Wachovia’s Media & Communications Equity and Fixed Income Research groups held the first in a series of special conferences last week. Among the featured speakers was NAB President/CEO David Rehr. Among the topics Rehr addressed was the ongoing XM/Sirius merger debate.
Rehr stated that he believes the deal would result in a “merger to monopoly” as essentially no viable competitors would be left in the satellite radio sector. Rehr feels that because of the NAB’s aggressive lobbying there’s a good chance the merger will be blocked.
Rehr’s take is that XM and Sirius have been reactive. This behavior, he feels, coupled with the fact that Sirius CEO – and merger architect – Mel Karmazin’s “salesman persona” has worked against the satellite radio companies’ efforts.
In Rehr’s view, Karmazin will only receive approval for the merger if he convinces the DOJ that it is not a monopoly.
