U.S. government antitrust lawyers have spent nearly 10 months so far investigating Sirius Satellite Radio's plan to acquire rival XM Satellite Radio Holdings, despite company hopes that the deal would be approved by the end of 2007.

The delay may be due to the complexity of the issues raised by the merger of the only two U.S. satellite radio companies--or because the Department of Justice is putting together a case to block the deal in federal court, analysts at Stifel Nicolaus said in a research note on Thursday...

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For the past year, XM and Sirius have been negotiating with the record labels to establish new performance and royalty fee rates. The CRB, a government agency under the authority of the Library of Congress, today issued a ruling establishing the rates for both satcasters through 2012. The rates the broadcasters pay will be based upon gross revenue generated from subscription fees and certain ad revenue.

More information can be found in the press release found at XMRadio.com