FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell said on Thursday that the proposed Sirius/XM merger depends a lot on "how the market is defined."

So far none of the FCC commissioners have spoken out on whether they would vote to waive the condition stating that there can be only one holder of the SDARS license.

"A lot is determined on how the market is defined," said McDowell at a NAB meeting. "I will be asking a lot of questions... If we are saying that satellite radio competes with free over-the-air radio then how do we define the markets, and how does that affect our current broadcast ownership regime? If we say XM and Sirius should not merge because there is not sufficient competition, does that mean there is not sufficient competition overall?"

And it's an interesting point. The kind of precedent that this merger sets will weigh heavily on both the FCC's and DOJ's decision, and could be one of the biggest obstacles.

[via FMQB]