crfceo

Tuesday Trading May Bring New Life to Sirius

New details from Financial times just released....

www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4a0...

Open Letter to Sirius XM Radio

Unless you write for Barron's, then the ideas presented are not your own.

messages.finance.yahoo...

Another author did the write up, and you laid claim to the ideas as your own. I don't think that's right.

Open Letter to Sirius XM Radio

Nice plagerized article from a yahoo message board post from JULY! I cannot believe Seeking Alpha published sich crap as news.

messages.finance.yahoo...

The 'Real' Story Behind the XM/Sirius Merger

I decided to look into the company's annual reports dating back to 2003, when I first invested in sirius stock. These reports are for investors. They are filled with all the facts an investor needs to decide to buy, sell or hold. Making the right choice is up to the individual. There have been allegations of wrong-doing by many organizations with regard to this issue. The facts do not support their argument.



The 2003 annual report states: "On February 16, 2000, we signed an agreement with XM Radio, the holder of the other FCC license to provide a satellite-based digital audio radio service, to develop a unified standard for satellite radios to enable consumers to purchase one radio capable of receiving both SIRIUS and XM Radio's services. We expect the unified standard to detail the technology to be employed by manufacturers of such dual-mode radios. The technology relating to this unified standard will be jointly developed, funded and owned by the two companies. In addition, we are working with XM Radio to promote adoption of the new standard by creating a service mark for satellite radio. This unified standard is also intended to meet FCC rules that require interoperability of both licensed satellite radio systems. We anticipate that it will take several years to develop radios capable of receiving both services.




Similar wording appears in 2004. "to be employed by manufacturers" this means built, marketed and sold by radio manufacturers. Not Sirius. Not xm. Acknowledgement is made that it will be several years before interoperability is realized.




In 2005, the annual report states the following: We believe that this agreement, and our efforts with XM Radio to develop this unified standard for satellite radios, satisfies the interoperability condition contained in our FCC license, although the FCC has not addressed this issue. We notified the FCC of this agreement in 2000, and asked the FCC to concur that our efforts to develop this unified standard satisfied the conditions to our license. In January 2005, the FCC asked us and XM Radio to provide a written update regarding the status of developing interoperable receivers and the time frame for making interoperable receivers available to the public. We are in the process of preparing a response to this request.




Which brings us to the 2006 annual report, in which sirius states : "...We expect the unified standard to detail the technology to be employed by manufacturers of such dual-mode radios, although we have no assurances that any manufacturer will build, or that a market will develop, for such dual-mode radios....In 2005, we substantially completed the design of a radio capable of receiving both services.




As far as this investor is concerned....VOILA! FCC mandate met! The 2007 and 2008 annual reports go on to state that the company believes the mandate to have been acheived. Here's the monkey wrench in all of it. The lack of candor seems to be pointing at Mel Karmazin.




Now mel started in november 2004 so for all intents and purposes, he really began in 2005. Sometime in 2005 they completed the interoperable radio as reported in the 2006 annual report. Sirius announced the merger with xm in febuary of 2007. Meetings would have been going on since 2006. So Mel Karmazin had about a 1 year window to get this interoperable radio on the market assuming you believe that it was his responsibility. It was not. Sirius met their responsibility to the FCC and to shareholders.




For those of us who have been around a while, we understand that the launch of satellite radio was not an easy task. Money was the first problem. The second was not enough chipsets available in the beginning years which created a shortage of radios. Demand outstripped supply. This is an overlooked fact. The companies couldn't get enough radios on the shelves to meet demand, much less finance the production of radios that might never have gotten them a single subscriber. The question we all asked ourselves each Christmas was "are there going to be enough radios?" As I stated....the mandate was met.




Back to Mel for a moment. When he took over the reigns of sirius he had a resonsibility to shareholders. Joseph Clayton, the former CEO was a spendthrift who would issue more and more shares on a whim...you always knew when a mega Stern type deal was coming! Mels priority, and rightfully so, was to trim the fat....something various members of Congress could learn from. Under Mel, sirius has cut costs and increased revenue. No one complained when he under promised and over delivered by beating street expectations.




Now a farce has been created to destroy the merger, claiming it was the companies responsibility themselves to deploy interoperable radios. I would much rather as an investor see profitability before interoperability. I think most investors would agree. The companies have acted in good faith to the FCC and the shareholders. It's time the FCC put an end to the nonsense and approve the merger.

The 'Real' Story Behind the XM/Sirius Merger

"later you will need to purchase a new device if you want to access the content of both companys on a single device. "

Not necessarily. I think they could provide both services right now. Without any switching of hardware. After they merger, sirius can then rebroadcast their service on xm's platform. Likewise, xm can rebroadcast xm's channels on the sirius network. That's a relatively simple way to go. Hence the "best of" a la carte offerings. The downside would be a delay in receiving the transmission from the secondary service. Signals are already bounced off of repeaters, which causes a delay anyway.

