Sirius Stock- what the... ?!?!?

Yes, Sirius has a "lifetime" plan but like you said it's risky. Any other plan can transfer to a new radio. In my case I simply called them and said my radio died and I wanted time to shop around for a new one. They refunded me what I had left on my prepaid contract. I bought a radio a week later and signed up for 3 years (paying even less than I was paying before per month).

By the way, the new radio I got (Stiletto 2) is like a DVR and it goes where I go. Docked at home it's always recording something. I can even schedule times to record certain channels. Another cool feature is that if I'm listening to a song that I really like, I hit a button and it records it so I can play it back later. It also lets you pause live radio (like a DVR does for TV). If I'm not in a place where I can get a satellite signal, it can connect to Wi-Fi...you get only a limited number of stations (still get most music and my favorite NFL Radio), but it's a very cool feature. It's also an mp3 player (just like an iPod but with a lot more technology built in).

 

Yeah it is a bit much but my kids are hooked to Radio Disney and there would be an uprising if it were gone!

 

We've had XM for several years now -- one aftermarket in my car, and one factory unit in my wife's Acura. I used to pay $13/month, but when we bought the Acura, XM's deal was for $77 prepaid for the year ($6.42 per month!!) so we signed her up.

Last spring, when I needed to renew the service for both vehicles, I called customer service and told them I was going to cancel the more expensive plan for my car as it "wasn't a value at that price -- but that I might be inclined to keep the service for another year if I had the same deal as my wife's car". They happily agreed! This method has been widely used and documented on the Acura forums for several years, and is highly effective. I will definately be asking for this again at renewal time come April, and undoubtedly will get what I want.

http://tl.acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=633759

The BLUF here is that XM needs the business.

 

fair enough. after having both sirius and XM- one in my car, the other in The Man's, we both agreed that we spent a lot of time flipping around XM to hear good music and were able to stay on certain Sirus stations for hours with no problem: Soultown, 70's, Reggae, Jazz- but i can imagine as many XM listeners feel the way I do about some of the changes.

 

We haven't experienced anything like this - our sound quality is great.

We have one for each car and both have a home docking station to listen through the stereo. Hubby thinks DC radio sucks and he has an hour commute to work so he loves having the XM. He's found many new artists he likes that he never would have heard on regular radio.

With the merger, the stations have been realigned between the two services. You can visit the XM website for the new lineup. According to the website, your radio presets will automatically find the new station number for you. Ours did.

 

The product is amazing. The reality is that the business is losing hundreds of millions of dollars per year. This is why they've got a big push for perpetual licenses right now - trying to generate short term revenue. I love to listen, but would not invest at this point.

 

what does THIS mean for current joe schmoe stockholders? i know nothing about how the market works so i come to the experts here for pearls of wisdom...

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a3Q9wfWwnDi0&refer=home

Sirius XM’s Shareholders Approve Reverse Split, Share Increase

Sirius XM Radio Inc. shareholders approved a reverse stock split and an increase in shares to help the satellite radio operator pay its debts.
Today’s vote boosted the number of authorized shares to 8 billion from 4.5 billion, New York-based Sirius said in e- mailed statement. Investors also permitted the board to effect a reverse split ranging from 1-for-10 shares to as much as 1-for-50 to lift the stock price above $1 and avoid delisting from the Nasdaq Stock Market.
The new shares could give Sirius the means to meet some of its almost $1 billion in loan repayments due next year, including $209 million in convertible bonds maturing in February. The stock has traded below a $1 since Sept. 10 on investor concern that Chief Executive Officer Mel Karmazin won’t be able to manage the debt and meet growth projections.
Sirius climbed 1 cent to 14 cents at 2:26 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq trading. The shares tumbled 96 percent this year before today. Sirius first announced plans for a reverse stock split on Oct. 16, two months after Karmazin, 65, said the company had no plans for such a move.

 

It just means you'll have less shares, but each share will be worth more money.

If you now had 100 shares of a stock that cost $1.00 a share, it would be worth $100. If they did a, say, 1 for 2 reverse split, you'd now have 50 shares at $2.00 a share. Or maybe they'd do a 5 for one split, jacking the per share price to $5.00, but instead of 100 shares you'd have 20.

That is the very basic math behind it. It's a way for them to jack their stock price to avoid being delisted. Doesn't mean it is worth any more. You still have to have the stock go up to earn any money on it.

 

thanks. i looked it up and got the basic definition, i guess i wanted more info along the lines of how it IMPACTS a regular stockholder. even with this reverse split the stock won't go over a dollar- they'd have to do it 4 TIMES to get over a buck!

so if you only have a a few shares, technically, you could be pushed out into having ZERO shares, right?? (hypothetical- i am not in this situation...)

 

Companies typically do reverse splits to pump up their share prices. If they stay under $1, they risk being delisted from NASDAQ, which would not be a good thing for such a widely-known company. Sounds like the market is worried about them repaying their debt...

 

Well, not really. One can own a portion of a share.