Filed under: Home Entertainment, Portable Audio

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Filed under: Portable Audio

We basically knew the FCC was going to approve the XM / Sirius merger after the DoJ approved it earlier this year, and it looks like the communications agency is just about ready to sign off — the Wall Street Journal is reporting that a majority of FCC commissioners are close to approving the deal. Word is that XM and Sirius will have to fork over an additional $20M to make it happen and agree to several enforcement terms, but it’s all up in the air until this goes official. Let’s hope that’s soon — after a historically long delay, it looks like there’s finally some light at the end of the tunnel.

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Filed under: Portable Audio

With that little Department of Justice business out of their way, Sirius and XM have unsurprisingly been quick to start chatting up the all-important FCC, and a recent filing from the agency has now revealed that lawyers from the two companies have met with none other than FCC Chairman Kevin Martin himself, along with other higher-ups. Even more interesting, however, is that the same filing also includes a full rundown of the companies’ proposed post-merger pricing plans, which don’t appear to have changed much from those detailed way back in the early days of the merger. Starting with the basics, the Sirius and XM “Everything” plans will hang on to the same $12.95 per month price tag, and include approximately 130 and 170 channels, respectively. From there, each service has A La Carte options starting at $6.99 a month (with additional channels costing 25 cents apiece), along with the usual package options ranging in price from $9.99 for the Mostly Music and News, Sports and Talk bundles to $16.99 for the “Sirius Everything & Select XM” or “XM Everytyhing & Select Sirius” packages. Be sure to hit up the PDF available at the link below for the complete rundown.

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Filed under: Portable Audio, Wireless

Well, it’s only been a couple hours since the DOJ officially approved the XM / Sirius merger, and while we’re a little surprised at how low-profile the two satellite radio services are being about the decision, there’s nothing at all shocking about NAB’s reaction — the organization says it’s “astonished,” and that the Justice Department’s decision to “propose granting a monopoly” to the two companies is “breathtaking.” Yeah, they’re not happy. Same goes for various members of Congress: Rep. Ed Markey, head of the House telecom subcommittee, expressed his disappointment that “the Bush administration has apparently never seen a telecommunications merger it didn’t like,” and suggested FCC approval would have to come with strict conditions, while Sen. Herb Kohl flatly said the deal would “create a satellite radio monopoly” and encouraged the FCC to block it. That’s a lot of haterade — but XM and Sirius are apparently too busy looking deeply into each other’s eyes as their respective stock prices soar, because the only post-decision statement either company has made is a rehash of a months-old list of organizations and people that support the merger. Ah, young love — so innocent, so oblivious.

Read - NAB statement
Read - Bloomberg article with Congressional reaction
Read - XM list of supporters

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digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/gadgets/XM_and_Sirius_Merger_APPROVED’; Looks like that seemingly-desperate two month extension XM and Sirius gave each on the merger agreement paid off after all — federal regulators have finally approved the $5B deal. The Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division says that after “thorough and careful review” (we’ll say — it’s been over a year), it’s determined that allowing the two satellite radio companies to merge “is not likely to harm consumers.” The deciding factor appeared to be the proprietary hardware needed to receive both XM and Sirius; since consumers who shell out aren’t likely to switch, the DOJ doesn’t think the marketplace is all that competitive to begin with, which makes the impact of a merger relatively small. In fact, the DOJ says the merger could actually benefit consumers, who might see lower prices as the result of more efficient operations, broader programming options, and faster rollouts of new technology.

Of course, it’s not quite all over yet — the FCC’s approval is yet to come following its own historic delay and NAB’s rabble-rousing, but most analysts say the FCC will follow the Justice Department’s lead and approve the merger as well. Now the big question: will consumers be able to use their existing radios to get all the stations or not? We’ll let you know — we’re trying to find out all we can. Entire official DOJ statement after the break.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading XM / Sirius merger approved!

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