FCC Commissioner Adelstein Puts Forth Radio Merger Offer
According to the Associated Press, FCC Commissioner Adels
tein has put an offer on the table that would enable the merger to happen. Adelstein, a democrat commissioner, was not widely considered as one of the commissioners that would support the merger. By Adelstein putting an offer on the table, there is perhaps a bit of insurance for the merger to proceed if republican commissioner Tate for some reason seeks even more stringent concessions.
Adelstein is asking that additional concessions be added to the deal in order to gain his support. Adelstein is said to be seeking:
- Pricing cap for six years instead of three.
- Commitment of 25% of the spectrum for informational and minority programming.
- Other requirements that were not specified.
There were no details offered on whether the 25% of the spectrum would be under control of the merged entity.
In reference to the issue Adelstein stated, “It’s critical that if we’re going to allow a monopoly, that we put in adequate consumer protections and make sure they’re enforced.”
This latest news now puts commissioner Tate in even more of a spotlight than she was previously. Conventional thinking would have many believe that Tate would seek fewer concessions that Adelstein. Because of this, part of the finalized picture can now begin to take shape, and the street can begin to extrapolate where the conditions will fall.
Sirius (SIRI) and XM (XMSR) have not offered any official response to the Adelstein proposal. For quite some time it has been insinuated that giving back too much spectrum would be a deal breaker. Exactly where the spectrum line is drawn is unknown, but estimates in the neighborhood of 10% have been popular.
[Via Associated Press]
Position: Long Sirius, XM.
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This article has 69 comments:
Another Liberal wanting a handout. What a surprise.
Ms. Tate needs to get off her fence and do the right thing.
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!
My understanding is that the DOJ was charged with making this decision, not the FCC, and the DOJ's ruling was that it was unequivocally not a monopoly.
waiting
God only asked for 10%.
Hmmmm...
I certainly hope not! What a crock of shit!
BTW...SIRI up .16 to 2.26 at the moment!
SIRIUS WORLD
WHILE WERE AT IT...HOW ABOUT LOWERING OIL AND GAS PRICES AND FREEZING THOSE PRICES FOR SIX YEARS!!!
Let's force all computer makers to offer all their machines with both Intel and AMD chipsets, run on Windows and Mac OS, and have Microsoft pay for the whole thing.
While we're at it, let's have all car dealers sell their competitors' vehicles at a steep discount in the same showroom, and require that all vehicles run on gas, LPG, CNG, and hydrogen all at the same time. ExxonMobile can pick up the tab for the conversions and the dealerships can eat the discount.
Utopia is right around the corner!
biz.yahoo.com/ap/08071...
I hate the government. What an freaking waste! If they are good and had an audience, SIRI would put them on their programming without a BS mandate like this.
Also on the monopoly thing. I can not believe this is even an issue. How can the NAB and FCC actually take this seriously and try to sell it? All products that compete have variations or niches that set them apart, but they are all part of a broad market. The FCC's job (do they really do anything) is about communications, not market analysis. If the merger results in a monopoly with Siri/XM pushing around consumers, then break them up. No one can predict the future and the government really sucks at predicting the economy/future. Can anyone truly have a monopoly on entertainment or audio entertainment? Maybe clear channel can if the merger keeps delaying and these companies fail.
The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) is putting up a terrific fight and funding all merger opposition. As proof notice how they are silent to Georgetown's GRAB. It's because they can then repurchase this Spectrum from Georgetown and have Minority Access to this innovative satellite technology.
The HD radio GRAB is another NAB sponsored attempt to get something for nothing in the forum of the FCC Public Interest Mandate and Rule Change for Licensing process. Terestrial Radio, is HD radio, is NAB and doesn't have an entry point into the OEM market. This process under the Public's Interest to get "Free" Radio is their best shot at a future at a "no cost to them", and exclusively at the expense of Satellite Radio and the OEM companies opportunity. Thankfully GM, a cash strapped automaker, and Toyota, a usually silent OEM when it comes to Satellite Radio deals, are opposed to absorbing any costs relating to HD chipset installation in their vehicles radios. So that's another area that a good NAB fight is being brought forth but has not yet, nor do I think it will be successful. Open Access manufacturing of future radios by any manufacturer who wants to enter the market place will determine whether or not HD chips are included or not.
