FCC Commissioners Will Approve XM-Sirius Deal

Commissioners at the Federal Communications Commission have reached a tentative deal to approve the proposed merger of Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. and XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc., FCC officials said Wednesday.

Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate is expected to cast the final and deciding vote on the deal shortly, the officials said, after details are resolved on several outstanding enforcement issues. In exchange for her vote, Ms. Tate and FCC Chairman Kevin Martin have been negotiating with the companies to pay upward of $20 million in fines for violations regarding tower locations and power limits, people close to the negotiations said.

The companies are valued at $7.5 billion combined.

The deal will allow Sirius to make a big marketing push at holiday time, traditionally a big selling period for satellite radio. Within three months, the company is expected to have new à la carte radios on the market. These will allow consumers to mix and match 50 or 100 radio stations from the two services.

Even without a new radio, consumers will have new options. For example, a bare-bones plan of just 50 stations from one of the two services will cost $6.99 a month, compared with $12.95 for more than 100 stations currently. Consumers will also likely soon see a number of programming changes as the companies get rid of redundant programming.

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