View Full Version : Sirius/xm Satellite Radio Merger Still Not There
By PETER LAURIA
February 19, 2008 -- Sirius and XM Satellite Radio shareholders are betting the companies' merger will be approved imminently; then again, that has been the case since November.
The spread between Sirius and XM shares is at its tightest since the merger was announced precisely one year ago today, meaning investors are buying into last week's market chatter that the Department of Justice is set to approve the deal.
According to one source familiar with the situation, junior Justice officials were given one last chance to make their case against approval - known as "last rights" - to Antitrust Division Chief Thomas Barnett before he signs off on the deal.
The spread between Sirius and XM shares is a telling indicator of whether the market thinks the deal will ultimately be approved or not.
The spread is based on a mathematical calculation involving the two companies' stock prices and the number of Sirius shares exchanged for one XM share. The wider the spread, the less a chance of approval; the tighter the spread, the better the odds.
Before Friday's close, the tightest the spread had been since the merger announcement was $1.50; the widest was $2.50. But based on Sirius' closing price of $3.23 per share Friday and XM's closing price of $13.56, the spread is now a miniscule $1.30.
"We believe the stock prices of XM and Sirius have re-entered an 'imminent approval' bubble," wrote Goldman, Sachs analyst Mark Wienkes in a report last week.
Shareholders of both companies, who have already approved the merger, have been expecting a green light from the government department since November. And while talk is that a ruling could come within days, there is no deadline for a decision.
Approval hinges on several factors: whether the Justice Department and the Federal Communications Commission believe XM and Sirius compete only with each other or, as the companies contend, with terrestrial radio, iPods and other audio entertainment devices.
Most Wall Street analysts think the merger will be approved with conditions, such as removing all "indecent" programming from the basic package, freezing prices for a limited time and making interoperable radios, said Stifel Nicolaus analyst Blair Levin.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/02192008/business/its_up_in_the_air_98330.htm
Viva Las Espuelas
02-19-2008, 10:53 AM
i can't believe these satellite radio stations are still in business.
T Park
02-19-2008, 10:54 AM
Thank god that they are.
midgetonadonkey
02-19-2008, 11:08 AM
Satellite radio is the greatest. Fuck having to listen to 20 minutes of commercials just to hear the same songs they play on all the other stations. And thanks to Sirius, I now have a reggae station I can listen to all day.
And there is nothing like uncensored Howard.
Shelly
02-19-2008, 11:25 AM
I wish this fricking merger will go through already. I have stock in Sirius and while it hasn't done anything, I know if I dump it now it will go through the roof if I do.
Midge, did you hear when Jim Cramer was on Howard talking about the merger? It's ridiculous why this is being held up.
i can't believe these satellite radio stations are still in business.
Sat radio is sheer greatness.
No FCC filtered garbage and they play real music. Not crap like Nickleback and Paris Hilton songs 4 times an hour.
No comemrcials (SIRIUS)
T Park
02-19-2008, 11:30 AM
Not crap like Nickleback and Paris Hilton songs 4 times an hour.
They play Nickelback alot on Sirius.
They play Nickelback alot on Sirius.
Never heard it once...had it for years.
So again..if I want to hear real music...I can avoid crap like that.
T Park
02-19-2008, 11:55 AM
A "real" music.
Good thing your here to show me wich is real music and wich isn't.
johnsmith
02-19-2008, 11:58 AM
He's right though, nickleback sucks and is pretty gay to boot.
T Park
02-19-2008, 11:59 AM
May be. Peewee just put me in a fucked up mood for creating arguements where they aren't though.
Sorry Evan.
A "real" music.
Good thing your here to show me wich is real music and wich isn't.
Just a matter of taste. No offense if you like Nickleback!
I always use them as an example as to why I hate regular radio because what drove me to buy sat in the first place was hearing that song "Photograph" and Ashlee Simpson seemingly several times an hour on every station I turned on a few years ago.
Another part of the greatness of sat radio...ultra variety for all flavors! :toast
Sorry Evan.
