Sirius CEO Hopeful of FCC Decision by End of March

PHILADELPHIA, March 12 (Reuters) – Sirius Satellite RadioInc Chief Executive Mel Karmazin said on Wednesday hehoped U.S. regulators would rule by the end of March on theproposed merger of Sirius and XM Satellite Radio Inc.

Speaking at the Bear Stearns 21st Annual Media Conference,Karmazin said he "took heart" about recent comments by U.S.Federal Communication Commission Chairman Kevin Martin, whoindicated that his agency aimed to rule on the deal by the endof March.

That time frame could change, Karmazin cautioned, sinceregulatory approval of the proposed $4.2 billion merger of thetwo satellite radio companies had taken longer than initiallyexpected. The companies had hoped regulators would sign off onthe deal by the end of 2007.

"The fact that it has lingered this long, it has beeninterpreted … as good news," Karmazin said.

"Clearly if there was a big problem with the merger, itwouldn’t take the (regulators) this long to figure it out.Either you believe we compete with a whole bunch of audiochoices or you think there’s a distinct market called satelliteradio," he said.

The Department of Justice appeared to have all of theinformation it needed on the deal, but the companies werehaving active discussions with the FCC, he said. Talks with theFCC had recently accelerated, Karmazin said.

Karmazin said the companies needed to convince regulatorsthat the deal would be in the public interest and not harmcompetition, as some critics have claimed.

XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc Chairman Gary Parsonsechoed Karmazin’s comments on Wednesday and said he wasconfident that the regulatory review was moving forward "in atimely manner."

"We believe that DOJ has the information and feel the FCChas the necessary information to complete their decision-makingprocess and have confidence they will move forward and willcomplete that in a timely manner," Parsons said at theconference.

Unless the DOJ sued to stop the proposed merger, the dealcould close immediately after the FCC ruled, Karmazin said.

Shares of Sirius, whose programming includes "shock jock"Howard Stern and NASCAR auto racing, gained 15 cents, or 5.5percent, to $2.90 in afternoon trading on Nasdaq.

Shares of XM Satellite, whose programming features OprahWinfrey and Major League Baseball, gained 61 cents, or 5.5percent, to $11.70 on Nasdaq.

(Reporting by Jessica Hall; Editing by Brian Moss and GeraldE. McCormick)