XM Canada satellite radio service announced today it has achieved 350,000 subscribers as of the end of its first quarter ended November 30, 2007. The number of subscribers increased by 86 per cent over the first quarter of last year.
As part of the company’s continuing efforts to align its definitions more closely with industry norms, XM Canada’s subscriber numbers now include rental cars installed with XM Canada’s service for which the Company receives compensation. Excluding rental cars, XM’s subscriber base was 338,000 this quarter and 306,300 at the end of the fourth quarter of 2007.
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It’s the big buzz in satellite radio and all the players concerned wait patiently for the decision to come down. I’m talking about the merger, of course. Today, XM’s chairman said he remains “hopeful” the deal will close this year.
The chairman of XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. said Wednesday he remains “hopeful” that the company’s $5 billion acquisition by rival Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. will close this year, although he acknowledged that time is running short.
Read the full story here…
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XM Chairman of the Board Gary Parsons is scheduled to present at the 35th Annual Global Media & Communications Conference in New York, N.Y. today, December 5, from 2:30 pm to 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time.
Yesterday, David Frear presented for SIRIUS Radio. Of note, Frear told the UBS that he expects to close the Sirius-XM transaction by the end of the year.
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David Frear says he expects to close the Sirius-XM transaction by the end of the year.
Frear argues that the so-called “original rule” that prohibited XM and Sirius from merging when the original licenses were granted by the FCC, was of a different time, not relevant to the music/media market today. He says former FCC chairman Reed Hundt, who created the initial rule, agrees.
Check out more of Frear’s address to the UBS’s Global Media conference here…
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The Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) has released its decision on royalty rates for satellite radio. The info contains specific royalty rates as well as XM Radio’s response to the news. Sirius will likely release its own statement shortly.
Under the terms of the CRB Satellite Radio Services, XM will pay a performance license rate of 6.0% of those gross revenues subject to the fees for 2007 and 2008, 6.5% for 2009, 7.0% for 2010, 7.5% for 2011 and 8.0% for 2012.
The revenue that is subject to royalty fees includes subscription revenue from our subscribers and advertising revenues from channels other than those that use only incidental performances of music.
(more…)
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Shock jocks Opie & Anthony are being sued by a TV reporter over a prank that he says left his ears ringing.
WABC-TV’s Anthony Johnson was doing a live report about snow when he says an Opie & Anthony fan waved a bumper sticker and blew an air horn.
Opie & Anthony had launched an “Assault on the Media”campaign that encouraged listeners to draw attention to their show during live news broadcasts.
Johnson claims the incident caused him to miss two weeks of work. He also saye he suffered permanent ear damage from the prank.
The suit also names the listener who carried out the prank and XM Satellite Radio.
In addition to Johnson, the lawsuit was filed on behalf of his wife, WNBC-TV reporter Pat Battle.
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It’s not just an act, Martha Stewart is all that, and very Sirius when it comes to Christmas trees and the Sirius Radio lobby.
Howard Stern’s producer, Gary “Baba Booey” Dell’Abate, revealed on the Stern show that the homemaking diva insisted on completely redoing the lobby’s unacceptable Christmas tree.
Stewart brought in the heavy hitters and gave Sirius’ Christmas tree a complete makeover, featuring ornaments of the Sirius logo dog, chocolate likenesses of Howard Stern and his fiancée, Beth Ostrosky and other Martha Christmas tree treats.
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Mitsubishi Motor Sales of Canada Inc. (MMSCAN) and SIRIUS Canada, the country’s number one choice for satellite radio, today announced an exclusive agreement that will make SIRIUS Satellite Radio receivers standard equipment on many of Mitsubishi’s 2008 model year vehicles.
SIRIUS will be available as standard equipment on the 2008 Mitsubishi Outlander XLS, Eclipse Spyder GS & GTP, Eclipse GTP and Endeavor SE & Limited. SIRIUS will also be available as a factory installed option on the 2008 Mitsubishi Eclipse GS, Lancer GTS & Evolution and Outlander ES & LS models. In addition, SIRIUS will be available on the 2009 model year Galant. Mitsubishi will offer factory-installed SIRIUS Satellite Radio receivers with a six month subscription to SIRIUS’ premium satellite radio service.
“Mitsubishi is thrilled to offer SIRIUS Satellite Radio for customers on some of our best selling models,” said Koji Soga, President and CEO of MMSCAN. “SIRIUS’ programming lineup is a perfect compliment to the innovative design
and performance of Mitsubishi vehicles.”
