Sirius XM Prepares Bankruptcy Filing

[cal04]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/11/technology/companies/11radio.html?_r=1&hp

Sirius XM Satellite Radio has been working with advisers to prepare for a possible bankruptcy filing in a move that could put pressure on the satellite company EchoStar, which owns a substantial amount of the company’s debt.

Sirius has been working with the restructuring expert Joseph A. Bondi of Alvarez & Marsal and the bankruptcy lawyer Mark Thompson of Simpson, Thatcher & Bartlett to help prepare a Chapter 11 filing, people close to the company said. The documents and analysis are close to being completed and a filing could come within days, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Sirius, whose radio stars include the popular shock jock Howard Stern, has also been working with the investment bank Evercore Partners.

(snip)
Since the news about the debt purchase has emerged, questions have surfaced over whether Mr. Ergen will make a bid to purchase Sirius. The threat of a possible bankruptcy filing could force Mr. Ergen to make a formal offer for the company now if he doesn’t want to go through an auction in bankruptcy court.

[derby378]

1. Howard Stern, welcome back to the realm of free radio

I mean, seriously. I'm going to pay for something that's already free?

[Renew Deal]

14. Free radio is exactly worth the price you pay.

Nothing

[NightWatcher]

2. they have no competition, and their about to go belly up? that sucks

I dont think I could ever go back to terrestrial radio.

See ya on Margaritaville Radio or the Grteful Dead Channel til then

[Earth_First]

3. In fact I became a subscriber just due to the Grateful Dead Channel... n/t

[Raskolnik]

11. Jeez, I'd pay extra to make sure there wasn't any Grateful Dead on my radio. n/t

[Loge23]

8. Too many bad signings

I'm also a subscriber who welcomes the return of quality radio programming as heard on The Loft, Deep Tracks, and the aforementioned specialty channels (what we will do without Margaritaville Sundays!), among many others.
But signing Howard Stern, Oprah, Martha Stewart was a bad decision and it cost them dearly.
Hope they make it. If they do, please return Soul Street to XM - the replacement from Sirius is awful.

[Maat]

4. Maybe I should think hard about renewing that Sirius subscription (n/t).

[Earth_First]

5. I'm curious what happens to all those "lifetime" subscribers who forked over big bucks years ago...

Will they recieve any sort of prorated refund?

Doubtful.

[Stevenmarc]

7. They never really said whose lifetime.

[IADEMO2004]

12. Lifetime of the receiver only not the subscriber

[Renew Deal]

15. I don't think this means they are going under

I think they are looking at restructuring.

[Maat]

17. That would be interesting to know.

I've never went beyond a subscription for a few months (6 or less).

[AndyA]

6. Howard should take a pay cut.

If he isn't bringing in enough subscribers to pay the bills, he's not worth what they're paying him.

Sirius/XM screwed up when they cancelled a lot of channels after the merger. Due to complaints and customer cancellations, they have brought a couple of them back now, but I wonder if all of their former customers signed up again.

Plus, they just announced they are raising rates, so no doubt they will lose a few more due to that.

[Donnachaidh]

9. Perhaps we'll get people to work on that Fairness Doctrine seriously

Instead of signing up for pay radio?

Howard must be crapping his pants at the thought of having to find a job on free radio again.

[Ikonoklast]

10. Both Sirius and XM had a poor business plan from the outset.

And having Mel Karmazin run Sirius like a personal piggy bank didn't help one bit, either. He seriously over-estimated Howard Stern's ability to sucker people into paying to listen to him.

But Mel will go out quite wealthy, thank you very much.

[chollybocker]

13. Exactly. Worst business plan ever, from day 1.

It was only a matter of time before this house of cards fell.

[GentryDixon]

16. I've had Sirius since 2004.

I listened to Sirius Left faithfully until Lynn Samuels went on her Obama hate campaign. That and the foul mouth of Alex Bennett and his listeners. I now listen to Radio Classics 118 when I go to bed, but it is nice to listen to Howard and the Comedy channels when we are traveling across country. The radio across country is nothing but right wing Christian blather.

[Maat]

18. We're out here in SoCal, but I take the kid on field trips up and down the state.

It sure is nice to have some reliable channels, like Sirius Left (for Malloy and an hour of Thom Hartmann in the morning), NFL Channel, and Disney Channel for the kid.

Also, I like BBC News.