No worries! :toast
Thunder Dan
02-19-2008, 12:06 PM
I hope it goes through, my new car has XM and it f'ing sucks ass. I tried to hook up my Sirius but the FM transmitter sucks thanks to the NAB and FCC working together.
I can't even listen to regular radio. I'm pissed that I'm driving down the road and can't listen to Howard or Left of Center
TD, your new car doesn't have an AUX input (Don't know if the Sirius unit has a headphone output)?
Shelly
02-19-2008, 12:14 PM
Speaking of Sirius...we got my son a Stiletto for his birthday. Besides the rather large and uncomfortable headphones, he could not get any reception in the house unless it was by certain windows and even then it was iffy.
We ended up returning it.
MaNuMaNiAc
02-19-2008, 12:14 PM
How much do you think Sirius stock will rise after this merger?
Johnny_Blaze_47
02-19-2008, 12:15 PM
I hope it goes through, my new car has XM and it f'ing sucks ass. I tried to hook up my Sirius but the FM transmitter sucks thanks to the NAB and FCC working together.
I can't even listen to regular radio. I'm pissed that I'm driving down the road and can't listen to Howard or Left of Center
Yes, the standard FM transmitter sucks... but here's something that might help, but I haven't personally tried it yet. When I bought my car kit for my Stiletto, it came with a separate FM cable that supposedly enhanced the signal, so you might want to see if you can buy the cable by itself.
Funny related story: For my XM, I have the very old Roady 2. XM sent me an adapter to weaken the signal, but I threw it out rather than attach it to the cable. Anyway, last day of the baseball regular season last season, my friend Adam and I were driving two cars from The Woodlands to San Marcos (we're both huge baseball fans).
Since Adam knows the way, he's ahead of me... I didn't know until about 3/4 of the way there that he was listening to whatever baseball I kept listening to. He said right after we left, he started scrolling through the stations and came across baseball and said WTF.
Johnny_Blaze_47
02-19-2008, 12:17 PM
Speaking of Sirius...we got my son a Stiletto for his birthday. Besides the rather large and uncomfortable headphones, he could not get any reception in the house unless it was by certain windows and even then it was iffy.
We ended up returning it.
I've noticed that, too... what I did during my trip last weekend to Houston (and since I had to use the shitty FM receiver since the truck I used didn't have a tape or audio input), I would leave it on my favorite station and Love whatever songs came on that I liked... that way, I could store up the 10 hours of radio on my library.
Granted, I know your son probably doesn't have a car yet, either.
tsb2000
02-19-2008, 12:20 PM
for most cars with XM built in, you can get a converter kit to change it to Sirius. Might be worth checking out. :)
Shelly
02-19-2008, 12:27 PM
I've noticed that, too... what I did during my trip last weekend to Houston (and since I had to use the shitty FM receiver since the truck I used didn't have a tape or audio input), I would leave it on my favorite station and Love whatever songs came on that I liked... that way, I could store up the 10 hours of radio on my library.
Granted, I know your son probably doesn't have a car yet, either.
Not yet!
Sirius really needs to improve that. The kids are allowed to listen to music at lunch and he couldn't even get any reception there either. Very disappointing.
Johnny_Blaze_47
02-19-2008, 12:30 PM
Not yet!
Sirius really needs to improve that. The kids are allowed to listen to music at lunch and he couldn't even get any reception there either. Very disappointing.
Outside? Well, I know there's a lot of trees there, but that shouldn't make a difference.
I can see where the Stiletto wouldn't be of much benefit to him... hell, an iPod would work wonders and at least he'd have a much larger library to choose from. I ended up getting a great deal on a 4GB microSD card and went with that.
Shelly
02-19-2008, 12:34 PM
Outside? Well, I know there's a lot of trees there, but that shouldn't make a difference.
I can see where the Stiletto wouldn't be of much benefit to him... hell, an iPod would work wonders and at least he'd have a much larger library to choose from. I ended up getting a great deal on a 4GB microSD card and went with that.
