Sirius/XM To Declare Bankruptcy

[KnoxHarrington]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/11/technology/companies/11radio.html?_r=1&hp

Sirius XM Satellite Radio has been working with advisers to prepare for a possible bankruptcy filing in a move that could put pressure on satellite company EchoStar, which owns a substantial amount of the company’s debt.

Sirius has been working with the restructuring expert Joseph A. Bondi of Alvarez & Marsal and the bankruptcy lawyer Mark Thompson of Simpson, Thatcher & Bartlett to help prepare a Chapter 11 filing, peole close to the company said. The documents and analysis are close to being completed and a filing could come within days, according to a source familiar with the matter.


Looks like they've turned down a formal takeover bid from Charlie Ergen to actually buy the company.

I can't say I'm shocked. I just hope the buddays come through OK.

[lleeder]

Good thing I locked up that lifetime membership.

[Snoogans]

According to the article they havent turned down anything, no formal offer has been made:

Charles Ergen, who controls a satellite-television empire including the Dish Network Corporation and EchoStar, recently acquired the majority of a $300 million tranche of Sirius debt that matures next Tuesday.

Since the news about the debt purchase has emerged, questions have surfaced over whether Mr. Ergen will make a bid to purchase Sirius. The threat of a possible bankruptcy filing could force Mr. Ergen to make a formal offer for the company now if he doesn’t want to go through an auction in bankruptcy court.

It could also compel Mr. Ergen to agree to convert his debt into an ownership stake in Sirius at a higher price than he originally considered.

If anything, he might be tryin to save the company

[KnoxHarrington]

According to the article they havent turned down anything, no formal offer has been made:



If anything, he might be tryin to save the company

I've read other things that suggest he's approached them about it and been turned away.

[BlackSpider]

I called it at 6am this morning...


http://www.ronfez.net/forums/showthread.php?p=2116062#post2116062

[Yuppie_Scum]

Sounds like the merger really worked out.

:flush:

[furie]

Sounds like the merger really worked out.

:flush:

actually it probably saved XM. If Ergen buys Sirius, it will because he has already assumed much of it's debt. He wouldn't have done so to both companies.

[skyscraper]

thanks, howie.

[K.C.]

actually it probably saved XM. If Ergen buys Sirius, it will because he has already assumed much of it's debt. He wouldn't have done so to both companies.

This is true.

That said, Karmazin fucked up satellite radio to a point that is nearly beyond repair.

Not that Hugh Panero and Co. did much better with XM, but they were slightly more fiscally responsible.



For the record, though, Ergen is reportedly interested in taking over and managing satellite radio operations, not just picking the carcass for the tech, so if you want it to stay around, he's easily the best bet.

My guess is Karmazin's out within a month, as CEO.

There's no way he can NOT go, with how he wrecked the company.

[Dan 'Hampton]

Lets hope Mel leaves. And he takes the DJ's with him.

[K.C.]

Lets hope Mel leaves. And he takes the DJ's with him.

It's going to take a lot more than just that. But packaging SiriusXM in with Dish Network would be a great idea.

I still think Satellite Radio's only shot of long-term success is to get third party receivers. Nobody wants to pay for a radio and then for a subscription.

Give them the equipment free, or have it built in to existing radio units, iPods, etc....it's got a shot.


I mean, think about it...I probably wouldn't have cable if I had to drop an extra $100 on the cable box. So why would most people want to drop $100 on a SkyFi or even an extra $30 for a XM Roady or something.

[Gvac]

I blame the blacks.

[Dan 'Hampton]

Quick question, do the Howard fans on Orbitcast/Sternfannetwork really think "testicle radio" is clever?

[britneypablo]

I blame the blacks.

<font color="deeppink"> you stole my old bit? really?

[JerseyRich]

I blame the blacks.

I blame the mulattos.

[Reynolds]

It's going to take a lot more than just that. But packaging SiriusXM in with Dish Network would be a great idea.

I still think Satellite Radio's only shot of long-term success is to get third party receivers. Nobody wants to pay for a radio and then for a subscription.

Give them the equipment free, or have it built in to existing radio units, iPods, etc....it's got a shot.


I mean, think about it...I probably wouldn't have cable if I had to drop an extra $100 on the cable box. So why would most people want to drop $100 on a SkyFi or even an extra $30 for a XM Roady or something.

They've done so many promotions, the units were basically free for a while anyway.

[Jujubees2]

I blame the blacks.

Should have voted for McCain.

[K.C.]

They've done so many promotions, the units were basically free for a while anyway.

When were the units basically free?

And their promotions have been nonexistent since the merger.

If they take on the attitude of 'we're in the program licensing business,' they have a shot.

IPhone and Blackberry apps...available with cable and dish packages...sign deals with existing radio manufacturers to incorporate it as a 'third band' with newly produced AM/FM radios (which would require some innovation with the antennas).


