FCC: XM-Sirius merger action 'soon'

kevinmartin
We’re all waiting on this guy

The FCC “will hopefully be able to do something on it soon.” “It” is the proposed XM-Sirius merger, while “soon” means whatever you want it to mean.

Yup, the FCC chair, Kevin Martin, said today that the deal has taken as long as it has because of all the different regulatory matters involved. Or, maybe, because the likes of the NAB have been hounding everyone since Day One, claiming that the merger will ruin radio blah blah get an iPod.

The news comes nearly three months after the Justice Department said “sure, why not?” to the merger.

And, for the zillionth time, I’m pro-merger in as much as I don’t see anything particularly wrong with it; I think those running around saying “but it’ll be a monopoly in the satellite radio industry” are being disingenuous. It’s not like satrad is a necessity and you’re forced to buy it. That, and for $10 you can buy a tape deck to connect your portable media player (iPod) to your car stereo.