Sirius-XM merger confirmed by FCC
Thrax
🐌Austin, TX Icrontian
It has been a long and arduous courtship between the rival satellite radio firms Sirius and XM. While the merger was announced more than a year prior, legal oppositions from the National Association of Broadcasters has protracted the process and prompted the FCC to delay its blessings for quite some time.
First signs that the merger was coming to resolution bubbled to the surface Wednesday when the WSJ broke news that the FCC was close to approving the motion. This represented the first significant movement in the case since the U.S. Department of Justice satisfactorily completed their anti-trust review in March.
The FCC voted to approve the merger on July 25 with a tie-breaking vote by Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate (R-TN). While XM-Sirius breathes a sigh of relief, their matrimony does not come without restrictions. Chiefly, XM-Sirius must agree to cap prices for three years following the merger, reduce the total price of channel packages, and allow consumers to select their desired channels a la carte.
Further details of the merger are expected to be revealed by the FCC on Monday.
First signs that the merger was coming to resolution bubbled to the surface Wednesday when the WSJ broke news that the FCC was close to approving the motion. This represented the first significant movement in the case since the U.S. Department of Justice satisfactorily completed their anti-trust review in March.
The FCC voted to approve the merger on July 25 with a tie-breaking vote by Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate (R-TN). While XM-Sirius breathes a sigh of relief, their matrimony does not come without restrictions. Chiefly, XM-Sirius must agree to cap prices for three years following the merger, reduce the total price of channel packages, and allow consumers to select their desired channels a la carte.
Further details of the merger are expected to be revealed by the FCC on Monday.
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