From the AP:

The FCC voted 3-2 to approve the buyout, with the tiebreaker coming Friday night from Republican commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate.

Tate had insisted that the companies settle charges that they violated FCC rules before she would approve the deal. The companies agreed this week to pay $19.7 million to the U.S. Treasury for violations related to radio receivers and ground-based signal repeaters.

BusinessWeek.com on what has happened over the 17 months that may shape demand for satellite radio:

The state of the economy worsened, forcing folks to think twice about spending on such services as $12.95 a month for radio. Advertising was pinched. And sales of new cars, many that include factory-installed satellite radios, tanked. Meanwhile, products that offer music to listeners, some for free, just kept coming.