XM Satellite Radio - Merger With Sirius Satellite Radio

Merger With Sirius Satellite Radio

On February 19, 2007, XM announced a merger deal with Sirius Satellite Radio. The merger combined the two radio services and created a single Satellite Radio network in the United States and Canada.

The United States Department of Justice announced on March 24, 2008 that it had closed its investigation of the merger because it "concluded that the evidence does not demonstrate that the proposed merger of XM and Sirius was likely to substantially lessen competition."

On June 16, 2008, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin told the Washington Post that he had decided to approve the XM-Sirius Merger after the companies agreed in the previous week to concessions intended to prevent the new company from raising prices or stifling competition. Martin issued an order to approve the merger, according to The Wall Street Journal – setting the stage for a final vote which could have occurred any time after his recommendation was circulated.

The XM-Sirius Merger gained its final governmental approval from the Federal Communications Commission on July 25, 2008, with Martin and commissioners Robert M. McDowell and deciding vote Deborah Taylor Tate voting in the affirmative. As a term of the merger, the combined company will be fined almost $20 million for failing to create and market interchangeable radios capable of receiving signals from both companies prior to the merger.