Another Extension for XM-Sirius Merger

XM Satellite Radio, Sirius Satellite Radio Likely to Push Back May 1 Deadline as They Await FCC Approval

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 4/30/2008 2:25:00 PM

Look for XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio to announce Wednesday that they are extending their deal to merge.

The two companies are extending the deal to May 15, with both agreeing to an automatic, two-week extension after that, unless one or the other says they don't want to extend it.
 

The current deal had a trigger to unwind as of May 1 absent regulatory approval. While the Justice Department has said that it has no antitrust concerns about the merger of the two satellite-radio companies sufficient to warrant blocking it or putting conditions on it, the Federal Communications Commission has not made its call.

The commission has to take into account public-interest considerations that extend beyond competition issues, but FCC chairman Kevin Martin had been shooting for a decision by the end of March that came and went. He recently said he had no updates on that timetable.

There had been a March 1 trigger for unwinding the proposal if it had not received an OK from the Justice Department or the FCC, neither of which had finished their review at that time, but XM and Sirius extended it to May 1.

An FCC source said the commissioners have yet to receive a draft of Martin's proposal, after which there will likely be negotiation, meaning that a decision will not come before the May 1 trigger, and likely not for at least days or perhaps weeks afterward.

Currently, the FCC has been considering the deal for 326 days. It has an informal shot clock of 180 days, but it has frequently missed that mark by quite a bit (400 days for the Clear Channel Communications deal, 404 days for the breakup of Adelphia Communications).