totally forgot about this Faber interview from Aug 1, 2008 . . . so I guess the satellite launch will be a capex in Q-3 (August launch):
Faber: -- BUT LET'S TALK ABOUT THE FUTURE HERE.
Karmazin: AND I THINK THAT IS THE FUTURE, OKAY? I THINK THE FACT THAT WE HAVE IDENTIFIED IMMEDIATELY $400 MILLION OF SYNERGY ON VIRTUALLY EVERY LINE ITEM OF THE P&L, SYNERGIES THAT WE ARE VERY, VERY CONFIDENT TO BE ABLE TO DELIVER NET OF THE COST BEFORE 2009. SO WHEN YOU TAKE THAT SYNERGY AND YOU ADD IT TO THE COMBINED COMPANY, YOU GET, FOR THE FIRST TIME, POSITIVE EBITDA. NOW, IN MY OPINION, POSITIVE EBITDA ISN'T THE SAME THING AS MAKING MONEY.SO, WE'LL HAVE $300 MILLION OF EBITDA IN 2009, AND BUT FOR A PAYMENT CONNECTED WITH THE SATELLITE, SIRIUS IS PUTTING UP A NEW SATELLITE IN '09, AND WE HAVE ONE PAYMENT -- BEFORE THAT SATELLITE, WE WILL BE FREE CASH FLOW POSITIVE.
Faber: OH, MY GOD, FREE CASH FLOW POSITIVE. YOU KNOW HOW MANY TIMES I'VE BEEN ASKING YOU THIS QUESTION, WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO BE FREE CASH FLOW POSITIVE? SO ARE YOU ANSWERING IT OR NOT?
Karmazin: I'M ABSOLUTELY ANSWERING IT, AND WE WOULD HAVE BEEN FREE CASH FLOW POSITIVE AT SIRIUS, FOR SURE. IT WOULD HAVE TAKEN US LONGER, BUT ONCE THAT PAYMENT IS DONE IN '09, YOU SHOULD THINK ABOUT SIRIUS AND YOU SHOULD THINK ABOUT VALUING SIRIUS. YOU KNOW, WE CAN TALK ABOUT WHAT THE COMPANY COULD BE WORTH OR ISN'T WORTH, BUT WHEN YOU'RE GOING TO VALUE OUR COMPANY, YOU'RE GOING TO VALUE US ON FREE CASH FLOW, BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT WE'RE RUNNING THE COMPANY FOR. AND THIS COMPANY COMBINED IS A COMPANY THAT WOULD GENERATE A LOT OF FREE CASH FLOW, AND THAT FREE CASH FLOW IS GOING TO CONTINUE TO GROW.