US House panel hearing to look at Sirius-XM deal

WASHINGTON, Feb 27 (Reuters) - The House telecommunications
subcommittee will hold a hearing on March 7 that will include a
look at the proposed merger of Sirius Satellite Radio Inc.
(SIRI.O) and XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. XMSR.O, panel
chairman Edward Markey said on Tuesday.

Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, said that Sirius's
planned takeover of its rival in the satellite radio
subscription business is an important development in the radio
industry. "I'm sure that both the XM-Sirius witness and the
AM-FM witness will be talking about it, so it necessarily has
to be part of the discussion," Markey told reporters after
addressing a National Association of Broadcasters meeting.

Markey did not identify who will testify at the hearing
next week.

On Wednesday, another House panel, the House Judiciary
Committee's new antitrust task force, will hear testimony from
Sirius Chief Executive Mel Karmazin as it considers the impact
of the proposed merger on consumers.

The two companies contend that the deal won't hurt
consumers because satellite radio, which charges a subscription
fee, faces competition from terrestrial radio, wireless music
devices and podcasts.

Sirius's planned takeover of XM must be approved by the
U.S. Justice Department and Federal Communications Commission,
which review mergers for their impact on competition and
customer service.

Some consumer groups have criticized the Bush
administration for being too eager to approve corporate
mergers.