MelKarmazin
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Ce-Oh no he didn't, part XXXIV: Karmazin sez "we suck less" than XM
We guess that once your acquisition target has agreed to be purchased, you don't really have to go around buttering up its board members or executives anymore, but it still seems odd that CEO Mel Karmazin would defend Sirius' admittedly poor performance on Wall Street by arguing that at least his company "sucks less" than future partner XM. Yet that's exactly the case presented to shareholders at a Manhattan meeting last week, where the often-outspoken Karmazin admitted that he was "real unhappy" with the satrad firm's stock price -- although compared to the 61% decline in XM share prices since September 2004, Sirius' 8% gain over that same period was a relative bull run. Still, Mel, don't you think there are better ways to phrase that sentiment other than attaching the connotation of "suckiness" to your company and one you hope to acquire? Hey, just a thought. [Via FARK]
It's official: XM and Sirius plan to tie the knot
It's been more than two years since we first reported that XM and Sirius were in talks to merge, and although the New York Post may have jumped the gun a bit way back then, it was certainly on the money today, as the two satellite radio pioneers have just issued a joint press release stating their intention to become life partners. In the proposed $13 billion deal -- which they'd like to go down by the end of the year but which still must pass rather daunting regulatory scrutiny and opposition from such heavyweights as the National Association of Broadcasters -- investors would get 4.6 shares of Sirius stock for each share of XM, with current Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin and XM Chairman Gary Parsons retaining those roles, respectively, in the combined entity (whose name has yet to be decided). As you might imagine, the companies are already trying to spin this as a big win for everyone from Martha Stewart on down, arguing that consumers will end up benefiting from more programming choices and better hardware, manufacturers and retailers will see increased sales, and of course shareholders would gain value through the economies of scale and elimination of redundancies realized from a merger. The new pals also took an opportunity to sneak in a mention about the growing number of choices consumers have for receiving audio content, from old school AM/FM to internet radio to the the still-nascent technologies of cellphone streaming and HD radio, clearly hoping to sway public opinion on that whole anti-trust thing. Still, keep in mind that the FCC is gonna be taking a long, hard look at this one -- in fact, current regulations would need to be changed in order for the merger to gain approval -- so don't get your celebratin' started just yet.Update: Just in case there was any confusion, both companies will continue to operate independently until such time as a merger is approved, meaning that you needn't fear losing your precious sat feed out of the blue. And even if everything goes according to plan, we highly doubt that your current gear will stop working or that you'll even see an interruption in your service whatsoever.
Sirius CEO reveals portable receiver/DAP
While XM is already offering its customers live feeds on-the-go through the well-received Pioneer Inno and Samsung Helix, rival Sirius has been rather slow to the starting gate in this department, as its flagship S50 portable only plays back content that was recorded while it was docked. Now, however, it looks like Sirius is finally on the verge of releasing its first DAP with built-in satellite receiver, and Tech Effect even managed to snap a picture of the device when CEO Mel Karmazin briefly flashed it during his keynote at this week's Convergence 2.0 conference. Unfortunately Mel only broke out the chunky-looking player to illustrate a point he was making about the iPod ("I wish it didn't exist," he said, probably only half-jokingly), so all that's known about this unit is its size and the fact that it sports a headphone jack. Still, Mel promises that he'll have the product in stores by the end of the summer, and since it's reportedly in the midst of beta testing, we're expecting to see some leaked specs and photos sooner rather than later -- much sooner if any of you testers would be so kind as to drop us a line.
Sirius execs confirm video service will be live
In an announcement that is being described as a victory for couch potatoes worldwide, Sirius execs at the recent Morgan Stanley Global Automotive Conference claimed that despite rumors to the contrary, Sirius Video will indeed be a live, streaming service (as opposed to delivering cached content). Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin gave the example of a Nickelodeon-loving rugrat -- whose traumatic Spongebob-downtime will soon be mercifully limited to the short walk between couch and minivan -- as the type of customer who will benefit from live broadcasts. Although we've known that Sirius was planning to roll out a video service for well over a year now, this is the first time anyone has been able to pin down the suits on a launch window, with Senior VP Bob Law citing a "post-CES 2007" target for the initial rollout.
