BEST OF Programming Already Adding To Bottom Line
I write about satellite radio. I have Sirius, and have had XM. It sort of comes with the territory when you cover this sector, so when the availability of the BEST OF programming was announced, I found myself compelled to at give it a try.
This morning I put my investigative cap on and called customer service to not only add the new programming, but to ask a few additional questions as a “curious consumer” so that I could write about my experience.
Tyler – How is the response to BEST OF? Are you getting a lot of calls?
Customer Rep – Actually yes, we are getting a great response so far. I’m surprised by the number of calls adding the service. Did you want to add it month to month or pay for a full year?
Tyler – Well, how much will the service be if I do a full year?
Customer Rep – Your annual plan just lapsed a couple of weeks ago, so you are on a monthly plan right now. It would come to $186.89 if you renewed for one year with the BEST OF. This gives you 1 month free.
Tyler – I see, if I pay month to month it would come out to $203.88 for a year. Do a lot of people take advantage of the annual plan?
Customer Rep – Not everyone, but many do. You can break it up into two payments, so that makes it a bit easier for people.
Tyler Okay. Give me the full year, and break it up into two payments.
Customer Rep – Great, you have a small credit on your account, so we will apply that first. The balance will then be $177.67. Half will go onto your account now, and the other half next month. Do you want to use the credit card we have on file?
Tyler That would be fine
Customer Rep Great, you are all set. You have a Stiletto 100. When you turn it on you should see a channel update. After the update completes, power the unit off and on again, and you should be all set. If you have any problems you can always call. Can I help you with anything else, or do you want any of the other radios on your account upgraded?
Tyler – No Thanks
The conversation gave me a good feeling about what is happening with the BEST OF programming. Seeing that the passionate satellite radio subscribers are reacting well to the initiative is great news. Likely, many people are adding right to their existing plan, and therefore paying in advance. This brings cash into the door. If the reaction is substantial, it could mean millions of additional cash on hand for Sirius XM Radio as they go into Q4. Such cash would not only bolster the companies position, but give them some latitude in marketing expenses to promote not only the BEST OF, but A-La-Carte as well.
With all of the bad news of late, this little conversation gave me a bit of faith in knowing that the wheels of satellite radio are still turning, and that while the economy has many people concerned, they are still opening up their wallets to get the additional programming being offered.
In many ways, Sirius XM announcements lately have fallen victim to the overall bad news of the economy. We now have the potential of seeing the bailout package approved before the weekend, and Sirius XM to have positive things to say on October 6th. For once, the timing seems to work in the favor of satellite radio.
Position – Long SIRI
I am long on the stock but as a customer I have had both XM and Sirius (XM was built-in at the Honda factory, and I added a Sirius with FM transmitter). I recently added “Best of Sirius” to my factory-installed XM radio and cancelled my Sirius. Truth be told, I only really have Sirius for a certain radio personality, Mr. Stern. While I saved money on canceling my Sirius in exchange for the cheaper “Best of”, I am reluctantly hurting the company’s bottom line, not helping it.
I am worried this could be a big trend. When I cancelled my Sirius today, the rep on the phone said that the cancellation line was very busy, over 100 customers at that moment were on hold waiting to cancel. I hope that my situation was a rare exception, but I am honestly worried that many people will do this and that the merger could actually hurt Sirius XM, not help it. Does anyone know how significant this issue could be (people canceling one service when they used to have both, only to exchange this for the cheaper “best of” option)? How many people actually subscribe to both? Anyone know? I hope the company studied this before they merged, and that this is not an unexpected bomb that is about to drop!?
Are you kidding me? THERMO-GLOBAL NUCLEAR WAR WITH RUSSIA AND CHINA has been priced into this stock. A NEW SPREAD OF DRUG RESISTANT ASIAN BIRD FLU? Priced in. A SPECIES KILLING ASTEROID HURTLING TOWARD EARTH? Priced in.
Come on. This stock is so MASSIVELY undervalued and unfairly beaten down it’s absurd. And now with this economic crisis, it may be held down even longer.
