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?

Jim Cramer from the CNBC show Mad Money was interviewed by thestreet TV and here’s a quote from the interview:

“If you look at the economics of this Sirius-XM deal,
My god you go from being unprofitable to profitable like that “

Check out the video here, the Sirius-XM discussion starts at about 2:04 into the video.

Video - Cramer Interview

According to Wikipedia, In 2007, NewsBios.com named him one of the 100 most influential business journalists in the United States.

Do your own research before investing.

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.

RBC Capital analyst David Bank has told clients to expect a decision from the Department of Justice within 30 days and that the deal is more likely to receive their approval than not. This isn’t the final decision as the FCC will also need to rule, but given the announcement of tiered pricing plans which the current FCC chairman favors, it is unlikely they will vote contrary to the DOJ’s decision.

The Stock is reacting positively to this breaking news:

It’s no secret that Sirius and XM have been getting a fairly impressive amount of support for the proposed merger with more the 4300 individuals and 30 organizations, and now they can add former FCC chairman Mark Fowler to the list. Fowler was FCC chairman during the Reagan administration and has the distinction of holding that post longer than any other person in history of the FCC. For this reason his opinion would naturally have more influence than the average supporter.

It’s starting to feel that some momentum is building in favor of the merger, and the stock has been rewarded by rising over 8% over the last 3 trading days. Sirius and XM expect the merger question to be settled by the end of the year.

(more…)

Mel Karmazin, CEO of SIRIUS Satellite Radio, announced today that parents who are offended by programming such as Howard Stern will recieve a decrease in programming costs after the XM-SIRIUS merger.

“There would be a cost reduction to their bill in a more a la carte way,” said Karmazin. “If somebody doesn’t want it, not only are they not getting it, but they’re not subsidizing it either.”

This announcement comes after FCC Chairman Kevin Martin has publicly expressed interest in having of an a la carte programming system. Previously, Karmazin has said that Satellite technology will not allow for such programming choices but it seems that instead of customers paying more for the Howard Stern service(a la carte style), customers will have the choice to remove Stern from their radios and recieve a price cut in the monthly price of the service. Karmazin also noted that these details were included with the FCC merger notice filed on Tuesday.

This decision by the merger corporations could not only influence the FCC to approve the merger, but could influence other services such as cable television to do the same type of program discounting.

Dan Isett, a spokesperson for the Parents Television Council, who also supports such a la carte programming said, “This is good news, but we want to see the details. The problem they face is why should consumers be forced to subsidize Howard Stern if they want Major League Baseball?”

How do you think this will affect the FCC decision to approve or dissaprove the XM-SIRIUS merger?

Source: Dow Jones Newswire