Liberty Media Lays Out Its Plans To Take Control Of Sirius XM

from Susan Boyle Musical Coming To America? – Deadline.com by DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor

In an SEC filing this morning, John Malone’s company says that it will convert enough of its preferred shares in the satellite radio provider into common shares to give it 32% of the total votes. Then “as soon as practicable” it will nominate and campaign for a slate of directors that would constitute a majority of the board. Liberty already has five of the 13 seats. In the meantime, Liberty will continue to buy shares in the open market so it could “replace the entire Board of Directors by unilateral action.” The plan comes as Liberty tries to revive its effort to persuade the FCC to give it Sirius XM’s satellite licenses. Malone’s company says it plays such a big role at Sirius XM that it already effectively controls the company. FCC staffers rejected that claim early this month; Liberty laid out its new take-over plans in conjunction with its appeal of that decision. Sirius XM CEO Mel Karmazin has said that if Liberty wants to buy the company, then it should pay existing investors a premium price for their shares. Malone’s plan would not do that. Still, he might find enough investors willing to sell: Sirius XM shares have lost more than 20% of their value over the last 12 months. The stock price is up slightly in pre-market trading.
What Malone hasn’t said is whether he wants to run Sirius XM, or sell it as part of one of his famously complex financial deals to help him minimize tax payments. He’d owe the government a huge capital gains check if he simply tried to sell his existing shares. Liberty invested $530M in Sirius XM in 2009, when the broadcaster was in danger of defaulting on its debt. That stake, equal to about 40% of the equity, is now worth about $3B. But if Liberty controlled Sirius XM it could use a gambit known as a Reverse Morris Trust. Liberty could spin the satellite broadcaster off to its shareholders who’d then merge it with another entity — in effect enabling Liberty to sell its Sirius XM holdings without paying for the capital gains on its investment. Malone is able to make his move now because a standstill agreement that was part of his investment in Sirius XM expired in March.

BBC WM Joanne Malin - Reviews from fans - I Dreamed A Dream Musical May ...

BBC WM - Graham Torrington Interview with Elaine C. Smith May 29, 2012

Great radio interview with Elaine C. Smith.  Video by TommyUSA.

BEAUTIFUL SUNDAY - DANIEL O'DONNELL

Susan is DJ and Talks About Her Songs

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Susan Boyle News with Ewing Stevens - Audio

Wed, 16 May 2012 05:02

Susan Boyle news an audience before the Queen.

CNN Slumps To 15-Year Primetime Low

from Susan Boyle Musical Coming To America? – Deadline.com by DOMINIC PATTEN

CNN fell to a 15 year primetime low last night in a key demo and limboed down to its second worse weekday primetime since March 1997. A new episode of Piers Morgan Tonight at 9 PM drew in only 39,000 viewers in the Adult 25-54. The news network itself averaged just 308,000 viewers in primetime with Morgan’s show and Anderson Cooper’s AC360 leading at 8 PM and again at 10 PM. CNN had 73,000 viewers in the Adult 25-54 during Tuesday’s primetime. This comes on the heels of April’s bad newswhen the network had its lowest-rated month in over a decade. The forensics on the 9 PM slot’s low Adult 25-54 numbers are revealing. The last time a CNN show had that kind of demo numbers in that weekday timeslot was on August 22, 1997. Back in 1997, a Larry King Live show on a Friday night got 50,000 viewers in the Adult 25-54. However unlike 1997, when the show’s total viewership was 693,000, Morgan’s show last night only had a total viewership of 284,000. That actually wasn’t actually a record low for Morgan’s show, which debuted on January 17, 2011, but it was down from a regular weekday. Over on Fox News, Sean Hannity had 1.7 million viewers in the 9 PM slot, with 334,000 viewers in the Adult 25-54. MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow Show had 839,000 viewers, with 315,000 in the Adult 25-54. In the last 15 years, CNN’s overall weekday primetime numbers have only been worse on Thanksgiving Day 2011. On November 24, 2011, CNN had a primetime average of 262,000 viewers. The Adult 25-54 viewership on that Thursday night was 83,000. That’s what they call a very slow news night.
Related: RATINGS RAT RACE: ‘NCIS’ Ends Up, ‘Private Practice’ Way Up