“SIRIUS is pleased that Mitsubishi customers will now be able to experience Canada’s favourite satellite radio service in their new vehicles,” said Mark Redmond, President and CEO, SIRIUS Canada Inc. “With the best coverage, content and programming from North America’s leading entertainment brands, SIRIUS offers drivers and passengers an unparalleled listening experience.”
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Sirius Satellite Radio Inc.’s purchase of XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. may not be approved by a Tuesday deadline, according to one analyst.
More on this story here…
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SIRIUS Satellite Radio today announced that David Frear, Chief Financial Officer and EVP of SIRIUS, is expected to present at the 35th Annual UBS Global Media & Communications Conference in New York, NY on Tuesday, December 4, 2007 at approximately 2:30 PM ET.
Orbitcast, thinking out loud that a announcement on a SIRIUS/XM Merger could come before Frear gives his speech. We will just have to wait and see…. 
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Radar Online has a piece on Howard Stern and well, his bitch.
“At Thursday night’s DogCatemy party in Manhattan, shock jock Howard Stern kept his female on a tight leash—one of them, anyway. Stern arrived with Beth Ostrosky, his fiancée, and Bianca Romijn-Stamos-O’Connell, his English bulldog.”
Want more? Bitch here…
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Praise for Howard Stern today from Jenny Stewart, a lesbian and entertainment editor at Gay.com. In her article today, Stewart praises Stern for his pro-gay views and does a rather interesting job of examining Stern’s humor as it is applied to the gay population.
Stewart writes, “The most shocking thing about shock jock Howard Stern: He’s not who you think he is”.
Well who is he? You can find out who Howard Stern is here… according to Stewart.
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Georgetown Partners L.L.C., a minority-owned private equity firm with a commercial interest in the proposed Sirius-XM merger, today reported it has made a filing with the Department of Justice involving, among other documents, a specific letter to the head of the Antitrust Division, Assistant Attorney General Thomas O. Barnett, detailing its concerns about the antitrust consequences of the proposed merger as structured and urging the Department to fulfill its responsibility to block the transaction in court.
In its filing, Georgetown said that recent public reports have stated that the Antitrust Division’s non-political professional career staff has concluded that the proposed merger needs to be blocked under the law but that the staff is being stymied by Mr. Barnett. Georgetown asserts in its filing that the transaction as structured violates antitrust law and would have adverse economic consequences for the American public.
(more…)
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XM Satellite Radio will air all five Bowl Championship Series (BCS) football games in January 2008.The Allstate BCS National Championship, FedEx Orange Bowl, Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, and AllState Sugar Bowl are all broadcast by XM thanks to a multi-year agreement with FOX Sports. Find out more here at Orbitcast.com.
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Sirius Satellite Radio will offer a new Sirius data service called Travel Link as standard with Ford’s new navigation system, the company announced at the Los Angeles Auto Show. Ford will be the first auto manufacturer to offer the service.
XM had navigations news too, they announced at the show that its NavTraffic navigation service will be available on the Nissan Murano.
Sirius Travel Link offers much more than the current Sirius Traffic service. The new Travel Link offers five-day weather forecasts; fuel prices at more then 120,000 gas stations, sports scores and game schedules, and movie listings from more than 4,500 theaters in addition to real-time traffic “flow” data and rerouting.
It will be available on multiple Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles in 2008.
The data is broadcast through Sirius’ existing satellites and repeaters.
This summer, the 2009 Lincoln MKS will be the first vehicle in its class to offer Travel Link services integrated into a voice- activated navigation system.
The data is broadcast through Sirius’ existing satellites and repeaters and is accessed and managed in the vehicle using a new high-mounted, 8-inch touchscreen menu.
XM announced its audio service will be offered as a factory option on the second-generation Nissan Murano, and XM’s NavTraffic real-time traffic service will be offered on Murano vehicles with navigation.
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Howard Stern was interviewed on BBC Radio 4 yesterday morning by Martin Bashir. The title of the programme was ‘The Best DJ You’ve Never Heard in Your Life.’
The Times Online described Stern as the ‘richest and filthiest man in the history of radio.’
Richest and filthiest? No kidding, we knew that. Check out the article ‘Mouth Almighty’ here.
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Orbitcast.com has a neat post on a new XM commercial out called the “XM-erator.” It’s ‘pretty neat’ writes Orbitcast, and we at Talk Radio Nation agree. Check it out for yourself here, and tell me what you think.
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