If the debt gets refinanced and the stock DOESN’T move up – I will have OFFICIALLY lost all hope. It’ll be PROOF positive that Sirius is being targeted and manipulated and NOTHING will ever make it move.
When I want to make myself feel better, I read this Brandon article from September 15th…
““…Given Sirius XM’s low stock price, Mr. Karmazin said he would love to take the company private. But given the state of the credit markets, “How do you find [the money] today?” If the company were generating positive cash flow, which he expects it to do for the full year in 2009, privatization would become much more feasible, he says…”
There may be several positives to this article. To begin with, a company like Microsoft (MSFT), Apple (AAPL) or Google (GOOG) which has the cash to make an offer right now might be more quick to act as they would have no idea if the opportunity would pass them by in the way of a private offering. Mel has opened the negotiating door to any and all private equity firms.
My feeling is that no matter whether the company is taken private, or taken over, shareholders can expect a minimum bid of 4.00 per share. I base that number on the fact that Mel himself is averaged in the high 3.00 range. To make himself whole, he would seek at least that number.
With the stock trading below a dollar, that would be a 400% premium over the current price. That in itself should be an attractive proposition to Wall Street, and a recovery of the stock price may begin on this news.
Disclosure: Long SIRI.”
I’m an Apple Head thru and thru….but it BOGGLES my mind why MSFT has NOT made a bid for Sirius yet. To me, it makes the BEST way for MSFT to directly challenge Apple’s mp3/music huge market share.
Think of the lowly zune with Sirius Radio. Think of MSFT trumping Apple in the car.
It makes so much sense, and at the INSANELY low price Sirius is at now…I just don’t understand WHY it hasn’t happened yet.
Could it be that any potential bidders, like the EVERYONE else are waiting to see if Sirius is able to refinance it’s debt?
Possibly Friggin.But why cant MSFT make a deal now with the Zune? They dont need to buy Sirius to do that. Theres so many things you could do with this technology its mind numbing. How about a touchscreen that allows you do download a song you hear on Sirius right to the units memory? For a small fee of course. Use Microsofts library.http://www.zune.net/en-us/ente.....efault.htm. or every have SiriusXM make their own library.
Im starting to feel trigger happy at .60 cents. Im just getting a feeling things will turn around soon. I think Febs debt is a non issue at this point. Especially with the bailout. Im down a shit load and my emotions have been a roller coaster with this stock but .60 fucking cents????? Im starting to feel its a no brainer.If i double my shares at .60 my average will be $1.36. I really dont know what to do. Its so damn tempting. 40% profit if it hits a buck. That aint too shabby. What do you guys think?
Steve,
About the cancellations. I do not have either service but I cannot see it causing a blip on the radar. I really doubt there are many people who double down on the services (XM&Sirius) in the same vehicle. It is just too much satrad gadgetry in the same vehicle. Your average person is going to have one or the other or an inactive radio and those are who best of targets. And for those like yourself who do consolidate, you are going to be a happier customer knowing that you got what you wanted and aren’t explaining to your friends how you need two radios when they are in your car. Best of HAD to happen.
Right on Dave. Sirius NEEDS to go DIRECTLY after internet companies like Rhapsody and Apple’s itunes.
A more interactive online music service would really help Sirius. They have the CONTENT…but they NEED to also need to compete with these types of services too.
The ability to download a song you hear on Sirius would do just that.
I’m REALLY hoping Mel does alittle face time on CNBC tomorrow for the kick off of the BEST OF. Get some momentum and positive buzz rolling here.
Come on Mel. Lets get going. 🙂
One more thing. They need to look ahead on designing a radio.They need to sit down and say to one another “Ok guys look 5 years ahead. What features do you think are doing with this technology?” They need to build a unit with the interface like the iPhone where future services will just add an icon to the screen. No more people buying a radio every 2 years for some additional feature. This is where they could do a deal with MSFT to use a windows platform in the radio. They need to concentrate on new services and ideas and build one last “do all end all” radio. At least to where the thing will be good for 5 or more years.
I saw something on CNBC a few weeks ago about how Sirius should shift away from the hardware side and concentrate on the Content side.