SUSAN BOYLE - Short clip of Susan at Queen's Diamond Jubilee Pageant

Susan Boyle -You'll See - BGT 2012

Veteran RadioLIVE broadcaster Ewing Stevens receives industry recognition - Audio

Fri, 11 May 2012 07:11

RadioLIVE's Ewing Stevens talks to RadioLIVE's Marcus Lush about his more than 50 years in broadcasting. 11 May, 2012

Posted in Deadline London

Sony Registers Record Loss, But Expects Return To Profit

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Thursday, 10 May 2012 08:33 UK

Posting a record loss of $5.7B for the fiscal year ended March 31, Sony today reported a quarterly loss of $3.2B. However, the company also expects a return to profit, predicting that net income for the fiscal year to end March 2013 could be about $376M. Still, that figure lags behind what a group of Bloomberg analysts had estimated. Under new CEO Kazuo Hirai, the company is to slash 10,000 jobs as it trims costs to help turn around its flagging TV unit. Sony Pictures Entertainment sales increased 18% benefitting from the sale of a participation interest in Spider-Manmerchandising rights and higher pay TV and VOD sales. Operating income at SPE decreased to $416M primarily due to combined gains in the previous fiscal year from the acquisition of a controlling interest in GSN and the sale of SPE’s interest in HBO Latin America. Sony also noted the strong theatrical performance of The Smurfs and Bad Teacher, offset by the underperformance of Arthur Christmas.

http://www.deadline.com/2012/05/sony-registers-record-loss-but-expects-return-to-profit/

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FCC Rejects Liberty Media’s Application To Take Over Sirius XM’s Licenses

from Susan Boyle Musical Coming To America? – Deadline.com by DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor

The regulatory agency sided with Sirius XM which said that while John Malone’s Liberty might control the satellite radio company one day, it doesn’t do so yet. The proof: Liberty’s application to claim Sirius XM’s broadcast licenses was unacceptable because it was “unable to obtain the passwords, signatures, and other necessary information from Sirius to properly file an electronic transfer of control application,”  two FCC officials said in a letter today. Liberty had argued that it already pretty much calls the shots at Sirius by virtue of the preferred stock it bought for $530M in 2009 when Sirius was in danger of defaulting on its debt. The shares can be swapped for 40% of the company’s equity. But the officials noted that Liberty hasn’t demonstrated that it intends to actually make that swap or, if it did, that it could take control of the company board. Sirius XM CEO Mel Karmazin told investors this week that “40 (percent) is not the new 50.”

UPDATE: Sirius XM Chief Is Mystified By Liberty Media Effort To Take Control

from Susan Boyle Musical Coming To America? – Deadline.com by DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor

UPDATE, 6:15 AM: CEO Mel Karmazin is known as a straight-shooter, but showed today that he can also be diplomatic about a sensitive subject that hits close to home: Analysts in a conference call wanted to know what’s up with the FCC petition by John Malone’s Liberty Media to take over the rights to the satellite radio company’s broadcast licenses. Liberty says it has “de facto control” of Sirius XM by virtue of its 40% of the company’s stock, and right to hold five of the 13 board seats. Karmazin says he’s confident that the FCC will reject the petition. Although Liberty has “significant influence,” Karmazin says that ”our board absolutely concluded that they do not have de facto control…40 is not the new 50.” He says that he isn’t sure why Malone’s company filed its FCC petition. “Liberty has not indicated anything that they want to do. When they get asked, why are you doing it, they say they want to keep all of their options open.” While Karmazin wouldn’t criticize his largest shareholder, he added that “if the time ever comes that Liberty’s interests are different than the 60% shareholders, then we will do whatever we can do to protect the interest of our 60% shareholders.” Karmazin says he’s now just waiting to hear from the FCC.
The CEO continued to crow about the company’s Q1 performance, especially with subscriptions. “The reaction to the price increase has clearly exceeded our expectations….We could not have hoped for a better outcome.” He expects to see about 1M gross subscriptions this year from people buying used cars — a growing market for Sirius XM. He told analysts that he’s been loading up on sports programming as part of his strategy to compete with terrestrial radio and online music services such as Pandora and Spotify. For example, the satellite radio company now also offers every Major League Baseball game on smartphone or computer. Sirius XM’s on-demand service will launch this summer on the Web, smartphones and other connected devices. In addition, Chrysler will offer Sirius XM’s 2.0 radios in its cars beginning this summer. Karmazin says he’s open to the idea of returning some of the company’s cash to shareholders. “There is nothing that we’re seeing out there that we’re anxious to acquire,” he says. But no decisions have been made yet.
PREVIOUS, 4:23 AM: Shares are up slightly in pre-market trading as the improving economy, and especially auto sales, enabled the satellite radio company to project that it will gain 1.5M subscribers in 2012 — up from its previous estimate of 1.3M. The forecast was part of Sirius XM’s Q1 report that showed net income of $107.8M, up nearly 38% vs the same period last year, on revenues of $804.7M, up 11%. The revenue figure was slightly ahead of the $803.8M the Street expected. Earnings of 2 cents a share matched the consensus forecast. The company says that, despite the $1.54 price increase in January — which raised the monthly cost of its service to $14.49 — it gained 299,348 subscriptions in Q1. That brought total subs to 22.3M. The monthly churn rate also dropped modestly to 1.9% from 2% in the first three months of 2011. CEO Mel Karmazin says that the company plans to increase the number of channels it offers via its new generation of Sirius XM 2.0 radios — which enable users to create personalized channels (similar to Pandora), as well as pause and rewind programming. “In 2012, we continue to expect record revenue, adjusted EBITDA, and free cash flow, and our subscriber base will also finish this year at another all-time record high,” Karmazin says.

