Senators John Kerry (D-MA), Claire McCaskill (D-MO) and Ben Cardin (D-MD) weighed in on the merger between Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. and XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. saying that the concessions don't go far enough.

In a letter sent to FCC Chairman Kevin Martin on Friday, the high-profile Democrats said that the 8% of spectrum set-aside is not enough to ensure "viable competition" to the combined company.

Kerry (pictured), McCaskill and Cardin added that it needs to be at least 20%, or as many as 50 channels, to be to their liking.

The senators also want Sirius-XM to be required to build HD-radio capability into their receivers, calling it an "essential check" on the ability of the merger company to "stifle" competition from digital-radio broadcasting.

"The proposed conditions fail to provide meaningful competition in the SDARS marketplace and would leave the merged entity in a position to exercise its market power in anticompetitive ways against other media, including free, over-the-air radio," the senators wrote.

Kerry, McCaskill and Cardin closed the letter by saying that they still opposed the merger, but that their suggestions would "mitigate the harms to the public and consumers" if the FCC goes ahead with the deal.

[Broadcasting & Cable]
Thanks Gregg!

Sirius has announced financial guidance for 2009 assuming the completion of the merger of Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. and XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc.

Based on the preliminary analysis: 

• Total synergies, net of the costs to achieve such synergies, for the combined company are expected to be approximately $400 million in 2009;
• Adjusted EBITDA for the combined company is expected to be approximately $300 million in 2009.  Adjusted EBITDA is net income/(loss) before interest and investment income, interest expense (net of amounts capitalized), depreciation expense, and non-cash stock compensation expense
• The combined company is expected to achieve positive free cash flow, before satellite capital expenditures, for the full year 2009.

To date, neither Sirius nor XM has reported positive adjusted EBITDA or achieved free cash flow for a full year.
 
"The upside potential from this merger is significant.  In addition, the synergies, adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow are expected to continue to grow in subsequent years, and we look forward to providing more detail of this growth in coming months," said Mel Karmazin.

The company's financial guidance for total net synergies, adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow assumes, among other things:  that the merger will be consummated in the third quarter of 2008; that XM will incur certain incremental interest expense as a result of refinancing certain of its debt; that the combined company will realize certain additional advertising and subscriber revenue synergies as a result of the merger; and that the combined company will achieve cost savings and efficiencies in nearly all aspects of its operations. No assurance can be given that any of these objectives will be met or that the amount of incremental interest at XM will not exceed that anticipated by the company.

Furthermore, the company's financial guidance also assumes that the combined company will, following the consummation of the merger, immediately take steps in nearly all operational areas to rationalize its operations and realize the expected synergies in a timely manner, but no assurance can be given that the necessary measures to realize expected synergies will be implemented in a timely manner.
 
When the merger was structured, the parties determined that Sirius would be the surviving public parent company and that XM would become a subsidiary of Sirius. As a result, the preponderance of XM's existing debt will require refinancing in connection with the merger.  Because of the refinancing, the combined company expects XM to incur incremental interest expense as a result of refinancing certain of its debt. Principally as a result of this higher interest expense at XM, among other factors, substantially more of the free cash flow before satellite capital expenditures in 2009 is forecast to be realized at Sirius, the parent company, than at XM. 

In addition, Sirius and XM expect to refinance certain debt in 2009 that is scheduled to mature during that year.

Sirius will be airing a live concert performance by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band on Friday, July 4th.

The concert will air live from Goteborg, Sweden on Sirius' all-Bruce channel, E Street Radio (ch 10) beginning at 1pm ET.

It's all part of Springsteen's tour across Europe in support of the band's twenty-third album, Magic, which debuted in October 2007 at number one on Billboard's Top 200 Albums Chart. The band will wrap up their '07-08 series of concerts with 12 dates right here in the U.S. of A. By the final show in Milwaukee on August 30th, Springsteen and the band will have performed 100 concerts for over two million fans around the world.

Sirius host and Bruce Springsteen biographer Dave Marsh will lead the special broadcast of a live July 4th-themed show, and will segue into the concert in Sweden to bring listeners selected live songs performed by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.

Two pop culture icons are colliding on Sirius this Sunday when the "Queen of Disco" Donna Summer joins Richard Simmons live on his weekly call-in show.

Summer and Simmons will share inspiring stories and tips on how to get in shape, and discuss her new album Crayons, which features the #1 hit singles "I'm a Fire" and "Stamp Your Feet." The two will also talk about how Summer's music is used by Simmons as motivation to get people moving.

