FARK.com: (3873309) Since the merger of Sirius and XM in late July, the company's stock has fallen about 40%. Baba no equity

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		Since the merger of Sirius and XM in late July, the company's stock has fallen about 40%. Baba no equity (online.wsj.com)		29
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441 clicks; posted to Business » on 15 Sep 2008 at 11:20 AM | Favorite | share:

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thomps		2008-09-15 10:59:37 AM

makes sense to me - the merger wasn't made to build equity, it was made because neither company would be in business in 5 years if they had to stand alone and compete. given the massive fixed costs and shrinking market, sirius/xm probably won't make it in the long term, regardless.

labman		2008-09-15 11:04:46 AM

they are doomed. Gas prices going up means less money for extras.

Also, more and more cars have MP3 capability.

John Paul Jones		2008-09-15 11:10:41 AM

labman: Also, more and more cars have MP3 capability.

...except I can't listen to the Sox game from my iPod while driving through four states.

thomps		2008-09-15 11:15:49 AM

John Paul Jones: ...except I can't listen to the Sox game from my iPod while driving through four states.

no, but the vast majority of drivers don't do long-haul driving regularly enough to make it worth paying a monthly subscription, and that business can't survive without a huge subscription-base.

gluestickralph		2008-09-15 11:44:08 AM

How likely does everybody think it is that sat radio will survive? I drive 30k miles a year or more. Sat radio is what makes a 2k mile round trip twice a month bearable.

MugzyBrown		2008-09-15 11:45:39 AM

I had sirius for about a year and a half.

Unsubscribed to cut back on expenses.

Don't really miss it much.

NikolaiFarkoff		2008-09-15 11:46:34 AM

Baba no equity

Don't cry.
Don't raise your capital.
It's only streaming wasteland.

/rock out, pete

thomps		2008-09-15 11:52:23 AM

gluestickralph: How likely does everybody think it is that sat radio will survive? I drive 30k miles a year or more. Sat radio is what makes a 2k mile round trip twice a month bearable.

their infrastructure costs are insane (think geo/heo satellites plus a giant fleet of ground-based repeaters). plus in the next few years there will be cheaper options available - once large-scale wifi networks start getting deployed. it might survive, but not in the form it currently takes, imho.

El Uno Magnifico		2008-09-15 12:22:26 PM

I don't care if it survives long term; I just want it to hang on a bit longer and go up a bit so I can make a ton of money on it.

battl_web17		2008-09-15 12:26:46 PM

John Paul Jones: labman: Also, more and more cars have MP3 capability.

...except I can't listen to the Sox game from my iPod while driving through four states.

Same with my NFL.

I'm just waiting for a freakin channel listing. At home I listen to XM and I hope they don't cut some of their music channels I like.

DavidKirkBeale		2008-09-15 12:34:43 PM

They need an iPhone app...soon. Right now its too easy for me to pull down Pandora, last.fm, or any CBS Radio station streaming over 3G as I drive around to basically get the exact same service, but for only the cost of my unlimited data plan.

/All Radiohead channel on AOL Radio is fantastic
//iPhones were supposedly the reason the merger got approved, and after buying one, I see why

LemSkroob		2008-09-15 12:53:30 PM

well duh. Sirius stock was going into the tank long before they bought XM, all the while being more underhanded with their accounting practices (such as counting radios sitting in dealers parking lots as subscribers, while XM did not).

/XM radio user
//still hasn't gotten over it

drwtsn32		2008-09-15 12:54:02 PM

My car came with Sirius...my first experience with sat radio. I couldn't believe how horrific the sound quality is. It's like listening to 96kbps MP3s or something. I didn't renew after the free year was up.

Rush Limbaugh's Pharmacist		2008-09-15 01:36:41 PM

NikolaiFarkoff: Baba no equity

They're rippin me off Robin. Tell em Fred.

beat.bodoglife.com

/Dopey old Jewish broad.
//What's wrong with the radios we got?
///They listens pretty good.

SCUBA_Archer		2008-09-15 01:47:03 PM

thomps: no, but the vast majority of drivers don't do long-haul driving regularly enough to make it worth paying a monthly subscription, and that business can't survive without a huge subscription-base.

I drive 75 miles one way to work (Company car, they pay for gas) and have to switch the radio 3 times to listen to clear programming. Satellite is a godsend and so convenient. 3G would be a good alternative if I had to switch, but Pandora needs to make an app for the Palm O/S.

offacue		2008-09-15 01:48:31 PM

Rush Limbaugh's Pharmacist

/Dopey old Jewish broad.
//What's wrong with the radios we got?
///They listens pretty good.

Kenwhoooood, and whats some other kinds of them radios?

tEh_PenGuin		2008-09-15 01:50:22 PM

baba no bata?

thomps		2008-09-15 01:59:02 PM

SCUBA_Archer: but Pandora needs to make an app for the Palm O/S.

i may be wrong, but i think pandora offers a mobile web version of the site, so you just have to access it from your palm via the browser.

Guntram Shatterhand		2008-09-15 02:20:33 PM

Rush Limbaugh's Pharmacist: They're rippin me off Robin. Tell em Fred.

Didn't Stern sell off half of his stock options right from the start? He knew it was a chancy operation to start with.

bronyaur1		2008-09-15 02:53:20 PM

In other news to the fanbois, Howard Stern is not popular enough to get very many people to pay to listen to him.

mad_prophet_tx		2008-09-15 03:12:14 PM

I am holding off on purchasing any new hardware until I see how this pans out. What sort of hardware would I need to hear content that was on the other platform? Will they cut a lot of the content I like? I suspect that this uncertainty is hurting their revenues.

/At least that what Board Room Jimmy told me.

thomps		2008-09-15 03:35:33 PM

mad_prophet_tx: I am holding off on purchasing any new hardware until I see how this pans out. What sort of hardware would I need to hear content that was on the other platform? Will they cut a lot of the content I like? I suspect that this uncertainty is hurting their revenues.

/At least that what Board Room Jimmy told me.

you shouldn't have to worry about hardware. i think they are planning on running both systems for the foreseeable future (certainly long enough for your hardware to become outdated on its own).

nikuf		2008-09-15 03:56:26 PM

I got in my car to drive to work today and Fungus53(punk rock) was gone. Replaced by an all AC/DC station. I'm all for AC/DC having thier own station. But not at the expense of losing punk and ska.

/guess I'll listen to Lucy
//Get to hear the same 2 Sublime songs over and over.

spyyder		2008-09-15 05:53:40 PM

John Paul Jones: labman: Also, more and more cars have MP3 capability.

...except I can't listen to the Sox game from my iPod while driving through four states.

wow, what a tool.

stockbroker2003		2008-09-15 06:01:33 PM

http://video.yahoo.com/watch/3510366/9745199

Stern rules

mardidavril		2008-09-15 06:33:05 PM

XM canceled Channel 80 off the satellite feed, so I'm debating on dropping it.

ronnie2bucks		2008-09-15 07:48:11 PM

offacue: Rush Limbaugh's Pharmacist

/Dopey old Jewish broad.
//What's wrong with the radios we got?
///They listens pretty good.

Kenwhoooood, and whats some other kinds of them radios?

Pi-O-neeer.
Ahlpine.

Ron & Fez noon to three

qlenfg		2008-09-15 07:49:16 PM

Yeah, when I called to cancel right after the merger, I got the big run-around, then got hung up on twice while being transferred. When I finally got a supervisor, I had to explain to their obviously Indian rep, numerous times, I just wanted to drop my service and get a refund on the unused subscriptions.

They went so far as to offer me a full refund and continue my remaining 11 months subscriptions on two receivers at no charge.