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Sirius Satellite Radio host Howard Stern supports the merger of his network with XM Satelitte Radio and is fuming at Democratic opposition on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) panel. After FCC commissioners announced they have reached a deal to approve the merger of Sirius (NASDAQ:SIRI) and XM (NASDAQ:XMSR), Stern ranted about Democrats’ ‘gangsterism’ and ‘communism’ and the obstacles to the merger. Stern described a phone conversation he had with his agent, who he described as a “liberal Democrat kind of guy.” “I go, ‘That’s it!’” Stern said. “[I] go, ‘You know what Don, I’ve voted Republican and I’ve voted Democrat....

Sirius Satellite Radio host Howard Stern supports the merger of his network with XM Satelitte Radio and is fuming at Democratic opposition on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) panel. After FCC commissioners announced they have reached a deal to approve the merger of Sirius (NASDAQ:SIRI) and XM (NASDAQ:XMSR), Stern ranted about Democrats’ ‘gangsterism’ and ‘communism’ and the obstacles to the merger.

XM-Sirius merger OKd in fines plus booster-dump deal Woo FCC with $19m in 'voluntary contributions' XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio are nearing a final agreement with US regulators to approve their long-pending merger. The companies agreed to pay millions of dollars in fines in order to grease the wheels of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for formal approval of their proposed monopoly. Some officials and lawmakers are concerned that leaving only one company to rule satellite radio airwaves will lead to price-hikes and anti-competitive behavior. But XM and Sirius are approaching a final pact with the FCC that...

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin J. Martin said yesterday that he will support a merger between the nation's sole satellite radio operators, XM and Sirius, a decision that could remove the last regulatory hurdle in the lengthy and heavily criticized move to make the companies one. ... The companies have agreed to: ... set aside 4 percent of their radio spectrums, or 12 channels, for noncommercial services such as educational and public safety programming. They would lease another 12 channels for programming run by minorities and women, groups that are underrepresented in entertainment broadcasting

Senior members of the Congressional Black Caucus yesterday criticized a compromise plan for the proposed merger of the XM and Sirius satellite radio companies, saying the deal does not provide enough opportunities for minority-owned programming. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin J. Martin said over the weekend that he would support the merger after XM Satellite Radio Holdings and Sirius Satellite Radio voluntarily agreed, among a series of other concessions, to lease 4 percent of their radio spectrums, or 12 channels, for programming run by minorities and women. Members of the black caucus on Capitol Hill have been arguing for the...

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Justice Department approved Sirius Satellite Radio's $5 billion buyout of rival XM Satellite Radio on Monday, saying the deal was unlikely to hurt competition or consumers. The deal was approved despite opposition from consumer groups and an intense lobbying campaign by the land-based radio industry. The buyout received shareholder approval in November. The companies said the merger will save hundreds of millions of dollars in operating costs—savings that will ultimately benefit their customers. The Justice Department, in a lengthy news release explaining its decision, said the two companies compete not just with each other but also...

Sirius Satellite Radio is launching a station devoted to the Spitzer scandal. Client 9 Radio, by isteners' demand, is on-air through the weekend....with call-ins, segments on fallout, psychology and implications.

Satellite radio held hostage THE $4 BILLION merger of satellite radio companies Sirius and XM continues to languish in the hands of government regulators, despite hopes that the 10-month antitrust investigation wouldn't drag into 2008. An otherwise clear-cut approval process has been hijacked by competitors seeking to prevent consumers from receiving better service, more choices and lower prices. As a result, the government could become an accomplice in bankrupting satellite radio and removing a popular product from the market. Before granting approval, antitrust officials at the Department of Justice must determine whether the merger creates a monopoly, an easy question....

XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. will no longer broadcast the Starbucks XM Cafe channel after ending a marketing agreement with the coffee chain operator, the company said in a regulatory filing Monday. As part of the breakup, Starbucks has the right to sell $22 million in XM shares. At the time of the filing, that amounted to about 1.85 million shares, which represents less than 1 percent of XM's total 314.2 million shares outstanding at the end of September. XM said in the filing that if Starbucks does not realize $22 million from the stock sale, XM may be forced...

