If you are enjoying the President’s Day Holiday / Week and don’t have time to keep up with the trades, here’s a short list of things you should know:
Aren’t there enough Death Stars To Go Around? 
Charlie Ergen and John Malone are fighting over Mel Karmazin’s toys. And these media big boys like this don’t like to share. Sirius / XM, boasting a stock price which will get you about 100 shares for that GW bill in wallet, is close to bankruptcy. Echostar’s Charlie Ergen has been buying up Sirius debt which which comes due this week. Rumor has it that Charlie and Mel don’t get along. Now, John Malone and Liberty Media is offering $530 million in loans in exchange for a 40 percent of ownership via convertible prefered stock. Sources: RBR, MediaPost, MultiChannel News, NYT 2/18/09
Death of Rabbit Ear TV This Week. Or Not: On Tuesday, 421 TV stations turned off their analog signals. Feb 17th is the day when analog broadcasting was supposed to an end in the US. But it was extended by Congress because there was a backlog of coupon requests. 
Because new coupons can’t be issue until old one expire. The NAB says Nielsen’s analog only home count is too high. TV stations have the option of switching off their VHF and UHF signals anytime between now and June. The only thing that is assured is that you aren’t the only one who is confused.
RBR published a list of markets that are now all digital.
The photo to the right shows rabbit ears on sale last week in a dollar store in the Miami area. What’s the story with that? Sources: NYT 2/19/09, Google/AP
Google Radio is Dead: Google is pulling the plug on it’s radio division. This follows a decision to exit the print business. Google’s radio effort combined technology purchased from dMarc Broadcasting with the auction capabilities of Google Ad Words. No doubt radio’s faithful are singing Halleluah’s about turning back the virtual attack of the Internet mongol hordes. But with the collapse of XM Sirius and the ad sales business being as weak as it is, doesn’t this say more about the state of the radio business than it does Google’s effort to break in? Source: MediaBuyerPlanner, SiliconValleyInsider
Nielsen Unplugs Connect: Jon Mandel has quietly departed Nielsen Connect as its president and Nielsen is closing the operation of this division (for anyone who has ever heard Mr Mandel speak, the irony speaks for itself). Sources: Ad Age, Mediapost
MyNetwork TV Exists Network Business. Sort Of: The 6th Network, formed when the WB and UPN merged, is transforming itself into a distribution channel for TV stations. Sounds like a PBS member-station model but without upscale content. Why don’t they just cut to the chase and call it the AllWrestlingChannel? Source: TVWeek