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Karmazin Wants Merger With XM; Says Regulatory Issues Won’t Happen Now

By Rafat Ali - Sun 26 Nov 2006 05:41 PM PST

This interview in SmartMoney is causing some controversy in various circles: Mel Karmazin, CEO of Sirius Satellite Radio, said in a short interview that he’d be interested in merging his company with XM Satellite Radio, his archrival and the market leader in the hotly competitive $1.5 billion industry.  “Mergers often lead to creating shareholder value...I’ve always been open to that.” He’d floated the idea at a trade conference that he’d like to buy XM, but he predicted there would be regulatory hurdles. He no longer thinks regulators would pose a problem. “If there’s an iPod with terrestrial radio, it’s hard to believe government is worried about two satellite radio companies combining,” he said.

Posted in: Media, Satellite


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2 Responses:
  • From Pete Nicely Sun 26 Nov 2006 07:20 PM

    His iPod analogy is rough, but it’s hard to see how consumers would be hurt by this merger.

  • From cDilla Mon 27 Nov 2006 08:21 AM

    I agree, the iPod analogy was a bit weak.  Though there are only 2 major Satellite radio players, satellite radio is a rather new technology, and has created a new market that I think is still open for competition.  I think this merger would be great, but I don’t see Sirius purchasing XM, I would figure it would be the other way around.

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