If the merger were approved tomorrow, every existing subscriber could have access to every mlb, nfl, and nascar race. Every xm holder could have access to Howard. Personally, he's not my cup of tea, but I do understand that a lot of people actually listen to him....but that's another issue. The point is the benefit of the merger is instantaneous...and I would love to be able to listen to MLB on my sirius radio. I'm sure people who bough a GM vehicle would love to hear NFL games on theirs. I'm only guessing on this based on logic. It's beneficial to the consumer....which is me, and you. The only thing standing in the way is the NAB, C3SR and Georgetown.

I also want to say the Mr. Hartlieb is NOT a mole. I did some research last night while preparing my latest article. He has concerns but I feel they are misplaced.

The shareholders voted to approve. That's how a democracy works. Now in the 11th hour, we are debating hanging chads. Let's move forward together...

The 'Real' Story Behind the XM/Sirius Merger

truth told....read this...

siriusnewsrumors.blogs.../

The 'Real' Story Behind the XM/Sirius Merger

truth as you see it...you are obviously a mole also...probably the author. The problem as Hartlieb states it citing the nascar switch, was a need to change hardware. If the visteon radio was installed by manufacturers, a simple changeover would have been the only thing neccessary. No major hardware expense. He goes on to say he would not have had to switch services. That is not true. He would have had to switch services and pay a new activation fee, even if he did have an iinteroperable radio. The fact is there was a shortage of chips as it were, relative to the demand. They have done everything possible to develop the technology. It was cost prohibitive. Sirius has filed continuosly with the SEC regarding its progress in regard to interoperable radio development. Mr. Hartlieb is upset because it hasn't been done in his personal time frame....that's too bad. If the CONSUMER wanted an interoperable radio, the manufacturers would have moved mountains to produce them. Their market research indicated that it was a money losing proposition.

If I were to develop an interoperable radio, and no one wanted it....the chances are high that I would always have an interoperable radio...worth nothing. Visteon has in fact produced one. It only requires a different tuner. NO ONE WANTS IT!

The 'Real' Story Behind the XM/Sirius Merger

Visteon has had an interoperable radio on the market for the last 5 years...call and ask them...

Satellite Radio System


Visteon's Satellite Radio System features an innovative head unit that can accept the decoded signals of either XM or SIRIUS satellite radio transmissions – thus avoiding the need for two different head units for the two services. Given two subscription options, consumers can identify their preference of satellite radio service providers at the point of purchase. Installation of the required components can be done at the factory or in the dealership.

This system is designed for integration with current automotive audio systems, utilizing existing space for the head unit and one package location for the satellite receiver module. In addition, Visteon is well positioned to provide the consumers with the next generation satellite data service features like dynamic traffic to integrate with navigation or audio systems.

Benefits

Provides a single-design head unit making it easier and more cost-effective for vehicle manufacturers to allow consumers to choose their satellite radio service provider without increased radio complexity.
Requires a small, external antenna to receive satellite and ground-based network digital signals.
Provides the ability to display the channel name and number, artist and song title through its enhanced radio display capability.
Uses current radio pre-sets to store your favorite channels for quick access and requires no additional displays with the enhanced Human Machine Interface (HMI) capabilities.

www.visteon.com/produc...

The 'Real' Story Behind the XM/Sirius Merger

messages.finance.yahoo...

The 'Real' Story Behind the XM/Sirius Merger

siriusnewsrumors.blogs...

The 'Real' Story Behind the XM/Sirius Merger

siriusbuzz.com/forum/s...

The 'Real' Story Behind the XM/Sirius Merger

The NAB is using this article against Sirius. Thhe NAB is leaving out the commentary by people who disagree with Michael Hartlieb.

fjallfoss.fcc.gov/prod...

The 'Real' Story Behind the XM/Sirius Merger

Your alllegations have been addressed...You make the FALSE claim sirius and xm have ignored the situation, then go on to explain how they have responded. The truth Mr. Hartlieb, is that you don't like the answer that was given. Too bad. Get over yourself . This is nothing more than C3SR's position, and the NAB's tactics. Sirius investors are well schooled in these matters..You are not fooling anyone.

Time to Buy Airline Stocks?

Don't follow the lemmings off the cliff. Fuel prices guarantee that airlines operate at a loss. The only plays in this sector are M & A's. If you are looking for long term growth opportunity, airlines are not it.

Sirius/XM Merger: What Happens if It Doesn’t Happen?

I think you need to look at the ARB players. Xm is 80+% institutionally owned...for a reason. These guys have sold siri short to acquire their xmsr shares. They have contributed to siri's amzingly high short interest, which now sits at 200 million shares or so..

No merger means any sell off and forces siri short positions to be covered to close out the ARB play...as xmsr falls, those funds will be used to cover siri...