Soros fund takes on Countrywide, XM, Sirius stakes Soros Fund Management reported in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission its holdings as of Sept. 30, which included a $33.9 million investment in Countrywide. The fund also reported stakes in Sirius Satellite Radio Inc (SIRI.O: Quote, Profile, Research) and XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc (XMSR.O: Quote, Profile, Research), of 1.21 million shares and 103,265 Class A shares, respectively. The shareholders of the rival companies voted in favor on Tuesday of a planned $5.1 billion merger that still needs approval by the federal government. The overall value of Soros'...

The only reason I subscribe to Sirius is for their Metropolitan Opera Channel which mostly rebroadcasts old Saturday afternoon performances. Even if you're not an opera fan, you can probably imagine my horror when I clicked to the Sirius site to check out the schedule and saw that the Sunday schedule was preempted and given over to "Live Earth" programming. I immediately searched for the customer service link and fired off a message to the Sirius folks. I don't have a copy. The gist of it was that I was interested in opera and not left-wing political stuff. Within minutes...

A study sent yesterday to the Federal Communications Commission and the Department of Justice demonstrates that the proposed merger between XM and Sirius would create a monopoly, constituting a likely violation of the antitrust laws. Conducted by one of the country's leading economists and scholars, the study lends concrete evidence and analysis to some of the most important questions that have plagued lawmakers since the merger was announced earlier this year. As lawmakers on Capitol Hill began to focus increasingly on what the relevant product market is for satellite radio and what impact this merger would have on consumers, the...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Kevin J. Martin, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, has privately questioned recent congressional testimony by the architect of a proposed merger of the nation's two satellite radio companies that subscribers would both pay the same monthly rate and receive significantly more programming, The New York Times reported. As he sought to sell the proposed merger of Sirius Satellite Radio (SIRI.O: Quote, Profile, Research) and XM Satellite Radio (XMSR.O: Quote, Profile, Research) to Congress, Mel Karmazin, the chief executive of Sirius, vowed last Wednesday that prices would not be raised and that listeners would benefit...

Former Attorney General John Ashcroft, hired by opponents of the deal, has blasted Sirius Satellite Radio Inc.'s proposed acquisition of XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc., saying the combination would leave only one provider in the market. Ashcroft, who served as head of the Justice Department for four years until January 2005, was hired by the National Association of Broadcasters to examine the acquisition. The NAB, which represents traditional radio broadcasters, has been a fierce critic of the acquisition, now worth about $4.4 billion, since it was announced last week. In a letter sent on February 27 to his replacement as...

Sirius CEO argues for radio merger WASHINGTON — Despite vowing not to raise their prices, the nation's only two satellite radio providers found their proposed merger to be a tough sell Wednesday on Capitol Hill. "You've got some high hurdles to overcome, don't you think?" House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) told Mel Karmazin, chief executive of Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. Karmazin, who would run the new company if federal regulators approve Sirius' proposed merger with XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc., tried to overcome those hurdles by promising not to hike for an unspecified period the $12.95 monthly...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. and XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. pledged on Tuesday to work with regulators to close their proposed $4.9 billion merger by year's end, seeking to calm concerns that U.S. antitrust authorities would block the deal. Sirius Chief Executive Mel Karmazin, a seasoned dealmaker and media veteran, said the goal of the deal was not to raise consumer prices but to boost subscriber growth by combining the two satellite radio services and bringing stars like Howard Stern and Oprah Winfrey under one roof. But he acknowledged that Sirius's planned takeover of XM has...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Sirius Satellite Radio agreed to buy larger U.S. rival XM Satellite Radio for $4.6 billion in stock on Monday in a deal that gives all subscribers access to entertainers such as Oprah Winfrey and shock-jock Howard Stern. The transaction, which faces regulatory scrutiny and objections from terrestrial radio companies, gives XM shareholders 4.6 Sirius shares for each XM share held. The deal has Sirius paying about $4.6 billion in stock for XM, or a 21.7 percent premium to XM's closing share price of $13.98 on Friday, based on shares outstanding in the latest regulatory filings. Veteran...