If they just do the same thing they've always been doing, though, they're utterly finished.

[Liverspot]

I just renewed my subscription 4 months ago and now they want to charge extra for XMRO and I do 90% of my listening online. I am not too pleased, especially since my tuner rarely leave 202. There is plenty of online broadcasting available, I just need to have my RF fix.

Maybe Mel will seek gubmint bailout

[suggums]

i wish i could just drop satellite radio and pay ron, fez, opie, and anthony directly for the hours of content they provide me on a daily basis. i don't listen to anything else on my shitty broken myfi anyways

[DolaMight]

i wish i could just drop satellite radio and pay ron, fez, opie, and anthony directly for the hours of content they provide me on a daily basis. i don't listen to anything else on my shitty broken myfi anyways

what's the most people you can have on a conference call? might work.

[Charlie_Don't_Surf]

I blame the mulattos.

I blame the whites!

[zildjian361]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/11/technology/companies/11radio.html?_r=1&hp



Looks like they've turned down a formal takeover bid from Charlie Ergen to actually buy the company.

I can't say I'm shocked. I just hope the buddays come through OK.

thank God i never read the ny times.

[britneypablo]

Should have voted for McCain.

<font color="deeppink"> we did

[Tallman388]

Seems more like an attempt to get Ergen to make an offer:

"Since the news about the debt purchase has emerged, questions have surfaced over whether Mr. Ergen will make a bid to purchase Sirius. The threat of a possible bankruptcy filing could force Mr. Ergen to make a formal offer for the company now if he doesn’t want to go through an auction in bankruptcy court."

[Hottub]

I hope there's a third bag of money to fuck hidden in the closet.

[epo]

I hope there's a third bag of money to fuck hidden in the closet.

Jesus Christ. I don't need Hottub fucking my hidden money bag.

[Hottub]

Jesus Christ. I don't need Hottub fucking my hidden money bag.

With you it's yam bag.

[STC-Dub]

The filing could be an attempt to force a bid for the company. If from what I read: http://www.fmqb.com/article.asp?id=1157122.

[TeamBennington]

http://www.yahoo.com/s/1028773

not sure if this is the right forum for this, but I guess the inevitable is happening

[BlackSpider]

In before the merge...

[~Katja~]

MERGE!

there are only 3 other threads about it

[west milly Tom]

I haven't heard.

[BlackSpider]

In before the merge...

MERGE!

there are only 3 other threads about it



wait,


XM and Sirius are going to merge...???

[Foster]

these threads will be merged, then taken over by EchoStar

[Philly Franko]

Yes, Fox news said tues morning that this year Chrystler and Rite Aid and Sirus will be gone soon among others....:nono:

[west milly Tom]

these threads will be merged, then taken over by EchoStar



And then file bankruptcy

[STC-Dub]

And then be taken over by Direct TV.

[Kevin]

Jesus Christ. I don't need Hottub fucking my hidden money bag.

Now your parents will never release that trust fund as long as Hottub is alive

[BlackSpider]

You're all wrong.
Harpo wil buy XMSirius.
Oprah already has a gig with them...

[IamFogHat]

Lets hope Mel leaves. And he takes the DJ's with him.

The DJs on 202?:flush: What is your point exactly.
The bottom line for me is, this whole merger was roller coaster of good and bad and in my opinion would have turned out fine on its own, this shit is all about our catastrophic economy, it's all just awful timing. I hope to the christ man we'll turn out all right in terms of 202, but this site kind of proves if it doesn't, we'll all find a way to get the buddays.

[Dan 'Hampton]

The DJs on 202?:flush: What is your point exactly.
The bottom line for me is, this whole merger was roller coaster of good and bad and in my opinion would have turned out fine on its own, this shit is all about our catastrophic economy, it's all just awful timing. I hope to the christ man we'll turn out all right in terms of 202, but this site kind of proves if it doesn't, we'll all find a way to get the buddays.

No that would be the DJ's on the music channels and whomever else is there who decided the music lineup. Because apparently although I told the indian on the phone that i was upset fungus was gone, i'll be overjoyed to listen to Bruce Springsteen radio.

[Chob]

Quick question, do the Howard fans on Orbitcast/Sternfannetwork really think "testicle radio" is clever?
I loathe that term and being a Stern and Bubba listener I see it all the time. :dry:

Anyway, maybe I should hold off on that Audible subscription to Ron and Fez until we know what happens with existing contracts.

[K.C.]

spyreport, spyreport:

Ron and Fez are returning to Northern Virginia, home of Fez's burial plot.

