Sirius XM Holdings Inc (SIRI)

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(From THE WALL STREET JOURNAL)
By Terin Miller and Ethan Smith

Radio shock jock Howard Stern and his long-time agent have accused Sirius XM
Radio Inc. of failing to pay stock awards promised in exchange for boosting the
satellite radio company's subscriber levels.

In a lawsuit filed in New York State Supreme Court, Mr. Stern's production
company, One Twelve Inc., and his agent Don Buchwald, alleged that Mr. Stern
enabled Sirius to surpass its internal subscriber targets by more than two
million subscribers every year since he went on air since 2006.

Asked for comment on the suit, Sirius said it was "surprised and
disappointed" by the legal action initiated by Mr. Stern's production company
and agent.

"We have met all of our obligations under the terms of our 2004 agreement
with Howard, his agent and production company," said Patrick Reilly, senior
vice president, communications for Sirius XM Radio.

Under the terms of Mr. Stern's five-year, $500 million contract with Sirius
Satellite Radio Inc., the popular host was entitled to annual stock grants if
the company exceeded certain agreed-upon targets for subscribers, according to
the suit.

However, the suit said, Sirius paid the stock bonuses only in 2006 and 2007.
For 2008 and 2009, no performance-based stock awards were made to the Stern
entities, according to the suit, even though they believe they were entitled to
them.

According to the suit, the stock awards should be granted based on the total
number of subscribers to Sirius XM, an entity that was created by the 2008
merger between Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. -- the entity with which Mr. Stern
originally entered a contract -- and XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc.

Sirius said it gave Mr. Stern and his affiliates more than $300 million of
stock in 2006 and 2007 for helping the company exceed subscriber targets.