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Sirius & XM gain first approval to merge

by on25 March 2008

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DOJ finally gives its blessing


The ongoing saga as to whether satellite radio providers Sirius and XM will be able to merge appears to cleared the first hurdle today, as the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has finally given its blessing to the proposed merger of the two companies.

A virtual “who’s who” in the terrestrial radio world tried to block the merger. The merger fell under much scrutiny, and many involved didn’t really know if it was going to happen or not; the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has been seeking public comment since June 2007.

It is not actually clear yet as to how the proposed merger will affect subscribers. We do know that they will be adding an a la carte program that will allow subscribers to select programming that was once exclusive to each of the services.

It is unknown at the present time if the long-term goal will be to move subscribers over to one platform or not. At this time it is hard to predict what the long-term plan for the united satellite providers will be.

The merger will likely be a good thing for subscribers long-term, as prices are expected to go down and the amount of programming will go up. The ability to get all of the programming that subscribers want will be the big bonus that subscribers will like. The deal is valued at $13 billion USD and will close later this year.

Last modified on 25 March 2008
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