Summer will appear on "Lighten Up with Richard Simmons" on June 29th around 5pm ET (the show airs Sundays, 3-6pm ET) on Sirius Stars (ch 102).

Orbitcast fav Danica Patrick spent the afternoon at the XM studios in Washington DC earlier this week.

The IndyCar driver (and, lest we forget, XM show host) was in D.C. in advance of today's Indy race in nearby Richmond, Virginia. She was joined by fellow Andretti Green Racing driver Bryan Herta, who drives the XM Acura in the American LeMans Series. Indeed, pictured above is Danica and Bryan Herta looking jolly in the green room at the XM studios.

Check out more photos of Danica's appearance at XM after the jump...

Want to listen to Sirius on your iPhone? With the iPhone edition of uSirius, well, now you can.

Gizmodo says that anyone can try this out for free for three days before registering, and that it works great over both connection types. Of course, once the 3G iPhone comes out, it'll be even more gooder.

TheStreet got especially excited about this development, saying that "this application shows that Sirius broadcasts can stream to an iPhone, a positive development for both it, its merger partner XM Satellite Radio... and satellite radio in general."

Video:


I don't think there was any question whether Sirius can stream to the iPhone, it was just about how - and uSirius apparently has solved that.

If you missed Scarlett Johansson's live performance on Sirius last Wednesday, you can still catch it today at 11am ET on Sirius' Left of Center (ch 26).

Johansson's visit to the Sirius studios coincided with the launch of her debut record, Anywhere I Lay My Head.

The live in-studio performance, accompanied by members of TV on the Radio and Celebration, airs on Left of Center's "Left of Sessions," a series of intimate in-studio performances from ground-breaking artists including Death Cab for Cutie, The Raconteurs and Vampire Weekend.

And if you think this post is just an excuse to replace that photo of FCC Commissioner Deborah Tate, well, I won't say that you're wrong.

Solidifying earlier thoughts about how each of the Commissioners might vote, a recent piece in Bloomberg highlights key opinions that Deborah Tate might be the swing vote in the merger between Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. and XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc.

As a refresher: Deborah Taylor Tate is one of three Republicans on the five-member Federal Communications Commission. And, well, this all comes down to politics (doesn't everything?).

"It's not clear what she would want," said Stifel Nicolaus & Co. analyst Blair Levin, a former FCC chief of staff who is based in Washington. Republican FCC Chairman Kevin Martin recommended approval of the merger on June 16th, and the remaining Republican member, Robert McDowell, "pretty clearly" will vote for the takeover, Levin said.

But the agency's two Democrats, Copps and Adelstein, have consistently opposed media consolidation. So opposition is more probable from them - though not a given. Assuming that Copps and Adelstein continue to lean towards a blanket position against any consolidation of major media, then that would give Tate the decisive vote.

"The attention focused on Commissioner Tate in this merger suggests that at least the parties themselves believe she is undecided," said Paul Gallant, an analyst for Stanford Group in Washington and a former FCC official.

Tate has historically fought against childhood obesity and broadcast indecency. She is "a leading voice on issues affecting families and children," according to her biography on the FCC's Web site. Using that as a base assumption, I would figure that Sirius-XM are highlighting their proposed family-friendly packages. And even though satellite radio is known for it's "raunchy" content (that's what makes the headlines at least), it does offer child-centric content that you literally can't get anywhere else (e.g., Sirius Kids Stuff and XM Kids).

While Tate usually votes with her Republican colleagues, she has sometimes split from Martin and opposed him on two cable regulations late last year.

"She's known to be consumer-oriented, and yet she's a loyal Republican, so it's a tough one for her," said Howard Liberman, an attorney at Drinker, Biddle & Reath LLP in Washington who represents New York-based Primosphere Limited Partnership.

Additionally, Tate has said she encourages market-based solutions, with competition ensuring consumer benefits.

"I find myself trying to figure out how to balance the needs of the consumer with the needs of industry," Tate said in April 2006. "It's not always easy."

[Bloomberg]

UPDATE: Sirius-XM has most recently held meetings with XM Satellite Radio (PDF), the National Council of Women's Organization (PDF), the Parent-Television Council (PDF), and the National Tax Payer's Union (PDF) -- all urging for approval of the merger. In addition, the RIAA also met with Commissioner Tate (PDF).

Remember that sex tape which was supposed to feature Ope's fiancée and Bam Margera "doing the nasty" that was later found to be completely false? Well, now she's suing the hell out of the New York Post for publicizing the erroneous rumor.

Lynsi Smigo, fiancée to "Opie & Anthony" co-host Gregg "Opie" Hughes, has filed a $10 million defamation lawsuit against the New York Post over the sex tape rumor.

