdaq: XMSR), the nation's leading satellite radio company with more than 7 million subscribers, today announced that XM Chairman of the Board Gary Parsons is scheduled to present at two investor conferences during "Media Week" in New York City: * The UBS 34th Annual Global Media & Communications Conference on Wednesday, December 6, 2006 at 2:30 p.m. ET; and * The Credit Suisse Media and Telecom Week Conference Thursday, December 7, 2006 at 9:40 a.m. ET. Live webcasts will be available for each presentation via the Investor Relations section of the Company's Web site at http://www.xmradio.com/ (click on "Investor Info" on the bottom of the homepage, then " | 
