OK, the headline is a little cheeky, but it is of interest to Backstagers that the topic of the merger came up at CES today as part of Chairman Martin’s address to CES attendees.  This report from the NYT, summarizes the discussion this way

XM-Sirius (NSDQ: SIRI) and Echostar-DirecTV: Shapiro attempted to draw Martin on whether approval of the XM-Sirius merger would bode well for a merger between Echostar (NSDQ: DISH) and DirecTV (NYSE: DTV). Martin wouldn’t talk about the pending approval of the satellite radio merger, but spoke about how XM (NSDQ: XMSR) and Sirius said they’d offer different subscription and content plans to consumers, allowing them more choice over the content they receive at a variety of price points. The implication was that this was an important declaration by the radio companies in terms of their chances of regulatory approval, and Martin said that it would be important for satellite TV companies to offer consumers more control and choice as part of any future merger plans.

Posted by RoadRunner on Tuesday, January 8th, 2008 at 6:21 pm.
Filed in Merger, FCC, Satellite Radio.
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