Unfortunately this process has everyone equating Lobbying for Agendas the same as Bribery. Until everyone stands up and votes to eliminate the legality of Lobby access to Politicians, it is the system that we are stuck with. Political Action Committees (PACs), and Lobbies have taken the place of "We the People". Its only when we see our interests tossed around by those in positions of power, now affecting our wealth and investments, that we whine and complain about the corrupt system that we all allowed to develop. As much as I, like you, are saddened and embarrassed by the process, I accept it for what it is. It is what we have available to make this merger work. It flows both ways. If you don't like it "FIX IT".
Now as far as the talk about monopoly from the FCC, or as is commonly phrased: "A Merger To Monopoly", any commissioner that uses this in their reasoning for voting against the merger or adding concessions to the merger will face the wrath of the court system after the merger has been approved. The DOJ has approved this merger as non competitive or will do no harm if approved. That is HUGE moving forward in the court system. SIXM, Sirius and XM after the merger will be able to contest the FCC findings after the merger in court when the FCC tries to enforce those concessions established because of the "Merger To Monopoly" thesis. It is not the FCC's mandate or authority to make decisions based on the monopoly premise.
Finally if you are an investor, enjoy the ride up in stock price as this painful process comes to an end. If you are a citizen who can vote, do your best to vote the a$$holes out. If you are a consumer, enjoy the choices that Satellite Radio, Internet Radio, the IPOD / I-Phone, MP3, CD, and every new technology has to offer you. If you are a Terrestrial Radio Listener, I am sorry that darkness has entered your life and feel empathy for all the commercial "Tunes" that are floating around in your head. There is another world out there.
This is politics. Edelman is kiting the percentage of the spectrum, to 25% of the spectrum likely hoping that Siri/XM will go for the 20% that Georgetown wants.
He wants to fix the prices for 6 years. This is foolish. The economy has cycles just as businesses have cycles.
This is a business decision that belongs to the merged companies not to the FCC.
Edelman is overstepping his bounds-----its rather simple either vote for the merger or vote no. The DOJ has said not a monopoly.
Siri and XM should not fall for this gambit.
shure46 I'm sorry isn't that your opinion that I read around 10:30 this mourning. I didn't think any of my comments asked for your opinion but I seem to have gotten it anyway.
I did garble that name----what's his name? lol
Okay so it is Adelstein: With name corrected, I repeat.
"Adelstein's proposals are unacceptable. He's coming in with a worse proposal than Georgetown Partners wanted in the fall of 2007.
This is politics. Adelstein is kiting the percentage of the spectrum, to 25% of the spectrum likely hoping that Siri/XM will go for the 20% that Georgetown wants.
He wants to fix the prices for 6 years. This is foolish. The economy has cycles just as businesses have cycles.
This is a business decision that belongs to the merged companies not to the FCC.
Adelstein is overstepping his bounds-----its rather simple either vote for the merger or vote no. The DOJ has said not a monopoly.
Siri and XM should not fall for this gambit."
Guys, dont worry, Martin asked for commissioners to give their ideas of what they would like. Adelsteins concessions dont have a leg to stand on, for one he has gone beyond his job. He has said, has someone else called it out, that he calls this a monopoly. The DOJ has already done its job on that, and said it was not. As I have told you before, write Adelstein and tell him it was not his job to figure if this was a monpoly or not, when he started to listen to the state AGs concerns.
I find this to be a good thing because we, now know what Tate is not going to ask for. On top of that, lets face it, it has already been stated that the deal that Martin nogotiated left little wiggle room.
jmb476, I would not worry about that because what you most likely see is that Tate, ask to make sure that the stations already being put out by SIRI/XMSR are not included in the 8%. That is as I have said would be the kind of thing that, Tate would be asking for. She is going to be looking for more along the lines of guarantees that they do what they said they would do, instead of trying to flim flam their way out of them, by basically saying ok we already have this 8 % that public Knowledge and minorities are looking for so we dont have to carry them anymore they will do it for us, and they will be paying for it instead of us, so it is actually a win for SIRI/XMSR. I dont like to put this stuff up because it shows how these concessions are not all bad for SIRI/XMSR.
163888... Welcome back! I hope your time away was enjoyable. Your reasonable approach was missed.
As to the trip it was a nice little getaway, for the wife and I, I wanted to say longer but she wanted to get back to the kids.
I see you had very good points. I also posted on the other article by that nit-wit (M&A researcher) about Adelstein and what little he ment to the final deal. He was a no vote anyway, the only people that thought that, he was going to be reasonable was "plowboy". As you recall I told him long ago he was nuts for thinking that. The comment he made about the DOJ in reguards to the state AGs showed how unreasonable he was going to be. I really cant help but think Adelstein, as a nonissue. The only good thing about it is that it showed how far Tate would not go. Adelstein is a liberal Tate is a conservative they are even futher apart then Martin and Adelstein, in my opinion.