[Drunky McBetidont]

You're all wrong.
Harpo wil buy XMSirius.
Oprah already has a gig with them...

and elo will be the king of sat radio. it was the plan all along, to fuck mel and take over the business. opie is a genius

[styckx]

Good riddens to an awful company. This is the portion of the post I would normally do a MLC style plug for

http://www.orbitcast.com/archives/slacker.gif

but I will opt out of that for now.

[Snoogans]

Im shocked that any of this could happen with the stock price being so high

[K.C.]

MLC style plug.

Hey paisanos...a mama mia!....smoke your mafialife ron bennington cigars, in your authentic mafialife ron bennington wingtips, while washing it down with a shot of mafialife ESD special malt liquor.

Act now and get a free mafialife fez whatley showerbench seat cushion, sponsored by mafialife.

And don't forget...play mafialife.

Oh!

[Gvac]

I guess hitching their wagons to new car sales turned out to be a bad idea, huh?

Hey...who knew?

[brettmojo]

Good riddens to an awful company. This is the portion of the post I would normally do a MLC style plug for

http://www.orbitcast.com/archives/slacker.gif

but I will opt out of that for now.
I downloaded that app for my itouch, haven't really had the chance to play with it yet.

[MC Pee Pants]

Mother fuckers. I just got this shit in Aug, whats wrong with me?

[earthbrown]

lets see 18000000 subs, at $10 a month is $180million a month!!!!!

How can they be bankrupt?

Answer: Mismanagement!!!!!!


K

[KnoxHarrington]

I'm tempted to tune in to Hoo Hoo tomorrow to see how he tries to spin this. After all, it's his boy Mel who's going to take the blame for most of this, and you'll probably see his massive contract mentioned in absolutely every story about this.

How's that "revolution" working out, Howie? Maybe the Stern signing wasn't so much satellite radio becoming mainstream as it was the beginning of the end.

[Melk]

How's that "revolution" working out, Howie? Maybe the Stern signing wasn't so much satellite radio becoming mainstream as it was the beginning of the end.
With the amount of money that was dumped into the Howard Stern Radio Project, I was of the impression that they were going to syndicate his program to terrestrial, podcast and syndicate internationally. Instead, they took 500 million (plus bonuses) and made a closed product.

Here is the sales pitch:

We are going to give you a Howard Stern Network airing across two channels featuring The Howard Stern Show (preempted on most Fridays), The Best of Stern (if we can get the tapes), Commentary About Howard Stern (even after uninteresting episodes), plus extra shows featuring friends of Howard Stern, and Bubba the Love Sponge.

How could this possibly fail?

One of the bigger problems with Howard is that he talks up the projects he is working on, but ultimately never does them. I would include his Sirius project with the rest of his half-assed efforts. He said he was going to have a channel with his show and programs featuring a host of other under-utilized radio talents, but he ended up with a service that fell short of this promise.

If I were running the company, I would try to syndicate my programming outside of the platform. I would try to sell NPR affiliates The Ron Bennington Interview as a complimentary program to Fresh Air. I would encourage The Ron and Fez Show to move to evenings, increase the time of the show by an hour or two and syndicate the show (with a 45 second delay) to terrestrial radio stations. I would try to align the programs in a way to where a potential terrestrial affiliate could have programming from the time Stern/O&A begin in the morning to midnight.

The exclusive nature of the programming only serves to help Mel sell advertisements on the platform. It also puts just about all of the industry outside of your platform against you. Why would the major TV networks, who are owned by companies who either run the major radio companies or provide content to the major radio companies, ever want to talk about you if you are not (at least slight) connected with them?

By connecting with Echostar, XM/Sirius has a direct connection with the major networks and content providers. It could lead the major networks to talk, more often and more positively, about the service and the programming. This is assuming that Echostar isn't trying to do something else with the service.

[boosterp]

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/feb2009/tc20090210_831883.htm?campaign_id=yhoo


A bankruptcy filing by Sirius XM would have widespread implications not just for holders of the satellite radio company's debt and shares, but also for millions of listeners and for the celebrities like Howard Stern whose fat paychecks have made it harder for the company to pay its other bills.

[EliSnow]

Already a thread.

[Fez4PrezN2008]

SIRI dropped .0589 (51.7%!) on worry over the possible bankruptcy. This is more worrisome than listening threads.

[boosterp]

Just delist it already jeez.

[Fez4PrezN2008]

Just delist it already jeez.
Can't be much longer before relegated to wastelands of the pink sheets.

[K.C.]

Just delist it already jeez.

They're keeping it for comedic value.

It's less valuable than the Zimbabwe 3 Trillion dollar bill.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3288/2693551009_f873f8a058.jpg

[boosterp]

Can't be much longer before relegated to wastelands of the pink sheets.

Shit, I've seen stock delisted for $2 before. I understand how value and shares work, but at $.05 there is no real value. Pink sheet the bitch, get rid of Mel, and welcome another entity taking over and trying to fix the mess left behind. If fixed and merged it will become a new entity or a part of another company and one may invest in it again.

