The Carmel Group, a research company hired by the increasingly panicky National Association of Broadcasters, is out with a new report evaluating the proposed merger of satellite radio operators XM and Sirius. Surprise--the idea supposedly stinks
The report disputes a number of claims offered in support of the merger, including the idea that profit-impaired XM and Sirius need to combine to survive financially. “Sirius and XM are merely showing the level of their impatience - and greed - by offering this merger proposal today,” according to the document.
It also disputes the notion that XM and Sirius compete with more than themselves, specifically with terrestrial radio. No explanation is given, however, for why the NAB would fight so hard against a deal that benefits companies who *don't *compete with the NAB's constituency.
The report may be treated as more than partisan flapdoodle, however. Carmel's arguments became part of the FCC's rationale for rejecting the proposed merger of satellite TV operators EchoStar and DirecTV a few years ago.
Sirius-XM: An Exercise in “Impatience and Greed”?[Wall Street Journal]
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