Long time rivals Sirius and XM decided to announce their merger in February of 2007 and hoped to see the $13 billion deal through by the end of that year. Now three months after the intended date, the U.S. Department of Justice has finally approved their merger after a long investigation. Many anti-trust supporters criticize the decision, but the parties involved hold that times have changed and the satellite radio industry faces strong competition from different fronts like portable music players and other entertainment devices, and thus the merger represents no real threat for consumers.
With neither of the two companies doing well on their own, they may be right this was their chance of surviving against other portable entertainment options. But not all is good news for the providers, now that the DoJ has approved the merger, it's the FCC's turn to analyze the deal and decide if it's a no-go.