Copps Skeptical On Satellite Radio Merger, Tribune Deal

Michael Copps

MICHAEL COPPS has weighed in on the XM-SIRIUS merger and the TRIBUNE buyout, and in both cases the FCC Commissioner has voiced skepticism. COPPS, at a press briefing FRIDAY, said, "Somebody's going to have to make a pretty powerful and potent demonstration that it serves the public interest" before he would vote to approve the satellite merger, adding that what he's seen in the public record has "not shown me that it serves the public interest." 

On the TRIBUNE deal, COPPS called the possibility of his voting to approve the deal "a steep climb for me given my history on consolidation." But he rejected the idea that the Commission's current reconsideration of cross-ownership bans means that the existing prohibitions shouldn't be applied to the deal as it stands today. COPPS declined to specifically reveal how he will vote in either matter.

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