FCC commissioner Michael Copps, a longtime warrior against media consolidation, on Monday (July 21) voted against the proposed Sirius, XM satellite radio merger, a decision that has lingered at the FCC for more than 410 days. R&R confirmed Copps’ vote with an FCC insider but Copps’ own commentary on the deal has not been released and will likely not be released until fellow commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate makes her position on the proposal publicly known.
Copps was never expected to vote in favor of the deal. Soon after the deal was proposed, he said it would be difficult for the satcasters to convince him that their partnering would be a benefit to consumers.
Unconfirmed reports say that, as expected, commissioner Robert McDowell has voted in favor of the merger but it is unclear whether he has included certain required conditions for approval. Two other commissioners, Republican chairman Kevin Martin, and Democrat Jonathan Adelstein, have given their conditional approval for the deal. On June 16, Martin attached eight conditions to his “yes” vote, conditions that the satcasters had already agreed upon. On July 17, Adelstein surprised merger watchers by agreeing to the deal but under conditions that include a six year rate freeze and no pass-along costs to consumers clause. The satcasters have declined to publicly discuss Adelstein’s conditions or indicated whether they would make or break the deal.
