The U.S. Justice Department on Monday (March 24) approved the merger between satellite radio companies Sirius and XM more than a year after the two companies first announced the initial deal. According to its Web site, the Justice Department's Antitrust Division cleared the merger after determining that Sirius' takeover of XM would not harm competition or consumers.

"After a careful and thorough review of the proposed transaction, the Division concluded that the evidence does not demonstrate that the proposed merger of XM and Sirius is likely to substantially lessen competition, and that the transaction therefore is not likely to harm consumers," reads a statement on the approval. "The Division reached this conclusion because the evidence did not show that the merger would enable the parties to profitably increase prices to satellite radio customers for several reasons."

Those reasons, according to the statement, included "a lack of competition between the parties in important segments even without the merger; the competitive alternative services available to consumers; technological change that is expected to make those alternatives increasingly attractive over time; and efficiencies likely to flow from the transaction that could benefit consumers."

The merger was first proposed in February of 2007 as a way of stemming billions in losses incurred in attracting on-air talent, sports deals and subscribers. Sirius, home to Howard Stern, Martha Stewart and NASCAR, claims 7.67 million subscribers, while XM, which broadcasts all Major League Baseball games has such headline talent as Oprah Winfrey and Opie and Anthony, has 8.57 million, according to Bloomberg.com.

Next, the merger must be approved by the Federal Communications Commission; a ruling is expected in the coming weeks. Both companies, in an effort to gain FCC support, derived various pricing packages, including an a la carte pricing system. As a result of the merger, Sirius and XM subscribers — who are now asked to pay $12.95 a month — could end up paying substantially less (as little as $6.99, with the proposed tiered pricing). In addition, the combined company plans to eliminate duplicative programming, including a number of music channels.

The deal's main opposition came from the National Association of Broadcasters, the trade group that represents free radio stations, which waged a lobbying campaign in Congress and at the FCC to stop the merger, arguing that it would create a pay-radio monopoly.

Shareholders of the two companies approved the combination in separate special meetings on November 13. More than 96 percent of those who voted approved the transaction, according to The Washington Post.

"The likely evolution of technology in the future, including the expected introduction in the next several years of mobile broadband Internet devices, made it even more unlikely that the transaction would harm consumers in the longer term," reads the Justice Department decision. "Accordingly, the division has closed its investigation of the proposed merger."