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SIRIUS and XM Announce Additional Support for Merger
Diverse Group of Advocates for a Combined SIRIUS-XM Cite Economic and
Consumer Benefits
WASHINGTON and NEW YORK, Dec. 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Three
additional Members of Congress joined General Motors Corporation, Club for
Growth, Harpo Productions, the Rural Coalition, and celebrity talent Andres
Cantor, Bill Mack, Wynton Marsalis, Cal Ripken Jr. and Barry Switzer as the
latest supporters of the pending merger of XM Satellite Radio (
XMSR) and SIRIUS Satellite Radio ( SIRI). The latest bi-partisan
Congressional supporters include the Chairman of the Congressional Hispanic
Caucus, Rep. Joe Baca (D-CA), Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA) and Rep. Connie Mack
(R-FL). This new support adds to the diverse list of supporters for the
pending merger.
In recent filings, Rep. Baca and Rep. Mack detailed how the merger will
benefit the economy, enhance innovation, and strengthen competition:
"I find that the merger will not only maintain an advanced
technological innovation, it will bolster the industry thereby
strengthening our economy. More families and individuals will have an
opportunity to access satellite radio."
--Rep. Joe Baca
"The proposed merger will enable satellite radio to become a stronger
competitor and will drive all other players in the market, including
terrestrial radio, to focus on making their services even more appealing to
consumers."
--Rep. Connie Mack
GM added its support by emphasizing the increased range of
entertainment and price choices for consumers and urged the FCC to avoid
conditions that would compromise the performance or programming content
available for vehicles with single mode receivers:
"GM believes the merger clearly will increase entertainment choices in
the automotive environment particularly as "best of both" and as a la carte
pricing becomes available for satellite radio services."
--Richard M. Lee, Executive Director - Satellite Radio Services, GM
The Rural Coalition echoed these comments, highlighting increased
programming diversity resulting from the merger and other benefits for
rural consumers in particular:
"We believe that the merger will empower rural listeners' choices,
allowing them to build programming packages that are tailored to their
budgets and listening tastes."
--Lorette Picciano, Executive Director, Rural Coalition
Jazz musician and artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center, Wynton
Marsalis, expressed his support for the merger because of the competitive
landscape and enhanced exposure for new artists and musicians.
"In a market that's crowded with everything from FM radio to iPods and
downloaded music to internet radio to music on cell phones, the merger will
help satellite radio [become] an enduring platform that will continue to
benefit artists long into the future."
-- Wynton Marsalis, Artistic Director, Jazz at Lincoln Center and XM on
Air Personality
On behalf of XM's "Oprah & Friends" channel, Harpo Productions
expressed excitement about the expanded platform that a merger would
provide for programming whose goal is to help listeners live their best
lives.
"On behalf of Oprah & Friends, our channel on XM Radio, I write to
express our support for the merger of XM and SIRIUS Satellite Radio."
-- Tim Bennett, President, Harpo Productions
Former big league great and co-host of XM's "Ripken Baseball" lauded
the merger for the increased audience it would provide for specialty
programming.
"I am excited about the SIRIUS and XM merger and the prospect of
increased listenership for sports programming such as ours. Merger
synergies will expand variety and more unique content currently unavailable
anywhere else."
-- Cal Ripken Jr., Baseball Hall of Famer and Co-Host, Ripken Baseball
For more information on the SIRIUS-XM merger, please visit
www.SIRIUSmerger.com or www.XMmerger.com.
About SIRIUS
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 and NBA, and broadcasts live play-by-play
games of the NFL and NBA, 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 80 channels of talk,
entertainment, sports, and 100% commercial free music.
SIRIUS Backseat TV(TM) is the first ever live in-vehicle rear seat
entertainment featuring three channels of children's TV programming,
including Nickelodeon, Disney Channel and Cartoon Network, for the
subscription fee of $6.99 plus applicable audio subscription fee.
SIRIUS products for the car, truck, home, RV and boat are available in
more than 20,000 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.
Click on www.sirius.com to listen to SIRIUS live, or to purchase a
SIRIUS radio and subscription.
About XM
XM is America's number one satellite radio company with more than 8.5
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. XM's industry-leading products are
available at consumer electronics retailers nationwide. For more
information about XM hardware, programming and partnerships, please visit
http://www.xmradio.com.
This communication contains "forward-looking statements" within the
meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such
statements include, but are not limited to, statements about the benefits
of the business combination transaction involving Sirius Satellite Radio
Inc. and XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc., including potential synergies
and cost savings and the timing thereof, future financial and operating
results, the combined company's plans, objectives, expectations and
intentions with respect to future operations, products and services; and
other statements identified by words such as "anticipate," "believe,"
"plan," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "will," "should," "may," or words
of similar meaning. Such forward- looking statements are based upon the
current beliefs and expectations of SIRIUS' and XM's management and are
inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive
uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are difficult to predict and
generally beyond the control of SIRIUS and XM. Actual results may differ
materially from the results anticipated in these forward-looking
statements.
The following factors, among others, could cause actual results to
differ materially from the anticipated results or other expectations
expressed in the forward-looking statement: general business and economic
conditions; the performance of financial markets and interest rates; the
ability to obtain governmental approvals of the transaction on a timely
basis; the failure of SIRIUS and XM stockholders to approve the
transaction; the failure to realize synergies and cost-savings from the
transaction or delay in realization thereof; the businesses of SIRIUS and
XM may not be combined successfully, or such combination may take longer,
be more difficult, time-consuming or costly to accomplish than expected;
and operating costs and business disruption following the merger, including
adverse effects on employee retention and on our business relationships
with third parties, including manufacturers of radios, retailers,
automakers and programming providers. Additional factors that could cause
SIRIUS' and XM's results to differ materially from those described in the
forward-looking statements can be found in SIRIUS' and XM's Annual Reports
on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2006, and Quarterly Reports on
Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2007, June 30, 2007 and
September 30, 2007, which are filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission (the "SEC") and available at the SEC's Internet site
(http://www.sec.gov). The information set forth herein speaks only as of
the date hereof, and SIRIUS and XM disclaim any intention or obligation to
update any forward looking statements as a result of developments occurring
after the date of this communication.
SIRIUS
Media Relations
Patrick Reilly
212-901-6646
PReilly@siriusradio.com
Kelly Sullivan
Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher
212-355-4449
ksullivan@joelefrank.com
XM
Media Relations
Nathaniel Brown
212-708-6170
Nathaniel.Brown@xmradio.com
Chance Patterson
202-380-4318
Chance.Patterson@xmradio.com
SOURCE SIRIUS; XM













