SIRIUS XM SATELLITE RADIO NEWS

I have broadcast SiriusBuzz Radio from several states, and even though I travel frequently, have made every attempt to stay faithful to our Thursday night broadcasts. This week, I will be on a plane, and because the FAA will not allow cell phone calls from 32,000 feet, we will be unable to broadcast the show this evening.

My family and I are spending a long weekend in salt Lake City, and I will then follow that up with a brief three day trip to Orlando. I will make efforts to Bring a special edition of SiriusBuzz Radio on Monday night after the Sirius XM Radio conference call, but we will have to see how my schedule shakes out.

I would encourage listeners to take this opportunity to listen to some of the archived shows which you can find by visiting SiriusBuzz Radio’s page on Blog Talk Radio. While you are there, why not take a few minutes to mark SiriusBuzz radio as a favorite, as well as rate some of the shows. Think of it as Sa SiriusBuzz Radio Instant Replay. Besides, if Howard can take every Friday off, I should be able to miss a show or two.

SiriusBuzz Radio will return to our regular Thursday schedule next week.

Position - Long SIRI

As anticipated here on SiriusBuzz Sirius XM radio came out with a press release today on the Q3 reporting. The company will issue their quarterly report Monday, November 10, 2008, and will host a conference call the same day at 4:30 PM.

Perhaps more important than the guidance provided by Sirius XM Radio is the reason that the guidance was issued. The company states, “The company is in discussions with several financial institutions regarding a financing to replace its 2-1/2% Convertible Notes due 2009. In connection with these discussions, the company is releasing the material elements of its five-year operational and financial forecast.”

Refinancing of the debt has been a huge weight on the stock ever since the financial market collapse two months ago, and any news that a successful refinancing is happening could serve as a boost to the price per share.

Among the news was the release of guidance for the next five years.

In the past Mel Karmazin has always maintained conservative guidance. Under Promise and Over Deliver has been the track record. Time will tell how aggressive or conservative this guidance is. There is little doubt that a weak OEM channel has had, and will have an impact on this company, as this is the method by which most subscribers are derived.

Position: Long SIRI

While Sirius XM radio has not yet made an announcement about when they will have their Q3 2008 conference call, we can tell from SEC regulations that we will see the information by Monday, November 10, 2008. It is for this reason that I believe that we will see an 8:00 AM conference call on Monday.

The big question in everyone’s mind is what this quarter will look like. Will synergies be noticeable at this point? Will there be a lot of One Time charges? Will guidance be given?

What the street is expecting is a loss of 9 cents on revenue of $587 million.

One thing is certain. There will be a lot of information to digest. How are various metrics going to be tallied? What impact will the merger related expenses have? What types of synergies are we beginning to see.

Often when a quarterly report is issued, there is a swift reaction in the equity. This is one case where a bit of patience may be prudent. When the report is issued, investors should consider the information very carefully. They should make an effort to understand the expenses, and whether they are operational or one time events. they should look at how various metrics are counted, and get a full understanding of where the company is heading.

In my opinion, a PR about the Q3 call will be issued on 11-6 or 11-7.

Position - Long SIRI

It was announced today that Directed Electronic and Sirius XM Radio are parting ways. Directed Electronics has been the main distribution arm for Sirius Satellite Radio for a few years, and enjoyed the retail boom with Howard Stern’s arrival to Sirius, as well as the retail slumps of the past year and a half. The new distribution partner will be New Age. While official confirmation of New Age has not yet been released, we have reason to believe that the company is New Age Electronics, a company that specializes in retail and distribution.

According to the New Age website, the company describes their expertise as:

New Age began as distributor in 1988. Our customers continue to achieve aggressive sales targets and have pushed New Age to expand its service offerings. Today, we offer a complete solution encompassing logistics and product recovery programs.

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We have all seen the headlines for the auto industry over the past few days, and they have not been good. Car sales are dismal. The message is plain and simple to see.

• The Worst Auto Sales In 25 Years
• GM Sales Down 45% - Ford Down 30% - Toyota Down 25%

However, we here at Siriusbuzz, and our readers demand information that goes a bit deeper. With that in mind, lets look back 25 years, the date by which current auto sales were compared. The year was 1983. February of 1983 was the bottom for auto sales. The industry was in a dire situation, and things were very bad. In early 1983, the discussion and headlines about car sales were all doom and gloom.

