Printable View
Well Candleman, SIRI is red now at 9:55 AM. As SRK noted above, we are stuck in a rut. Nothing to see here folks.Quote:
Originally Posted by candleman
Here's something to talk about.
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsO...5AT56720091130
Let's talk about the future of mobile electronics. Satellite communications will remain a key due to reach. The future of mobile electronics is one device for phone, radio, video, internet and GPS (or ATT, SIRI, DTV, ATT and ???).
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Sirius XM Radio Inc (SIRI.O) could team up with Liberty Media Corp (LINTA.O) to take its satellite radio offerings global through a partnership with WorldSpace Inc (WRSPQ.PK), Chief Executive Mel Karmazin said on Monday.
"We understand that Liberty has expressed an interest in WorldSpace," Karmazin said at the Reuters Global Media Summit in New York.
But if a partnership with Liberty does come about, Sirius would not invest any money, he added.
"We would put our expertise and experience in the pot and Liberty would put their money in the pot," Karmazin said.
Liberty Media, controlled by cable pioneer John Malone, rescued Sirius from a possible bankruptcy filing earlier this year with a loan of $520 million. In return, Liberty secured a 40 percent equity stake in the company.
Through a subsidiary, Liberty Media has also bought up the debt of WorldSpace recently, leading to speculation that Malone would seek to combine Sirius and WorldSpace. Most of WorldSpace satellite radio's subscribers are in Asia and Africa.
"So one would think that if Liberty were to do something there that they would want as strategic partner somebody who has successfully done satellite radio in 5 percent of the world," Karmazin said.
Such a partnership could involve Sirius bringing its relationships with car makers and expertise in building satellite radio gear to WorldSpace's operations, he added.
(For summit blog: blogs.reuters.com/summits/)
(Reporting by Anupreeta Das and Yinka Adegoke; Editing by Tiffany Wu and Richard Chang)
NEW YORK, Nov 30, 2009 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ ----SIRIUS XM Radio (Nasdaq: SIRI) today announced that David Frear, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, is expected to present at the 2009 UBS Global Media and Communications Conference in New York, NY, on Tuesday, December 8, 2009 at approximately 8:00 am ET.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/...19/NYTU044LOGO )
An audio webcast of the presentation will be available via the Investor Relations section of the Company's website, www.sirius.com, at approximately 8:00 am ET.
Contact for SIRIUS XM Radio:
Shirley Huang
SIRIUS XM Radio
212 584 5242
Shirley.Huang@siriusradio.com
Maybe Mel could actually pump the stock this month. I'm all for it. :D
12/3 is the next day on your "stealing" I mean bonus stock sale thread. Johnny mentions that they doubled up recently. Any way to know if that eliminates any of the future dates. Or just more penetration with less lube for the shareholder.........................
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Sirius XM Radio Inc (SIRI.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) is prepared to engineer a reverse stock split to lift its stock price and avoid delisting from Nasdaq, but hopes its stock price will rise naturally, Chief Executive Mel Karmazin said on Monday.
At its current level of about 60 cents a share, Sirius XM shares have more than quadrupled from a year ago, but would still need a 60 percent rally to top $1 a share. Nasdaq could delist Sirius if they do not vault $1 by March 15.
"I will absolutely do a reverse split if our stock doesn't qualify for Nasdaq. We are not going to get off Nasdaq," Karmazin said at the Reuters Global Media Summit on Monday. "My preference would that organically we will get over $1."
Karmazin added that there is no rush: "Between now and March 15, we have no reason to have to do any form of reverse split."
Sirius, which has about 18.5 million paying subscribers to its national radio service, last year gained the right from its shareholders to declare a reverse split somewhere between 1-for-10 to 1-for-50.
Karmazin noted that he has lobbied the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to consider other measures for valuing companies of considerable size, even if they have low stock prices. He suggested that there are advantages in low-priced stocks for investors.
"Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway is at $100,000 (a share). That is taking the little guy out of that stock, and it's only the institutions. We don't think that's good. We are not going to make Berkshire split their stock," he said.
(Reporting by Franklin Paul; Editing by Tiffany Wu and Richard Chang)
© Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved.
