Sirius and XM Approved to Merge

After what seems like an eternity, Sirius Satellite Radio and XM have been approved to merge by the Federal Communications Commission. This is at once both good and frightening news. Good news because there was no reason to stop these two companies from merging in the first place and – as a combined organization – they may have the ability to become a profitable company. Frightening news because the merger plan has taken over 18 months to be approved.

What the hell is wrong with our government that it takes 18 months to approve the merger of two extremely small companies? Sad, really…

And it’s funny how politics makes strange bedfellows. The biggest personality on satellite radio is Howard Stern – someone who has been critical of the Republican administration for quite some time now. Who cast the deciding vote to allow the merger? A Republican. The Democrats on the FCC were looking to bog down the merger with such a massive amount of needed extras that it would have looked unappealing for any company.

In the end, as a consumer of satellite radio I’m happy. I’ve been thinking of giving up the service since Howard Stern is one of the main reasons that I even have Sirius XM and he’s only on a small fraction of the time due to a ridiculous vacation schedule. But now that the two companies have been allowed to merge – I’ll probably stick around for a little bit longer!