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Technology Stocks : Sirius Satellite Radio (SIRI) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: i-node who wrote (5921)	1/18/2007 9:18:19 AM
From: HEXonX	Respond to of 8420

Ahead of the Bell: Sirius, XM Satellite Thursday January 18, 9:03 am ET Sirius, XM Satellite Merger Still Possible Despite FCC Chairman Comments, Analysts Say NEW YORK (AP) -- Analysts on Thursday said investors overreacted to comments from a regulatory official on the possibility of a merger between satellite radio operators Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. and XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. ADVERTISEMENT Ahead of the bell, shares of Sirius added a penny at $3.87 in premarket trading, and XM Satellite was unchanged from Wednesday's close of $15.45. On Wednesday, shares of both rivals fell after the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission noted rules forbid a merger between two holders of broadcast licenses. Shares of both companies recently rallied on rumors of a potential merger, which could result in significant cost savings. Bear Stearns analyst Robert S. Peck in a client note lifted his rating on Sirius to "Peer Perform" from "Underperform," saying he thinks merger speculation will likely continue to boost shares. Peck said the sell-off was overdone, since Chairman Kevin Martin was simply acknowledging already existing information, not sharing an opinion on a potential merger. Citigroup analyst Eileen Furukawa had similar comments in a separate client note. "In our view, Chairman Martin was simply reiterating a widely known fact, and not necessarily indicating which way he would lean should a merger ever be attempted," wrote Furukawa. She has Furukawa has a "Buy" ratings on both XM Satellite and Sirius. However, both analysts acknowledged that regulatory issues would need to be overcome if there is merger. "We underscore there are significant hurdles for Sirius and XM to overcome should they pursue a merger," wrote Peck. "However, we believe the short term movement of Sirius' stock price will be more impacted by the mere pursuit of a merger, should they attempt one."

To: i-node who wrote (5921)	1/18/2007 10:03:42 AM
From: HEXonX	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 8420

U.S. FCC's Martin dampens XM, Sirius merger hopes 5:19p ET January 17, 2007 (Reuters) WASHINGTON, Jan 17 (Reuters) - U.S. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin said on Wednesday licenses held by XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. and Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. prevent them from combining, but one industry expert said the licenses could be modified. "There's a prohibition on one entity owning both of those licenses," Martin told reporters during a news conference after an agency meeting. But he also said the FCC would examine any transaction submitted to it. Wall Street analysts have speculated about a possible combination of the two providers and their stocks have risen sharply in recent weeks. But after Martin's comments, XM shares fell almost 10 percent, or $1.69, to close at $15.45 on Nasdaq, while Sirius shares dropped 7 percent, or 29 cents, to $3.86. Both Sirius and XM are growing rapidly, but losing money as they try to improve technology and pay for top entertainment ranging from the largest U.S. sports leagues to media celebrities such as Howard Stern, Oprah Winfrey and Martha Stewart. XM and Sirius could ask the FCC to modify their licenses to permit a combination, according to David Kaut, an analyst at Stifel, Nicolaus & Co. "If the FCC wants to permit (the merger), based on the totality of their public-interest analysis, they would lift the prohibition," Kaut said. "If they don't want to approve, they'd probably keep the rule." In addition to FCC approval, the companies would have to obtain the green light from U.S. antitrust authorities. Stifel, Nicolaus said in a research note to clients that, if the companies submitted a proposed deal to the FCC, the agency would likely review whether competitive conditions had changed over the last 10 years from when the licenses were issued. If the FCC construed the market to only include satellite radio, the government would likely block it, the research firm said. If the government viewed the market more broadly to include alternative sources of mobile entertainment such as iPods and Internet programming over wireless services, the government would likely approve with some conditions, the analysts said. "We believe that the FCC ... would be likely to seek conditions to an approval, perhaps including pricing terms, local programming and advertising restrictions to appease the broadcast industry and actions aimed at reducing or cordoning off indecent programming," the analysts said. A spokesman for XM declined to comment, while a representative for Sirius was not immediately available for comment. (Additional reporting by Jeremy Pelofsky)