Sirius Satellite Radio CEO Mel Karmazin would like to buy rival XM--apart from the price and regulatory issues, reports Reuters. However, speaking at a conference in New York, Karmazin stresses that
that his plan for the company "doesn't really involve our doing a deal." He adds, "We'd love to buy them. Price would matter, so that would be an issue... (and) there would definitely be the
regulatory issue." An XM spokesman declined comment "on our competitors' wishful thinking." While XM leads Sirius in the market for nationwide pay-radio, the latter's growth has been powered over the
last year by the launch of programming from Howard Stern. At the same time, Reuters notes," XM has been stung by federal probes and concerns about its subscriber growth." A combination could also be
complicated by the fact that neither company has yet turned a profit--and by the rich capitalizations for both money-losing entities, "thanks to the market's anticipation of significant growth as
demand for satellite radio spreads."
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