Great. Another merger, another media monopoly.

[stevedeshazer]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/25/business/25radio.html

Justice Department Approves XM-Sirius Merger

<snip>

By PHILIP SHENON
Published: March 25, 2008

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department gave approval on Monday to the merger of two rival radio networks, XM and Sirius, a marriage that would create a de facto monopoly in satellite services now used by more than 17 million subscribers.

The proposed $5 billion merger, which was announced more than a year ago, must still be approved by the Federal Communications Commission. The merger is opposed by consumer groups and broadcasters who say it will force up prices and reduce the programming now available from the two competing systems.

The Justice Department’s antitrust division announced Monday that it approved the merger after determining that prices were not likely to rise, in part because of competition from other program sources, like high-definition radio as well as iPods and other MP3 players that can be connected to home or car audio systems. The deal, the agency said, was unlikely to hurt competition or consumers.

“In several important segments of their business, with or without the merger, the parties simply do not compete today and therefore the merger would not be eliminating any competition between them,” Thomas O. Barnett, assistant attorney general, said in announcing the decision.

In other segments of the market, XM and Sirius compete fiercely and, according to their balance sheets, unprofitably; both companies are saddled with debt.

[Breeze54]

1. Well, this was a known. XM was losing $$ big time.

:shrug:

[sharesunited]

2. Still needs FCC approval. But the combined companies

should be required to divest a portion of the frequencies they use. The allocation of spectrum was intended to ensure that, at a minimum, a duopoly would exist.

[onehandle]

3. Both companies would DIE without this merger.

I endorse whatever keeps Satellite radio alive in my car.

[swag]

4. Sometimes, like Gore Vidal, I feel like Rip Van Winkle

and when I went to sleep there was something called the Sherman Antitrust Act. Of course there was another thing called the Fairness Doctrine.

[stevedeshazer]

5. Well, that's my point

The electromagnetic spectrum is owned (according to the Communications Act of 1934, amended in 1996) by the public and must be operated in the public interest.

The US taxpayers have spent billions of dollars in public funds to put up communications satellites at our expense. Yes, there are private ones, too, but this space business is heavily subsidized by the US government, and is supposed to be operated in the public interest.

This action clearly demonstrates that it is not.