What we need is for his arrogance to make an annoucement about the Feb Debt. Tic Toc Mel.
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What we need is for his arrogance to make an annoucement about the Feb Debt. Tic Toc Mel.
I have alot of money tied up in this stock and as much as i would love for this stock to pop so i could get out, i think long is the way to go..........
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/090121/ny60942.html?.v=1
Press Release Source: SIRIUS XM Radio
SIRIUS XM Radio Announces Comprehensive Broadcast Coverage for Super Bowl XLIII
Wednesday January 21, 10:00 am ET
SIRIUS and XM listeners will have access to 13 individual broadcasts of Super Bowl XLIII in 10 languages
SIRIUS NFL Radio and 'Mad Dog Unleashed' to broadcast live from Tampa, FL
SIRIUS XM will air entire halftime performance by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band live nationwide on E Street Radio
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/stor...D&siteid=yhoof
MARKETWATCH FIRST TAKE
The Super Bowl has allure for Sirius XM
Commentary: Satellite radio network hops for boost from the game
By MarketWatch
Last update: 11:53 a.m. EST Jan. 21, 2009
Engadget links to Charles' article about the price increase...
http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/21/s...se-this-march/
Sirius XM reportedly seeing rate increase this March
by Darren Murph, posted Jan 21st 2009 at 10:59AM
Sirius XM hasn't even been one for long, and yet we're already staring an impending price increase in the face. According to Sirius Buzz, company support representatives are now confirming to the general public that a rate hike will go into effect starting March 11, 2009. They're encouraging current subscribers to lock in their current rates for three years in order to be grandfathered in, but should you choose not to, you'll likely be paying $2 more for additional subscriptions and a $2.99 fee for the online internet radio service. If there's any good news here, it's that the latter fee will give you access to that oh-so-amazing 128k "premium" feed, though we're still left in the dark about any future channel expansions stemming from the increase.
....and so does CrunchGear.
http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/01/21...ike-confirmed/
Yup, Sirius XM price hike confirmed
by Nicholas Deleon on January 21, 2009
So yeah, that rumored Sirius XM price hike is totally going to happen. Go ahead and call Sirius XM and you’ll get the customer service guy trying to get you to “lock in” your current rates by buying a lifetime subscription. Time to break out the pitchforks.
Right in line with yesterday’s information, online streaming will now cost $2.99 per month (it’s currently free with a subscription), and each extra radio will cost you $2 more per month, to $8.99. Note that the online feed’s quality will jump a bit, to 128k.
The base subscription price remains unchanged. That is, if you have only one radio and don’t listen to the online feed you won’t be affected.
As to whether or not this rate increase violates the agreement that Sirius XM made with the FCC, well, since the base rate wasn’t increased it’s hard to say that it does indeed violate the agreement.
But, really, it’s only $2, $2 that could go a long way to helping Sirius XM get through this wretched economy.
...and so does SlashGear.
http://www.slashgear.com/sirius-xm-p...-11th-2131391/
Sirius XM price increases confirmed: extra subs $9 as of March 11th
Wednesday, Jan 21st 2009 by Chris Davies
The rumor of Sirius XM price increases has been confirmed, with customer services representatives apparently informing users that as of March 11th 2009 there will be an increase of $2 for additional subscriptions, while the online internet radio service will now cost $2.99. For that $2.99 all internet radio users will have access to the 128k stream, which previously was the “premium” feed.
According to customer services, it’s possible to lock your current rates by subscribing for a full three years. Of course, that could end up costing you more money in the long-run, as you’ll be tied to a significant contract. It’s unclear whether any of the Sirius XM channels will be altered, or if new content will be added to reflect the price increases.
Subscriptions for the Base, Best of, and A la Carte packages remain unchanged. This is likely to be in an attempt to pacify the FCC, who have been watching Sirius XM closely since the two companies merged.
sirius is in the mud, come on feb
http://blog.wired.com/business/2009/...eam-ads-c.html
In-Stream Ads Come to Pandora Internet Radio
By Scott Gilbertson January 21, 2009 | 1:10:24
Faced with increasing broadcast fees and limited success with visual ads, Pandora, the streaming radio service that grew out of the Music Genome project, has begun including in-stream advertisements as a way to raise revenue.
Pandora previously experimented with in-stream ads, but scrapped the idea due to negative feedback. Now, however, it would appear that Pandora is feeling the pinch (the company also recently laid off staff) enough to give the ads another try, despite the initial negative reaction.
