Liberty swoops in, saves Sirius XM at the last minute
Tue Feb 17, 2009 10:54AM EST
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Breathe easy, Howard Stern fans. Based on a flurry of reports this morning, it appears that Sirius XM has dodged yet another bullet—and no, it didn't have to sell its soul to EchoStar to do so. In short: Satellite radio lives to fight another day.
About $175 million of Sirius XM's debt came due today, and without help, the newly merged satellite radio company probably would have been forced to declare bankruptcy and endure brutal cutbacks (including, potentially, such popular but exorbitantly priced stars as Martha Stewart, Oprah, and—yes—Howard Stern) to continue operating.
The move neatly rebuffed the rough courtship of DirecTV competitor EchoStar, which had been buying up chunks of Sirius XM's debt and had been looking to take control of the financially cornered satellite radio pioneer.
But as this detailed blow-by-blow in Monday's Times reports, Sirius XM CEO Mel Karmazin (a corporate warrior known for his survivor skills) managed not only to convince Liberty Media to save Sirius XM from the brink, but also to hold onto the reins of his company.
And that's great news for Sirius XM's 20-million-plus subscribers. Why? Because from the sound of this Times story, it appears that Liberty still believes that satellite radio has a future; otherwise, Liberty would probably have insisted on kicking the Sirius XM CEO out of the captain's chair.
So yes—it looks like Martha and Howard are staying put, and we may yet get to discover the full potential of a combined Sirius XM service. Personally, I'm looking forward to it.
Related:
Sirius XM Reaches Loan Deal With Liberty [New York Times]
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Comments on Liberty swoops in, saves Sirius XM at the last minute
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2 Posted by dubyac99 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:49PM EDT Report Abuse
Call me slow and behind the times, but I don't get paying for radio subscription. There's tons of promotions and commercials on their shows, and I just change the channel when a commercial comes on my regular radio. Problem solved.
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3 Posted by larrydepaoli on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:56PM EDT Report Abuse
As a traveler, sat. radio's portability is its best feature. It doesn't matter what city I am in, I still have the programming that I enjoy. Its 2nd best feature is its commercial free music (most of it is still commercial free). I can drive for 6 hours and never have to touch the radio. It makes a long trip seem not as long. My fear is that sat. radio becomes unmarketable (and unwanted) and my lifetime subscription becomes obsolete. I would prefer a smaller company (minus expensive talent) that is viable.
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1 Posted by ctjbeirne on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:32PM EDT Report Abuse
This XM subscriber doesn't necessarily regard this as good or bad news. I have been disappointed in the programming changes over the last several months, in which it seems that SatRad is billing itself as catering to the Stern/Stewart/Winfrey fans, and leaving out the niche music crowd. A restructuring and potential re-examination of its overall programming was something I was looking forward to. There has always been lots of talk about an ala carte offering of channels...what about a tiered pricing structure that allows fans of the expensive shows (above names) to pay for it? I guess I'll just have to continue hoping that the emails I send will someday actually be acknowledged.