I tend to agree. When it works, like in Apple’s case, it’s GREAT.
But Sirius’ resources are stretched pretty thin right now. And besides…even apple saw their ipod’s slipping. EVERYTHING is moving towards the cell phone. People don’t want to carry around 3 different items. They want it ALL in ONE.
So I think an aggressive push to get their service on cell phones is the way to go.
That being said, I agree that it would be great if Sirius came out with something new. Something that would WOW everyone. Like you said, maybe teaming with MSFT, GOOG or APPLE. Who knows.
I just think the MOST important thing…more than trying to create the next big thing in hardware….Sirius NEEDS to ADVERTISE and start creating more BUZZ about their service, and the fact that they are merged with XM now and that there is a NEW radio music media giant on the scene! They need to make it COOL and the MUST have service to have. NOT the must have hardware. They aren’t going to make ground on APPLE or RHAPSODY that way. It’s ALL about the content.
Any extra cash should be thrown at ADVERTISING.
Just my opinion. 🙂
-Still waiting on the FIRST SIRIUS XM tv commercial.
Dave….I hear what you say about the .60 price as being “tempting”.
But remember that Caution is the better part of valor.
I’d be VERY cautious.
YES….I TOO feel the Feb debt will be a non issue. But if you noticed, GS and some others were already shifting to the MAY and December debt. They will continue this game. Every time Sirius makes progress, the likes of GS who have kept this stock down, will just shift focus. They will exhaust and exploit every little thing.
Plus the economic environment. After the Bail out bill was passed, there was a MASSIVE sell off Friday. Hedge funds are being forced to sell, because clients want their money. People are still SCARED.
And I am worried that this FEAR will continue to exert pressure on Sirius thru MASSIVE shorting.
I know Mel’s plate is full right now, but I REALLY think he should petition the SEC to have Sirius put on the SHORT BAN LIST.
Shorts will use the FEAR in the market to BASH every stock not on the list down.
I’m optimistic about the Feb debt being refinanced….but I’ve been burned so many times thinking we’ve hit a bottom. EVERYTIME I’ve “averaged down” the price has dropped lower.
I shudder to think that Sirius might go lower…but everytime GS lowered it’s price target…Sirius invariably hit it. So if GS said 50 cents, and we’ve been flirting with 57, 58 and 59 last week….I just worry that should the market crash next week….we MAY hit that 50 cent price.
I don’t want that to happen. But I’m holding off buying anymore just to see if it does.
Whatever u do…good luck.
Anyone seen any teevee ads yet? Tomorrow -Monday. Oct 6 – brings the new product blow out. If I get to Radio Shack I’ll report back with any findings.
I just have one thing to say, and that is this sounds much better then Brandons opinion about trying to raise money the other way. You people that were so involved in that article by Brandon and thought that was a good idea, will now see that it was not. This plan is much better and does not sniff of desperation. If people want to do what Brandon was suggesting I suggest you just buy and pay for a full year or lifetime with the best of package.
What’s lower that .60 …. zero.
For the love of God are you all dreamers?
It’s a .60 stock gentlemen. Next believe in leprechauns, your odds are better.
I have ADDand ADHD… I talk all the time. Sometimes I just talk to myself. I get paid to post too. $1.00 per post. I have 64 posts here. I’m rich! …. I can buy 1000 shares of Sirius now.
Sirius & XM’s satellites are worth more than their market cap at .60 cents.
In the words of the immortal Gene Wilder as Willa Wonka…”We are the music-makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams.”
So bash all you want plowboy. Neither YOU or Me can say for sure WHAT will happen for sure.
But I guess we’ll find out in due time.
What is a basher doing at .60. That’s the real question. Another pathetic basher appears again. How does it happen? Go figure.
