Justice Dept. Approves XM/Sirius Merger

Ripit writes "Just yesterday the Justice Department approved the merger of Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Radio, a Sirius takeover to the tune of $5 billion. The transaction was approved without conditions, despite opposition from consumer groups and an intense lobbying campaign by the land-based radio industry. 'In explaining the decision, Justice officials said the options beyond satellite radio -- digital recordings, high-definition radio, Web radio -- mean that XM and Sirius could merge without diminishing competition. "There are other alternatives out there," Assistant Attorney General Thomas O. Barnett said in a conference call. "We just simply found that the evidence didn't indicate that it would harm consumers."'"

Comments

That's like letting all the oil companies merge...

[dpbsmith]

"the options beyond satellite radio--digital recordings, high-definition radio, Web radio--mean that XM and Sirius could merge without diminishing competition"

Yeah, they've been using that rationale a lot lately.

It's like saying it's OK to like saying that the options beyond gasoline--coal, natural gas, bicycles--mean that all the oil companies could merge without diminishing competition.

Digital recordings: you mean like buying and playing Howard Stern CDs instead of listening to what he's saying today? Not that what he's saying today is exactly profound, but timeliness is an essential component of "radio" as we know it. Web radio: it's probably possible to get it in your car, but I don't know exactly how and it's probably not cheap.