Howard acts as if he's a genius for having forsight to a merger

except there were rumors (which shockingly :rollseyes that the two would merge BEFORE Howard even spoke a single word on air.

http://www.forbes.com/2005/01/28/cx_gl_0128faceweek.html

from January 1st, 2005



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Faces Of The Week: Jan. 24 - 28
Karmazin: No Sirius-XM Merger; Buffett: Big Winner In P&G, Gillette Deal. Greg Levine, 01.28.05, 8:30 PM ET

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Waksal: Erbitux Still Haunts As ImClone Says It Will Settle Suits

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ImClone Systems (nasdaq: IMCL - news - people ) on Monday said it will settle two suits related to the application for its cancer drug Erbitux. The biotechnology firm--whose name is now as synonymous with high-profile scandal as with medicine--said it'll pay $75 million in cash to settle a class-action lawsuit alleging the company broke securities laws by hoodwinking investors on the drug's approval status. Erbitux was rejected by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in early 2002, and ImClone stock plunged. But before the FDA's decision was publicized, several figures made sales of ImClone shares that the government found too convenient to be true. Most notable were Samuel Waksal and, of course, Martha Stewart. The former was then the firm's chairman. Serving a seven-year, three-month sentence at a federal hoosegow in Pennsylvania, he and paterfamilias Jack Waksal last week agreed to fork over $5 million in fines to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for their stock sale. (see: "Waksal: Jailed ImClone Founder Samuel, Father Pay $5M To Settle Civil Charges") The Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (nyse: MSO - news - people ) founder, an old friend of Waksal, was sentenced to five months in jail and five months under house arrest--but the media glare barely dented the sales of her signature gracious-living goods through such purveyors as Kmart Holdings (nasdaq: KMRT - news - people ). ImClone said Monday that the settlements will cause it to take a charge of $55.4 million in the fourth quarter. Shares of the firm dropped 16 cents, or less than 1%, to $37.37 in Monday afternoon trading on the Nasdaq. More...

Brin: Google To Echo TiVo, Offer TV Search Tool

Sergey Brin

The search engine launched by Sergey Brin and Larry Page isn't content to dominate the hunt for Web site content. Google (nasdaq: GOOG - news - people ) said on Tuesday it will start using its technology to glean data and images broadcast on television. "We think TV is a big part of people's lives," opined Jonathan Rosenberg, Google's vice president of product management, in a moment of understatement. He added, "Ultimately, we would like to have all TV programming indexed." The index, which began amassing info last month, includes programming from The Walt Disney Co.'s (nyse: DIS - news - people ) ABC, News Corp.'s (nyse: NWS - news - people ) Fox News, PBS and C-SPAN. The index will operate separately from the famed search engine starring on the Google home page. In a modus operandi familiar to TiVo (nasdaq: TIVO - news - people ) fans, the new feature finds content previously aired on TV, by scanning through the closed-caption text certain networks offer. Never one to be left in the silicon dust, rival search engine Yahoo! (nasdaq: YHOO - news - people ) is also working on a TV-content search tool. On Jan. 18, Yahoo! posted a huge jump in quarterly profit, largely driven by the resurgence in Internet ads (see: "Semel: New Era For Online Ads As Yahoo! Q4 Earnings Up 149%"). But despite that advertising renaissance, Google says it has no plans to use its TV search engine as another means of displaying the text-based ad links responsible for most of its profit. More...

Karmazin: Sirius CEO Scoffs At XM Merger, Stern Rescheduling Rumors

Mel Karmazin

Flash: Reckless newspaper reports baseless rumor? Readers were wondering if the New York Post did it again. On Wednesday, the News Corp. (nyse: NWS - news - people ) tabloid reported that Sirius Satellite Radio (nasdaq: SIRI - news - people ) and XM Satellite Radio (nasdaq: XMSR - news - people ) were beginning the dance of merger negotiations. But the Post, every Gothamite's guilty pleasure, has a colorful history of shooting from the hip: Last year, the newssheet, famed for its "Headless Body Found in Topless Bar" front page, became a darling of eBay (nasdaq: EBAY - news - people ) shoppers when it declared that presidential candidate John Kerry would pick Dick Gephardt as his running mate. (see: "Murdoch: News Corp. Paper Chided On 'Gephardt' Gaffe") Sirius Chief Executive Mel Karmazin scoffed at the XM merger report. "I have not met with the chairman or CEO [of XM], so I have no idea where any of this came from," he said on a conference call Wednesday. Previously the president of Viacom (nyse: VIAb - news - people ), Karmazin also tried to quash scuttlebutt that Sirius has been in talks with the media giant about buying out the balance of Howard Stern's contract. The blue-talk maestro has signed a deal with Sirius to start in January 2006, and rumors have run hot that the satellite broadcaster might try to bring him over sooner. "Because I worked at Viacom, I do have lots of conversations with them all the time," Karmazin said. Nonetheless, he underscored, "our plan right now is that Howard will start with us in January 2006." He did add that Sirius would like to start Stern earlier, if the opportunity should arise. Wednesday also saw Sirius report a wider fourth-quarter loss, citing pricey sports programming and costs from serving a soaring subscriber base. Programming and content expenses rose to $26 million from $8.5 million. Last year, the orbital-radio firm began broadcasting National Football League games under a

shit man, you need to get someone to teach you how to use cut/paste. delete this shit and start over.

from 1/1/2007

But Sirius and XM shares have taken a battering on Wall Street, with prices for both off about 50 percent from their year-ago levels. On Friday, Sirius closed at $3.54, while XM ended the year at $14.45.

yes, Howard, your brilliance and cached 'fucked XM up the ass'

Howard invented mergers.

Brilliant!! I was wondering about this whole "What did he know, And when did he know it" thingy. I bought my Sirius sub the DAY Hamptons announced that he was going over...That was a full calender year before his first broadcast on Sirius. So that means he was discussing terms and drawing up his contract at least *I'm Guessing* Six months before he announced publicly his intent.
Does anyone really believe that they even had an inkling that there was a merger in the future? As I remember it, Hamptons was fully into his patented "Give no quarter,Take no prisoners" Mode that had served him so well in his professional life to that point and was in the mind set of destroying XM, Anyone remember the whole "Piss on XM because they had to have a meeting to see if they were going to hire me" Statements? My guess is that he watched John Malone? Stake a business mans gamble and make out like a bandit when Liberty gave Sirius a much needed shot of capitol and was rewarded richly for it. Then had the gall to file a suit against Sirius when the ink on his latest contract was in the process of drying.....As the great Freddie Mercury sang it, This whole thing is "Smelling like dried fish bone" He's going to kick and scream.....But it won't gain him anything IMHO...........

Howard only got 3 good weeks out of Sirius. After 3 weeks, he found something to be pissed off about.

Funny, Howard insisted that he singlehandedly built Sirius and crushed XM forcing them to merge. then he whines endlessly over his devalued stock. But then why didn't the stock soar because of the staggering power of Howard 100/101?

In an interview on The Howard Stern Show 30 July 2008, Mel Karmazin admitted that the idea for merging the two satellite radio companies originated while he was still working for Viacom, and that he heard it from Michael Milken.

Reading a thread on M&A on SFN is like listening to Robin talk about sports.

Holy shit, you people take a fucking radio show way too seriously.