The Industry Standard - FCC approves XM - Sirius merger by end of July 2008 - Comments

http://www.informationweek.co

David Kuan — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 12:37:23 -0700

http://www.informationweek.com/news/personal_tech/music/showArticle.jhtm...

So pn what account was the

Isaac Shteierman744765 — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 11:57:55 -0700

So pn what account was the Final decision made? "Approval would mean that it's an official FCC decision", this is not yet true

@Bradley, now if only I can

David Kuan — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 10:53:49 -0700

@Bradley, now if only I can squeeze about a 400% performance in August ... I might just be able to match your incredible performance of over 6700% in about 4 months .....

Yeah .. but I had over 90%

David Kuan — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 10:38:43 -0700

Yeah .. but I had over 90% of networth (> S$2M) on this prediction and was on margin. Anyways, glad it turned out in my favor. Also glad that with the formal votes, there is no room for debate on this judgement :)

That's what makes playing

Kevin Railsback173773 — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 10:21:08 -0700

That's what makes playing the market fun - having a bit of risk and taking it instead of going with the safe option. Of course, sometimes you end up losing. But when you win, you win big. =)

Hope this gets judged soon.

David Kuan — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 08:58:14 -0700

Hope this gets judged soon. I need the $ to do some serious shopping ......... I mean betting. Not sure if I will ever do another "Railsback" again. Too nerve wrecking.

Yep. I get to keep my shirt

David Kuan — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 08:30:18 -0700

Yep. I get to keep my shirt and pants :)

FCC approves satellite radio

Shiv Bhandari — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 02:50:48 -0700

FCC approves satellite radio merger - "It was a narrow 3-2 vote late Friday."
http://venturebeat.com/2008/07/26/fcc-approves-satellite-radio-merger/

Well, he has been main

David Kuan — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 11:03:29 -0700

Well, he has been main champion for the merger at FCC. Given that 2 commissioners have voted FOR it, there is no reason that he is having 2nd thought on his vote. He is probably coordinating the effort of his announcement with XM and Sirius to declare the long awaited milestone.

Yes, but also from that

Kevin Railsback173773 — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 10:52:36 -0700

Yes, but also from that article:
"It is unclear what the hold-up is, but it would certainly not be the first time last-minute negotiations put a crimp in the chairman's plans."

It's going to be an interesting week, keeping an eye on this one. Glad I don't have as much invested here as I did in the iPhone unlocking one - that was a real nail-biter. =)

NOTE: Commissioner Tate HAS

David Kuan — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 10:40:37 -0700

NOTE: Commissioner Tate HAS voted!!!!

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6581683.html?desc=topstory

Excerpt from the article ...
A source said commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate was not planning to vote on the merger until that enforcement action was taken, and she already cast her vote for it. Commissioner Robert McDowell also voted to approve it.

That leaves Martin's vote, ironically, as the key missing ingredient to issuing the consent decree and paving the way for the merger review he has been trying to wrap up.

This is VERY imminent. Guess I might be able to keep my shirt and pants after all ......

Agreed. The FCC

Kevin Railsback173773 — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 10:28:38 -0700

Agreed.

The FCC commissioners voicing their intention to vote in favor of the merger doesn't satisfy the "FCC will approve" stipulation, which seems pretty clear to me. I don't see any compelling reason to judge this prediction until it has actually been approved. We're only talking 7 days here.

If they vote by Thursday, and announce that they've approved it, then this should be judged early. If they don't vote until Friday, then we judge it against then. This process has hit so many snags in the last year and a half, I wouldn't be too confident that it won't hit another one in the next few days, delaying the approval.

Let me just say that if Tate

Eric Hill812251 — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 10:00:13 -0700

Let me just say that if Tate is quoted somewhere saying that her requirements have been met, we'd surely have to flip this right then and there. My understanding is that we are very close to that today, but it hasn't actually happened (and may not happen). Consider how many snags this whole deal has run into over the course of the last year. And, the last thing I want to do is flip it right now, then read on Monday (before the original deadline) that the deal has blown up again.

I agree that David's link

Eric Hill812251 — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 09:51:16 -0700

I agree that David's link gets this really, really close. We're discussing it.

I wasn't asking you to

Shiv Bhandari — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 09:43:45 -0700

I wasn't asking you to change the prediction, I was asking for a clarification. Well, David's link seems to wrap this up.

FCC approves XM - Sirius merger by end of July 2008

David Kuan — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 15:30:01 -0700

The FCC has voted to approve the Sirius-XM merger. According to VentureBeat, "It was a narrow 3-2 vote late Friday. Republican Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate voted to approve the deal after the companies agreed to pay $19.7 million in fines to settle FCC rule violations such as locating towers in unapproved locations."

-- The Industry Standard

It has been over a year since the merger attempt was announced. It is now expected that the FCC will have a final vote fairly soon.

The proposed merger of the nation’s two satellite radio broadcasters, bogged down in the regulatory process for over a year, has cleared a major hurdle with the Federal Communications Commission chief recommending approval of the $5 billion deal.

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin made his recommendation recently in exchange for a number of concessions, including turning 24 channels over to noncommercial and minority programming. That sets the stage for a final vote that could occur any time after Martin’s recommendation is circulated among his fellow commissioners.

The provision on noncommercial and minority programming along with several others — including a three-year price freeze for customers — persuaded Martin to support Sirius Satellite Radio Inc.’s buyout of rival XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. The deal would affect millions of subscribers who pay to hear music, news, sports and talk programming, largely free from advertising, in homes and vehicles.

This is a prediction that the FCC will approve the XM-Sirius merger by the end of July, 2008.