The Kansas City Star has an article on why the Sirius-XM merger is bad idea. And while columnist Steven Pearlstein paints a bit of a doomsday scenario, he does make a good argument as to the ramifications involved if the merger should go through.

First the doomsday scenario: Clear Channel will buy every radio station it possibly can, Apple will buy companies that challenge the its dominance, Comcast will merge with Time Warner, and CBS/NBC will merge. All because the FCC/DOJ would determine that the digital marketplace provides enough competition.

While slightly over-dramatic, it's a valid point he's trying to illustrate, and probably the most compelling one against the merger. Precedence. What precedence does allowing this merger set for other media companies? It's the future implications that likely will be a major consideration with regulators. If we take distribution out of the picture (remove the "satellite" from "satellite radio"), then what's prevent CBS/NBC from claiming that YouTube provides significant competition? What's to stop Clear Channel from claiming competition from the iPod?

This will definitely be a mental hurdle that will need to be considered.

[Kansas City Star]