[silks]

For the most part, as of late the music stations are not listenable. The only thing I would miss would be NHL and R&F.

Solution: I just bought myself a new wi-fi radio (which I love) and am getting an Audible sub. Problem solved. See ya'

[Recyclerz]

Mel K is seeking a White Knight for Sirius/XM (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123440851532776029.html?mod=testMod#articleTabs% 3Darticle)

[AKA]

For the most part, as of late the music stations are not listenable. The only thing I would miss would be NHL and R&F.

Solution: I just bought myself a new wi-fi radio (which I love) and am getting an Audible sub. Problem solved. See ya'

Yup. I think I'm with you on this.

What kind of radio did you get?

[silks]

Yup. I think I'm with you on this.

What kind of radio did you get?


I got the C Crane CC wi-fi radio.

http://www.ccrane.com/radios/wifi-radios/cc-wifi-radio.aspx

The only problem I have with it is that when the radio is on, you can't see the clock. Very minor. You can stream tons of channels, and the sound quality is much better than I expected. What's really nice is that I can access my laptop over the network and stream my music library through the radio. I'm still experimenting with it, and I think there are ways to stream podcasts as well, which would be great with the Audible sub. If I can't, I can always download the show and just stream from my computer. The built in speaker sounds good, especially for talk radio, but there is also a line-out jack for headphones or any amplified speakers.

[KnoxHarrington]

Breaking news item on WSJ.com's front page now:

Liberty Media near deal for major stake in Sirius XM; deal would save Sirius from bankruptcy.

Interesting to see if Mel stays around after this.

[STC-Dub]

I just want my Ron and Fez. If Mel is running the company or not really does not matter. If the company does declare bankrupcy Mel would be on very thin ice for sure though.

[pittphantoms]

Watch for a HUGE bump tomorrow in the stock... news broke tonight Liberty probably has a deal done with Mel to cover the debt.

With 300 to 500 MILLION in short shares out there - there could be a MASSIVE short squeeze skyrocketing the stock price over the next 48 hours.

If you bought or held the stock recently - you could be looking at a lottery ticket in your hand...

Article info below:

By ANDREW ROSS SORKIN
Published: February 16, 2009

While Sirius XM is burdened with $3.25 billion in debt, it has about 20 million subscribers who generate a revenue stream of some $2 billion annually. If Sirius XM can solve its debt problem, the company’s value is likely to jump sharply. (One of the great ironies of the merger of Sirius and XM was the expectation that the combined company could borrow money more cheaply.)

Still, Wall Street is likely to be shocked that Mr. Malone is investing in Sirius XM. All last week, the inside line was that he was just being used by Mr. Karmazin as a ploy to help in his negotiations with Mr. Ergen.

It was vintage Mr. Karmazin. “You have to play the hand you’re dealt,” he said in an interview last fall. “Right now, I don’t like my hand. But we’ll play it.”

If the deal doesn’t hit a last-minute snag, Mr. Karmazin will have managed to save his company — and his job (Mr. Ergen wanted to fire him) — by pitting some of the most hard-nosed negotiators in the business against each other, all while he held what no doubt looked to be a losing hand.

As part of the transaction, Mr. Malone is to pay about $265 million now — which will be used to pay off the $175 million that Sirius XM owes Mr. Ergen today — as well as make a second payment of up to about $200 million in the fall to help pay off about another $400 million that Sirius will owe, these people said.

Mr. Ergen had bought a part of that second piece of debt to act as another tripwire, but with this deal, he will probably lose his opportunity to take over the company. Of course, Mr. Ergen won’t go away empty handed: he most likely will make a handsome profit by having bought up Sirius’s debt on the cheap and being paid off at its face value — by Mr. Malone, no less.

[Zorro]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123482928641895443.html?mod=testMod


Karmazin's Miscalculation
Decision to Hold Off


Mel Karmazin has faced numerous struggles as the head of Sirius XM Radio Inc., but it was one badly timed move last year that ultimately left his company exposed.

Late Monday, it appeared that John Malone's Liberty Media Inc. was close to taking a large stake in Sirius XM, an investment that would delay for now the day of reckoning over the company's debt.

......

[STC-Dub]

Not sure why I care, but I would rather have seen Echo Star step in.

[NewYorkDragons80]

Watch for a HUGE bump tomorrow in the stock... news broke tonight Liberty probably has a deal done with Mel to cover the debt.

With 300 to 500 MILLION in short shares out there - there could be a MASSIVE short squeeze skyrocketing the stock price over the next 48 hours.

If you bought or held the stock recently - you could be looking at a lottery ticket in your hand...

If Sirius/XM can hit $.75, I'll be impressed. We'll see what happens to my $150 investment. As of now, my 900 shares are down to just under $95