XM, Sirius Merger Approved

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It’s been months in the making, and today the Justice Department approved the merger of satellite radio networks XM and Sirius. Shareholders in both companies signed off on the merger in November, but it took the Justice Department until now to decide whether or not the new joint venture would be anti-competitive.

So why isn’t it anti-competitive? The government says the growth of mobile broadband devices would allow for more consumer choice. Gee, great, say Sirius and XM shareholders. We get what we want, though, because there will be even more ways to access entertainment on the fly. Oh, and the two companies still have to get approval from the FCC before you get those cool a la carte programming options.

Justice Department Clears Sirius Merger With XM (Wall Street Journal)

By David Thomas | March 24, 2008 | Comments (2)

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Adrock

Mar 25, 2008 2:34:45 PM

I thought I heard that a-la-carte and a promise (whatever that means) not to raise prices was a big deal in getting this through.

I still don't get the competition angle though. Radio is radio, whether it is delivered by satellite or radio waves. Satellite is not its own market. You can still get the same level of service, albeit less channels and with commercials, than regular radio. Also, if its pretty demonstrable that the two companies can't survive on their own (however you determine that, I don't know,) them it seems like the government would be doing a larger disservice not to let the merger go through because we could potentially end up with nothing.