From Radio Ink Magazine:

BALTIMORE — April 25, 2008: Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann, and Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna have written to FCC Chairman Kevin Martin to urge the rejection of the merger of XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio, which has already been approved by the Department of Justice.

The letter makes some of the same points as a March 27 letter to Martin from 11 state attorneys general — Dann was also a signer on that letter — saying the merger “poses a threat to competition” and that the AGs are “concerned that subscribers of the combined XM and Sirius may face the dual harms presented by anticompetitive mergers: higher prices and diminished quality of service.”

The AGs urge the FCC to reject the merger on those grounds, and because, they say, a rejection would be consistent with the FCC’s 1997 rulemaking on satellite radio that said one satellite licensee would not be allowed to acquire control of the other.

The March 27 letter mentioned the possibility of the FCC’s forcing a merged XM-Sirius to divest spectrum in order to allow a competitor into the market, but the April 24 letter proposes an arrangement under which the satcasters would be required to lease part of their satellite capacity to a new competitor, along with the means to broadcast from their satellites. The leasing solution, say the attorneys general, is preferable to a divestiture because it would take several years for a competitor to build and launch its own satellites.

Dann is known to throw his weight around with anti-trust threats. And as an XM subscriber (Note: I’m not a stock holder), even though I’m unhappy to gain access to Howard Stern’s filthy channels, I am pleased to have access to both NFL and MLB broadcasts.

How can Dann claim such a merger would form a monopoly? Monopolies in a free market are impossible to form and maintain, unless you count certain government entities- And even if there was a true monopoly, there is always the option of buying alternatives or simply not buying anything.

But even if we accept Dann’s premise, XM/Sirius would still face competition from normal AM/FM radio, CDs, mp3 players, HD radio, wifi radio, et cetera. I’m sure that the bimbos Dann likes to hire have most or all of these options in their cubicles right now!

Do busybody Attorney Generals have nothing better to do than worry about satellite radio? The alternatives to satellite radio are so obvious, and if XM/Sirius “gouged” consumers with high subscription fees, then a competitor can eventually launch its own satellite. XM/Sirius are yet to make a profit after their huge capital investments, and they still have to face major competition for consumer’s ears and dollars.

This merger won’t personally affect Dann, as instead of paying for satellite radio he is too busy having Turkish bath parties at his home. This is yet another example of a low cost, alternative form of entertainment.