I’m as much for avoiding monopolies as the next guy, but this one makes sense to a lot of people who know a lot more about the subject than I do. XM and Sirius had been exploring the possibility of merging, but according to current FCC rulebook, the plural companies can’t become a singular company. That leaves the situation at a standstill until, perhaps, the current rulebook is revised to make amends for the merger.
A combination of the two providers would make much sense because it would allow each to combine efforts and resources, thus reducing the immense costs operating satellites and then, of course, pass the perks along to you, the conscientious consumer. They’d be able to shed redundant program and provide even more specialized material and also probably develop new services and technologies faster, rather than focusing tons of effort on competition.