# Ongoing Post DOJ Approval XM/Sirius Merger News.



## Richard King (Mar 25, 2002)

http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2008/05/0...t/?mod=WSJBlog
XM-Sirius: Still No End in Sight

Quote:
Federal Communications Commission chairman Kevin Martin remained mum Thursday, when asked by reporters at a news conference about when he might begin circulating an item on the 334-days-and-counting merger of XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio.

Real work on crafting a compromise for conditions on the deal won't begin in earnest until Martin's staff produces a draft order and circulates it among the other four FCC commissioners. Even then, it will take at least three weeks for the FCC to come to some kind of agreement, if previous transactions are any indication.

More... too much more....


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## Richard King (Mar 25, 2002)

The idiots are trying to justify their existence:

http://custom.marketwatch.com/custom/tdameritrade-com/html-story.asp?guid={e28fe120-e4a0-46c5-8070-b6a0e5b84511}



> Two senators are asking the Federal Communications Commission to require XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. (XMSR) and Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. (SIRI) to divest up to half of their combined radio spectrum as a condition of their proposed merger.
> 
> Sens. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., and Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, on Wednesday sent a letter to Federal Communications Chairman Kevin Martin saying the merged entity would hold more radio spectrum "than all terrestrial FM and AM spectrum combined."


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## Richard King (Mar 25, 2002)

http://www.thestreet.com/s/xm-sirius...l?puc=_htmlbtb
XM-Sirius Success Hinges on Concessions



> ...Among those lobbying the FCC for certain impositions, private-equity firm Georgetown Partners has offered support for the XM-Sirius merger on the condition the FCC hand over to them 20% of the combined company's spectrum....
> 
> Also looking to get in on the action is American Public Media, a producer of public radio content. CEO William Kling has asked the FCC to set aside 20% of the combined parties' spectrum for noncommercial educational use....
> 
> ...


20% +20% + 15% = 55%. Of course, this will have to be on top of the 50% that the illustrious Senators insisted that they give up a few days ago. So, for this to go through all they have to do is give up 105% of their total bandwidth. Sure, that's the solution!!!


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## tcusta00 (Dec 31, 2007)

http://www.fool.com/investing/high-growth/2008/05/28/xm-could-be-a-june-bride.aspx



> *XM Could Be a June Bride*
> 
> By Rick Aristotle Munarriz May 28, 2008
> 
> ...


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## Richard King (Mar 25, 2002)

http://www.skyreport.com/#article7

SkyBOX: Gunning for Godot 
by Evie Haskell [email protected]



> The Sirius/XM saga continues ... and Samuel Beckett would have been proud. How else could one possibly explain the multilayered, seemingly endless, government-by-the-absurd tragicomedy that is the attempted satellite radio merger?
> 
> In the latest act, FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein has brilliantly demonstrated the corruptive nature of power. The situation sets up like this: The DARS duo needs three FCC votes in order to merge; they've got two already. The presumptive third "yea" could come from Republican Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate. However, Ms Tate's likely ideological approval of the merger is mightily hampered by her close ties to the broadcasting industry. (A special interest plot line if ever there was one.)
> 
> ...


And I agree with Evie. The idiots, er, illustrious, highly esteemed members, of the FCC are simply trying to raise the stakes to the point that the two parties will walk away and the FCC idiots, er, illustrious, highly esteemed members can say, "hey, we tried but they left". The idiots should simply say no if they don't want it to happen.


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## Richard King (Mar 25, 2002)

http://custom.marketwatch.com/custom/tdameritrade-com/html-story.asp?guid={1746e939-dfe3-4d5f-a754-37a53d65ef19}


> As the Federal Communications Commission continues to haggle with XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. (XMSR) and Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. (SIRI) over their pending merger, a key FCC commissioner said Monday that he hopes the issue will be resolved by the end of the week.


More


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## tedb3rd (Feb 2, 2006)

If 25% of the channels go for public and minority interest, then what's the point of a merger? ...I thought the idea was to prevent the companies from going out of business.


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## Richard King (Mar 25, 2002)

You have a much better view of the real world than the assembled political types in Washington DC.


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## djlong (Jul 8, 2002)

Apparently the final deal is "8%, or about 24 channels"


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

I don't believe reducing their capacity will put them out of business. 8% / 24 channels is a large set aside - but it isn't fatal.

CSPAN radio ... a couple of religious channels ... the political channels ... XM/Sirius will find a way to fill the quota without making it a vast wasteland of bandwidth.


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