Martin Said To Be Seeking 5-0 Consensus
George Reed Dellinger, of Washington Analysis, who early on predict DOJ approval of the merger, and who watches activity in Washington noted that Friday Chairman Martin of the FCC has made some comments to reporters relating to the pending merger of Sirius and XM. Comments attributed to the FCC Chairman say that he is seeking a consensus 5-0 vote on the proposed satellite radio marriage.
We noted a few weeks ago on our Sirius Buzz Radio show "It Comes Down To the FCC" (available for download) that a simple 3-2 majority in favor of the merger would deliver the least amount of concessions, and that a 5-0 vote would mean more negotiations between the members of the commission, and thus perhaps more stringent conditions as well as additional delay. In essence, there could be a price to pay (concessions) for getting to a unanimous decision. The George Reed-Dellinger report confirms the hypothesis that we published a few weeks ago.
With Washington, one never knows the motives of what transpires behind closed doors, or in the minds of the commissioners. Martin could be genuinely seeking a consensus vote, or simply posturing in order to bring out the depth of the concessions that the dissentor(s) are seeking. Ultimately, it appears that FCC approval will happen, but for investors and the companies, it is a question of what the "cost" will be in terms of conditions placed on the ability to merge.
Reed-Dellinger notes that, "on the surface this implies the deal could be subjected to a lengthy, contentious debate over conditions, such as giving back spectrum or leasing channels, which the Democratic Commissioners may be expected to demand in return for their vote."
However, the analyst also feels that Chairman Martin, "in our opinion, is merely mouthing the typical words encouraging collegiality, and will not sacrifice the deal, and the ‘a la carte’ pricing scheme offered by management, in order to get a 5-0 vote. In light of the strongly-worded approval by the Department of Justice, such a consensus is likely not needed to keep the appellate court from blocking the merger. Moreover, the DOJ went out of its way to praise the combination’s ‘synergies’, which should reinforce the Republican Commissioner’s goals of not saddling approval with unnecessary conditions."
George Reed Dellinger remains of the opinion that the deal will be approved without burdensome conditions, on a 3-2 vote if need be, and that while the May 1 date of the Sirius and XM agreement will need to be extended, that approval should come within the next month.
Position - Long Sirius, Long XM
What a crock, Why now would you be looking for a unanimous decision. If that was what they wanted they should have thought about that 6 months ago. This has gone on for way to long and the FCC is looking more incompetent with each day that passes. So now what they are going to put in conditions to get two commissioners they dont need. Conditions that I might add will most likely hurt the present subcriber who signed up for certain content and sound quality. Conditions that I also add, the DOJ seems to think are not needed. Come on Martin grow some balls and do what you are paid to do, LEAD, there is a reason there are 5 commissioners and not 4 or 6 or 8 for that matter.
do you have a spell checker? you do not spel gud
decenter(s)??????????????
We are definitely just waiting for politics to be worked out at this point. The spectrum concessions that are being requested by Georgetown Partners and others can’t be met because it would mean reducing the quality of service for present subscribers, some of which signed up for lifetime subscriptions with an understandable expectation that the level of service would remain relatively unchanged or would possibly improve. Since you can’t take away spectrum without degrading the sound quality or number of channels provided to present subscribers, we should win this battle in the end.
The reason it is taking so long is because they have to play politics, which means they will take all the time necessary to be able to say with conviction that they did the best they could to look out for the consumer’s interests, and forcing large spectrum concessions couldn’t be done without harming present subscribers.
I have faith that Mel is standing his ground and not giving away the farm here. That is why it is taking so long. Remember, Mel is pretty heavily invested in the stock himself: In January 2006, he purchased 1,000,000 shares at an average cost of $6.21 and in May of 2006 he purchased an additional 1,000,000 shares at $4.47. When he purchased the last 1,000,000 shares the SEC Form 4 showed that he had 6,500,000 shares.
Here are links to the applicable SEC filings: http://tinyurl.com/3ozb9f http://tinyurl.com/47xo58
anon….
LOL…actually it was a grammar and proofing issue not a spelling issue, but that would be splitting hairs. All corrected. Thanks for noting it in such a public way.
Cheers
Hey Tyler, why dont you just tell anon to go and read all the filings at the FCC and give you a condensed reveiw. Then you would have more time to be more nit picky on grammar and spelling. Or just tell him to F-off.
john…..
all is okay. i appreciate the fact that anon caught the mistake. All is well.
I understand that Tyler, I just dont think people appreciate all the time you expend getting all of this information and should just be greatful for it. I am retired and would not want to spend the time.
LOL….
Thank you for the kind words. There is a lot of time and dedication involved, but I choose to continue to do it. Having someone like you express appreciation make the critism worth while.
Cheers