FCC poised to approve XM-Sirius merger

The final—and deciding—vote could be cast any time now, allowing the two satellite radio companies to finally join forces. Update: It's a done deal.

Reuters reports that the three Republican members of the FCC have agreed "in principle" to the merger, provided that the two companies cough up about $19 million to cover various FCC "enforcement matters."

The two Democratic members of the five-member FCC have already declared that they're opposing the proposed merger.

In any case, it appears the main conditions originally proposed by FCC Chairman Kevin Martin will remain in place, including setting aside 24 channels for non-commercial educational and minority programming, a three-year price freeze for current subscribers, and an "open radio" standard that would allow any manufacturer to make satellite radio receivers.

The $19 million payment to the FCC would cover "fines for violations regarding toward locations and power limits," according the Wall Street Journal.

The Journal notes that if the FCC approves the merger as expected, it would pave the way for new satellite radios—ones that would be able to receive "a la carte" XM and Sirius stations—to arrive in stores in time for the holidays.

Existing XM and Sirius radios can receive bundled packages of stations from both providers, but you're going to need a new receiver if you're looking to pick and choose your XM and Sirius offerings.

In any case, it looks like the epic approval process—which began way back in February 2007, when the proposed merger was first announced—is about to come to an end. Stay tuned.

Related:
Agreement reached for FCC to clear XM-Sirius deal [Reuters, via Yahoo! News]