There has been lots of chatter all across the internets since Monday’s DoJ approval announcement.  One of the more interesting takes came from Bay Area DJ, “Big” Rick Stuart.  Mr. Stuart writes as a radio professional, a former employee of Mel’s at CBS Radio, and as a Sirius subscriber.  I thought his insights were interesting (as well as pretty much in line with mine).

As he writes here,  

1) big names stay and to listen to some of them you’ll pay more than “basic”
2) little weird stations might not stay or if they do will with staffing cuts
3) I don’t think there will be any programming duplication and Mel can be a loyal guy so if there is a choice XM staff gets cut
3) new hardware is coming soon, very very soon
4) the NAB will fight it all the way (and lose)
5) the very under the radar Sirius Backseat TV service will expand quickly

Now, I think he’s underplaying the pricing changes that will be favorable to many consumers, like the “Mostly Music” choice, but I encourage you to check out his post.

Checking out the merger site this evening, I came across this clever crossword puzzle that tests your knowledge of merger-related trivia,  http://www.siriusmerger.com/uploads/FINAL-Crossword.pdf  My personal favorite was 49 Down: a 3-letter “word” with the clue, Notorious Asserters of Balogna.  Hmmm, wonder how NAB could be merger-related?

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.

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

Mel Karmazin is Washington, DC, today to testify at the House Antitrust Task Force Hearing on: “Competition and the Future of Digital Music”. SSG posted the schedule and link to listen to the hearing. Here are the details from the House’s website:

Wednesday 02/28/2007 - 3:00 PM
2141 Rayburn House Building
Full Committee
Hearing on: “Competition and the Future of Digital Music”
Before the Antitrust Task Force, to be established by resolution on the morning of February 28, 2007.

By Direction of the Chairman

Watch after the jump for news that comes from the hearing today.

(more…)

This morning, Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin stopped by the Howard Stern show for nearly an hour. The Stern staff and callers asked him questions regarding plans for the merger.

He said that merger Talk began nearly two years ago. XM passed on it then, but talks have been ongoing since. The companies’ lower stock prices combined with greater external competition has made the deal more appealing to both sides.

Click here to listen to the interview (54 minutes)

22MB // MP3 Audio // Credit: Guins

Monthly Price

When asked if rates will increase:

Mel: Sirius charged $12.95 when they started, and still charge $12.95 after signing Howard and Nascar. They’re not in a price war with XM, they’re in a price war with free radio.

He hinted the tiered programming plan may allow some subscribers to pay less than they do now. The pricing and the subscriber packages are still vague at this point, but pointed out there have been no rate hikes since he’s been CEO.

In response to Artie’s concern about vending machine prices increasing:

Mel: I don’t know how long we can keep the current pricing on our vending machine. Our service, we’re not going to raise the prices on our service, but I never said anything about the vending machine.

Robin: If they don’t approve it [at first], could they say if you do this, this, and this…?

Mel: For example, if someone said ‘we’re concerned about pricing, is there something you can do to guarantee prices won’t increase’?. I mean, there are a number of things we’re prepared to do or trade off in this event.

(more…)

Source: Satellite Standard Group

Mr. Rehr, perhaps your energies would be better focused on improving the content that you deliver. After all, the music you play is royalty free. This gives you a distinct advantage over satellite radio, which pays royalties on every song they play. Surely you can make that work to your advantage somehow (we wont get into all of the payola). Hopefully you will also begin to see that you are attacking millions upon millions of people who have made their listening desires clear.

Some powerful words from SSG in a letter to NAB head David Rehr. You can read the full letter here.

NAB president David Rehr recently sent letters to the FCC, calling for investigations of SIRIUS and XM over ground repeaters and free trial offers.

Comment here.