XM Sirius merger from CNN:

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — The U.S. Justice Department approved the merger between satellite radio companies Sirius and XM Monday, more than a year after the two companies first announced their deal.

But for fans of Howard Stern, Opie & Anthony and other Sirius and XM on-air personalities, there are still many questions about how much a combined Sirius-XM service will cost and what programs they’ll be able to hear. Plus, Sirius and XM face one more regulatory hurdle before the deal can officially be completed.

What does the XM Sirius Merger mean for the consumer?

Its hard to say what the merger means for the consumer because the FCC still hasn’t approved the merger. The current price for XM and Sirius is $12.95 each for base packages. Supposedly they will offer a price plan where consumers can pick their favorite sirius stations as well as their favorite XM stations for a varied price…but less than what the combined service would currently cost.

What does the XM Sirius Merger mean for stock holders?

Shares of both jumped somewhat today with the DOJ announcement. XM (XMSR) went up 15.5% while Sirius (SIRI) went up to 8.6%. If the deal is approved by the FCC chances are good that both XM and Sirius will jump up again. On the flip side, if it is declined by the FCC I suspect there is going to be a nasty drop. The overall picture though is that if the deal goes through, long term both sets of stockholders will profit long term…especially if they give the combined, ala cart programming. I personally have considered satellite radio for a while but I didn’t want a standard package and the channels I wanted were scattered too much over the two different providers. I would imagine there are a fair amount of people in the same boat as I am. The whole SHOULD be greater than the sum of the parts.

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