Sirius/XM Merger Passes Hurdle

March 25th, 2008 by Mike K

Twice is reporting that the U.S. Dept. of Justice officially cleared the merger of Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio Monday, concluding that the proposed deal is not anti-competitive. This is exciting news and likely means the whole merger will go through in the next few months.

Satellite radio has had a tough time reaching critical mass and this deal means it’s likely the new combined company will be better positioned to move forward in the marketplace. For consumers we can expect a la carte pricing (more, cheaper options) to go along with the already diverse programing provided.

I spent most of last year listening to a co-workers subscription to Sirius and largely liked what I heard. I found myself looking over the buying options a couple times during that year but just never got around to pulling the trigger. A newly shuffled price structure along with more programming options may very well push me into that subscriber category.

With iPods dominating most people’s musical lives the satellite radio industry is going to need all the help it can get to grow into a successful long term player.