Sirius, XM Predict Deal by Year-End

XM Satellite Radio (XMSR Quote - Cramer on XMSR - Stock Picks) and Sirius (SIRI Quote - Cramer on SIRI - Stock Picks) say they see merger approval ahead.

The satellite pay radio companies say they have provided federal antitrust regulators with all the additional information that had been requested in a second round of inquiry. The companies say they are cooperating with the Justice Department in the merger review.

Regulators are reviewing the companies' documents and internal communications to determine if the only two satellite broadcasters face enough competition from other media outlets and devices to justify a combination.

Some Washington regulatory watchers and Wall Street observers have been pessimistic about the chances of a successful merger review. The biggest hurdle is in the antitrust arena, say these observers. Regulators need to find that conventional radio, iPods and other entertainment services represent a significantly competitive market for satellite radio.

The companies have attempted to ease competitive concerns by promising lower priced packages that combine programming from both operations.

Both companies say in the filings that they expect the proposed merger to be "consummated by the end of 2007."

XM shares rose 13 cents to $12.85 and Sirius was up 3 cents to $3.04 in premarket trading Wednesday.