You just said: IT ????????????????? and 163888 , you did NOT say " Yellowcake that was shipped to Canada " ...all you said was "600 tons of yellowcake" , and I thought you meant the same yellow cake George Bush was talking about when he said " Iraq is attempting to buy yellowcake from Nigeria " ......which turned out to be bogus info
Once again you just prove my point you only see and hear what you want to see and hear. Because this is my first comment on this, to you in our debate on june 8th I said this: By the way have you even heard about the 600 **TONs**, thats right not pounds, but **TONs** of Urainum rich Yellow Cake transported from Iraq to Canada (I have no idea why Canada bought it, but I feel alot safer that it is in their hands then Saddams, dont you).
My secound comment on this was june 11th I said this: P.S. Where you also totally ignorant of the 500 chemically tip artillery shells and the 600 tons of Yellow Cake found in Iraq.
Finally on June 13th I said: Ok this is the last time I will respond because you are just not getting it, this proves what I said about how you dont see or listen to what you dont want to. Like I said what do you call the 500 shells of chemically tip artillary rounds, What do you call 600 tons of yellow cake. Those are WMDs or the materials to make a WMD. You do know what they use yellow cake for right. WHEN I SAID IT THE FIRST TIME, DID THAT JUST BLOW BY YOU ARE WHAT.
Those were all my comments to you about your disbelief of this each time I told you about it, and this was the comment that takes the "cake" so to speak, and your last comment and the last straw for me.
There was NO yellow cake ...it was BS intelligence that Bush cherry picked , and ignored the intelligence telling him the story was bogus .....you being an intelligence officer in the marines only means you were indoctrinated by the military.
You plainly denied it being there, period. Also how anyone could think I was talking about it as you suggest after reading all the statements I just showed, is just crazy, unless they just did not want to see it. As I have said when you try to debate me on these things you are over matched, coming from the perspective you are coming from. It has nothing to do with whos IQ. is larger. It has to do with how much information one is willing to take in.
What have I always said about these two democrats. I know some may think it amazing how, I can call so many things. But as I have said, it is not anything special, just common sense. I also dont go to far off the reservation. As an example common sense tells me that when Martin puts a statement out that there is little wiggle room, in the agreement that he put together, take that with passed history on this merger, the fact that Tate is even more conservative then Martin, and that means she will not fall for the crap the NAB is putting out about HD,and the rest, you can come up with Tate, not asking for to much more. She is not going to mess this deal up, to get more then can be given. See *common sense*, if you look at it that way you can see what I have said is not going to far off the reservation.
killerkaul...I don't think your being too hopeful. Both stocks have been pounded and as 163888 said above Adelstein's BS represents the deal moving forward and is not an outright "NO". Anyone who is holding a "short" position with the merger so close to being done, needs to close the position, buy the borrowed shares, while they can. With all the talk lately of "Naked Short" positions and how to better regulate (again) and enforce the current rules, investors don't want to be unable buy shares at the right price. Although there probably will be no "short" squeeze, it does put upward pressure, in addition to longs getting in, on the stock price. This moves SIRI up and because of the "Risk" Arbitrage with XM, as SIRI moves up, XM will follow. With SIRI at $2.28, XM is at $10.49, (2.28 x 4.6) at merger approval, while closing on Friday at $8.55. That's a 22.5% "Risk" Premium to XM. So as SIRI's stock price creeps up with merger anticipation for whatever the investor's reason is, (every $.01 of SIRI is $.046 of XM) the Risk Premium for XM goes up also, not necessarily in % but in $. Upon approval the Risk Premium essentially goes away and moves in lock step with SIRI's stock price. This is why I have bought around 2,000 shares of XM with an Average Cost of 7.34 over the last 2 weeks. It's not much but its been working so far.
Second I have not made anything until it hits 2.5 then I will sell that 3000 I bought at 1.86. Who called that by the way, and then the run up, hummmmm. I guess you could split hairs again, and say that SIRI down turn lasted longer then first thing Thursday morning. and went into the late morning.
On that note, I will say; You are a lunitic not to much unlike VicDave, and I will not bother with you until you find help. I am sorry, but just because you are for SIRI it does not make you anymore valid then VicDave.