NEW YORK, Feb. 19 (UPI) -- U.S. radio operators Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio Holdings are in final merger discussions, a published report said Monday. The deal, which would create a single satellite radio operator with more than 12 million subscribers, would save the companies nearly $7 billion a year, The New York Post reported.

Satellite radio operators Sirius and XM are expected to announce their long-awaited merger today, according to a source familiar with the deal. The two sides were locked in negotiations over the weekend trying to hammer out a final agreement with an eye toward going public with the merger today in Washington, D.C., where XM is based, this source said. Talks were still going on at press time and the deal could fall apart at any time. With antitrust issues of paramount importance, this source said lawyers for both companies were working overtime to fine-tune the language of the agreement and...

Sirius has always been a complicated company with a complicated story. First of all, you've got the blue-sky opportunity of satellite radio, which has lured in many only to see them washed away in a sea of red ink and missed expectations. Then you've got the deal with Howard Stern, a mythic figure with the cult status of Steve Jobs and whose importance to the well-being of the Company (and its stock price) is a topic of endless conversation. Next you've got Mel Karmazin, yet another big personality in a small company with an agenda all his own. And finally...

Robert Anton Wilson, co-author of the cult classic "The Illuminatus! Trilogy," a science-fiction series about a secret global society, has died. He was 74. Wilson died peacefully of natural causes at his home Thursday in Capitola in Santa Cruz County, his daughter Christina Pearson said Saturday. Post-polio syndrome had severely weakened Wilson's legs, leading to a fall seven months ago that left him bedridden until his death, Pearson said. Wilson wrote 35 books on subjects such as extrasensory perception, mental telepathy, metaphysics, paranormal experiences, conspiracy theory, sex, drugs and what he called quantum psychology. He wrote the "Illuminatus" trilogy with...

The libertarian novelist, journalist, humorist, and philosopher Robert Anton Wilson died at about 4:50 this morning, Pacific Coast time. As far as I'm aware, the last thing he wrote was this, posted on his blog last Saturday: Various medical authorities swarm in and out of here predicting I have between two days and two months to live. I think they are guessing. I remain cheerful and unimpressed. I look forward without dogmatic optimism but without dread. I love you all and I deeply implore you to keep the lasagna flying. Please pardon my levity, I don't see how to take...

NEW YORK — Sirius Satellite Radio (SIRI) paid shock jock Howard Stern a bonus worth nearly $83 million on Tuesday for surpassing subscriber goals set in a 2004 contract that had already turned heads with its $500 million compensation package. The freewheeling and ribald Stern joined Sirius one year ago... His defection marked a turning point for the nascent business of satellite radio, with both Sirius and larger rival XM Satellite Radio (XMR) paying millions more to sign on other talent and attract listeners to their subscriber model. Sirius had roughly 600,000 subscribers when it signed Stern in 2004 for...

I'm not a stock holder. I'm just a customer. I certainly wouldn't pay for Howard Stern. But if you like/love opera and don't know already, Sirius is broadcasting live from the Met four nights a week. Tonight is a so-so Rigoletto, but there is just enough brilliance every so often that even the most jaded listener has to think, "Wow!" When there aren't live operas, they play live recordings from their archives (unfortunately introduced by the lamentable Juntwait). A couple of days ago I recorded a '63 Sutherland-Sonnambula! What would Mozart think!? ML/NJ

Howard Stern, the self-proclaimed "king of all media," moved to satellite radio in January 2006 to be free from government decency regulations. However, the president of the American Decency Association says the notoriously profane radio host's newfound freedom has apparently come at a cost. Stern predicted that millions of so-called "terrestrial" radio listeners would follow him to satellite and pay a monthly subscription fee to hear his show. Sirius Satellite, which now carries the well-known shock jock's broadcast, put its money on him in the hope that he was right. In addition to Stern's show, Sirius also offers Playboy Radio,...

