spacetoday.net: Satellite radio merger faces Senate opposition

Posted: Wed, Mar 21, 2007, 7:12 AM ET (1112 GMT)
A planned merger of the two leading satellite radio broadcasters in the US got a skeptical reception from members of the US Senate on Tuesday. XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio announced last month that the two companies would merge, a deal that requires antitrust approval from the Federal Trade Commission. In a hearing before a Senate committee that handles antitrust issues, Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin, who would run the merged company, told senators that the merger would not create a monopoly, given the number of competing sources for music and talk programming via terrestrial radio or the Internet. Some members of the committee, however, expressed concern about anticompetitive aspects of the merger, and pressed for conditions, such as federal review for any future price increases by the merged company.