FCC votes on Sirius - XM Merger
To my shock and horror this evening, my brother told me that he heard on the news this afternoon that the FCC voted against the Sirius XM merger. To my dismay I immediately begain scouring the web for news on it. While i did find some reports it is unclear what the status of the vote is. There doesn’t seem to be an official verdict yet.
This article claims it all rests on one vote - Commissioner Deborah Tate. There are 5 total votes that take place (needs 3 to pass) and so far it is split. Commissioner Michael Copps was quoted earlier saying ,”I have not pushed for any conditions that would support a finding that the transaction is in the public interest“.
I am hoping by the morning we will hear what the decision is. I am not feeling too good about this. Its a freaking travesty. If this doesn’t go through it is just another step of America losing its identity.
July 22nd, 2008 at 9:09 pm
Oops…put this on show discussion: http://uk.reuters.com/article/governmentFilingsNews/idUKN2232260520080722
Still no definitive answer on the Sirius/XM merger—everybody should start contacting their congressmen.
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:49 pm
What is really sad is that there is almost no talk of it in the news, and someone had to go to England to hear about it.
Gentlemen, if this doesnt go through, the listeners, as a whole group, needs to riot in the streets. We need to dump tea in the harbors, whatever, to get the attention of major media and to let them see how the FCC is singlehandedly stopping the basic rights of two companies in this supposedly free country.
I will be stocking up on eggs.
Thomas Jefferson
July 23rd, 2008 at 9:31 am
So far, there are been recorded two votes for the merger, and one against. Of the two remaining votes, one is a Republican appointee who should appear to support the merger, and the other is a Democrat appointee who says he would support the merger with greater restrictions — hopefully we see this deal OK’d by the FCC within a week or two, I think thats the likely scenario. Like Howard said, its disgraceful that oil companies have been allowed to merge in half the time as this. Satellite radio is not a necessity, unlike perhaps oil… its purely a luxury, with much competition. Just look how much Sirius has spent brining in top notch celebrities and major league sports contracts in order to compete.
July 23rd, 2008 at 11:40 am
-I personally think a merger is going to be bad for listeners, the prices are going to go way up (that is what the 2 companies are arguing about with the FCC the fcc wants a price freeze for 6 years that the companies don’t want) Listening to Howard as the only source of information because everyone in the room has big stock options. For fans it is better not to merge and if howard really is worried about how sirius is going to go bankrupt, he could maybe knock a few dollars off of his half a billion dollar deal. Sirius and XM have made their own beds with the outrageous contracts they have given out, let them lie in them for a bit!