I have a cousin who recently bought a new Honda with 3 months of free XM. He hardly ever turned it on; seems he is conditioned to terrestrial radio and is too lazy or too stupid to press the button in front of his face to turn on satellite radio! The 3 month trial sub. ran out, and now he has no interest in activating it again, despite my enthusiastic endorsment of the service. The amazing thing is that when he gets in my car, he laughs his head off at the Stern show (I have Sirius) and is impressed with the varirty of music selections. He was a big fan of Mike and the Mad Dog, and the Playboy channel would be right up his alley. Trouble is, he just doesn’t care. Totally apathetic towards the product/service. He enjoys listening to crap. He is very lazy, and it would be a chore to pick up the phone and call XM to activate the radio.
He, sadly, represents millions of people in this country. Just mention satellite radio to some people, and brace yourself for the reaction that you are more likely than not to get; immediate disdain, scorn, perhaps even repulsion. I have never seen anything so innocuous bring out such vehement opinions. These are the “I will not pay for radio” types who in many cases are paying for cable TV, cell phones, bottled water, video games and a half dozen other nonnecessities. They thrive on the lack of content and the 20 minutes per hour of commercials on monotonous terrestrial radio. We live in a junk culture where quality is often rejected in the pursuit of mediocrity. Think “Miley Cirus”, or “Two and a half men”, or….. terrestrial radio. All are examples of crap which, inexplicably, are popular with some people. This is satellite radios biggest problem – getting through to the dumbest country on the face of the earth. No product, no service this good should be such a tough sell. It seems to have a niche following, but it is a very devoted and loyal group of people, and they (we) are passionate about it. I think that if subscriptions can build to the 25 to 30 million range, and the dept can be settled, then the only thing that can stop satellite radio from succeeding is a bad business model, or mismanagment. That couldn’t happen, could it Mel?
That would be “MIley Cyrus”, not “Cirus”. I may be too stupid to spell the little, no talent brats name, but I’m not so stupid that I listen to terrestrial radio. I truely can’t stand pathetic old AM & FM radio. It used to be so much better, until it became corporation controlled and turned into mindless, boring crap. Thank God for satellite radio!!!
WOW. The Asian and World markets are down HUGE this morning.
Once again Sirius’ rotten timing continues.
What a day to kick off the “BEST OF”.
LOL. You almost have to laugh at the sheer coincidence of it all.
UN-BE-FUCKIN-LEAVABLE.
I think Tyler & Brandon are in shock. They’ve been awfully quiet lately.
I think we all are.
It’s so strange. It seems like the WHOLE country just caught up to us Sirius shareholders. EVERYONE is feeling the pain now.
But for awhile we were feeling it. I don’t know if it’s good that we aren’t alone anymore or not. They say misery loves company. Still it stings. I really wish I had cash on the sidelines. There are SO many buying opportunities now as ALL stocks fall in a massive selloff. I only HOPE Sirius has done it’s falling already. I don’t think it could handle losing anymore. We are at 55 cents premarket. Could this be the day we hit Goldman’s target of 50 cents.
And what if we do? Will Goldman immediately come out with a price target of 25 cents? I mean they’ve downgraded Sirius like 4 times in the last few months.
Ugh.
To think I could have gotten out last year with a slight loss, yet was too stubborn to sell.
I just want this pit in my stomach to go away. I want some assurance from Mel. I want to know that we can weather this storm without fear of BK or Reverse Splits.
I want to know about the refinancing.
Why the silence Mel? Your troops are waiting.
how can sirius be down ANOTHER FRIGGIN 12% already today to .51 cents….and yet european sat radio company WORLDSPACE is back up 34% again from yesterday? WRSP went from .89 cents back to $1.17
how friggin low can we go? when will it stop?
Unless Wienkes has a crystal ball, there is no way he could be 100% right every time he puts a price target on this stock. Of if he is controlling the stock price via the CINN. If this does not warrant an immediate criminal investigation by the SEC and FBI then I don’t know what would.
in light of the economic collapse…i doubt sirius is going to be on the list of priorities for the SEC.
This is fuckin bullshit, everyday when I come into work and check the price I feel like punching the computer screen. Mel has got to say something, this is just getting ridiculous.
Now the whole world is feeling what us Sirius shareholders have been feeling for years.
