Justice Department Approves XM - Sirius Merger!

Posted on March 24th, 2008 by Itay

What? Did I hear correctly? This is music to my ears! (no pun intended)

More than 12 months have gone by since this deal was first announced, and finally the news just broke of the DOJ approving the merger. While FCC approval is still pending, I think this is enough to get excited!

The merger stalled due to concerns over anti trust and competition issues, and the fans of personalities like Oprah Winfrey and Howard Stern are celebrating the potential of getting them both in one place. I’m not into ‘talk radio’ so that doesn’t move me one way or the other.

Personally, I’m waiting for the ‘a la carte’ mode, so that I can listen to ‘The Pulse’ from Sirius, which I listen to mostly from my car, and Flight 26 from XM, which happens to be my favorite radio station. I listen to ‘Flight 26′ from my my AIM Buddy List and from DirecTV. I can’t wait to have this station and a few other great XM stations in my car!

Sirius was pre installed in my car and I did not have a choice in the matter. I hope the day where I can listen to XM stations on a Sirius system are not too far away. They better make this backwards compatible so that built in receivers integrated with car stereos, as in my case, as well as dedicated satellite receivers from both companies can get both signals and programming!

Link: XM-Sirius merger approved by DOJ