The "Page Six" article said that Lynsi was engaged in "an X-rated romp," citing long time gossip slinger Chaunce Hayden. Chaunce claimed that a disgruntled former employee had "recently acquired rights to the video from Margera and it's soon to be released on a pay-for-play Web site." Hughes, knowing the claim was false, offered up a $100,000 reward for a copy of the sex tape.

Lynsi Smigo, 25, has named Hayden and "Page Six" editor Richard Johnson as defendants in the lawsuit filed on Wednesday. On May 5th, "Page Six" laid the blame on Hayden when reporting that its sex tape story was "entirely incorrect." In response, Hayden claimed that he made it clear to a "Page Six" reporter that he had never actually seen the purported tape.

Follow the link below to read excerpts from the suit.

[The Smoking Gun]

The National Association of Broadcasters continues to try to scuttle the merger between Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. and XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc.

In their latest series of meetings with the FCC, the NAB is claiming that the agency "may not lawfully act" on the merger until certain documents are made public.

NAB says that these documents are related to "apparent wrongdoing" by executive and senior-level employees of Sirius and XM regarding the operations of build-in FM transmitters in radios and terrestrial repeater towers.

Representative from the NAB met with Rick Chessen and Amy Blankenship, the Legal Advisors to Commissioners Copps and Tate, respectively, on Tuesday to discuss their claims.

Coldplay is getting a dedicated channel on XM Satellite Radio starting on July 15th.

The month-long channel, "30 Days of Coldplay," will air on XM channel 51, giving fans access to uncut live performances from the Viva La Vida Tour as well as other performances. Plus you'll hear exclusive tracks from their new album, interviews with the band, import-only released tracks and other hard-to-find recordings.

Love em or hate em, Coldplay is ridiculously popular. "Viva La Vida," which was released in the U.S. only last week, holds the record for the biggest number of pre-sales on iTunes. It moved 721,000 first-week U.S. copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and 40% of those sales were digital downloads, making it the biggest sales frame ever registered for a digital album.

Coldplay's Viva La Vida North American Tour kicks off in L.A. on June 29th, but 30 Days of Coldplay (ch 51) will be available on XM from July 15th through August 15th.

Check here for more details and programming information.

David Rehr of the National Association of Broadcasters spoke with FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell about the merger between Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. and XM Satellite Radio Holdings inc. late last week.

Rehr went over the same talking points he's been using since the merger was first announced:

• The "merger-to-monopoly" implications.
• The rule in the 1997 license barring the two companies from merging.
  
• The fact that neither company has used the "failing" company argument.
  

With regard to the merger conditions, Rehr said that they "will do nothing to resolve the anti-competitive effects that will result from the merger," (wait, isn't that the DOJ's job?) and that the conditions would not suffciently "overcome the inevitable harms of a satellite radio monopoly."

Not breaking from the same song-and-dance from 2007, Rehr finally noted that Sirius-XM's "history of non-compliance" should make the Commission wary of the proposal.

Here's my thought: After all these months of contemplation, why can't the NAB can't come up with any additional arguments?

[Read FCC Filing (PDF)]

Only six-months after returning to the air, Don Imus is amid another controversy over what some regard as racists comments on the radio.

The statement in question occurred during his morning program on WABC radio, while Imus and sportscaster Warner Wolf were discussing Dallas Cowboys football star Adam "Pacman" Jones' involvement in a fight at a Las Vegas nightclub last year that led to a shooting. Jones, who was not accused of the shooting, was suspended for the 2007 season.

"Here's a guy suspended all of 2007 following shooting at a Vegas nightclub," said sportscaster Warner Wolf. "He's been arrested six times since being drafted by Tennessee in 2005."

"What color is he?" Imus asked in response. "He's African-American," Wolf said.

"Well, there you go," Imus said. "Now we know."

The Reverend Al Sharpton, released a statement late Monday, regarding the incident:

"It has been reported to me that statements were made by Mr. Imus this morning and National Action Network has monitored his show since his return," he said.

"I find the inference of his remark disturbing because it plays into stereotypes. Any use of stereotypes is always counterproductive. We will determine in the next day or so whether or not his remark warrants direct action on our part as we did in April of last year."

But Imus says his comments are being taken out of context.

"Warner and I were talking about 'Pacman' Jones being arrested six times," Imus said this morning, "and obviously they are picking on him. So I asked Warner what color he was. Obviously, I already knew what color he was... And I said there you go, that's the point. What people should be outraged about is they arrest blacks for no reason. There was no reason to arrest this kid six times."

