STATEMENT OF
COMMISSIONER ROBERT M. McDOWELL
RE: XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc., Transferor, to Sirius Satellite Radio Inc., 
Transferee, For Consent to the Transfer of Control of Licenses, Memorandum 
Opinion and Order and  Report and Order, MB 07-57
I am pleased to support this merger and look forward to the consumer benefits 
that will result from the combination of XM and Sirius.
Competition in the audio market has grown substantially in the past few years.  
Barely one generation removed from AM and FM radio and vinyl albums, we now have a 
still vibrant AM/FM dial, full of music, news and talk radio of all stripes, HD radio with 
its multicast streams of content, mp3 players, Internet radio and much more.  When 
discussing this merger, it is important to keep in mind that satellite radio – both XM and 
Sirius combined – comprises only five percent of that audio marketplace.  
Despite these highly-competitive market realities, this merger order is one of the 
most heavily-conditioned in FCC history.  With the obligations we have imposed, and 
those that the companies have voluntarily undertaken, the combined company, post-
merger, will offer several new, attractively priced programming packages for consumers, 
will open up opportunities for noncommercial educational programmers and minority-
owned programmers to gain carriage on the satellite radio platform, and will create 
opportunities for competition in the satellite radio equipment market, so that consumers 
can enjoy more choices.
I am also pleased that we have resolved the enforcement issues regarding 
terrestrial repeater and radio equipment violations admitted by XM and Sirius.  As the 
consent decrees demonstrate, the Commission takes such rule violations seriously and 
will carefully examine the ongoing compliance of the combined company with our 
regulations.