Are you tired of flipping through the radio trying to find tunes to jam to, but all you find are boring channels with a lot of chit-chat or ads? That was me a few months ago, until I subscribed to satellite radio. With hundreds of commercial-free music stations and specialty channels like live football coverage and talk shows, you will definitely want satellite radio in your car too! You can even buy devices that will allow you to have satellite radio almost anywhere - in your boat, house, even on capable cell phones! So if you decide you want the...

Debbie Schlussel is doing a show on Sirius Satellite Radio tonight, on the Howard Stern Channel (Howard 101) until 11 o'clock. She's a riot when she's on Stern, or maybe Howard makes her a riot by mocking her. At any rate, she IS informative and worth a listen if you have Sirius.

I had a rental car recently that had XM in it, and I loved it. So now I WANT to have satellite radio, so I'm asking my fellow FREEPers opinions. Which is best? Or, why do you prefer Sirius or XM? Thanks in advance! RD

Long before they were competing shock jocks on opposition satellite radio networks, XM's Opie and Anthony and Sirius' Howard Stern worked for the same radio company in New York. And it wasn't much fun, Opie and Anthony say during an interview airing at 9 tonight on the Fox News Channel's Hannity & Colmes. ''The guy made our lives miserable when we worked for Infinity Broadcasting,'' Anthony says. ``He put a gag order on us so we couldn't talk about him. He didn't like somebody else being successful in his city, in New York. His home base. [Even though] we were...

Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. said Wednesday it would create a new channel of Catholic-themed programming with the Archdiocese of New York. The channel, which will launch in the fall, will carry live daily Mass from St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York as well as talk and music programming. Financial terms of the arrangement weren't disclosed. Sirius already carries other religious-themed programming, including Catholic-themed syndicated talk shows, news and teachings from the EWTN Global Catholic Radio Network as well as programs from FamilyNet, the broadcast arm of the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. Those shows are also...

HOWARD Stern says he's been offered a "major deal" to come back to regular radio via satellite radio - just like his longtime enemies Opie & Anthony. "The joke could be on them if I get good and worked up [because] I got offered a major deal to go back to terrestrial and stay on satellite at the same time," Stern told his Sirius listeners in comments replayed and mocked yesterday by "O&A." "Can you imagine if I go across town against them in all those markets and just kick some a-? That would really be cool," said Stern, who...

NEW YORK - Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. reported Tuesday that its first quarter loss more than doubled, due largely to expenses of $225 million in stock-based compensation to its star shock jock Howard Stern. Revenue nearly tripled as the company expanded its subscriber base. Sirius reported a net loss of $458.5 million, or 33 cents a share, for the January-March period compared with a loss of $193.6 million, or 15 cents a share, a year ago. By far the largest factor affecting the results was costs for stock-based compensation, which all companies had to begin recording this year under new...

he FCC on Friday would neither confirm nor deny that it is investigating reports of interference from some satellite radio receivers that are reportedly relaying their signals inadvertently to FM receivers in nearby automobiles. An article in Friday's Baltimore Sun details how some motorists are accidentally picking up channels offered by Sirius and XM on their car radio. The incidents generally occur when the motorists are tuned to a station between 88.1 MHz and 89.9 FM — frequencies reserved for noncommercial, religious or educational stations. Aftermarket satellite receivers generally employ these lower FM frequencies, and the receivers use an analog...

MetroSource News 02:28:54 Satellite Recording Ban Capitol Hill Battle Brewing Over Satellite Radio Broadcasts (Washington, DC) -- Fearing a wave of illegal distribution of copyrighted music, lawmakers on Capitol Hill will consider legislation that would effectively ban all recording of satellite radio programming. The "Perform Act" circumvents the Audio Home Recording Act, which gives consumers the right to record material for private, non-commercial purposes, by requiring satellite broadcasters to either install equipment that prevents their programs from being recorded, or provide compensation to artists and performers to cover potential financial losses due to illegal distribution of their material. The Recording...

