American Antitrust Institute to DOJ: Block XM-Sirius
Nonprofit Group Urges Department of Justice to File Suit vs. XM Satellite Radio-Sirius Satellite Radio Merger
By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 2/19/2008 12:46:00 PM
The American Antitrust Institute, a nonprofit that advocates an aggressive stance toward antitrust enforcement, recommended that the Department of Justice file suit against the proposed XM Satellite Radio-Sirius Satellite Radio merger.
Justice is currently considering whether or not to approve the deal, with the definition of the satellite-radio market a key component.
AAI argued that satellite radio, not generally downloadable audio in its many forms, is the relevant market and that allowing the only two satellite-radio companies operating in that market to merge would create a monopoly, the group said in a release Tuesday.
The group added that Justice has a "duty" to try to block the merger, saying that while it doesn't think the merger call is a close one, "if the DOJ considers this to be a close question [there have been reports of divisions within Justice over whether or not to approve], the congressional intent and strong precedent require that the division make the decision in favor of avoiding the creation of what seems likely to be a monopoly."
Broadcasters have been pushing hard against the merger, arguing that satellite radio competes with them for local ad dollars but they cannot compete with it as a national service. The combination would be an unfair "merger to monopoly," they argued.
Sirius and XM have countered that the market is the broader audio-delivery universe that includes satellite and cable radio, the Internet radio and iPods, as well as terrestrial radio, and that the merger would be good for consumers and provide a stronger competitor in that audio market.
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Only if our government spent this much time deciding to get eyeball deep in a thousand year old religious war in a terrorist breeding ground. I dont know what to say. Only 11 months was spent to decide whether Exxon and Mobil could merge into the worlds largest company by revenue($517 billion). Wait now that I think about it I care about sat radio prices more then $3 / gallon gasoline. What a joke 8(
Mike S - 2/24/2008 6:56:00 PM EST -
Who the H _ _ L is the AAI. I doubt that they even understand the Radio business or the market that Sat radio serves. It is not a monopoly if you have alternative sources for no cost. This is a well orchestrated plan by the NAB and Clear Channel to put Sat Radio out of business. Clear Channel is a loser with poor programminfg anbd no good marketing strategy. The only way (un)Clear Channel can survive is to have satellite radio go out of businee
John H - 2/21/2008 9:53:00 PM EST -
Might there possibly be a loss of tax revenue if the population moves to satellite vs terrestial radio? I'm not sure how the FCC is funded but since sattelite is outside the conventional boundries of the FCC maybe it's the dollar at play vs. the monopoly smokescreen.
Ed - 2/21/2008 1:20:00 PM EST -
I'm by no means a wise man but i do no BS when i see it. It's like regular radio is chasing it's tail in their argument. they say they don't want the merger because it'll create a monopoly but then they go and say that they wouldn't be able to compete with sattelite if it were to go through. if regular radio has concerns about competition then that rules out the monopoly!! regular radio shouldn't be fighting the merger they should be fighting the FCC. it's because of the FCC that FM radio is crap and because FM radio is crap they can't compete with sattelite. choose your battles better Clear Channel.
concerned citizen - 2/20/2008 1:40:00 PM EST -
I'm by no means a wise man but i do no BS when i see it. It's like regular radio is chasing it's tail in their argument. they say they don't want the merger because it'll create a monopoly but then they go and say that they wouldn't be able to compete with sattelite if it were to go through. if regular radio has concerns about competition then that rules out the monopoly!! regular radio shouldn't be fighting the merger they should be fighting the FCC. it's because of the FCC that FM radio is crap and because FM radio is crap they can't compete with sattelite. choose your battles better Clear Channel.
concerned citizen - 2/20/2008 1:40:00 PM EST
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