WASHINGTON — Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin said Sunday he will support a merger between the nation’s sole satellite radio operators, XM and Sirius.
Martin came to the decision after the companies agreed last week to several commitments intended to prevent the monopoly from raising programming prices and from stifling competition among radio makers, aides to the chairman said in an interview Saturday.
Critics have argued that a merger of Washington-based XM and New York-based Sirius would hurt consumers who would have fewer choices of programming and radio transmitters.
As early as this week, Martin is expected to issue an order that commissioners vote to back the merger, which at least two of the remaining four must agree to for it to pass, the aides said.
“As I have indicated before, this is an unusual situation,” Martin said. “I am recommending that with the voluntary commitments they (Sirius and XM) have offered, on balance, this transaction would be in the public interest.”
The companies have agreed to:
• Place price caps on programming and offer u la carte programming so that subscribers could pick programs they want and not have to subscribe to all channels or certain packages.
• Open their technology standards to any radio-device manufacturer, paving the way for consumers to buy radio transmitters from retail stores.
• Provide interoperable radios. Current subscribers have radios that deliver programming from either XM or Sirius.
• Have each company set aside 4 percent of radio spectrums, 12 channels, for noncommercial services such as educational and public-safety programming. They would lease another 12 channels for programming run by minorities and women.
If the merger is approved, it would be a major reversal of FCC rules. The agency distributed licenses to XM and Sirius in 1997 on the condition the two satellite companies never merge.
But both companies have struggled financially and say a merger is their best chance at surviving in an increasingly competitive marketplace. If they combined, the companies would have 17 million subscribers.