Posted by: Alexei Oreskovic
Tags: Media and Communications, Mediafile, Howard Stern, Media Summit, Mel Karmazin, Oprah Winfrey, satellite radio, Sirius XM
It’s been five years since Sirius lured shock jock Howard Stern to satellite radio with a $500 million contract. Whether Stern can re-up with a similar deal when his contract expires at the end of next year is anyone’s guess, but it ought to be entertaining. Sirius XM CEO Mel Karmazin is preparing himself for negotiations with the self-proclaimed King of All Media.
In a meeting with reporters at the Reuters Media Summit on Monday, Karmazin gave us a thumbnail sketch of his version of “The Art of the Deal.”
“I could tell you, it will start with Howard feeling that he is working too hard and doing too many shows and not making enough money. Our side would say, ‘We want you to do more, and get less money,’” Karmazin said.
“That would be how we would go into the room once the time came to go into the room. And the hope would be that we would come out with Howard staying with our service,” he said.
Karmazin praised Stern as “a talent like no other in radio,” but would not say whether such a talent was still worth a half billion dollars.
“You have to now assume that the negotiations are at a stage where everything is in print, so if I were to say, yes, we got every penny’s worth, Howard would come in with that piece of paper and say ‘See? I sold myself too cheap,’” he said.
Stern is one of the biggest draws of Sirius XM’s satellite radio service, which counts 18.5 million subscribers. His decision to exit FM radio for Sirius in 2004 is credited with establishing satellite radio as an established form of media, though some analysts have also noted that high-priced contracts like Stern’s contributed to financial woes that pushed Sirius to the brink of bankruptcy earlier this year.
Stern is not the only big personality whom Karmazin may face at the bargaining table; Oprah Winfrey’s contract for her Sirius talk show ends in 2011. While Karmazin said he has not yet had talks with Oprah, he said that satellite radio could become a more valuable promotional tool for Oprah once she quits her broadcast TV show.
Asked whether Oprah or Stern was the tougher negotiator, Karmazin said both previously got the best of him.
“I’ll tell you who was the worst negotiator: It was always Mel because they got all that money from me."
I am told by sources well versed on this topic that with AstroGlide you only need one drop!Quote:
Originally Posted by socalrunningfool
By Franklin Paul
NEW YORK (Reuters) - In his storied career as a media chief, Sirius XM Radio Inc (SIRI.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) CEO Mel Karmazin never had to stare failure head on -- until last year.
After three decades as a power broker as adept at billion-dollar deals as he was at managing A-list personalities like shock jock Howard Stern, last year Karmazin faced the possibility that his satellite radio company could go under.
"I was never in that position before," Karmazin, 66, said at the Reuters Global Media Summit in New York. "I was always a CEO of a very viable company and all you had to worry about was whether your revenue was up or down. You really didn't have what was a risk for your company."
One year after easing concerns that Sirius might seek bankruptcy protection from its creditors, Karmazin's mood is upbeat. Subscriber additions rose in the third quarter and holiday sales of Sirius XM radios are on track.
But there is still plenty of risk left in Sirius XM's future for the dapper New York-native to take on. His biggest immediate challenge is to boost the company's stock price above $1 before March 15, when Sirius XM faces delisting by Nasdaq.
Karmazin, who this month marks five years as chief executive of Sirius, hopes the market will "organically" drive the price up, but says he will enact a reverse stock split if he must.
"There's no question about my biggest disappointment (as CEO) is the shareholder value that wasn't created over the last five years that I have been there," he said.
Last December, Sirius had about $1 billion in debt due to mature in 2009, with not enough cash on hand to pay, and limited access to credit as the global financial crisis raged. These were problems Karmazin never faced during his tenure as president and chief operating officer of Viacom (VIAb.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) or as CEO of CBS Corp (CBS.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).
Through a series of tough financial deals culminating with a cash infusion by John Malone's Liberty Media Corp (LINTA.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Karmazin navigated Sirius through its troubles. The stock is now at 63 cents, up from a low of 5.2 cents in February.
It didn't come cheap: the deals gave Liberty a 40 percent stake in Sirius XM, which has 18.5 million subscribers to its pay radio service.
These days, Karmazin is willing to team up with Liberty to take its satellite radio offerings global through a partnership with WorldSpace Inc (WRSPQ.PK: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), whose satellite radio subscribers are mostly in Asia and Africa.