And The Beat Goes On…

Remember the lyrics to “Ball of Confusion“?  All the items of confusion are sung by the Temptations followed by “and the beat goes on“.  In the case of the longest proposed merger of all-time that beat is more like a dull thud.  Way back in February, 2007 XM agreed to be purchased by Sirius.  In March of 2008 the Department of Justice cleared the deal.  In June FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said he would recommend approval of the deal and the merger should be approved by the end of June.  Of course he never said what year that would be.  And here we are on July 1 with bupkus.  This is not what Mel Karmazin had in mind…

Every day there’s news on the proposed merger and yesterday there were a couple of big items.  XM spent over $200,000 in Q1 lobbying Congress, the FCC, the Justice Department and anyone else who would listen about the proposed merger.  We also found out that Sirius expects to save $400 million in 2009 as a result of the merger.  I hope Howard looks closely at his paychecks.  Analysts figure the savings will be more like $300 million but why quibble over 100 million?  And topping off yesterday’s merger special du jour came word of Senators Kerry, McCaskill and Cardin’s conditions of merger which include minority access, the integration of HD Radio and interoperability.  None of this talk helped Sirius shares which dropped 13 cents to $1.97.  You can’t even buy a gallon of gas on that.  The news wasn’t any better for XM which fell a nickel to $8.02, the price of a gallon of gas in Europe.  And the thud goes on…

You know what’s missing about all the proposed merger talk and speculation?  Do these names look familiar - Michael J. Copps, Jonathan S. Adelstein, Deborah Taylor Tate and Robert M. McDowell???  They are the other 4 FCC commisioners who will also vote either for or against the merger and no one knows how they’ll vote… 

10 Timeline Memories:

1. 1863] Not so civil: The Civil War’s ‘Battle of Gettysburg‘ begins…
2. 1963] Zip It!: The U.S. Post Office introduces 5-digit ZIP codes. And now for the big question: What does ZIP stand for? The answer is contained within the ZIP code story here…
3. 1969]  A princely investment:  Britain’s Prince Charles  was invested as the prince of Wales…
4. 1979] Walking the Walk:  The 70s version of the iPhone, the Walkman  is introduced by SONY. Does anyone still have one???
5. 1979] The Susan B. Anthony Dollar coin is introduced. Whose brilliant idea was this???
6. 1980] Mapleleaf pride: ”O Canada” is proclaimed the national anthem of Canada on “Canada Day“… 
7. 1987] All sports, all the time: WFAN becomes the 1st All-Sports station in the nation. The Country format moves to WYNY.  More in my Commentary..
8. 1995] “Happy Trails“: Wolfman Jack  dies from a heart attack at 57…1996] 42 year-old Margaux Hemingway  takes a fatal overdose one day before the anniversary of her grandfather’s suicide in 1961…1997] Actor Robert Mitchum  is a victim of lung cancer at 79…2000] Walter Matthau  dies from cardiac arrest at 79…2004] Marlon Brando dies from respiratory failure at 80.  This is Brando’s screen test…2005] Singer Luther Vandross passes away in New York, two years after suffering a stroke. He was 54.  Stevie Wonder  sings at the funeral…
9. 2004] Deter takes a dive: Derek Jeter  dives headfirst into the Yankee Stadium stands to catch a foul ball and inspires the Yankees to a 5-4 victory over the Red Sox. Derek’s father, an avid hockey fan, gave Derek the middle name “Sanderson” after Derek Sanderson (who was at my going-away party at one of the restaurants he owned in Boston)…
10. 2005] Sandra’s day is done: Justice Sandra Day O’Connor  unexpectedly announces her retirement from the Supreme Court…

Music Memories:

• 1956] On “The Steve Allen Show“:  Elvis Presley sings “I Want You, I Need You, I Love You” and “Hound Dog” to? A hound dog, sitting on a pedestal…
• 2007]  The Concert for Diana:  Prince’s Harry and William honor what would have been their mother’s 46th birthday with a star-studded concert at Wembley Stadium.  You can see the story and lineup of talent here…

Commentary:

Congratulations to WFAN which celebrates it’s 21st birthday today.  WFAN went on the air at 3 p.m. on July 1, 1987 on 1050 kHz replacing WHN’s country music format.  WYNY (103.5) replaced WHN as the country music station.  The call letters of both WHN and WNBC died on that day.  The first voice heard on WFAN was that of Suzyn Waldman with a sports update, followed by Jim Lampley.  A long parade of personalities joined the station over the years including Bill Mazer, Pete Franklin, Greg Gumbel and others.  Here’s the current afternoon drive team of “Mike (Francesa) and the Mad Dog” (Christopher Russo)… 

“Happy Birthday…happy birthday”:

Liv Tyler (31), Pamela Anderson (41), Dan Aykroyd (56), Deborah Harry (62), Karen Black (66), Rod Gilbert (67), Wally Amos (72), Jamie Farr (74), Leslie Caron (77), Farley Granger (83) and Olivia DeHavilland (92)…

Timeline Countdown: 3 days until July 4th, 14 days until the MLB All-Star Game and 38 days until the Summer Olympics…

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