Sirius and XM discussing merger

Figured I would get the jump on Vid posting this.

Taken from HERE
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio are holding preliminary talks on a possible merger, according to a published report.

The New York Post said the discussions between the two players in the growing satellite radio market are in early stages.

Executives have not yet discussed price, according to the newspaper. But discussions have been held about potential antitrust concerns, the Post reported.

A deal would create a monopoly in the segment. But the newspaper said that XM and Sirius are hoping a deal would be allowed if the Federal Communications Commission considers satellite radio as part of the broader industry delivering music and other content through mobile devices, such as cell phones.

Sirius has a market capitalization of $7.9 billion, compared to XM\'s market cap of $6.9 billion, despite the greater revenue. XM had forecast sales of $80 million last year, according to First Call, compared with an estimated $70 million for Sirius. Sirius is set to report results Wednesday.

Both providers have exclusive content to provide their customers. Sirius made news late last year giving controversial radio host Howard Stern a $500 million contract to move to its service in 2006. The Post reports that Merrill Lynch analyst Laraine Mancini said one of the chief risks of investing in the companies\' shares is a potential price war and "irrational bidding" for content.

The newspaper said that a possible merger got a lift from Sirius\' decision to hire former Viacom President Mel Karmazin as CEO in November.

"Mel is a roll-up guy, a deal guy," said one source close to Karmazin.

The Post said Sirius would not comment on the report and XM did not return a call seeking comment.

Black Sam\'s Take: This would actually be really cool. There are some Sirius features that I wish XM had and vice-versa so having all of them would be the best  of both worlds.

I wouldn\'t consider it a monopoly either, since I already just looked at it as another option to FM and AM radio.

-Dan

The question is.. is now the time to sell my Sirius stock or buy more..?

[videoholic]

Surprised the after hours hasn\'t jumped.

And as far as selling, now is the time to buy.  I sold mine back when they were still in the 8\'s.  I still have a few hundred shares left though.

Sirius\' CEO seems to not like the idea..

[videoholic]

I don\'t like it either.  Sirius is a better product.  Eventually they would catch up on their own as people get more into satellite radio.

I hope so. I invested a lot of money in them while they were around ~9~ dollars.

Yeah, I know. They\'re around $6 now and I\'m enjoying eating the multiple hundreds of dollars..

Blah XM is better IMO from a music standpoint, but Sirius has NFL, NHL and Stern.  I think the merger would benefit shareholders of both companies.

[videoholic]

I\'ve heard that XM is better for music too, but I don\'t really see how.  Sirius has all the music XM has.  What I do like about XM is they have a lot of the talk radio I like.  That kind of blows, but Sirius is getting a heck of a lot better with talk radio.  They\'ve done a lot over the past year.

[Titan]

I want to get some shares of Sirius. It seems like a really worthwile investment. My mom won\'t let me though. I "have to save money for college" :rolleyes:

[videoholic]

right now it\'s pretty good since it\'s come back down.  I originally only put I think 300 bucks on it a couple years ago.  I built that up to a grand.  I then jumped back into it in august with a grand and I then had three grand profit.  

It\'s a very risky stock though.  But it\'s one that you won\'t lose your ass on if you get in early.  Satellite radio is here to stay.  It\'s the way things are pushing.  No one had cable right out of the shoot either and now everyone just thinks of it as just another bill.

[Titan]

So should I jump in?