[Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini, Mini Pro, Xperia Pro, A] serajr:
Great, keep modding !

Try this way:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<com.android.systemui.statusbar.phone.PhoneStatusBarView android:orientation="vertical" android:background="@drawable/status_bar_background" android:focusable="true" android:descendantFocusability="afterDescendants"
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:systemui="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/com.android.systemui">
[B][COLOR="Red"]<com.android.systemui.statusbar.policy.Clock android:id="@id/clock" android:layout_width="fill_parent" android:layout_height="fill_parent" android:gravity="center_horizontal|center" android:textAppearance="@style/TextAppearance.StatusBar.Clock" android:singleLine="true" />[/COLOR][/B]
<LinearLayout android:orientation="horizontal" android:id="@id/icons" android:paddingLeft="6.0dip" android:paddingRight="6.0dip" android:layout_width="fill_parent" android:layout_height="fill_parent">
<LinearLayout android:orientation="horizontal" android:layout_width="0.0dip" android:layout_height="fill_parent" android:layout_weight="1.0">
<com.android.systemui.statusbar.StatusBarIconView android:id="@id/moreIcon" android:layout_width="@dimen/status_bar_icon_size" android:layout_height="fill_parent" android:visibility="gone" android:src="@drawable/stat_notify_more" />
<com.android.systemui.statusbar.phone.IconMerger android:orientation="horizontal" android:id="@id/notificationIcons" android:layout_width="fill_parent" android:layout_height="fill_parent" android:gravity="center_vertical" android:layout_alignParentLeft="true" />
</LinearLayout>
<LinearLayout android:orientation="horizontal" android:id="@id/statusIcons" android:layout_width="wrap_content" android:layout_height="fill_parent" android:gravity="center_vertical" />
<ImageView android:id="@id/stat_no_sim" android:paddingLeft="4.0dip" android:layout_width="wrap_content" android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:visibility="gone" android:layout_gravity="center_vertical" />
<LinearLayout android:orientation="horizontal" android:id="@id/signal_battery_cluster" android:paddingLeft="2.0dip" android:layout_width="wrap_content" android:layout_height="fill_parent" android:gravity="center">
<include android:id="@id/signal_cluster" android:layout_width="wrap_content" android:layout_height="wrap_content" layout="@layout/signal_cluster_view" />
<ImageView android:id="@id/battery" android:paddingLeft="8.0dip" android:layout_width="wrap_content" android:layout_height="wrap_content" />
</LinearLayout>
</LinearLayout>
<LinearLayout android:orientation="horizontal" android:id="@id/ticker" [B][COLOR="Red"]android:background="@drawable/status_bar_background"[/COLOR][/B] android:paddingLeft="6.0dip" android:layout_width="fill_parent" android:layout_height="fill_parent" android:animationCache="false">
<ImageSwitcher android:id="@id/tickerIcon" android:layout_width="@dimen/status_bar_icon_size" android:layout_height="@dimen/status_bar_icon_size" android:layout_marginRight="4.0dip">
<com.android.systemui.statusbar.AnimatedImageView android:layout_width="@dimen/status_bar_icon_size" android:layout_height="@dimen/status_bar_icon_size" android:scaleType="center" />
<com.android.systemui.statusbar.AnimatedImageView android:layout_width="@dimen/status_bar_icon_size" android:layout_height="@dimen/status_bar_icon_size" android:scaleType="center" />
</ImageSwitcher>
<com.android.systemui.statusbar.phone.TickerView android:id="@id/tickerText" android:paddingRight="10.0dip" android:layout_width="0.0dip" android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:layout_weight="1.0" android:paddingTop="2.0dip">
<TextView android:layout_width="fill_parent" android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:textAppearance="@style/TextAppearance.StatusBar.PhoneTicker" android:singleLine="true" />
<TextView android:layout_width="fill_parent" android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:textAppearance="@style/TextAppearance.StatusBar.PhoneTicker" android:singleLine="true" />
</com.android.systemui.statusbar.phone.TickerView>
</LinearLayout>
</com.android.systemui.statusbar.phone.PhoneStatusBarView>

See red changes from original, try it!