This is sickening. At 50 cents a share…I have lost 3 times my money JUST SINCE THE MERGER WAS APPROVED. If You add in the time since I first got into Sirius 3 years ago, I HAVE “LOST” NEARLY 8 TIMES THE MONEY I’VE PUT in.
Will Mel be FORCED to do a reverse split now to keep this going to ZERO???
And in THIS market, if Mel DID a 10 to 1 reverse split….and we went to $5….unless Sirius was on the NO SHORT LIST…we’d probably get knocked back down BELOW a buck…and then most shareholders would be virtually wiped out.
EVERYTIME I saw it can’t get worse it HAS in the past…so I SHUDDER to think what can happen next.
This is scary shit my friends.
And just think of the MASSIVE SELLOFF that would occur in this environment IF Mel were to announce a refinancing deal. It’d be such a massive rush for the exits, that NO ONES sell orders would go thru.
How many people here wouldn’t try to take some off the table if Sirius popped on such news?
It seems we are screwed either way. Of course I’d much prefer the good news.
It’s just so hard to be positive after being beaten down for so long, and now the whole economy is in a panic.
We will probably see Osama bin Laden before we see, or hear from Mel! This is a betrayal of all the subscribers and shareholders, and quite frankly is guttless and pathetic. Like many others, I have invested a major percentage of my money in this stock, and all we get as the ship is sinking is complete silence! You are supposed to be the “Wonder Boy of Radio.” Mel, with all due respect, a lot of people are starting to WONDER about you. Say something….. ANYTHING !!!! Pull money out of your own pocket if you have to. It won’t be nearly the percentage of money that many of us have risked in support of the company that you are allegedly in charge of. Have some balls!
WHY doesn’t the SEC pass an IMMEDIATE BAN on ALL SHORT SELLING RIGHT NOW??? Not just the financials…but ALL SHORT SELLING?
I know that shorting is important for a healthy market. But we are DYING here. Drastic times call for drastic measures.
The stocks don’t need help to go down right now….they’re going down just from the panic selling.
The shorts are just feeding on this panic. It is BORDERING ON TRAITOROUS BEHAVIOR in my opinion.
Selling is one thing. You can’t stop selling. BUT a temporary ban on short selling would help.
It’s a FUCKING FEEDING FRENZY OUT THERE!
We are in the 40s now.
Gutless, not guttless. You know what I mean, Mel. frigginregan is right; things are DRASTIC. Time to come ouy of seclusion, Mel. It’s time to act. NOW !!!
Out
WHERE THE FUCK ARE TYLER and BRANDON??? I can understand Mel hiding out. But why is SiriusBuzz so silent?
Oh…who am I kidding. I know why. WHAT CAN YOU SAY? There is NOTHING.
We can just watch silently in horror as our company we believed in goes out of business right before our eyes.
We are going to be wiped out my friends. This is really hard to watch after ALL we’ve been thru. It’s unbearable.
But in a SICK perverse way…after all this battle fatigue and false hope being smashed over the years waiting for the merger….I am kinda getting a rush out of watching it go down. I know that is not right…but I can’t help it. For 3 years the stock has gone down. The no POP after the merger was the last straw.
Right now, with all my hopes dashed…I have passed the point of caring anymore. It’s like I want to SEE JUST HOW FAR IT CAN GO DOWN….and WHEN will the LAST KNIFE BE PLUNGED INTO my chest so that the pain will finally be OVER?
3 years of NEVER GOING UP…..3 years of slowly going down down down down…until after the merger when the downward spiral GOT FASTER AND FASTER AND FASTER.
At this pace…it won’t be much longer now till we hit ZERO and it’ll be over. Our shares will be wiped out.
FUCK MAN. I don’t want it to end like this. But it seems inevitable.
If ONLY I had sold same time last year before ALL that MERGER IMMINENT BULLSHIT.
Yeah…MERGER FRIGGIN IMMINENT. It took another 8 FRIGGIN MONTHS….and then IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE MERGER WE DROP BELOW A FRIGGIN BUCK.
NOW WE ARE BELOW 50 CENTS.
At least it will be over soon.
I will have a PRIMAL SCREAM. MAYBE WRECK MY ROOM. BREAK A FEW DISHES.
