Wednesday, April 04, 2007
The Wall Street Journal: Read The Comments On Their "Impatience & Greed?" Article
Scroll down and read the comments on this article...Almost all are positive on the merger, and feel the NAB has a conflict of interest.
Sirius-XM: An Exercise in “Impatience and Greed”?
Posted by Dana Cimilluca, April 3, The Wall Street Journal
XM Satellite Radio Holdings and Sirius Satellite Radio have been pressing the case for their merger to anyone else that will listen, with Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin even making a couple stops on Capitol Hill to try to convince lawmakers that the deal wouldn’t be anticompetitive. Now it’s the other side’s turn to hit back.
The other side, of course, would be the terrestrial radio industry, which is desperately afraid of the new competitor that a merger of the satellite players would create. According to
this article from the New York Post this morning, the Carmel Group “independent” research firm will come out with a report today making the case that regulators ought to nix the deal.
No punches pulled here. (”With all due respect,” the report says, “this proposed merger should not be approved - under any conditions - by the U.S. government.”) It seeks to debunk the argument that the satellite operators’ real competitors are in conventional radio, so that allowing the two satellite broadcasters to merge won’t create a monopoly, and that XM and Sirius need the deal to survive.
Au contraire, the report says, according to the Post: “Sirius and XM are merely showing the level of their impatience - and greed - by offering this merger proposal today.”
Why should we be listening to the Carmel Group, given that it’s sponsored by the National Association of Broadcasters — the terrestrial radio industry’s lobbying group? According to the Post, because it is “widely credited with providing the foundation for the arguments that the Federal Communications Commission applied in unanimously rejecting” the proposed merger between EchoStar and DirecTV in 2003.
Carmel’s independence credentials aside, the market seems to be getting cold feet on the deal. As the 24/7 Wall Street blog
notes, both stocks are down 11% year to date. Sirius has given back all the gains it chalked up after signing the blockbuster contract with the self-proclaimed “King of All Media,” Howard Stern, and is back to late-2004 levels, it says.
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-->Share on Facebook Del.icio.us XM Satellite Radio Holdings and Sirius Satellite Radio have been pressing the case for their merger to anyone else that will listen, with Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin even making a couple stops on Capitol Hill to try to convince lawmakers that the deal wouldn’t be anticompetitive. Now it’s the other side’s turn to hit back.
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blogsadmin@wsj.comLet them combine. If people don’t want it….they won’t pay. People can live without it!!!
Comment by Kent - April 3, 2007 at
8:56 am The virulence of the NAB opposition is proof positive they are afraid of the power of SatRad competition. If competition is good for consumers the merger should be approved and consumers gain the benefits of the merger
Comment by Don - April 3, 2007 at
9:05 am The NAB knows the deal would be very successful for the consumer and only want to nix the deal to avoid the increased competition. They then spin it to make it look like they are trying to do the consumer a favor. Talk about a conflict of interest. Give me a break.
Comment by CK - April 3, 2007 at
9:06 am They should let the two companies merge. The customers who love sports will get the best of everything (currently some sports are exclusive to each). Let’s be serious though. How much could they really raise the price before people would stop getting it. We all have access to other music. With sports we have access to the internet. Same with a lot of the talk shows. So it would be a huge risk to raise the prices and alienate the customers they have.
Comment by Patrick - April 3, 2007 at
9:12 am ...read more:
here4/04/2007 08:01:00 AM
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