Michael K. Powell, the former chairman of the FCC, said that he believes the XM/Sirius merger could pass.

On CNBC, Powell said that he thinks the merger could make it through. He also felt there would probably have to be some concessions made, most likely in the form of price locks for a fixed period of time. Powell also noted that FCC's current chairman is tough on deals and tough on decency, and he thinks that it will not just be a rubber-stamping of an approval. According to 24/7 Wall St, this appears to be a far less critical stance than that of the AT&T/Bellsouth merger.

Powell also separately told the New York Times that the deal could get through.

"I do think it could get through, but I don’t think it’s going to be an easy one," Powell said. "It’s going to be incumbent on the companies to demonstrate that the analysis in EchoStar-DirecTV is different."

Michael Powell was the FCC chairman when the EchoStar-DirecTV merger was blocked back in 2002. He is now an advisor to Providence Equity Partners in private equity.

[via 24/7 Wall St]