Karmazin Wants Merger With XM; Says Regulatory Issues Won’t Happen Now
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.
His iPod analogy is rough, but it's hard to see how consumers would be hurt by this merger.
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.