Briefly: FCC Chair Kevin Martin will support satellite radio merger

Jordan Golson — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 11:51:42 -0700

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin will support a merger between the two satellite radio companies in the US, XM Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio. The full commission must vote on the merger, but are expected to do so as the companies have agreed to a lengthly list of requirements.

According to the Washington Post, XM and Sirius have already made to several commitments to allay lawmakers' concerns. The companies must place price caps on programming and offer channels a la carte. They also must open their service to any radio-device manufacturer and provide several channels for noncommercial and women- and minority owned-programming.

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