The new ads, which Pandora acknowledged last night via its Twitter account, began running yesterday when users reported hearing an short, fifteen second ad for the Fox TV show "Lie To Me." The initial ad showed up after listening to about ten songs. For many the ad ran again about twenty songs later and then went away.
Naturally, listeners were not happy and number of Twitter posts were vehement in their objections, prompting Pandora to respond: "so you know, we did not take on audio ads lightly. We try to be extremely respectful of your listening experience, & promise to be prudent."
The ads will only be heard on Pandora's free services, like the web-based application and the very popular iPhone app. Those of you who have paid the $36 yearly subscription fee for Pandora's premium service will not be subjected to ads.
While it was nice to be able to stream Pandora for free with no ads, like so many free services on the web, it appears those days are over. Your options are, put up with the ads, pay the yearly fee (which is significantly cheaper than XM or Sirius radio) or move to another service like Slacker or Last.fm.
Although a number of users are up in arms about the change, with some promising to leave Pandora in favor of others, most users seem to recognize that Pandora needs to make some money if it hopes to stay in business.
So how about Pandora listeners? Are the ads okay with you? Or will you be paying for premium, ad-free service? Or moving on to another free, streaming music service without ads.
The Motley Fool...
http://www.fool.com/investing/value/...o-in-2012.aspx
Sirius XM Radio in 2012
By Rick Aristotle Munarriz
January 21, 2009
I'm jamming to Sirius right now, only I'm three years in the future.
I am making the most of the January lull to hop into my time machine and check out how many of the popular 2009 companies are faring in 2012. I've already taken a look under the hood of several different companies, and now it's time to wax futuristically on Sirius XM Radio (Nasdaq: SIRI).
For those about to rock
As you can imagine, life is pretty sweet in 2012. The way we consume radio has changed -- and I'll get to that shortly -- but you probably have two very important questions on your mind that need to be addressed first.
Did Sirius XM file for bankruptcy protection in 2009?
Is it still alive and relevant in 2012?
No, the company didn't have to file for Chapter 11. It caught a few breaks between the refinancing milestones, but catalysts for a buoyant share price, coupled with a reverse split and a somewhat successful secondary offering by year's end helped bridge the gap between desperation and self-sufficient cash flow generation.
There was too much at stake if the satellite radio provider had to turn to the bankruptcy court to reorganize its structure, as any consumer-facing company will tell you. Customers who don't know the difference between Chapter 7 and Chapter 11 get nervous and unsubscribe. Talent retention becomes a challenge.
Striking new deals and embarking on new initiatives helped galvanize the investor community. Pulling off a secondary offering as it turned the cash flow corner proved to be a godsend, as even a lukewarm market began to buy into the story that has come to define Sirius XM in 2011 and 2012: the beauty of all of those tax-loss carryforwards eating away at the company's effective tax rate now that it's profitable.
New slang
From the early 2009 vantage point where you're perched, an onslaught of competition appears inevitable:
More cars are including input jacks for Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) iPod players.
Ford (NYSE: F) and General Motors (NYSE: GM) are putting high-capacity, voice-activated, hard drives into more new models, allowing drivers to rip their entire CD collections to satiate the need for commercial-free music.
Chrysler began selling trunk-mounted Internet routers last year, opening the door for devices to stream the infinite playlists of Internet radio in your car. This is already available, without the router, on 3G smartphones through free apps that stream Pandora, AOL Music, and CBS' (NYSE: CBS) Last.fm.
As all of these eardrum magnets open the options for in-dash audio entertainment, justifying $13 a month for satellite radio isn't always an easy sell. Delivering content via costly satellites and a fleet of signal repeaters is also a harder overhead justification in 2012 when free Wi-Fi coats most of the country.
So how is Sirius XM thriving in 2012? Well, for starters, not everyone is paying for satellite radio. Even in 2008, Sirius XM was facing the challenge of conversion. Despite striking deals for cars to preinstall the costly receivers, nearly half of the new car buyers were not renewing their service when the free trials ran out.
CEO Mel Karmazin discussed the possibility of activating limited content on dormant accounts in 2008, but it didn't become a reality until 2010 to fend off competitive broadcasts. Free users get a few ad-supported channels and a free premium music channel that changes daily.
Another free channel is the Amazon Channel. No, it's not about the plight of rainforest or a haven for world music. It's actually powered by Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN). Similar to television shopping channels like QVC, Amazon hosts a steady stream of deals that listeners can get in on with their interactive receivers through Amazon.
