Some FCC votes cast, but no verdict on XM: Sirius

By Peter Kaplan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two additional members of the Federal Communications Commission have cast votes on a proposal to approve Sirius Satellite Radio Inc's acquisition of XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc, one voting for it and another against it, agency sources said on Tuesday.

Republican FCC commissioner Robert McDowell has voted for a plan by agency chairman Kevin Martin that would allow the $3.5 billion deal to proceed, giving it the support of two members on the five-member commission, a source close to the FCC said.

Democratic commissioner Michael Copps recently voted against it, according to another source.

However, the two votes were widely expected and provided no new clues into whether, and under what conditions, the deal ultimately will get the three votes needed for approval.

The two swing votes on the issue, Republican commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate and Democrat Jonathan Adelstein, were still hashing out potential changes to Martin's proposal.

Martin has proposed the commission approve the deal so long as the companies make available to consumers radios that receive both Sirius and XM, cap prices for three years, offer programming on an "a la carte" basis, and make 24 radio channels available for noncommercial and minority programming, among other things.

The FCC decision is the final hurdle in a regulatory marathon for the deal that was first announced in February 2007. Antitrust authorities at the U.S. Justice Department approved the merger this past March.

The merger would bring entertainers such as Oprah Winfrey and shock jock Howard Stern under the same banner. It has been criticized as anti-competitive by the traditional radio industry, and by some U.S. lawmakers.