Unholy Stern/Winfrey Union Wins Justice Dept. Approval
The U.S. Justice Department has managed the impossible. It’s brought Howard Stern and Oprah Winfrey together under a single aegis.
This morning the DOJ approved the merger of satellite radio companies Sirius Satellite Radio (SIRI) (home to Stern) and XM Satellite Radio (XMSR) (home to Winfrey), a move that will create a satellite radio company with about 14 million subscribers.
In a statement, the DOJ said it found no reason to think that combining the only two satellite radio players in the market would create a pay-radio monopoly. “After a careful and thorough review of the proposed transaction, the division concluded that the evidence does not demonstrate that the proposed merger of XM and Sirius is likely to substantially lessen competition, and that the transaction therefore is not likely to harm consumers,” the DOJ explained.
“The Division reached this conclusion because the evidence did not show that the merger would enable the parties to profitably increase prices to satellite radio customers for several reasons, including: a lack of competition between the parties in important segments even without the merger; the competitive alternative services available to consumers; technological change that is expected to make those alternatives increasingly attractive over time; and efficiencies likely to flow from the transaction that could benefit consumers,” said the DOJ.
Comments
John,
Posted by Dave Barnes at March 24th, 2008 at 3:47 pmIt is good that you mention Howard Winfrey as the iPod will kill off music radio.
I listen to music on the radio while driving. My 21-year old daughter does not. She has not since she got her license at 16. She listened to CDs and now listens exclusively to her iPod. She literally has not listened to music on the radio for over 5 years.
I see radio as becoming 100% news and talk within 10 years.
,dave
And of course the copyright office’s massive increases for royalties paid by Internet radio stations didn’t give the FCC pause to think that competition has already been stymied by the people who should be protecting the little guy and consumers but ends up serving big media instead?
Nooo. Not a chance. It’s quite Clear Channel…oops!
Posted by Eric Welch at March 25th, 2008 at 8:26 am