So much for satellite radio…
Just when you thought things couldn’t get much worse (see: Live Nation Entertainment and the end of the world), comes news that the country’s biggest and online satellite radio company, Sirius XM, may be on the verge of filing for bankruptcy. According to a report in yesterday’s New York Times, the company, which formed after the two satellite serves merged last summer, currently finds itself laden with $3.25 billion in debt and is preparing for a bankruptcy filling. The company’s high-profile salaries and the faltering car industry are among the factors behind its recent failures
While the ultimate effect on customers is currently unknown, the Times goes onto speculate that if the company does indeed file for bankruptcy, it will certainly mean the end of many high-priced talent, such as Martha Stewart and Howard Stern.
One possible solution for Sirius XM’s problems would be a possible takeover by EchoStar. The TV satellite company, which currently owns over $400 million of the aforementioned debt, is reportedly interested in negotiating a deal that would allow the company to instead take over Sirius XM, rather than take them to bankruptcy court. However, at this point, nothing appears imminent.
As dreary as all this sounds, you could always look at it on the plus side. You’ll have plenty of extra cash to spend on service fees once your subscription to Sirius XM becomes nonexistent.
shit!!!!!!!!
Filing chapter 11 doesn’t mean that all services shut down. Sirius XM makes a ton of money and has an enormous subscriber base - it won’t disappear in the very near future.
That would suck if Stern has to go back to FM!
Stern talked about this on his show this morning. It’s not all gloom and doom as it’s being reported but then again, I don’t know all the details. But he talk about Echostar and how Sirius XM makes $2 billion in revenue a year. I’ll hear the entire thing when I get home. I hope it works out somehow where Stern says on!
Feb 17th, 2009 at 5:07 pm
[...] has agreed to loan the satellite radio service $530 in attempt to save the company from avoiding bankruptcy. Per The Washington Post: …the loan will go to paying $175 million in debt that comes due for [...]