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It’s natural to wonder whether Liberty Media Chairman John Malone’s new acquisition of 27.3% of Charter Communications is merely Step One in a plan to make him a U.S. cable titan — the role he played until 1999 when he sold Tele-Communications Inc to AT&T. And while Liberty CEO Greg Maffei doesn’t predict that, he also didn’t rule it out today in a quarterly earnings call with analysts. He says that cable “could be in for a round of consolidation” at a time when it’s so inexpensive to borrow money and large companies covet opportunities to cut costs — for example by negotiating lower prices from programmers. He cryptically adds that even though Charter can do just fine as a stand-alone entity, “we’ll see” whether it ends up being “a consolidator or condolidatee.” Liberty’s stock purchase agreement gives it the right over time to raise its stake to 40%. Will it do so? “We’ll see what time holds,” Maffei says. READ MORE »
Liberty Media Says Revenues And Cash Flow Grew In Q1
Liberty Media is too important a company to ignore. But the Q1 earnings statement out this morning is a jumble after it spun off Starz and formally took control of Sirius XM. It reports net … Read More »
Sirius XM Q1 Subscriptions Hit New Record As Jim Meyer Named CEO
Just so you’re not confused: Jim Meyer had been “interim” CEO beginning in December when Mel Karmazin left the top job at the satellite radio company controlled by Liberty Media. Now the job is formally his. … Read More »
Court Kills Howard Stern’s Appeal In $300M Sirius XM Stock Bonuses Suit
The New York Supreme Court today handed America’s Got Talent judge Howard Stern a further defeat in his multimillion-dollar suit against Sirius XM. “We agree with the motion court that plaintiffs are not entitled to additional performance-based compensation under the unambiguous agreement between plaintiffs and defendant’s predecessor, Sirius Satellite Radio Inc,” the First Appellate Division wrote today. Justices Rosalyn H. 
Richter, Angela M. Mazzarelli, Luis A. Gonzalez, Dianne T. Renwick and Judith J. Gische represented the appeals court panel. In a suit filed in March 2011, Stern’s company One Twelve and his agent Don Buchwald claimed that they were owed more than $300 million after Sirius exceeded subscriber targets following its merger with rival XM in 2008. Stern actually did get a $25 million bonus from the company as a result of the merger but he claimed he was expecting more. Judge Barbara Kapnick of the New York State Supreme Court tossed the suit last year on April 17. “Looking solely to the plain language used by the parties within the four corners of the agreement the disputed term “Sirius subscribers,” by which plaintiffs’ performance-based compensation was measured, did not include subscribers to XM Radio, a wholly owned subsidiary which defendant acquired by merger, even though the merger had been anticipated within the agreement,” added the judges today. Read More »
Liberty Media CEO Says Deals May Make Sense For Sirius XM And Starz: Video
Greg Maffei seems open to all kinds of possibilities for the properties his company controls. The newly anointed chairman of Sirius XM told CNBC’s David Faber today that Liberty “absolutely” might consider spinning off the satellite radio company, making it independent again. And he says that … Read More »
Sirius XM Board Adds Discovery’s David Zaslav And John Malone’s Son, And Pays Mel Karmazin $11M
Liberty Media Chairman John Malone‘s company controls Sirius XM, but he and Liberty General Counsel Charles Tanabe no longer want to sit on the satellite radio provider’s board, according to the … Read More »
Sirius XM Q4 Earnings Match Expectations But Revenues Come In Light
Shares are down about 1.4% in pre-market trading although there are few surprises in the satellite radio company’s first earnings report with Liberty Media firmly in charge. Sirius XM reported Q4 net income of $156.2M, +119.0% … Read More »
Sirius XM Board Overhauled As Liberty Media Formally Takes Control
Liberty Media Chairman John Malone just consolidated his power at the satellite radio company as four people friendly to his outlook joined the Sirius XM board replacing former CEO Mel Karmazin — who left last month … Read More »
Mel Karmazin Says He’s Looking For His “Third Retirement”: Video
Now that he has resigned as CEO of Sirius XM, Mel Karmazin says he’d like a new gig — either running an entrepreneurial company with an independent board, or helping New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s efforts to rebuild areas hit by Hurricane Sandy. “I would be the … Read More »
FCC Clears Liberty Media’s Takeover Of Sirius XM
John Malone’s company expects the handover to take place within 60 days now that the FCC has approved “the transfer of de jure control of Sirius XM to Liberty,” it says. While the news … Read More »
Sirius XM Names Jim Meyer Interim CEO As Mel Karmazin Resigns
UPDATE, 6:56 AM: As interim CEO, Jim Meyer will collect a base salary of $1.3M per year, plus annual bonuses to be determined by the board, in a new contract that runs until October 31, 2013, … Read More »