Yes, the receivers are now truly interactive. Advertisers pay more because you can click a button to receive more information directly from sponsors. The biggest music acts are on a waiting list for live appearances, because it allows the bands to move everything from concert tickets to T-shirts to digital downloads seamlessly through satellite radio. Did I mention that Amazon powers that, too?
A whole new world
The number of premium subscribers is only marginally higher than the 20.2 million it had at the end of 2009. Yes, it did miss its original target of 21.5 million, that was revised down to 20.6 million in November of 2008. No one said it was going to be easy. Many of those subscribers are also on lower-priced plans with a limited number of channels, though some are paying more than $15 a month (the going rate in 2012, by the by), given an influx of premium content.
The key is that it all adds up. Sirius XM may have just 21 million paying customers by 2012, but it's a flick of a knob away from roughly 80 million more car owners through its free offerings and terrestrial syndication deals. Yes, terrestrial radio is still around, but barely, as even local stations are throwing their efforts behind online migration.
Subscription revenue is still the key driver, but Sirius XM is making a steady flow of affiliate revenue (through Amazon, for instance) and online advertising. Yes, its branded music channels have spawned Sirius-owned social networking sites for musical niche audiences. The stations put out digital release compilations on a monthly basis, with plenty of fans subscribing to the plans (in exchange for a price break on the monthly releases).
The allure of satellite radio changed, but Sirius XM turned the challenges into opportunities. It even tried to acquire Napster from Best Buy (NYSE: BBY), though the FCC finally cracked down quickly to nix the deal.
So don't cry for Sirius XM despite its pocket change price in January of 2009. The social networking initiatives will launch shortly, the soft subscription tallies will be largely ignored, and the bigger picture will gradually come into focus.
It seems as the SP plummets this forum is becoming a ghost town!!!???
Is everyone panic selling???
Long Sirius~~~
Technologizer links to Charles' article too...
http://technologizer.com/2009/01/21/...ates-to-go-up/
SIRIUSly Expensive: Satellite Radio Rates to Go Up
By Harry McCracken | Posted at 11:15 am on Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Sirius Buzz is reporting that merged satellite-radio monopolist Sirius XM is planning a price hike in March for…its best customers. The cost of getting satellite radio on additional devices beyond the first one you own go will apparently go up by $2 a month; in addition, the streaming Internet service that’s now free will cost $2.99 a month.
When the FCC approved Sirius and XM’s merger last year, it was famously based in part on promises of a three-year price freeze for service. That guarantee apparently applied only to the basic $12.95 a month charge, leaving Sirius XM able to jack up other prices associated with its service. With no direct competitor, there’s less pressure to keep prices low for fear the other guy will undercut them.
Well, maybe. Satellite radio is in dire danger of being rendered irrelevant over the next few years by cell phones that stream a bevy of music, news, and talk stations for no cost beyond standard monthly data fees. Already, my iPhone gets Pandora, Last.FM, Slacker, AOL Radio, NPR, and a whole lot more. The company’s betting that locking up exclusive rights to stuff like Howard Stern and major-league sports will keep its services attractive, but that sounds like an expensive proposition for everybody involved.
News about price changes comes a few months after Sirius XM sprung channel changes on its customers without warning, driving some of its most faithful customers bonkers. (Take a look at the comments on the story Ed Oswald wrote at the time.) I’m still getting used to the combined company’s substitution of something called SIRIUSly Sinatra for the old High Standards station I enjoyed, and really, it’s the prospect of the Red Sox in the spring more than anything else that’s keeping me from defecting to the Internet. And the company’s apparent intention to continue with two separate brands with similar-but-not-identical channel lineups is incredibly kludgy; it leaves DJs having to give two channel numbers each time their identify the station they’re on.
I was hooked on XM for years, and would love to see satellite remain a viable, appealing broadcasting option. But Sirius XM is in a tight spot, and while raising rates may help whip its shaky balance sheet into shape, you’ve gotta think that it’ll prompt some longtime customers–especially those who own iPhones–to dump it.
I'm still here and I'm not selling.....Quote:
Originally Posted by Hopeful
In spite of that rouge trade that spiked SIRI down to .10 a few minutes ago, I think SIRI closes flat or possibly green today...but I could and have been wrong before...
i thinkpeople are just trying to ingore it till feb, its easier than following it :O
Entertainment Weekly links to Charles' article too...
http://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2009...-xm-raisi.html
Get Latest Headlines
Sirius XM raising costs? Vive le monopoly!