AND then… I will do what I should have done a YEAR ago. START OVER.
Steve…I WISH I could get out. But at 48 cents….WHATS the point?
It just makes you wonder what is going on, Nothing from Mel.
Drive the price down and sell it off to someone??
who knows anymore, But what a slow death for us stockholders
I don’t trust anyone
vaporgold
Hey I’ve got a thought. Now that the pps is SO FRIGGIN LOW….couldn’t Sirius BUY BACK SHARES???
LOL. I’m SERIOUS. The price is so FRIGGIN CHEAP…isn’t that a possibility?
Even if Mel finally fuckin speaks up and announces some good news, what r we going to get the SP to 70 cents? Then Weinkes will just knock it back down again anyway. Whats the difference we arent getting out of this whole,
Capitulation
Main Entry: ca·pit·u·la·tion
Pronunciation: \k?-?pi-ch?-?l?-sh?n\
Function: noun
Date: 1535
1….
2 a: the act of surrendering or yielding b: the terms of surrender
Until we experience this word, the stock will continue to go down. Are we there yet? No. But we are getting close. The bottom I’ll be looking for is the low of .39 we saw years back. Sad but probable.
Just my opinion.
Wasn’t something supposed to happen today? I remembered waiting for October 6 for some reason.
Yeah…but in 2003 the market wasn’t as bad as it was right now.
Everytime Goldman Sachs downgrades they cut the price in half. Last time it was .50 cents from a $1….so I’d imagine they’ll come out with a .25 cent price target soon no?
My question is this…after Mel sold us out to Goldman with the infamous “ugly” merger deal, it gave them the added incentive to short the stock to their price target of 50 cents.
But when is it too much?
If Goldman allows the stock to go much lower, don’t they ironically kill the Golden Goose?
Doesn’t it behoove them now to pump the stock up?
I mean there is a REAL danger that Sirius could go to Zero if this keeps up any longer….and then Goldman would LOSE EVERTYTHING.
It gets to the point where it doesn’t make sense anymore right?
Friggin’. I was thinking the same. There isn’t a whole lot more to make by shorting. you’d think most shorts would be covered by now. But i don’t know much about shorting stocks.
Where was Brandon Bet and Tyler’s Take this morning with my coffee ?
I think they bailed on us. Brandon wasn’t even on thursday nights show.
I’m out so much cash I could cry. Some times I get the feeling Mel is in on it with GS. Maybe his plan is to buy the company himself. Who the fuck knows at this point. I’m so depressed.
We’ve now hit GS target again and could be in for a rate cut very soon, so maybe a bounce coming out of this hole by the end of tomorrow.
It would be nice to see some insiders buying. A little vote of confidence. But to see zero insiders picking up shares at these levels leads me to believe they think it is going lower.
Sure we have debt, but nothing that cannot be re-fi. Have this many subs and we add subs every day and will for years to come.
The pps share price does not reflect this.
why???????????????
imho
vaporgold
After watching this board for the last few weeks…we must all have hope no matter what.
Do you relly think Mel will get any TV time to promote our cause. The markets are in shambles around the world and that is consuming ALL the Tv time. At this point we must take hold of our fears and build even more patience. This is a long process now to get any share value to rise again so we can regain our the investors confidence in our company, the great product potential and our investments. I have 8000 shares avg at 1.46 and hope to add more.
Cam MEL sell without shareholders’ approval?
Can ShareHolders call for emergency meeting and overthrow the F**** MEL and BOARD of conspiracy?
This is painful.
Might as well all get together for a mass suicide. Come to think of it, Mel kinda looks like the goofy guy that convinced people to off themselves in Nike shoes
Fuck it, I’m ready to go. This has ruined my life. Who’s with me?
We can all write Sirius investors relations and ask what Sirius plans to do to get this stock above a dollar to keep it from being delisted.
It it is a simple question and one Mel and Sirius should respond to the stockholders with an reply. a Sirius reply and not a form letter.
Start writing and lets see if we can get Mel and company to respond.
imho
vaporgold