Who needs competition when you have a nice big merger to complete? After 13 months of Congressional haggling that would have put John McCain to shame, Sirius chief Mel Karmazin won U.S. Department of Justice approval for his $5 billion marriage with XM Satellite Radio.
    
Sure they’re the only two subscription radio operators, but with all those iTunes downloads and Web radio personalities, there’s no need to think anyone will suffer with Howard Stern and Oprah Winfrey in their exclusive hands.   
    
Most expect the FCC will come through with the final green-light for XM and Sirius to close the deal, and then the real work on actually making money from satellite will begin.
    
We’re still a little stuck on the regulatory landscape that seems to err on the side of bigness, from Verizon and AT&T’s billion-dollar wireless spectrum wins, to a push from underdogs like Microsoft and Google to use the blank spaces of TV spectrum for mobile Internet and the ability to even contemplate a scenario in which Rupert Murdoch buys Newsday.
    
Let the games begin.

Reuters, Deal Journal, Silicon Alley Insider

Keep an eye on:

• Google unveiled plans for a new generation of wireless devices to operate on soon-to-be-vacant television airwaves, and sought to alleviate fears that this might interfere with TV broadcasts or wireless microphones.  (Reuters)
• Fox Broadcasting asked U.S. regulators to reconsider indecency fines the government imposed last month on 13 Fox television stations for airing episodes of a reality TV show in 2003.  (Reuters)
• Hulu video site looks great, but in terms of consistently good service, not so much. (Silicon Alley Insider)
• The CEO of Sony BMG Music Entertainment tells the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (in German!) that the company is developing an online music subscription service that would give users unlimited access to its music and be compatible with a host of digital music players.
  (Associated Press)

(Photo: Reuters / Mel Karmazin)

A cottage industry has risen from the ashes of Eliot Spitzer’s career and, well, life. Echoing Jay-Z’s words, Client 9 “is no businessman…he’s a business, man.”

Ok, maybe not an industry in the traditional sense. But certain opportunists companies are at least looking to make a quick buck on the former “Wall Street Sheriff’s” woes. It didn’t take long for Virgin Mobile Canada and Sirius Satellite Radio to add their takes on Client 9, Spitzer’s infamous court document alias.

“When you call us we’ll treat you like a person, not a client. Whether you’re #9 or #900, you’ll get hooked up with somebody who’ll finally treat you just how you want to be treated,” Virgin Mobile Canada promised.

Sirius Satellite Radio went a step further by creating and promoting a weekend of programming billed as “Client 9 Radio.”

“Client 9 Radio will serve as a forum for this national conversation,” Sirius announced on Friday. “Client 9 Radio will explore every side of the story: from the political to the psychological to the medical and beyond.”

A representative of YouMail, a company that lets users save their voicemails, also chimed in: “With the recent developments regarding Eliot Spitzer being exposed through wiretaps, I can’t help but wonder when saved and easily shared voicemails will be used to uncover the next big business or political scandal.”

On Tuesday, a day after the New York Times first reported the Spitzer’s ties with a prostitute ring, vendors were already hawking T-shirts. “Client #9 for President, Help Legalize Prostitution” T-Shirts were available over at CafePress.

Client 9 even hit lunch, Gothamist reports. Eisenberg’s Sandwich Shop in New York started serving “The Spitzer” sandwich made with “hot tongue,” naturally.And apparently without even trying, News Corp earned publicity from the debacle in the form of reports about the MySpace page were “Kristen,” Spitzer’s alleged lady-friend shared her story and her music.

(Photos: Virgin Mobile Canada; Sirius Satellite Radio)

The ink has barely dried on AOL’s $850 million proposed purchase of Bebo, but reports of another deal are already percolating. AllThingsD’s Kara Swisher reports AOL is seriously considering buying New York-based widget-maker KickApps for $90 million.

KickApps makes widgets to order for a broad range of companies, such as a car search widget for Autobytel and a social community for Time Warner’s CW TV network’s “Gossip Girl,” Swisher says.

Investors Softbank Capital, Prism VentureWorks and Spark Capital and others have dropped $17 million into KickApps.

The bigger question is whether parent company Time Warner is prettying up AOL for a sale or taking another go at finding its place in a world defined by Google and other bigger rivals. At this point, we’re thinking probably both as Time Warner mulls its options.

AOL wasn’t immediately reachable. KickApps declined comment.

Update: A source familiar with AOL’s plans tells us a deal is “very unlikely.” 

(AllThingsD)

Keep an eye on:

• Clear channel outlines its concession wishes for merger partners XM and Sirius satellite radio. (Orbitcast)
• Bebo’s Joanna Shields speaks: competitive bids, why AOL, dodges on Yahoo ad deal question. (paidContent)
• San Diego-based Sony Online Entertainment will now be overseen by Kazuo Hirai, the president of Sony Computer Entertainment, in a move that probably should’ve happened five years ago. (GigaOm)

(Photo: KickApps.com)