Jan 21, 2009, 02:31 PM | by Mike Bruno
Some six months after last summer's merger between Sirius Satellite Radio and rival XM Radio, we're now seeing reports that the new Sirius XM is raising prices starting March 11, charging $2 more per month for additional subscriptions, and $2.99 a month for online streaming (formerly part of the base package). This move is seemingly in line with the FCC merger agreement because technically, the company is not raising its base price -- if you have one receiver and don't stream online, you're not affected. What's more, if you call Sirius XM customer service, someone will explain to you that you can lock in the current rate if you sign up for a three-year subscription (which in satellite radio years, is like, well, a decade). Still, the post-merger move feels like a disconcerting harbinger of price increases to come.
I've personally never been a Howard Stern fan (seems every day there's fewer of those around), and at home, I plug my Internet-connected laptop into the stereo to listen to various online radio as well as my MP3 collection. That means the only place I really listen to satellite radio is my car or at work via the Internet. I like having Sirius on my four-hour road trips to see my Boston-based in-laws, but I think I might just stick with terrestrial radio and my iPod (connected via an inexpensive yet adequate-at-least-in-rural-areas FM modulator) for car rides and ditch the satellite radio rather than pay an extra 3 bucks a month just to listen at work. Yes, it's about saving cash. But it's also about saying screw you to this monopoly before it bites me in the behind.
Anyone else gonna chuck their satellite radio if this price-jacking rumor is true? How do you listen to radio these days? Or perhaps radio really is a dead medium...?
Ok, so the markets are in rally mode with the DOW up 224 and SIRI is having a hard time participating in the party, but that could change going into the close......or not. SIRI is up off it's lows though...
An hour left to go....
http://www.reuters.com/article/marke...48965620090121
UPDATE 2-Sirius XM to raise some prices as debt looms
Wed Jan 21, 2009 3:02pm EST
(Adds debt and FCC background, stock details, byline)
By Franklin Paul
NEW YORK, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Sirius XM Radio Inc (SIRI.O) plans to increase prices for subscribers with multiple accounts and begin to charge for its online music feed, moves that may help the pay-radio service meet looming debt payments.
While it is keeping its core rates unchanged -- a condition to which Sirius and XM Satellite Radio agreed last year in order to close their merger -- the move could also anger subscribers still raw from a series of programming changes enacted in November.
Starting March 11, users with more than one account will pay about $9 for additional accounts, up from about $7, a customer service representative for the New York-based company said Wednesday.
Also, subscribers will have to pay about $3 a month for the online version of the service. Currently, it is free for subscribers.
Users will be able to defer the increases if they sign up for a long-term annual contract extension, or pay up to $500 for a lifetime subscription, representatives said. They added that there is no plan to change the standard monthly subscription price.
An official spokesman for Sirius, one of the largest U.S. subscription services with about 19 million subscribers, did not return calls for comment.
Sirius agreed with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to not raise for three years the retail prices on its basic $13 per month subscription package, and other programming packages such as a la carte; "best of both"; its news, sports, and talk package; and a discounted family-friendly programming package.
Increased revenue derived from the new charges and long-term commitments would come at a crucial time for Sirius XM, which entered the year with about $1 billion in debt due to mature in 2009.
According to Standard & Poor's, Sirius has $175 million of convertible notes maturing next month, $350 million of secured bank debt due May 2009, and $433 million in convertible notes due December 2009.
Last month, Sirius Chief Executive Mel Karmazin said that while the tight credit market has made it difficult to get optimal terms, he is confident the company can refinance the debt. He also forecast double-digit revenue growth for Sirius in the fourth quarter.
Shareholders may not be as optimistic. Sirius shares fell 4.27 percent to 10.5 cents at mid-afternoon, down 8 percent this month and off 95 percent in the past six months. (Reporting by Franklin Paul; editing by Gerald E. McCormick, Richard Chang)
Thanks Demian for your support, all you do for the forum and sticking around! I also enjoy when you go after SiriusOwner, I don't dislike the guy it's just fun to watch! It looks like your prediction may be holding true!!!
I agree Tripping, I guess there's not much to talk about until then!
Donations accepted.........:)Quote:
Originally Posted by Hopeful
I don't "go after" SO - I have just pointed out inconsistencies that I have noticed in his posts. I don't dislike SO and feel that he does have something to offer, although I have disagreed with some of his views. Haven't heard from SO in awhile...
SIRI closed green @ .115......