Syco TV Chief Shu Greene Segues To ITV Studios As Director Of Entertainment

from Susan Boyle Musical Coming To America? – Deadline.com by NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor

Tuesday 1st May 2012 – ITV Studios UK is delighted to announce that award-winning programme-maker, Shu Greene, currently Head of Television at Syco TV and producer and creator of some of the biggest shows on UK and US television, is joining ITV Studios UK in the newly-created role of Director of Entertainment, ITVS.
Returning to her original TV home, Shu will lead the entertainment team to create and deliver great entertainment programming for both ITV and non-ITV channels, spearheading ITV Studios’ ambition to be the home for the best talent both on-screen, in development and production.
Shu will report to Denise O’Donoghue and Kevin Lygo.
Denise O’Donoghue, Managing Director, ITV Studios UK, said: “You can’t turn a creative business around without being able to attract and retain the best talent. Shu is an inspiring person and she will be an inspiring leader – she has immense talent, experience and charisma and will be a magnet for the best creatives at every stage in production.
“Great shows are about origination and delivery and she is an expert in both. Her relationships with many of the biggest names on screen speak to her standing in the business and the respect for which she is renowned. I am incredibly excited at the prospect of working with Shu whom I know relishes the challenge of delivering the new generation of big entertainment shows.”
Kevin Lygo, Managing Director, ITV Studios said: “Shu has been at the heart of making the X Factor and the Got Talent franchises the global success they are today. The creation of brand new entertainment formats for UK and international audiences is a crucial part of our strategy; Shu’s creative and production expertise will be an enormous asset for ITV Studios as we move into the next phase of the Transformation Plan.”
Shu commented: “After almost a decade working alongside Simon Cowell, the most amazing producer and on-screen talent I have ever met, I felt this was the right moment to step into my own light. I intend to put my heart and soul into putting ITV Studios back where it belongs – at the very heart of Saturday night entertainment, and in doing so am determined we will create the next generation of ground breaking shows. Watch this space.”
Shu Greene is a multi-award winning programme maker who, over the last twenty years, has created and produced some of the biggest entertainment shows on British and American television. Shu joined Syco TV at its inception in 2004 working closely with Simon Cowell in the creation, commission and execution of all of Syco’s content including The X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent.
Shu has been the Executive Producer of The X Factor in the UK for the last eight series; the show has gone on to win six British Academy Awards and seven National Television Awards. In September 2011 Shu was the Executive Producer of the X Factor USA overseeing the show’s high-profile launch on the Fox Network. At the same time, she oversaw the debut of Red or Black? (a co-production with ITV Studios).
Prior to setting up Syco TV, Shu was Head of Development for ITV Productions running a large team with responsibility for creating new, returnable and bankable formats. In that role, she co-created and launched the acclaimed Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway which won three National Television Awards and a Golden Rose. She also created Celebrities Under Pressure and Fight School for Sky One.