So how is there good news on the horizon? Well, fast forward to January 1984, and you will find an interesting New York Times headline that points to a banner year in the auto industry.

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Merrill Lynch analyst Jessica Reif Cohen issued a critical report on Sirius XM Radio today. The media analyst notes that the auto sales for 2008, and even 2009 appear to be troubling for satellite radio as the OEM channel has been an integral part of the growth of satellite radio.

Cohen has lowered her projections on subscribers, noting, ” 1) September’s broad decline in US retail (lowest in 3 years); 2) soft electronics sales with Best Buy posting -2% September comp; 3) ML lowered US auto forecast for ‘08/’09 to 13.8mn/12.5mn vs. current SIRI guidance of 14mn; and 4) credit crisis has made SIRI ’09 refinancing prohibitive.”

The analyst lowered net adds by 47k to 409k, which represents a down 51% year over year comparison. She has also adjusted ARPU to $10.47 from $10.53, and has trimmed revenue by $7mn to $611mn (+15.4% Y/Y).

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I got a wonderful package in the mail a couple of days ago. It was a Slacker G2, and indeed it lives up to the high standards we have come to expect from a service such as Slacker. The G2 is small, light, intuitive, and best of all carries a great selection of songs without me having to download all of them.

For audiophiles, Slacker is a great solution. The concept and service sit in a niche between satellite radio and MP3 player. The stations refresh according to your style and taste, which allows for new music discovery, yet at the same time you can build your music library with the simple press of a button.

Slacker bills itself as the solution for connoisseurs of music, and with the new G2 this is perhaps an understatement. Slacker subscriptions are reasonably priced anywhere from FREE to $10 per month. The free service has commercials. The premium service is only $7.50 per month if you subscribe on an annual plan.

The Slacker G2 has won a spot on my dashboard, and will be a constant companion on flights. While I love satellite radio, there are times when I just want to jam to tunes with the ability to fast forward.

You can see a full review of the Slacker G2 at Slacker Active.

WorldSpace Stock is now on the pink sheets, and many investors are simply seeing red! The stock symbol is now WRSP.PK, and the equity is trading at .03 cents. WorldSpace delivers satellite radio services in countries outside North America, but has had troubles from the start in getting their services launched, and with the world markets in turmoil, was simply unable to weather the storm.

No Position WRSP.PK

Sales figures from auto manufacturers are starting to hit the wires, and the news is not good. The poor sales in the auto sector are now so bad that even with increased penetration of satellite radio installations, there will be an impact to the sector.

GM sales were off by an astounding 45%, Ford sales were down 30%, Honda took a 25% haircut, and Toyota was down 23%.

Many were expecting bad news, but sales down 45% is a big number to swallow. It is little wonder that analysts have taken it upon themselves to lower subscriber targets for satellite radio. As with anything, one must also look for a silver lining, but in this case that is a hard task. Sure, Sirius XM will have less spent on subsidies, but in the end, they still do need to grow their subscriber base, and the focus on the OEM channel makes their numbers vulnerable with auto sales at record lows.

Perhaps it is time to shift gears. Perhaps the company should throw some marketing support behind the a-la-carte receiver and the new XMP3 player. If consumers are holding onto their cash, perhaps they will be inclined to make their time in the car more enjoyable via satellite radio.

Times are indeed hard. Consumers are clearly holding onto cars longer. Investors should watch for analysts that have not issued reports recently to begin issuing updated models soon. The car news today may even bring out new reports from those who had already updated models, but did not anticipate a 45% nosedive by GM, which is the biggest satellite radio contributor in the OEM channel.

Position: Long SIRI

It looks as if another step has been taken in what has been a long process for shareholder Michael Hartlieb. Mr. Hartlieb has formed an organization called “Save Sirius”, and has now filed a suit in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. The suit accuses management of violating the federal Racketeering-Influenced and Corrupt Organizations act, breach of fiduciary duty, and violation of the Sherman Act.

Mr. Hartlieb has been vocal on various situations with regard to Sirius, XM, and the merger for a few years now, and up until recently has been acting on his own with regard to his various concerns. Now, it appears that he has formed an organization of about 500 shareholders that have joined him in his efforts.

According to a press release issued today, which this publication had no prior knowledge of, the current effort is to stop a potential vote at the Sirius XM annual meeting to be held December 18th, on increasing the fully diluted share count to 8 billion, as well on a vote regarding a potential reverse split.

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