Archive for October, 2009

9

Mel Karmazin Speaks at the Liberty Media Corporation’s 2009 Investors’ Meeting

By
king1
– October 31, 2009
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By Relmor Demitrius

Sirius XM Radio CEO Mel Karmazin spoke on October 16th at the Liberty Media Corporation Investors’ Meeting. Sirius XM Radio is 40% owned by the Liberty Capital(LCAPA) part of Liberty Media, and according to Greg Maffei, CEO of Liberty Media Corp., is the “anchor” and part of the “core” of Liberty Capital. With such well known entities in LCAPA as Starz Media, stakes in Viacom, Motorola, Sprint Nextel, and Time/Warner, this is no minor acquisition or after thought of the media giant. It was not surprising then that Mel Karmazin was asked to present and speak at this meeting. Starz Media also spoke during the Liberty Capital presentation part. Presentations were also made during the meeting in regards to Liberty’s other two holding companies, Liberty Interactive, and Liberty Entertainment.

Before Mel presented, Greg Maffei talked about opening Sirius XM to other markets and venues. Some of these expansions would be “strategic” in nature. He said that Liberty will work hard to monetize their investment in Sirius XM.

Mel Karmazin, after being introduced by Greg Maffei, had some insightful and never heard before comments about certain issues involving the company, and its bumpy last year.

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4

Sirius XM Radio and Liberty Media Pursue Other Markets

By
Andrew Montero
– October 26, 2009
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Following Liberty Media Corporation’s 2009 investor meeting last week on the 16th of October, I was pleasantly surprised to discover Sirius XM Radio CEO Mel Karmazin was scheduled to speak.  Once the meeting got underway though, I truly was not prepared to hear what either Greg Maffei of Liberty or Mel Karmazin of Sirius XM Radio (SIRI) laid out during the meeting.  Rest assured, Sirius XM Radio’s relationship to Liberty Media and John Malone is a two-way door.  Liberty Media gets 40% of the company with exclusive content and can leverage it over multiple possibilities; which I believe they are preparing to do in earnest.  Mr. Maffei’s statements were like music to my ears when he said they were looking for opportunities regarding SIRIUS XM in other markets.  To me it seems that this all is coming together and turning into global expansion with recent news of Liberty buying the debt of Worldspace and also now looking to purchase the hard assets of the company. This action could be seen as removing the hurdle of Spectrum licensing overseas that would be expensive and virtually impossible for SIRIUS XM to procure. More details are sure to come from this developing story as details continue to emerge. As Worldspace seeks to re start asset sale processes with Liberty Satellite Radio LLC, a unit of Liberty Media. Liberty Satellite Radio LLC is in fact a holding company that Liberty Media owns and has used in the past. This ties closely with Sirius XM’s rumored, though not confirmed partnership with APPLE (APPL) and could bring a whole new loyal following as well, likely adding more multi-subscription households.  All this would give lots of those potential subscribers an opportunity to purchase all of the exclusive available channels including, but not limited to, Oprah Radio, MLB Home Plate, NFL Radio, NHL Home Ice, Mad Dog Radio, The Foxxhole comedy channel, and National Public Radio with the purchase of a new SKYDOCK and the possibility of an XM best of SIRIUS package. Seems like a no brainer.

Purchasers will also gain access to a variety of Sirius XM music channels, including E Street Radio, The Grateful Dead Channel, Eminem’s Shade 45, Radio Margaritaville, Siriusly Sinatra, and many others. All

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3

SIRIUS XM…BETTER TIMES AHEAD

By
Andrew Montero
– October 25, 2009
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As the current share price of SIRIUS XM bounces around in the mid to high .50s heading into the Q3 Conference call, many would say it’s just bad timing regarding the price, the economy is still bad, auto sales are still slumping post Cash 4 Clunkers though it did provide a much needed boost and, people are still unemployed in large numbers and scared for their jobs. Having recently lost my job….I can relate to all the uncertainty. While that is all true, and some of it is reflected in the current state of the price per share, there are very positive signs that the Media in general has chosen to pretty much ignore recently.

We saw an upgrade on the EBIDTA forecast for the year from 300 million dollars to over 400 million dollars, from a company which was nearly bankrupt according to their CEO and many media reports back in February. This is not an insignificant achievement by any standard, yet it has also been virtually ignored in the main stream media. More recently, we have seen a used Car program meant to take advantage of all those inactive chipsets that are out there from the past. The release of the iPhone application during the

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5

Goldman Sachs Communacopia XXIII, Liberty Media Presentation, Greg Maffei speaker, and his comments about SiriusXM Radio.

By
king1
– October 25, 2009
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By Relmor Demitrius

On September 15th, 2009, Greg Maffei of Liberty Media Corporation presented at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia in New York. Not much fanfare came from this presentation from Maffei for Sirius XM Radio (SIRI) investors, but maybe that was an oversight. Lost in the more seemingly important Liberty Investors Conference this month, and Sirius XM Radio’s own conference call coming very shortly, one might have missed some interesting and fascinating comments from one of the more powerful and important influences on Sirius XM, Greg Maffei. In case anyone is wondering who Greg Maffei is, a quick look into his past accomplishments and credentials is in order before going forward.

Greg Maffei is currently the President and CEO of all three Liberty Holding Companies, Liberty Capital (LCAPB), Liberty Entertainment (LMDIA), and Liberty Interactive (LINTA).

Liberty Capital includes Liberty’s holdings in Sirius XM Radio (SIRI), Viacom (VIA), Time/Warner (TWX), and Sprint Nextel (S).

Liberty Entertainment is where DIRECTV is held.

Liberty Interactive is where they hold QVC and a lot of their internet companies.

Greg Maffei discussed all of Liberty’s divisions during his presentation, but the commonality in all of Liberty’s interests is Greg Maffei himself and his background is truly impressive.

Maffei is currently on boards with Electronic Arts, DIRECTV, and Sirius XM Radio.  He has held the  position of Chief Finance Officer at Oracle, Chairman and CEO of 360 Networks, and a CFO of Microsoft as well. His resume is extensive, having been involved with many industry leaders in the past. This man has attached

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10

SIRI R/S Not Happening Any Time Soon

By
Andrew Montero
– October 13, 2009
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There is one thing all investors need to know about securities law; anytime someone purposefully does something in order to make a stock go up or go down, they are doing something illegal. You can go to law school and study it for years, but that’s what it boils down to. You make educated bets on stocks based on the factual information you have, but you never purposefully make the price of a stock move in either direction or drive sentiment. That’s manipulation and it’s illegal. That is the first thing anyone needs to know about the stock market.

Very recently, at one of the other blogs and several of the main stream media outlets, an article calling for a reverse split on or about the Christmas holidays was written. After reading them, I could not disagree with the premise any more than I do. It is my intent to provide the facts of why this is a terrible idea…and why it is not going to happen in the time frame they suggest. From my perspective…people of that opinion do not belong holding shares of SIRIUS XM. You don’t do a r/s on weakness to artificially raise the stocks price over one dollar unless it is a matter of delisting and must be done to satisfy listing requirements. I am quite sure there are many long holders of SIRIUS XM who would agree. Actually I see the above scenario as a slap in the face for longs and a lack of belief in the company and its improving business and metrics.

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