MediaFile

Will it survive? That’s the main question looming over today’s official news that Live Nation will indeed buy Tickemaster Entertainment, a deal that has been much in the news this week.

Already, Sen. Charles Schumer, a member of the Judiciary Committee and Democrat from New York, has called for a federal probe into Ticketmaster’s relationship with resale subsidiary TicketsNow (a relationship that was roundly criticized recently when fans tried to buy Bruce Springsteen tickets) and said a merger with Live Nation “must be viewed skeptically).

As the New York Times recently pointed out, the deal will mark “an early test of the Obama administration’s views on concentrated corporate power, particularly in an area with potentially stark implications for consumers.”

“The combination of the two companies would place under one corporate umbrella dominant players in all sides of the live concert business: the sale of tickets, the representation of artists and the control of concert halls. Of particular issue to regulators, say lawyers with expertise in antitrust law, would be Live Nation’s recent entry into the ticket-selling business — essentially a challenge to Ticketmaster on its own turf,” the story noted.

Of course, even if the deal does survive, and even if it gets approval from antitrust regulators, the process could take some time. Months. A year. Maybe more. Such a time lapse could causes problems of its own — the economic landscape can change, strategy can shift, relationships can fray — and you end up, in some ways, far worse than when you began the whole darned thing.

If you’re an old Sirius or former XM subscriber who lost one or more of your favorite channels after the two satellite radio companies merged earlier this year, CEO Mel Karmazin has a message for you: Tough luck, it’s for the greater good.

Karmazin told reporters at the Reuters Media Summit in New York that the two companies had taken the best of breed in each music channel genre from either Sirius or XM as part of a $400 million cost saving drive.

“We’re going to pick the best channels,” said Karmazin. “We’ve gotten hundreds of people who hated it and claimed they were going to cancel. So we’ve analyzed all the cancellations since the rationalization…It’s hard for me to understand what they don’t like.”

We’re not entirely sure if the current round of leaks will lift Sirius XM out of its $1.40 per share doldrums, but screenshots of a new iPhone application in development that will let users stream Sirius XM radio stations could put a new shine on the company.

The shots, leaked to Orbitcast, show a login screen that would appear to imply that the service would likely only be available to existing Sirius or XM subscribers or subscribers to the mobile service. We’ve seen various mobile applications that do just that over the years for Windows Mobile phones. But this is the first to offer a common platform for both services — and months ahead of the company’s own timeline for an interoperable receiver.

Citigroup’s Tony Wible thinks the link to Apple “highlight that SIRI’s value lies in its content and not its hardware or infrastructure.” And such applications could help it gain share in the audio entertainment market. “SIRI bears argue that AAPL’s products will take share from SIRI, but we disagree as both MP3 players and satellite radio have unique advantages that leads us to believe both will co-exist. New satellite radio plans create a greater opportunity for synergies between the two,” Wible writes.

The marathon satellite merger for Sirius and XM is finally complete. (Check out the new “Sirius XM Radio” logo, above, provided by Sirius.)

That means new channel options, new pricing options, new radios — eventually.

We want to know if you care. Does the prospect of having Oprah and Howard Stern on your radio make you want to sign up for satellite radio? Will you start paying for the service once the free subscription in your new car runs out? Does the thought of the upcoming professional football season mean it’s time to pick up a satellite radio?

Hear that? It’s the sound of sighs. Sirius Satellite Radio has finally completed the purchase of rival XM Satellite Radio.

“The completion comes after a marathon period of government scrutiny that ended late last week when the U.S. Federal Communications Commission approved the deal, which was first announced 17 months ago,” Reuters reports.

Now that the deal is done, it’ll be interesting to see whether it was worth the wait. Neither company has posted a profit on its own, and, in fact, they have posted huge losses along the way as they’ve paid to build up subscribers.

