Sirius XM

Huge news in the media world as the Sirius/XM merger was FINALLY approved last night by a 3-2 vote from the FCC. They waited til a little bit before 9 pm to announce the decision and everything was hinging on Republican Deborah Tate who finally cast the final "yes" vote. This is a much needed merger in the world of satellite radio as both companies were hemmoraging money and even with a merger its not a given that they can still succeed. Fans will now be able to get Howard Stern, NFL, Nascar, MLB, Oprah, and Opie and Anthony all in one place.

It will be interesting to see how this merger falls out as people will need to buy new receivers to be able to get both services and I'm sure there will be all sorts of contract issues. Also the companies have a number of requirements they must meet from the FCC such as a number of minority oriented channels and a $19 Million fine for the FCC dealing with XM's equipment which was breaking an emissions rule. I'm sure Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin will also be handing out many pink slips over at XM. More info on this as events warrant.