Well, that didn't take long. Rocker-turned-radio host David Lee Roth, who accepted the no-win task of replacing ratings king Howard Stern in January, was bounced from the airwaves Friday after barely three months on the air in New York, Philadelphia, Boston and four other markets. "I was booted, tossed, and it's going to cost somebody," Roth said on his last show, intimating that his lawyers would go after CBS Radio for the full compensation due from his reported $4 million contract. The timing of the move was interesting: It arrived just days before the Roth show's first Arbitron numbers. CBS...

They're coming back by popular demand. Ok, make that corporate radio's desperate attempt to save its failing radio content and its stations' revenue after departure of the King. The one-time Boston radio bad boys Greg "Opie" Hughes and Anthony Cumia will return to Boston's WBCN 104.1FM airwaves as early as next Wednesday(4/26) morning. Meanwhile, after three long months former Van Halen lead man David Lee Roth is finally scheduled to wrap up his so-called 15-minute radio career tomorrow (Friday 4/21). This afternoon, Billboard Magazine has provided details on Opie and Anthony's return to broadcast radio and a reunion with their...

DLR DeathWatch '06 Back On? We've all been hearing rumors of David Lee Roth's radio demise for a while, but now (Radio And Records Street Talk) is hearing it's a matter of when -- not if -- CBS Radio, frustrated with Dave's inability and/or unwillingness to play nice with management, will finally be forced to pull the plug. There is strong speculation that we could we see heads roll sooner rather than later -- perhaps after the winter (ratings) book hits next Wednesday? Then again, we could be massively full of crap, but somehow we seriously doubt it this time....

Since the inception of satellite radio, consumers have been forced to choose between two competing networks, XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. and Sirius Satellite Radio Inc., depending on the kind of hardware they buy. But new documents show the rival companies have designed a receiver capable of carrying both services — a development that could significantly alter the competitive landscape of the emerging industry. However, despite spending more than $5-million (U.S.) on the project, XM and Sirius have no plans to let consumers in Canada or the U.S. get their hands on the devices. Though the broadcast licences granted in...

There's been a recent obsession over mobile content, from both the mobile operators and content providers. For the most part, this obsession was due to the unsustainable success of the ringtone market. Mobile operators who were desperate for more revenue from each subscriber suddenly thought mobile content was their ticket to big money. Content companies scared silly by the internet looked at mobile phones as basically a better internet -- because it's closed. However, that makes one huge assumption: that it always remains closed -- something that anyone with a sense of tech trends should have realized wasn't going to...

Sirius has announced 4 million subscribers, and I haven't heard a word from the Howard Stern detractors. Even if he's only responsible for half of the increase since he signed on (600,000 then) and it stays where it is, that's worth more than a billion dollars over five years. That $500 million is a good investment.

In Wall Street terms, the recent “weakness” in XM Satellite Radio shares is “unwarranted,” and could actually be seen by investors as a buying opportunity. Sirius Satellite Radio has its own cheerleaders, as well, but two of the three analysts Billboard Radio Monitor surveyed think Sirius shares are worth about $5 per share, while one analyst pegs those shares to finish 2006 at $9. XM and Sirius shares each hit a 52-week low yesterday (March 14) during the trading day. For XM that low was $20.26 per share, but the stock ended at $20.50 when the market closed. Historically, and...

Sirius Satellite Radio may soon be able to claim that it is the only satcaster with 100% commercial-free music channels. An arbitration panel has ruled that XM Satellite Radio will have to introduce advertising on some of its commercial-free music channels. The ruling resolves a legal dispute with Clear Channel, who made a 1998 investment in the satcaster, gaining control over four of XM’s music channels, which now represent 2.5 percent of the satcaster's 160-channel subscription radio menu. As an early investor in XM, Clear Channel has owned the right to program four music channels, but both companies have disagreed...