******Federal regulators have cleared the last remaining hurdle for Sirius Satellite Radio’s proposed acquisition of XM Satellite Radio Holdings, a deal that will combine rivals in the nascent U.S. pay-radio market.******The U.S. Federal Communications Commission reached an agreement to conditionally approve the deal on Thursday, four months after the Department of Justice gave its blessing, and 18 months after XM and Sirius agreed to combine. Experts say that new services from a combined company could come in a few months, but suggest their holiday subscription growth may be hurt by the delayed deal closing.******Here are are some important dates in the history of the satellite radio industry.******* 1994 – CD Radio goes public at about $3.15.******* Oct. 1999 – XM goes public at $12 a share.************* Nov. 1999 – CD Radio changes its name to Sirius Satellite.******* Nov. 2001 – XM starts national radio service, after launching its first two satellites — “Rock” and “Roll” — earlier in the year.***

**** 2002 – Sirius launches national satellite radio service.******* Oct 2003 – XM reaches 1 million subscribers.******* Dec 2003 – Sirius signs 7-year, $220 million pact with the National Football League.******* Oct 2004 – Shock Jocks Opie and Anthony begin broadcasting on XM, on a premium channel.******* Oct 2004 – XM signs 11-year, $650 million pact with Major League Baseball; deal starts with the 2005 season.******* Oct 2004 – XM unveils Delphi MyFi, its first portable radio receiver.******* Dec 2004 – Sirius reached 1 million subscribers********** Oct 2004 – Sirius signs shock jock Howard Stern to 5-year, $500 million deal.******* April 2005 – XM raises subscription price to $12.95 a month from $9.99, matching Sirius.*******Sept 2005 – XM surpasses 5 million subscribers.******* Feb 2006 – XM signs 3-year, $55 million deal with Oprah Winfrey.******* Sept 2006 – Sirius tops 5 million subscribers.******* Jan 2006 – Sirius starts broadcasts of Howard Stern.******* Feb 2007 – Sirius and XM propose merger; Deal requires approval of their respective shareholders, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission and the U.S. Justice Department. Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin to be CEO of new company, XM Chairman Gary Parson to become Chairman.************* July 2007 – CEO Hugh Panero says he is stepping down in August; COO Nate Davis to become Interim CEO.******* Nov 2007 – XM and Sirius shareholders approve the deal.******* Mar 2008 – The Justice Department approves the deal.************* June 16, 2008 – FCC Chairman Kevin Martin announced his recommendation to approve the merger with conditions.******* June 30, 2008 – Sirius ends the second quarter with 8.9 million subscribers, up 25 percent from a year earlier. XM had 9.65 million subscribers at the end of June, up 17 percent from a year earlier.******* July 25, 2008 – FCC Commissioners approve the deal with conditions, clearing the way for a deal that will leave just one U.S. satellite radio service. Analysts expect the deal to close within days or weeks of the regulatory approval.******(Sources: XM, Sirius, Hoover’s, Reuters)******(Top picture: A Russian Proton with a satellite for Sirius Satellite Radio is lifted into place at its launching pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, on September 1, 2000, while (L to R) Bob Prevaux, Program Director for Space Systems Loral talks with Rob Briskman, Executive Vice President for Sirius Satellite Radio and Ted Sitek, Mission Manager for International Launch Services. (Reuters/Karl Ronstrom))

Finally, some movement.

It seems that the head of U.S. Federal Communications Commission Kevin Martin will support Sirius Satellite Radio’s proposed purchase of rival XM Satellite Radio.

The Washington Post and others are reporting that Martin decided to support the deal after the companies agreed to concessions intended to prevent the new company from raising prices or stifling competition among radio makers.

A decision has been a long time coming. Seventeen months ago the two companies announced they would merge, bringing entertainers such as Oprah Winfrey and shock jock Howard Stern under the same banner. The Justice Department approved the deal in March, but the companies are still waiting for the FCC.

Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satelite Radio want the FCC to know that they are ready.

Like REALLY REALLY READY.

Sure, combined they racked up $230 million in losses in the first quarter. And they added 600,000 net subscribers, to make a combined total of over 17 million.

So what?

What everyone wants to know is when their proposed merger — you know the one announced back in the 1990s in February 2007 will finally close. After 15-months, the individual performance of each company, while important, takes a backseat to knowing when they can combine their efforts. Or,  should the deal fall apart, when they can go back to scratching and clawing for the next hot media property (like the “Dr. Phil Channel” or “The 24-hour World Series of Poker Channel.”)