The catchily titled US senate committee - The Judiciary Subcommittee On Antitrust, Competition Policy And Consumer Rights - has confirmed it will have a session to discuss the proposed merger of US satellite radio broadcasters XM and Sirius on 20 Mar.
As previously reported, the two radio companies announced their intention to merge last month, but the merger faces considerable opposition from within US media regulator the FCC, and within the wider political arena, with the terrestrial radio firms lobbying hard to stop there being one united major satellite player which they fear would be a stronger competitor (and which they will argue would be an unfairly strong competitor). A presentation from Sirius chief Mel Karmazin, who would lead the merged company, is likely to be the main event within the session. T he Senate Committee is just one stop of the regulatory journey Karmazin et al are headed - both the FCC and US Department Of Justice will need to investigate the merger proposals before the companies will be allowed to merge.
FCC chief Kevin Martin has been a critic of the merger ever since such an alliance was first rumoured, and although he doesn't seem to be quite so adamant as he was that the merger will not happen he is still sounding a bit negative about the proposal. He told the New York Times last week: "[We] will need to determine the benefits to consumers of this deal, and in doing that, we will need to carefully look at what price will be frozen and what consumers will be getting for that price".