"My point is, there is no reason to arrest this kid six times," Imus said. "He is a football player, he's a lovely kid. He's out having fun, he gets arrested six times, well we know why he gets arrested six times."

[ABC News]

Listen to the audio that sparked the controversy after the jump...

XM Satellite Radio will air a tribute to the late, great George Carlin on Wednesday, June 25th, saluting one of the greatest minds in comedy.

The all-day dedication, "George Carlin: He Was Just Here A Minute Ago," will begin at 6am ET and run through midnight on the West Coast, on XM Comedy (ch 150).

Yes folks, there's a new portable/handheld satellite radio coming out from XM, and it's currently floating around the halls of The Eck with the codename "Phoenix" (which, is appropriate).

The details are still coming in, and there are several versions of the prototype making the rounds as I understand it. So the below description is, by no means, final.

According to sources, the XM Phoenix is slightly smaller than the existing Inno with a much slicker interface and a rotating wheel that functions similar to the beloved SkyFi2. It features a MicroSD slot for external music (not for transfer of XM recordings, of course) and the internal storage space might have been increased (not sure exactly how much, if any).

The screen size is larger than the current Inno, but the antenna looks similar/identical to the Inno's. Details on whether or not the device has WiFi are still fuzzy.

The Phoenix is supposed to hit the streets in Fall. As more details come in, such as the final name of the device, I'll be sure to post them here.

This seems like a no-brainer. With the help of Applied Media Technologies Corporation (AMTC), all U.S. Mazda dealerships will start playing Sirius Satellite Radio in their showrooms.

The sad thing is that it took this long for the lightbulb to go off, but apparently, the idea is to play satellite radio in the showrooms and on the car lots in order to increase sales of vehicles with Sirius installed.

AMTC says that tests have been conducted suggesting the presence of music in a retail environment increases customers' positive moods and the likelihood to purchase. So the added bonus of this isn't just to sell Sirius-equipped vehicles, but to sell more vehicles overall.

Of course, the million dollar question is; why isn't this just standard practice across all dealerships?

XM is continuing its "Bobble Yourself" campaign with an application on the social networking site Facebook.

The Facebook page highlight's XM's "Bobble Yourself" app, which allows you to build an XM baseball bobblehead, share it via e-mail, post it as your profile picture, or download it to your desktop.

You can also watch XM baseball videos on the Facebook page, and it links to the larger XM Baseball site.

Check out the XM Baseball Facebook page here.

Note: If you've been following my profile on Facebook and previously installed the app back in May, you might want to try removing/installing it again. That was an early version and it has since been updated. You can also find the Bobble Yourself app on Orbitcast's Facebook page.

The docket for the merger between Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. and XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. has been added to the FCC's Items on Circulation.

One word to express this: "Finally!"

When an item hits the FCC's Items on Circulation, that means it's now being formally passed to the four other FCC Commissioners. A final vote on the transaction could come in as little as three weeks from the date of Circulation (6/17). The timing depends on how the first two Commissioners vote, but traditionally, the final two Commissioners have ten days after the first two votes to make their decision.

Following Goldman Sachs' bleak research note on Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. and XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc., Cowen & Co. analyst Tom Watts issued a note disagreeing with Wienkes' assessment this morning.

(UPDATE: I've received the note and it has been verified.)

Cowen & Co. said they expect FCC of the merger and the debt restructuring to drive a rebound of both stocks, in the near term.

Watts also said that the increased penetration of satellite radio factory-installs in Chrysler and GM hould generated higher short-term and long-term subscriber adds, more than offsetting any slowing in vehicle sales.

The Cowen & Co. analyst sees FCC approval of the Sirius-XM merger in July, and for the debt to be renegotiated by closing of the deal.

Regardless, shares of both SIRI and XMSR continued to fall in morning trading.

Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

Luke Russert and James Carville will pay tribute to Luke's father Tim Russert on their weekly XM Satellite Radio sports talk show "60/20 Sports" on Friday, June 20th.

The will focus on Tim Russert's passion for sports and will feature guests Lance Armstrong, Yogi Berra, Bill Bradley, Bill Russell, Bud Selig, and Marv Levy.

The show will also air highlights from Tim Russert's interviews with sports figures on NBC's "Meet the Press," CNBC and MSNBC.

This two-hour edition of "60/20 Sports" will air Friday at 12-noon ET/9am PT on XM Sports Nation (ch 144). An encore presentation of the commercial-free program will follow at 2pm ET/11am PT.

XM will also setup a temporary channel - XM 148 - to replay the program starting Friday at 4pm ET / 1pm PT and airing through Sunday night.