Looks like Mel Karmazin, CEO of embattled satellite broadcaster Sirius XM, would rather file for bankruptcy than yield partial control of the company to Charlie Ergen and Echostar. “People close to the company” tell the New York Times that Sirius may be days away from filing Chapter 11.
Apparently, satellite mogul Charlie Ergen’s run at Sirius XM has been in the works for quite some time. Indeed, “people familiar with the situation” tell The Wall Street Journal that he made an offer late last year to take control of the struggling satellite radio outfit, but was rebuffed.
With nearly $1.0 billion of its $3.3 billion total debt coming due in 2009, a lousy liquidity situation and shares trading around 13 cents, the New Year is not looking promising for Sirius XM Radio. So, though CEO Mel Karmazin recently ruled out any interest in privatization in the near term, maybe it’s time to think about selling Sirius XM again. The question then becomes, to whom?
How about a coalition of free local radio broadcasters?
At Sirius XM’s annual meeting Thursday, shareholders approved a reverse stock split plan that empowers the board to split common Sirius shares by a 1-for-10 to 1-for-50 ratio by end of 2009. They also approved the issuance of up to 3.5 billion new shares. Should Sirius need to, it can now effect a reverse split that will raise its stock price above the $1 necessary to avoid delisting and sell new shares to meet the almost $1 billion in loan repayments it faces next year.
Well, what do you know? Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin pulled it off: At the satellite radio outfit’s shareholder meeting today, a proposal to enact a reverse stock split and another to increase the number of authorized shares of Sirius XM common stock from 4,500,000,000 to 8,000,000,000 passed.
In November of 2007, shares in Sirius XM were trading at $3.94. Today they’re at $.13. Suffice to say, the company’s shareholder meeting tomorrow will be a critical one for the struggling satellite radio outfit and for CEO Mel Karmazin, who’s presided over its more than 85 percent decline in value.
If the Save Sirius coalition hopes to fulfill its eponymous mandate, it may have to do so by other than legal means. Because its lawsuit against Sirius XM has been dismissed.
With some shareholders already echoing a 24/7 Wall St. call for his ouster, Sirius XM CEO Mel Karmazin would do well to temper his remarks about the troubled satellite radio company’s programming lineup a bit. Certainly comments like those Karmazin recently made at the Reuters Media Summit aren’t winning him support among subscribers irked over the loss of a favorite channel or three, even if there allegedly is a “best of breed” channel to replace them.
To hear tell from Sirius XM CEO Mel Karmazin, there was a lot to be happy about in the the troubled satellite radio provider’s third-quarter results–its $4.88 billion loss excluded, of course. During a conference call to discuss the company’s horrifically bad financials, Karmazin described Sirius’s performance as “impressive,” considering the current economic climate.
According to “a reliable industry insider,” the touchscreen iPod that Apple is expected to uncrate tomorrow will support digital radio. “The source said that the new iPods will be able to receive digital radio, and will include a ‘buy-now’ function to allow the user to download and buy tracks as they are being played,” [...]
John Paczkowski has been poking fun at the tech industry and the personalities that drive it since 1997. From 1999 to 2007, he wrote the award-winning tech news Web log Good Morning Silicon Valley for the San Jose Mercury News, Silicon Valley's daily newspaper. Read more »
Here is a statement of my ethics and coverage policies. It is more than most of you want to know, but, in the age of suspicion of the media, I am laying it all out.
12:58 AM: Breakfast: Two schools of fish from Tokyo Bay. Calories: 782,000. How I was feeling when I ate this: confused, irradiated, hating my size.
11:37 AM: Exercise: “Taxi Stomp” (alternating legs, for 30 blocks). Calories burned: 148,900,183.
1983. The Beatles announce their first tour in thirteen years, but likewise announce that Michael Jackson will be going on tour with them as a one gigantic mega-concert event.
Best video mashup ever.
A Facebook Memorial
Wow.
Worth it for the Rickrolling photo alone.
Excellent.
Flughumor!
… you vacuous, toffee-nosed, malodorous perverts
Stephen Fry and zoologist Mark Carwardine meet the kakapo — a fat, flightless and very randy rare parrot.
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