Sirius-XM Merger Gains Approval of FCC Majority, WSJ Reports
Sirius-XM Merger Gains Approval of FCC Majority, WSJ Reports
By Todd Shield
July 23 (Bloomberg) -- Sirius Satellite Radio Inc.'s purchase of XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. has won the approval of a majority of Federal Communications Commission members, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Republican Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate will cast the deciding vote in exchange for an agreement that settles enforcement issues involving the companies and a $20 million fine, the Journal said on its Web site, citing an FCC official close to the deal. A 2-2 deadlock on the panel left the fate of the $3.5 billion deal in her hands.
The FCC is the last regulatory obstacle to the all-stock combination. Two Republican commissioners, Chairman Kevin Martin and Robert McDowell, have already backed the merger. Democrat Jonathan Adelstein, who voted against it today, said in an e- mailed statement the combination would create ``a monopoly with window dressing.'' Fellow Democrat Michael Copps also voted no.
``Commissioner Adelstein would only cast a dissenting vote once it was fairly clear that Commissioner Tate would support the deal,'' Paul Gallant, a former FCC official and Washington- based analyst with Stanford Washington Research Group, said in an interview. He continues to predict approval.
Commissioners, who face no deadline for a decision, vote electronically at the time of their choosing.
Traditional radio companies led by the National Association of Broadcasters oppose the merger, saying it will create a harmful monopoly. Sirius and XM, the only two pay-radio companies, told regulators their union would bring consumers more programming at a lower cost.
Full Story
By Todd Shield
July 23 (Bloomberg) -- Sirius Satellite Radio Inc.'s purchase of XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. has won the approval of a majority of Federal Communications Commission members, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Republican Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate will cast the deciding vote in exchange for an agreement that settles enforcement issues involving the companies and a $20 million fine, the Journal said on its Web site, citing an FCC official close to the deal. A 2-2 deadlock on the panel left the fate of the $3.5 billion deal in her hands.
The FCC is the last regulatory obstacle to the all-stock combination. Two Republican commissioners, Chairman Kevin Martin and Robert McDowell, have already backed the merger. Democrat Jonathan Adelstein, who voted against it today, said in an e- mailed statement the combination would create ``a monopoly with window dressing.'' Fellow Democrat Michael Copps also voted no.
``Commissioner Adelstein would only cast a dissenting vote once it was fairly clear that Commissioner Tate would support the deal,'' Paul Gallant, a former FCC official and Washington- based analyst with Stanford Washington Research Group, said in an interview. He continues to predict approval.
Commissioners, who face no deadline for a decision, vote electronically at the time of their choosing.
Traditional radio companies led by the National Association of Broadcasters oppose the merger, saying it will create a harmful monopoly. Sirius and XM, the only two pay-radio companies, told regulators their union would bring consumers more programming at a lower cost.
Full Story
posted by Doc at 7:55 PM
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