In a followup to the story we did back in mid-January, we can now say the talks have concluded, agreements have been made and the two biggest people in media, Howard Stern (Sirius) and Oprah Winfrey (XM) will share a mic.

That’s right folks, Sirius and XM-Satellite Radio, the company that we here at Slice of SciFi are affiliated with and where you can hear our show every week, has just completed a $13 billion merger that will allow subscribers from each company to enjoy the content of both. That means that once this merger goes through, Slice of SciFi will double our audience to 14 million subscribers just on satellite radio alone, not including our internet and FM audience.

One service will now be offered for both platforms which, once the merger gains final approval, will go into effect immediately. The target date for final approval and completion of the merger is December 2007. One obstacle in the way is the government. FCC chairman Kevin Martin said the two companies face a significant burden to prove the deal benefits consumers. The hurdle here “would be high, as the commission originally prohibited one company from holding the only two satellite radio licenses,” said Martin. “The companies would need to demonstrate that consumers would clearly be better off with both more choice and affordable prices.”

“There is a standard, and it’s a public-interest standard, and we believe this combination meets it,” Mel Karmazin, Sirius CEO said. “We will be able to give people a great deal of choice. The ability to combine will allow great value creation for shareholders.”

One of these days, maybe, just maybe, government bureaucracies will realize the rest of us have moved on to the 21st Century and perhaps it is time for them and their antiquated policies to do the same.

Here is how the business end of this agreement breaks down. Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin would become chief executive of the combined company, and XM chairman Gary Parsons would remain as chairman. Hugh Pandero, XM’s current chief exec, will remain in that position only until the merger is completed.

The “proposed merger is an acknowledgment that the satcasters don’t compete against each other so much as they do against terrestrial radio, iPods, cell phones, HD Radio, Internet radio and any number of other entertainment services that have burgeoned since the first satellite radio licenses were granted a decade ago,” stated Michael Learmouth and William Triplett of the Variety trade paper.

Industry sources all agree that the key to satellite radio’s survival is not with targeting one another but in trying to convince the 95% of the market not subscribing to pay $12.95 a month for radio, the trade went on to say.

“The fact is these companies are competing, and the consumers are not beneficiaries,” Karmazin said in a recent interview discussing the merger agreement. “If we got all (XM’s) subscribers, that would not make our company profitable because of the nature of the fixed costs. We need to get more subscribers into satellite radio.”

The plan is not applauded by everyone in the industry. Opposition from the National Assn. of Broadcasters is high and they would like to see the FCC block the merger citing the government office’s blocking of the DirecTV and Dish merger in the past.

“When the FCC authorized satellite radio, it specifically found that the public would be served best by two competitive nationwide systems. Now, with their stock prices at rock bottom and their business model in disarray because of profligate spending practices, they seek a government bail-out to avoid competing in the marketplace,” said NAB exec VP Dennis Wharton in a statement.

“Policymakers will have to weigh whether an industry that makes Howard Stern its poster child should be rewarded with a monopoly platform for offensive programming. We’re hopeful that this anticonsumer proposal will be rejected.”

In their opposing arguments representatives from XM and Sirius will show how business conditions have changed since 1997, a fact that even former FCC chairman Reed Hundt has stated is a fact.

“You can buy an iPod and download music and then plug it into your car. How is that different from satellite radio?” Hunt recently told the New York Times. “I think we did the right thing to begin with. You wouldn’t want to change it if it weren’t for the fact that it is so obvious that you can get content in so many different ways. That wasn’t really true then.”

The merger won’t necessarily be all bed and roses. Separately each comapny uses conflicting satellite technologies to send out their signal to customers which will have to be addressed, renewed contract negotiations may have to be placed on the table for the on-air talent each company has once the two become one, and while subscribers will get a broader range of selectability in their programming, cuts may ensue that will see some of their favorites disappear from the airwaves due to redundancy in content.

[Michael Learmouth & William Triplett of Variety contributed to this article]