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Sirius-XM merger approval by FCC hangs on one vote

By Tim Conneally, BetaNews

July 23, 2008, 3:50 PM

The record-breakingly long merger of XM and Sirius satellite radio now hangs upon the vote of one final FCC Commissioner.

After approval by shareholders in both companies, then a green light by the Department of Justice, the approval of five Federal Communications Commission commissioners is one of the major remaining hurdles the companies must endure before they can join.

The current vote tally is 2 to 2. Two Democrats voted against the merger, while two Republicans voted for it. The FCC has been reviewing the deal for 13 months.

The last vote will come from Republican commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate. An FCC source has informed the Wall Street Journal that Tate is likely to sign off on the deal in exchange for certain concessions.

The same, however, was expected of democratic commissioner Jonathan Adelstein, who yesterday voted against the deal.

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By Rumpelstiltskin

edited Jul 24, 2008 - 9:05 AM

"the big losers? ground based broadcast radio which tried its damnedest to scuttle the deal."

The NAB certainly tried to scuttle the deal, but didn't it seem like the NAB was fighting the battle the COULD fight instead of the battle they SHOULD fight?

Radio veteran Don Geronimo listed what he saw a the true threats to terrestrial radio as

Cell phones

Personal digital music players

"Box of records" canned, national play lists

Demise of local programming, local personalities and local events

Lack of connectivity throughout the broadcast day

As Don put it "It used to be that when you were stuck in traffic you'd turn on the radio. Now you grab your cell phone and chat or text with friends or hit the iPod."

The NAB fiercely defends terrestrial radio's "right" to be monopolistic through consolidation, which has been shown to drive listeners away in droves, yet stridently fights the satrad merger. Stupid, shortsighted and, frankly, offensive.

Score: 0

By ctk

posted Jul 23, 2008 - 11:19 PM

everybody wins.

satellite radio wins- it isn't competing against itself for a limited subscriber base and now because there is one combined company, satellite radio now stands a very good chance of being very viable.

satellite subscribers win- there is a price freeze now in effect for 3 years

the big losers? ground based broadcast radio which tried its damnedest to scuttle the deal. when all you provide is the same music by the same artists over and over again and try to stifle competition in a very public manner you are going to be a very big loser.

Score: 0

By foxfyre

edited Jul 24, 2008 - 5:03 AM

big losers: terrestrial radio? not quite - or to put it another way, at least not from subscription based satellite services!

Both terrestrial and satellite have more to lose from internet radio that frees one from territorial limitations and doesn't cost a thing!

Satellite is barely holding its own, let alone scaring anyone else. Hence exactly why the merger is not a threat! If it were more a more viable threat, the merger would not have been an intelligent move.

Score: 0

By slinkys_delsol

posted Jul 23, 2008 - 11:04 PM

You know their taking him out drinking the night before the vote!!!

Score: 0

By DataWeasel

posted Jul 23, 2008 - 4:11 PM

It will happen now. I'm suprised that Adelstein voted against. It sounded last week like he would vote for is a large percentage of channels were made non-commercial and available for minority programming. I wonder what happened there? However, Tate will sing off I think.