Sirius XM Merger
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| Public | |
| Traded as |
NASDAQ: SIRI NASDAQ-100 Component |
| Industry | Radio broadcasting |
| Founded | May 17, 1990 |
| Founder |
Martine Rothblatt David Margolese Robert Briskman |
| Headquarters |
1221 Avenue of the Americas New York City, New York, U.S. |
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Area served
|
United States and Canada |
|
Key people
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Greg Maffei (Chairman) James E. Meyer (CEO) Scott Greenstein (President and CCO) |
| Products | Satellite radio |
| Revenue |
 US$ 4.570058 billion (2015)
|
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US$ 1.178688 billion (2015)
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US$ 509.724 million (2015)
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| Total assets |
 US$ 8.046662 billion (2015)
|
| Total equity |
US$ -166.491 million (2015)
|
| Owner | Liberty Media (67.8%) |
|
Number of employees
|
2,323 (2015) |
| Divisions |
Sirius Satellite Radio XM Satellite Radio |
| Website | www |
Sirius XM Satellite Radio is an American broadcasting company that provides three satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States: Sirius Satellite Radio, XM Satellite Radio, and Sirius XM Radio. The company also has a major investment in Canada called SiriusXM Canada, an affiliate company that provides Sirius and XM service in Canada. At the end of 2013, Sirius reorganized their corporate structure, which made Sirius XM Radio Inc. a direct, wholly owned subsidiary of Sirius XM Holdings, Inc.
Sirius XM Radio was formed after the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved the acquisition of XM Satellite Radio Holding, Inc. by Sirius Satellite Radio, Inc. on July 29, 2008, 17 months after the companies first proposed the merger. The merger brought the combined companies a total of more than 18.5 million subscribers based on current subscriber numbers on the date of merging. The deal was valued at $3.3 billion, not including debt. Through Q3 2016, Sirius XM has 31 million subscribers.
The proposed merger was opposed by those who felt a merger would create a monopoly. Sirius and XM argued that a merger was the only way that satellite radio could survive.
Sirius Satellite Radio was founded by Martine Rothblatt, David Margolese, and Robert Briskman. In 1990, Rothblatt founded Satellite CD Radio in Washington, DC. The company was the first to petition the FCC to assign unused frequencies for satellite radio broadcast, which "provoked a furor among owners of both large and small [terrestrial] radio stations." In April 1992, Rothblatt resigned as chairman and CEO to start a medical research foundation. Former NASA engineer Briskman, who designed the company's satellite technology, was then appointed chairman and CEO. Six months later, in November 1992, Rogers Wireless co-founder Margolese, who had provided financial backing for the venture, acquired control of the company and succeeded Briskman. Margolese renamed the company CD Radio, and spent the next five years lobbying the FCC to allow satellite radio to be deployed, and the following five years raising $1.6 billion, which was used to build and launch three satellites into elliptical orbit from Kazakhstan in July 2000. In 1997, after Margolese had obtained regulatory clearance and "effectively created the industry," the FCC also sold a license to XM Satellite Radio, which followed Sirius' example. In November 1999, marketing chief Ira Bahr convinced Margolese to again change the name of the company, this time to Sirius Satellite Radio, in order to avoid association with the soon-to-be-outdated CD technology. Having secured installation deals with automakers, including BMW, Chrysler and Ford, Sirius launched the initial phase of its service in four cities on February 14, 2002, expanding to the rest of the contiguous United States on July 1, 2002.
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