….And to New Hampshire on Primary Day.

Audio highlights from inside actual Iowa Caucuses give listeners across America rare exposure to grassroots politics

SIRIUS Left host Alex Bennett talks to everyday voters at legendary Red Arrow Diner in New Hampshire

NEW YORK – December 26, 2007 – SIRIUS Satellite Radio today announced that SIRIUS Left host Alex Bennett will broadcast from the 2008 Iowa Caucuses and the 2008 New Hampshire primary, delivering breaking election news, voter reaction, and analysis straight from the center of two of the nation’s biggest political events.

The Alex Bennett Program, which airs Monday – Friday from 9:00 am – 12:00 pm ET exclusively on SIRIUS Left channel 146, will be at the heart of the Iowa and New Hampshire political action.

In Iowa, Bennett will take listeners across America “inside” two actual Iowa Caucuses, bringing a firsthand account of the debate, discussion, and procedure by which America’s first political choices are made for the 2008 presidential campaign. Bennett will share Caucus results and all the late breaking news from politically influential Iowa on January 3rd and January 4th.

In New Hampshire on primary day, January 8th, and the morning after, January 9th, Bennett will broadcast his show live from the iconic Red Arrow Diner in Manchester. The Red Arrow Diner has become a focal point for many presidential candidates to visit during their campaign stops. Inside the diner Bennett will talk with “everyday Americans” and gauge their interest, passion, and opinions on the ever-important New Hampshire Presidential primary.

Morgan Stanley, who has been unable to comment on SIRI/XMSR recently as they have been helping the companies with the merger, has finally been allowed to give some guidance, although no price targets or profit estimates.

They believe that a non-merged Sirius will have a larger proportion of OEM to retail than predicted, but they will not be FCF+(Free Cash Flow Positive - more cash is coming in than going out minus capital expenditures - satellites and such) until 2010. That assumes there will be a $2 rate increase next year. Without that, FCF+ will not be reached until 2012-2013.

Morgan Stanley also believes that a merger has the potential to help lower the high Subscriber Acquisition Costs, although the first dual-service radios will likely be expensive to produce. They also think that having an a la carte programming package will help to drive subscribers.

The situation at XM is a little more dire. They are pushing back FCF+ until late 2011 at the earliest, and believe there will be only 1.33 million net subscriber adds in 2008, down almost a quarter of a million from before.

Report provided by Seeking Alpha

http://www.radio-info.com/in3_src/images/SP07_National_Satellite_P12.pdf

Lots of interesting data, including the domination of Stern programming among Sirius listeners.

Post your favorite data extrapolation

Thanks to livingfruitvirus at XMFan for the find!

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?

SIRIUS SATELLITE RADIO LAUNCHES NEW WEEKLY SHOW HOSTED BY JOHN ANDERSON ON OUTLAW COUNTRY

SIRIUS Satellite Radio’s Outlaw Country, on channel 63, is launching a new weekly show hosted by country singer, and songwriter, John Anderson.

The show, called John Anderson’s Outlaw Hour will be featuring songs and artists from the world of Rock and Country.

The show will air on Wednesdays, at 8 pm, ET, and will replay on Fridays at 11am ET, and Saturdays at 12am, ET.

For more info on the Outlaw Country channel, visit the Sirius Satellite Outlaw Country web site.

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

Grammy® winner to host 4 part special series “Songbird On The Air” in Outlaw Country channel 63 and Guest DJ in The Roadhouse channel 62

Grammy winning country legend Emmylou Harris will host a series on SIRIUS Satellite Radio’s Outlaw Country in celebration of the release of her five disc box set Songbird: Rare Tracks and Forgotten Gems. In the 4 part series, aptly named Songbird On The Air, Emmylou will play tracks from the box set along with other hand-picked songs from her musical friends and role models. Each show will feature a special theme “Singing with Ladies,” “Singing with the Boys,” “Songwriting” and “Spirituals”.
In addition to the Songbird On The Air series, Emmylou Harris will also guest DJ a special hour on SIRIUS’ classic country channel, The Roadhouse, where she will play songs from the channel’s library and tell stories about her life on the road.

Songbird On The Air
Part 1: October 6th at 9 pm ET (Replays: October 7th at 8 am ET & October 7th at midnight ET)
Part 2: October 13th at 9 pm ET (Replays: October 14th at 8 am ET & October 15th at midnight ET)
Part 3: October 20th at 9 pm ET (Replays: October 21st at 8 am ET & October 22nd at midnight ET)
Part 4: October 27th at 9 pm ET (Replays: October 28th at 8 am ET & October 29th at midnight ET)

Guest DJ: Emmylou Harris
September 21st at 2 pm ET
Replays: September 22nd at 12 pm ET and September 23rd at 5 pm ET

Emmylou Harris is one of the most admired and influential women in contemporary country music, though her reach extend much further into folk and alternative rock. She has recorded with such diverse artist including Ryan Adams, Beck, Elvis Costello, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan and Lucinda Williams. Over her 30 year career Emmylou Harris has release 23 solo albums and has been the recipient of 12 Grammy awards. Emmylou is also a long time social activist, lending her voice to many causes including cultural preservation issues with the Country Music Foundation and the Grand Ole Opry.

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.

Normally, I try to leave the “deep think” pieces to BenDee, since he has twice the writing talent I do, but I’ve had some experiences lately that might generate some light on what’s happening in the SDARS marketplace. The data here is merely anecdotal, so don’t think it’s a complete explanation, but I don’t think it’s without value…

Scene 1: My family recently bought a used van from a major Chevy dealer in the western Denver suburbs. Like any dealer experience, there was plenty of “hold on while I check with…”, so we probably spent 3.5 hours in the dealership. Having an interest in satellite radio, I naturally wondered over to the XM kiosk on the sales floor. I thought the presentation was pretty good, but also noticed that the salesmen had switched the radio off of XM, and over to a popular FM station. I can’t imagine that these guys sell the satellite radio option very hard. It’s possible Sirius does a better job with their partners, but if they don’t, I wouldn’t be shocked. Both XM and Sirius need to be following up with their OEM partners to insure that the kiosks are helping to sell the product, not their terrestrial competition.

Scene 2: New van means looking at backseat video options. So we head over to the local blue big box, to scope out mobile video options that will support the aftermarket Sirius Backseat TV tuner. While talking to the sales associate, I turn the topic to satellite radio. He tells me that at their store, Sirius outsells XM 3-1. (As it appears from the Q2 conference call, most stores do.) I asked, “Why is that, Stern, NASCAR…?” He told me the number one differentiator in their store is the NFL. They say NFL is on Sirius and people say, then that’s the one I want. I understand that baseball is the radio game, but for selling satrad, it looks like America’s favorite sport is still top dog.

Scene 3: While waiting to get the Backseat TV tuner, we still have to have Sirius in the van! It turns out that most late model cars require expensive wiring harnesses if you want to replace the OEM radio. The OEM’s are running lots of the dash electronics, including warning lights, and safety equipment through the same wiring that goes to the radio. Everyone I talked to about getting this work done, expressed that the increased sophistication in OEM radios was making it harder for them to sell satellite radio. For the sizable number of people interested in satrad, but unwilling to clutter their dash with a PNP, this makes it more expensive for them to replace the deck with one that supports their provider of choice. And in many cases replacing the OEM radio means loosing functionality, like steering wheel controls. None of this is news of course, but hearing that sales folks think it makes satrad a harder sale might be news.

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