Sirius XM Shares Up After It Announces $2B Stock Repurchase And Special Dividend
The stock is up more than 2% in early trading with investors more surprised at the timing of the announcement than by the decision itself. The satellite radio company says it will repurchase $2B in stock, with no timetable. Liberty Media, which owns 49.8% of Sirius XM, will participate in a way that ensures the effort doesn’t boost or dilute its stake. In addition, on December 28 Sirius XM will pay a 5 cent-a-share special dividend — about $325M — to those who own the stock on December 18. The general feeling was that Sirius XM would return cash to shareholders soon, but not yet: It’s still negotiating to determine the royalty rates it will have to pay for the music it airs, and looking at candidates to replace CEO Mel Karmazin when he leaves in February. The FCC could formally rule by year end that Liberty owns Sirius XM and its satellite licenses. But a lot of companies, including Disney and Dish Network, are announcing dividends ahead of the end of the year: If lawmakers can’t avoid the so-called fiscal cliff tax and budget measures that take effect in January, then dividends will be taxed at a much higher rate. Read More »
Deadline Big Media With David Lieberman, Episode 2
Deadline’s Executive Editor David Lieberman talks with host David Bloom in Episode 2 of Deadline Big Media. Lieberman discusses whether Mel Karmazin will stay with satellite broadcaster Sirius XM after Liberty Media completes its acquisition; what impact James Murdoch might have on News Corp’s U.S. TV operations if he takes over, as rumored; and who might be interested in spending up to $7 billion to buy the live-entertainment and sports powerhouse AEG from Denver billionaire Phil Anschutz.
Deadline Big Media Episode 2 (MP3 format)
Deadline Big Media Episode 2 (M4A format) Read More »
Sirius XM Would Be OK If Mel Karmazin Leaves, Liberty Media CEO Says
Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei wasn’t trying to put down Mel Karmazin. ”Mel has done a great job” at the satellite broadcast company, Maffei told the Goldman Sachs Annual Communicopia Conference this morning. But he added that Sirius XM’s … Read More »
Mel Karmazin Says He’s “Open” To Staying At Sirius XM After Liberty Takeover
The Sirius XM CEO isn’t sure that John Malone’s Liberty Media will want him to stay after it owns more than 50% of the satellite radio company’s stock — something that could happen as early as today. “My instincts are that Liberty does not need me,” Mel Karmazin said at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Media, Communications and Entertainment Conference. “I have historically been expensive…That’s OK with Mel.” But he also says that he’s “open to having a conversation” about staying after. For example, if Liberty decides to spin off Sirius XM then “that would be a situation I might be interested in.” Karmazin says there’s been “no dialogue whatsoever about me coming or going,” including with Sirius XM’s existing board. His current contract expires in December. If he signed a new deal while the company’s future is in flux then “it would look [to shareolders] like I sold out.” Read More »
Sirius XM Board Sued By Police Pension Fund For Not Fighting Liberty Takeover
A Florida police pension fund is suing Sirius XM Radio Inc’s board of directors for allowing John Malone’s Liberty Media Corp take over the satcaster without a fight and without paying a premium. Reuters reports the City of Miami Police Relief and Pension Fund filed suit in Delaware Chancery Court following Liberty informing the FCC on Friday that Liberty planned to take full control of Sirius XM by increasing its stake to more than 50%. 
Provisions under which Liberty invested in Sirius XM in 2009 prohibit the company from fighting off a Liberty takeover, and the police pension fund says this constituts a breach of the board’s fiduciary duties. As part of its investment, Liberty loaned Sirius XM $530 million to help the satcaster avoid bankruptcy. Terms of the loan stipulated that Sirius’ board agreed not to adopt a poison pill or any defense measures against a Liberty takeover after a three-year standstill, which expired in March. Since then Liberty has been buying Sirius shares in the open market to boost its stake above 50%. Read More »
Liberty Increases Sirius XM Stake To 48%
John Malone’s Liberty Media has increased its stake in Sirius XM Radio to about 48% from 46.2%, the Wall Street Journal reported tonight. Liberty disclosed in an evening filing that it had … Read More »
Liberty’s John Malone Says Sirius XM Will Be Independent If He Takes Control
Malone controls shares convertible into more than 40% of the satellite radio company stock — but he’s talking like Sirius XM will soon be his based on news coverage of his comments to reporters at Sun Valley. … Read More »
Sirius XM Boosts Subscriber Forecast As Auto Sales Improve
The satellite radio company’s shares are up more than 3.6% in pre-market trading this morning after it beat its own projections, and analysts’, for subscriber growth in Q2. Sirius XM says it added … Read More »
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