SIRIUS Satellite Radio (Nasdaq: SIRI) and XM Satellite Radio (Nasdaq: XMSR) announced that SIRIUS Chief Executive Officer, Mel Karmazin, testified today in a hearing before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation regarding the SIRIUS-XM merger. Mr. Karmazin's testimony highlighted the significant benefits for consumers resulting from the proposed merger and the extensive competition that satellite radio faces from a wide range of players in the audio entertainment market. In his testimony, Mr. Karmazin stated:
The Combined Company Will Offer Consumers More Choice At Lower Prices
The key to getting more subscribers will not be to widen the price gap between free and what satellite radio charges. Instead, it will be to offer consumers a better value.
The merger will allow us to lower prices. Consumers who want fewer channels than currently offered will be able to select one or more packages of channels for less than $12.95 per month.
Importantly, significant portions of the savings achieved through the merger will be shared with customers immediately and in the long-term through lower prices and improved service offerings.
Satellite Radio is a Small Part of a Highly Competitive and Ever-Expanding Market for Audio Entertainment
The audio entertainment market today is vibrant, competitive, and innovative, and every indication is that it will be even more so in the future. We believe that the combination of SIRIUS and XM will be good for consumers as it will intensify this competition, expand the choices for consumers, and reduce prices.
The market for audio entertainment in the United States is robustly competitive and rapidly evolving. SIRIUS and XM must compete directly and intensely with a host of other audio providers for consumer attention.
The Merger Will Help Accelerate Deployment of Advanced Technology
The combined company will be able to offer consumers access to advanced technology sooner than would otherwise occur. In particular, the marriage of the companies' two engineering organizations will ensure better results from each dollar invested in research and development.
While no radio will become obsolete as a result of this transaction, we fully expect the merger to stimulate the development of new interoperable, highly portable, low-cost, and user-friendly devices.
SIRIUS, "The Best Radio on Radio," delivers more than 130 channels of the best programming in all of radio. SIRIUS is the original and only home of 100% commercial free music channels in satellite radio, offering 69 music channels. SIRIUS also delivers 65 channels of sports, news, talk,entertainment, traffic, weather and data. SIRIUS is the Official Satellite Radio Partner of the NFL, NASCAR, NBA and NHL, and broadcasts live play-by- play games of the NFL, NBA and NHL, as well as live NASCAR races. All SIRIUS programming is available for a monthly subscription fee of only
$12.95.
SIRIUS Internet Radio (SIR) is a CD-quality, Internet-only version of the SIRIUS radio service, without the use of a radio, for the monthly subscription fee of $12.95. SIR delivers more than 75 channels of talk, entertainment, sports, and 100% commercial free music. SIRIUS products for the car, truck, home, RV and boat are available in more than 25,000 retail locations, including Best Buy, Circuit City, Crutchfield, Costco, Target, Wal-Mart, Sam's Club, RadioShack and at shop.sirius.com. SIRIUS radios are offered in vehicles from Audi, Bentley, BMW, Chrysler, Dodge, Ford, Infiniti, Jaguar, Jeep(R), Land Rover, Lexus, Lincoln, Mercury, Maybach, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, MINI, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Rolls Royce, Scion, Toyota, Volkswagen, and Volvo. Hertz also offers SIRIUS in its rental cars at major locations around the country.
XM (Nasdaq: XMSR) is America's number one satellite radio company with more than 7.6 million subscribers. Broadcasting live daily from studios in Washington, DC, New York City, Chicago, the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, Toronto and Montreal, XM's 2007 lineup includes more than 170 digital channels of choice from coast to coast: commercial-free music, premier sports, news, talk radio, comedy, children's and entertainment programming; and the most advanced traffic and weather information. XM, the leader in satellite-delivered entertainment and data services for the automobile market through partnerships with General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Nissan, Porsche, Subaru, Suzuki and Toyota is available in 140 different vehicle models for 2007.
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