Sirius satellite deal approved

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department on Monday approved Sirius Satellite Radio Inc.'s proposed $5 billion buyout of rival XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc., saying the deal was unlikely to hurt competition or consumers.

The transaction was approved without conditions, despite opposition from consumer groups and intense lobbying by the land-based radio industry.

The combination still requires approval from the Federal Communications Commission, which prohibited a merger when it first granted satellite radio operating licenses in 1997.

The Justice Department, in a statement explaining its decision, said the combination of the companies won't hurt competition because the companies are not competing today. Customers must buy equipment that is exclusive to either XM or Sirius, and subscribers rarely switch providers.

"People just don't do that," Assistant Attorney General Thomas Barnett said.

The government also appeared to endorse one of the companies' central arguments: that ample competition is provided by other forms of audio entertainment, including "high-definition" radio, Internet-based radio stations and even devices like Apple Inc.'s iPod.

"The likely evolution of technology in the future, including the expected introduction in the next several years of mobile broadband Internet devices, made it even more unlikely that the transaction would harm consumers in the longer term," the Justice Department said.

The buyout received shareholder approval in November. The companies said the merger will save hundreds of millions of dollars in operating costs — savings that will ultimately benefit their customers. The Justice Department also noted that argument in its approval.

The FCC had no comment on the decision Monday. In the past, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin has said any approval faced a "high hurdle." Martin said last week that agency staff was "drafting various options" in preparation for a final recommendation.

The agency could require the companies to freeze prices or make part of their satellite spectrum available for public-interest obligations.

Both XM and Sirius declined to comment on the decision on Monday.

Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis., chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee's subcommittee on antitrust, said in a statement that the merger would create a monopoly and asked the FCC to block it.

"We are particularly disturbed by this decision, given the Justice Department's record in recent years of failing to oppose numerous mergers which reduced competition in key industries, resulting in the Justice Department not bringing a single contested merger case in nearly four years," Kohl said.

The companies have pledged that the combined firm will offer listeners more pricing options and greater choice and flexibility in channel lineups. If the deal is approved, the companies have said they would offer pricing plans ranging from $6.99 per month, for 50 channels offered by one service, up to $16.99 a month, where subscribers would keep their existing service plus choose channels offered by the other service.

Most consumer groups have opposed the proposed merger.

"If this is what our competition cops do, we might as well close shop and save taxpayers a few hundred million dollars because they're not doing their jobs," said Gene Kimmelman, the Washington lobbyist for Consumers Union, nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports magazine.