No, in the cafeteria. iPod is fine, but he wanted the a gazillion gig iTouch. Not gonna happen...
midgetonadonkey
02-19-2008, 12:55 PM
I wish this fricking merger will go through already. I have stock in Sirius and while it hasn't done anything, I know if I dump it now it will go through the roof if I do.
Midge, did you hear when Jim Cramer was on Howard talking about the merger? It's ridiculous why this is being held up.
Yeah I listened to that. It is bullshit why this merger is being held up. I also found it interesting when they mentioned other big companies like Exxon-Mobile, ATT-Cingular, and Texaco-Shell mergers all went through in less time than this merger. And to say there wouldn't be any competition is just a ridiculous argument.
Not yet!
Sirius really needs to improve that. The kids are allowed to listen to music at lunch and he couldn't even get any reception there either. Very disappointing.
Yeah if you don't have a antenna fixed to a Window facing North you can forget about a signal with SIRIUS.
Plus both companies have basically frozen developing new technology now.
The common theory is SIRIUS has better content and XM has better equipment.
Johnny_Blaze_47
02-19-2008, 01:07 PM
No, in the cafeteria. iPod is fine, but he wanted the a gazillion gig iTouch. Not gonna happen...
Get that boy a job!
Thunder Dan
02-19-2008, 01:56 PM
TD, your new car doesn't have an AUX input (Don't know if the Sirius unit has a headphone output)?
it does but it looks like crap if I run a wire that far because I have my sirius mounted on the left side. I'll tinker with it im sure
Yes, the standard FM transmitter sucks... but here's something that might help, but I haven't personally tried it yet. When I bought my car kit for my Stiletto, it came with a separate FM cable that supposedly enhanced the signal, so you might want to see if you can buy the cable by itself.
I got the new Sportster and they give you this FM extension to hook to your window right by your antenna. My antenna is part of my back window so I attached it directly to it and it still sucks. The problem is that radio stations are too powerful and over power it so I get a ton of static. In my old Trailblazer I took the antenna off my car and attached those extension wires to the nub of where my antenna used to be and it worked perfect.
I miss my old Audiovox where the FM transmitter was basically it's own radio station. Those were the glory days of Sirius, now the NAB has basically lobbied the crap out of them
I got the new Sportster and they give you this FM extension to hook to your window right by your antenna. My antenna is part of my back window so I attached it directly to it and it still sucks. The problem is that radio stations are too powerful and over power it so I get a ton of static. In my old Trailblazer I took the antenna off my car and attached those extension wires to the nub of where my antenna used to be and it worked perfect.
I miss my old Audiovox where the FM transmitter was basically it's own radio station. Those were the glory days of Sirius, now the NAB has basically lobbied the crap out of them
great...I got a new sportster 4 coming in the mail anyday now...
that sucks
midgetonadonkey
02-19-2008, 02:16 PM
The Sportster 4 is kick ass. I've had mine for over a year now and it's great. I love beign able to pause and rewind up to an hour of content.
I have had a starmate for awhile and the display is starting to get iffy.
SIRIUS sent me the sportster for free.
Thunder Dan
02-19-2008, 02:56 PM
I have this one, and the FM transmitter blows goats
http://siriusbuzz.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/sirius-sportster-5.jpg
so much so I might go back to the giant, bulky audiovox
http://www.klenger.net/arctic-fox/stereo/audiovox-sir-pnp2-sirius-rec.gif
Medvedenko
02-19-2008, 02:58 PM
I have XM in my car and Sirius at home....both are good and both offer great commercial free music. I like both Howard and Opie and Anthony and love the metal channells on both. I haven't listned to terrestial radio in forever. I can't stand commercials and lame editing.
tsb2000
02-19-2008, 07:55 PM
I have had a starmate for awhile and the display is starting to get iffy.
SIRIUS sent me the sportster for free.
That happened to me, too. I do miss that Starmate; the FM transmitter worked great on that thing. When I complained about the Sportster, the CSR told me all new models' FM transmitters were weak like that. :wtf
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