FOX News is back on Sirius radio starting March 14. It was a rough few months without it.

Dear Valued Customer: Thank you for recently contacting us to express your point-of-view regarding FOX News. At that time, we were still in discussions with FOX and working diligently to come to an agreement to be able to continue to offer FOX News. We are pleased to tell you that we have successfully secured FOX News as part of our lineup. On March 14th, you will see it on Channel 131 and additionally you will also find FOX News Talk on Channel 145. Thank you for being a SIRIUS subscriber; we look forward to serving you for years to come....

Costs Crackle at Sirius, XM By Scott Moritz Senior Writer 2/17/2006 1:29 PM EST URL: http://www.thestreet.com/stocks/media/10269246.html Satellite radio got a poor reception on Wall Street Friday, as rising costs generated hefty static for a second straight day. New York-based Sirius (SIRI:Nasdaq) fell 6% after posting the inevitable steep quarterly loss, and archrival XM (XMSR:Nasdaq) dropped 8%. The selloff put Washington, D.C.-based XM down 12% over two days. Part of the hangover was Thursday's call to arms by departing XM director Jack Roberts. He said XM's spend-first, ask-questions-later approach could leave shareholders high and dry. But investors are also starting to...

FEB. 17 7:50 A.M. ET Sirius Satellite Radio Inc.'s loss widened to $311.4 million in the final quarter of 2005 on higher costs for acquiring subscribers, the company reported Friday. The loss was equivalent to 23 cents per share, a penny worse than analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial had been expecting. In the same period a year ago, Sirius lost $261.9 million or 21 cents per share.

Coming Soon To The Stern Show Beetlejuice, G. Gordon Liddy, Donald Trump, Joan Rivers, Andrew Dice Clay, Lisa Lampanelli, Joanie Laurer, Anna Benson, Jon Stewart, Roger Ebert, Gilbert Gottfried, Bernie Mac - and more! Not a prank call... Tune in at Sirius Channel 100After seeing a notice at Mark's Friggin that Liddy was on the "Howard Stern 'Coming Soon'" list, I e-mailed LiddyShow Producer, Diana. She e-mailed back. Liddy is expected to be on Howard's show, Thursday, 2/16, between 7:30 and 8AM. She said it was OK to pass the word. That's one soundbyte I hope I can get.

Sirius Satellite Radio Inc., which liberated radio shock jock Howard Stern from the federal decency standards that he felt had shackled him, is finding that freedom's just another word for $500 million to lose. Since Jan. 9, when Stern debuted on Sirius, pirated versions of the shows have been made available for free via several online file-sharing networks just hours after Stern signs off. The New York-based broadcaster signed Stern to a five-year, half-billion-dollar contract in 2004. (snip) A few weeks ago, when the first pirate radio stations began rebroadcasting Stern's show on unclaimed radio frequencies in New York and...

Sirius Satellite Radio Inc., which liberated radio shock jock Howard Stern from the federal decency standards that he felt had shackled him, is finding that freedom's just another word for $500 million to lose. Since Jan. 9, when Stern debuted on Sirius, pirated versions of the shows have been made available for free via several online file-sharing networks just hours after Stern signs off. The New York-based broadcaster signed Stern to a five-year, half-billion-dollar contract in 2004. Now, Sirius is, in a word, furious. "We don't condone the stealing of Howard's show, or any of the content on our more...

Howard Stern will cost Sirius Satellite Radio significantly more than initially forecasted, according to Banc of America Securities analyst Jonathan Jacoby. Stern's actual compensation will be close to $670 million, not the $500 million previously estimated, Jacoby said. "To reach break-even on Stern, we estimate Sirius requires 2.4 million incremental subscriptions," Jacoby wrote in a recent report cited on Forbes.com. The previous break-even mark was approximately 1.5 million. An early 2006 surge in sales of Sirius hardware is now starting to fall off despite the continuation of price discounting, according to Jacoby, who reiterated a "sell" rating on Sirius.