It looks like David Bank's big SAC is starting to effect his work . . .
His $1.00 price target has already cost RBC clients an 11% return in a market where finding yield is challenging.
It looks like David Bank's big SAC is starting to effect his work . . .
His $1.00 price target has already cost RBC clients an 11% return in a market where finding yield is challenging.
Interesting read:
Satellite Technology Feature Article
September 16, 2010
Sirius XM Gets Ready for 2.0
By Gary Kim, Contributing Editor
The initial value proposition and business logic for Sirius and XM (when they were separate companies) was that satellite radio would do in the radio market what cable TV did in the television market, namely "add choice."
Some might argue that the promise was not immediately matched by the potential, as evidenced by slower than expected subscriber growth and then a merger of the two firms to create a single provider in the market.
By and large, the original premise still makes sense. Sirius XM does offer more varieity (the traditional cable TV value proposition) and in many cases, better audio quality (part of the original cable TV proposition).
Over time, we have come to better appreciate the differences between "television" and "radio," though. For starters, video is a product used primarily in the home, while radio is consumed primarily in cars.
That has meant Sirius XM prospects have depended on getting car dealers to offer the equipment as a standard feature in their new vehicles. Where cable TV companies and then telcos have had to woo local franchise authorities, Sirius XM has been dependent on auto manufacturers and new car sales to gain the right to market service to consumers.
That has been a tougher problem for Sirius XM than for cable operators for one key reason: municipalities have made money (about five percent of gross revenues) when they grant franchises. Auto manufacturers have to invest in gear that increases the sales price of their vehicles.
By some estimates, car suppliers get residuals of perhaps 2.9 percent of subscription revenues, but have to buy the radios. Municipalities get five percent and do not have to invest anything.
Also, though the conversion rate of new cars equipped with Sirius XM receivers is fairly high--46 percent or so--but that also means dealers have installed radios in 54 percent of vehicles that generate no revenue. Sirius XM normally provides a subsidy to get those radios installed, but does not appear to be a 100-percent subsidy.
Granted, the Sirius XM receivers do not add much to the cost of a new vehicle, but there is some additional cost to a dealer that in more than half of cases does not produce recurring revenue.
But Sirius XM looks to be readying a "2.0" version that will add important personalization features.
The fourth quarter of 2011 might be the time Sirius XM introduces the ability to customize audio feeds delivered over the Sirius XM service, but possibly also content captured from HD Radio, WiFi (News - Alert), and possibly terrestrial radio broadcasts as well.
"Satellite Radio 2.0" is expected to offer "significantly more choices for the consumer and contain functionality that does not exist today in our radios," says Sirius XM CEO Mel Karmazin.
Users might be able to customize their own channels using a “like” or “dislike” style button.
Sirius XM might analyze each song that was streaming through the Sirius XM spectrum, and then capture specific songs that met the listener’s preferences. The software could then cache that live content onto a new storage chip on the radio for playback at later times.
This caching could happen at any time that the radio was active, and not just while the user was listening to their personally designed channel.
All the while, the program could insert new content into the playlist that may potentially match the listener’s preferences and allows for music discovery over every single one of Sirius XM’s channels.
The same features might also be used for overall content discovery including news, sports, talk, and comedy programming as well.
Users might be able to save their favorite songs for instant playback at any time.
In a sense, Sirius XM is on the cusp of enhancing its value proposition from "radio with more choice" to "radio that is customized." That could be an important shift.
Gary Kim (News - Alert) is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of Gary’s articles, please visit his columnist page.
Edited by Patrick Barnard
Last edited by Boomer; 09-17-2010 at 03:53 PM.
Anyone keeping track of John's stock market predictions? lol.
He has been awfully quiet of late. I wonder why?
"I said several months ago i believed the market would tank about this time
(end of the 3 quarter to beginning of the 4th quarter) and several weeks ago i told people to expect it to happen in the beginning to middle of Sept. Now while some lunatics would like to believe i have ESP, i dont, IT IS CALLED USING COMMON SENSE AND LOGIC. "
"MOST SANE PEOPLE WOULD BE SAYING AT THIS POINT, BOY I WISH MY PROFESSIONAL PLANNER WAS THAT CLOSE".
You cant make this stuff up.
i have quotes of John's that are even more incriminating, but i am holding them back
until later when i come back to bury John and his ideologically based stock market predictions.
I dont foolishly predict market directions and certainly not based on whether or not all the Bush tax cuts are allowed to lapse, capital gains go up, and Republicans take the House and or Senate. Its silly and pretty much unproveable, and he jumped in because with the economy as bad as it is his ego just couldnt pass up what seemed like an easy prediction based on a slowing economy.
P.S. He still hasnt answered my 2 questions (from weeks ago) about his predictions. He ran away after i tried to get him to be specific and now we all understand why.
Last edited by Havakasha; 09-17-2010 at 09:51 AM.
Hm . . Siri on a nice slow methodical steady sustainable climb to $1.13 and we don't hear a peep from Spencer Savery in several days . . .
. . . and what of RBC's David Bank and his $1.00 Price Target? . . . I'll bet you that he's sitting at his desk tweaking his big SAC right now . . . that must be some Capital Markets division over there . . . . 13% pissed right down the drain!
Havakasha, I am not here as a supporter of John's position on a lot of things but he has been right on some things so I do give him some credit esp., pointing out the growth in subs when everyone else was wrong. As far as the market goes the last two weeks of Sept and first two weeks of Oct historically have been bad for the market imdd research anyway. So, here's hoping that the market did most of its correcting in August and we have that behind us now, but I do think it is a little early to say John was wrong? For me, I look for improving statistics economically, but not enough to make a difference in the election although I do think the market will do ok since the republicans seem to be on the way to significant gains and that will be welcomed by th market... as misguided as that may turn out to be in the coming years? jmpo
Hi Andy - I'm still piecing it together . . I have to do a little more research on spin-offs and IRS Section 355 Code requirements . . . I listened to the whole John Malone interview with Jessica Cohen . . . . but decoding some of John Malone's answers can be like trying to read ancient Eqyptian hieroglyphics . .
In the meantime . . here's a little John Malone Canadian trivia for ya, eh . . .
Quoting John Malone:
"We have a retreat that's right on the Quebec border. We own 18 miles on the border, so we can cross. Anytime we want to we can get away. It would probably be illegal but we could go. Actually our snowmobile trail goes right on the border."
Last edited by Sirius Roadkill; 09-17-2010 at 05:09 PM.