After nearly a year and a half in the making, the XM/Sirius Satellite merger looks like it will finally become a reality. The merger was first announced back in February of 2007, but has faced a number of business and regulatory hurdles.
The U.S. Department of Justice gave the merger the green light in March, leaving only a Federal Communications Commission approval in the way of the deal. That last hurdle appears to be cleared as three of the five members on the Federal Communications Commission announced on Thursday that they plan to vote in favor of the merger.
Sirius and XM have both agreed to pay $19 million for FCC compliance issues, as well as meet certain voluntary commitments. The voluntary commitments include 24 channels reserved for noncommercial and minority programming, a plan to cap pricing and the availability of “a la carte” programming, according to Automotive News.
The auto industry has a vested interest in the merger as more and more buyers are opting for satellite radio in new cars.
