In a letter sent to FCC chairman Kevin Martin today, Congressman John Dingell (D-MI) chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee argues that 2 conditions ought to be set by the FCC before they approve the merger.

The first condition would be to hold the merged company to it’s proposed pricing models.

The second is that they open up manufacture of their radios.

They do NOT take a position on whether the merger should be approved. More details here.

In what some are seeing as a surprise move, the US Copyright Royalties Board actually ruled against SoundExchange, and in favor of Sirius and XM in deciding not to re-open a hearing on the royalties that the satcasters pay for the playing of music.  As you may remember, the CRB had previously ruled that Sirius and XM should pay 6-8% of ”gross revenues” (narrowly defined) to SoundExchange.  This latest ruling is in response to SoundExchange wanting the CRB to broaden the definition of gross revenues to include some items that the judges felt were unsupported by any evidence.

Ruling is here.

Coverage from BetaNews is here.

Folks in the Harrisburg area should know that there are reports of subscribers getting partial refunds of their subscription fees, due to the shutdown of the local repeater.  As you may recall, Sirius had to shutdown about 15 terrestrial repeaters for technical violations of their authority to operate them within certain parameters.  Well according to this report, customer service is telling people in that area that they may be eligible for “compensation”

People affected by the Harrisburg outage, as well as the other locations affected by the shutdown, let us know how Sirius is taking care of you!

Interesting comments by Mr. K. at the Citigroup Global Entertainment, Media and Telecommunications conference in Phoenix on Tuesday.  Here are some highlight from Silicon Alley’s coverage.

“I can tell you there is no decision at the Department of Justice. Timing: I have no idea. I’m not going to give it a guess. This is a deal is ripe to be granted and we should be able to close. We will probably close the evening we get FCC approval. We have been waiting so long we are ready to close.”

On post-merger synergies: “I can tell you that it is in the hundreds of millions of dollars; the value of the efficiencies are greater than the market cap of one of the two companies,” Karmazin said.

“What is going to make us a winner is that we have the best radio on radio. I am betting that radio is going to continue to be a business. We are going to be a successful radio company and our content is going to drive it. The Howard Stern deal–and I didn’t do it, I walked into the company after it was done–I will tell you it more than pays for itself.”

He says don’t expect Congress to support royalties for terrestrial radio (as the music labels and the RIAA want) because it would be terribly unpopular in an election year.

OK, the headline is a little cheeky, but it is of interest to Backstagers that the topic of the merger came up at CES today as part of Chairman Martin’s address to CES attendees.  This report from the NYT, summarizes the discussion this way

XM-Sirius (NSDQ: SIRI) and Echostar-DirecTV: Shapiro attempted to draw Martin on whether approval of the XM-Sirius merger would bode well for a merger between Echostar (NSDQ: DISH) and DirecTV (NYSE: DTV). Martin wouldn’t talk about the pending approval of the satellite radio merger, but spoke about how XM (NSDQ: XMSR) and Sirius said they’d offer different subscription and content plans to consumers, allowing them more choice over the content they receive at a variety of price points. The implication was that this was an important declaration by the radio companies in terms of their chances of regulatory approval, and Martin said that it would be important for satellite TV companies to offer consumers more control and choice as part of any future merger plans.

In filings with the SEC this morning, both SatRad companies announced they will holding shareholder votes on the merger on Nov. 13th

http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/djhighlights/200710040938DOWJONESDJONLINE000561.htm

Although Sirius’ own Mel Karmazin has been the public face of the merger, today’s “Saturday Interview” at the New York Times features XM’s Chairman, Gary Parsons, and President and acting CEO Nate Davis on the topic of the merger.  There is some interesting bits in this short article.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/15/business/15interview.html?_r=1&ref=business&oref=slogin

My favorite line came from Mr. Parsons about the NAB’s opposition. He said, “The most extraordinary thing has been the visceral nature with which the N.A.B. jihad has progressed against the merger.”  He certainly isn’t one to hide his true feelings!

They also deal (somewhat superficially) with channel availability and pricing, post merger, with Davis saying, “You will be able to pick the channels you want, all at various prices. That’s not something we can do if we do not merge. “[Emphasis mine]

Overall, a good read.

The FCC Chairman Kevin Martin expects a vote on the XM-Sirius merger by the end of the year and reiterated that today when speaking with reporters. According to Bloomberg:

” Martin said the FCC is trying to meet its goal of deciding on pending mergers within 180 days. The agency began its XM- Sirius merger proceeding on June 8, which puts the FCC on schedule to rule by Dec. 6.

“That’s our target,” Martin said today while speaking to reporters. The agency has exceeded its 180-day guideline when reviewing large transactions. “

They will still need to wait for the antitrust division of the Department of Justice to make it’s decision, but as we reported Here last week, that decision may be coming within 30 days.

SIRI stock was up 4.75% at 3.31 with XMSR up 3.18% at 13.62.

