FCC Commissioner Offers to Approve XM/Sirius- With Conditions

An FCC commissioner who is considered a swing vote on the question of the XM/Sirius merger now says he would support the merger, provided additional conditions are attached.

The AP reported late last week that commissioner Jonathan Adelstein, a Democrat who was considered one of two swing votes on the five-member commission, offered to vote yes on the merger if the companies agree to cap prices for six years and make 25 percent of capacity available for public interest/minority programming.

The version earlier under consideration had included a price freeze of only three years, and a smaller percentage of capacity for the public interest and minority programming.

Chairman Kevin Martin and Commissioner Robert McDowell have reportedly already voted for the merger, while Democrat Michael Copps is expected to oppose it; Republican Deborah Taylor Tate remains undecided.

In addition, on Monday XM Satellite Radio announced it was offering a $400 million aggregate principal amount of new senior notes which, it said, would be used to refinance ahead of the merger.

Do you think the merger will be approved? Talk about it in the E-Gear forums.