Based on some member comments, I’ve pulled together this list of Members of Congress who have made public statements in opposition to the merger.  Before anyone accuses me of a bias in the contents of this list, I based all the information off of the actual letter sent to the FCC on their behalf (found here), as well as some of the news coverage.  It appears that members of the minority party didn’t find it helpful to include their affiliation, but I don’t know that all the members in this list without a noted affiliation are Republicans.   You should also not read anything into the ordering of the list.

If you know of others who should be on this list, find mis-spellings of names, or if you know the affiliation/home state of any missing members, just PM me and I’ll update the post.  Thanks!

(Photo is New York Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand of the Fighten’ 20th district)

Bart Stupak (D-MI)

Steven LaTourette (R-OH)

Gene Green (D-TX)

Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI)

John Conyers (D-MI)

Steve Chabot (R-OH)

John Spratt (D-SC)

Dennis Kucinich (D-OH)

Dennis Hastert (R-IL)

Charlie Wilson (D-OH)

Melissa Bean (D-IL)

Jim Matheson (D-UT)

Diane Watson (D-CA)

Steve Rothman (D-NJ)

Leonard Boswell (D-IA)

Lynn Woolsey (D-CA)

Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ)

Tim Walz (D-MN)

Allen Boyd (D-FL)

Kristin Gillibrand (D-NY) (Name is misspelled in the letter! Real professional, NAB :rolleyes:)

David Scott (D-GA)

Baron Hill (D-IN)

Zach Space (D-OH)

Shelley Berkley (D-NY)

Eddie Bernice-Johnson (D-TX)

Lois Capps (D-CA)

John Spratt (D-SC)

Greg Meeks (D-NY)

Nick Lampson (D-TX)

Nancy Boyda (D-KS) (Name is listed but there is no signature…)

Charlie Melacon (D-LA)

Collin Peterson (D-MN)

Ciro Rodriguez (D-TX)

Bart Gordon (D-TN)

Mike Ross (D-AR)

Tom Allen (D-ME)

Marion Berry (D-AR)

Earl Pomeroy (D-ND)

Ed Pastor (D-AZ)

Betty McCollom (D-IL)

Lacy Clay (D-MO)

Mike Michaud (D-ME)

Louise Slaughter (D-NY)

C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD)

Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-SD)

Joe Donnelly (D-IN)

Michael Arcuri (D-NY)

Nancy Boyda (D-KS)

Albert Wynn (D-MD)

Collin Peterson (D-MN)

Michael Capuano (D-MA)

John Barrow (D-GA)

G.K. Butterfield (D-NC)

Louis Gohmert

Greg Walden

Lee Terry

Jim Jordan

John Duncan

Scott Garrett

Tom Cole

John Culberson

Cathy McMorris Rodgers

Dan Burton

John Boozman

Dan Manzullo

David Davis

Bob Goodlatte

Marilyn Musgrave (R-CO)

Spencer Bachus

Joe Wilson

Zach Wamp

Ray LaHood

Mark Souder

Frank LoBiondo

Gary Miller

Roy Blunt

WASHINGTON, Jun 05, 2007 – The nation’s only two satellite radio companies have hired a high-profile public affairs firm to lobby the federal government on their proposed combination, which faces regulatory and congressional scrutiny.

Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. (SIRI) and XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. (XMSR) hired Quinn Gillespie & Associates LLC, according to a federal disclosure form filed Tuesday.

The firm was founded by Jack Quinn, who served as counsel to President Bill Clinton from 1995 to 1997, and Ed Gillespie, a Republican Party strategist who served as the Republican National Committee chairman during the 2004 election cycle.

In February, New York-based Sirius said it would seek government approval to acquire Washington-based XM in a deal valued at $4.57 billion at the time.

But the companies face stiff opposition from federal lawmakers, who dispute the companies’ claim that the merger would not eliminate competition nor lead to higher subscription prices.

The companies also face significant regulatory hurdles. In 1997, the Federal Communications Commission granted licenses to them on the condition that they would never merge to create a potential satellite radio monopoly.

Sirius Chief Executive Mel Karmazin has argued that, since then, new technology, such as high-definition radio, Internet-based radio and iPods, provide significant competition.

Both companies filed an application with the FCC to transfer radio licenses to a new combined company. However, the agency has not yet accepted the filing to begin a review that could take up to six months or longer.

In addition to Quinn and Gillespie, who are registered to lobby on behalf of the companies, several other veteran former Capitol Hill and White House officials are listed in the disclosure form.

They include: Jeff Connaughton, who worked as special assistant to the counsel to President Clinton in 1994 to 1995; Kevin D. Kayes, who most recently served as chief counsel to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.; Allison Giles, who served as chief of staff to the House Ways and Means Committee under then Chairman Bill Thomas, R-Calif.; Elizabeth Hogan, who worked as special assistant to the Commerce Department; and, Christopher McCannell, who was chief of staff to Rep. Joseph Crowley, D-N.Y.

Under a federal law enacted in 1995, lobbyists are required to disclose activities that could influence members of the executive and legislative branches. They must register with Congress within 45 days of being hired or engaging in lobbying.