We live in exciting times. But that alone isn't going to get the FCC to give the merger between XM Satellite Radio (NASDAQ:XMSR) and Sirius (NASDAQ:SIRI) its stamp of approval.

What Tim seems to be forgetting in dismissing the FCC's takedown of DirecTV and EchoStar's Dish in 2002 is that video delivery was pretty vibrant back then. You had cable giants such as Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA). You had your friendly neighborhood Blockbuster (NYSE:BBI) to satisfy your celluloid fix. You had VCRs. The DVD-player boom was in its infancy. Competition for your eyeballs was fierce then, probably far more cutthroat than the battle in 2007 for your ears.

Tim thinks the real reason that Clear Channel is struggling and opted to punch out is Google (NASDAQ:GOOG), but he's not fooling you. You know that the 13.6 million listeners that XM and Sirius have landed are the most desirable ones. They spend enough time soaking up spacey beams to justify paying nearly $13 a month for radio. The advertisers haven't turned their back on terrestrial radio because of Google's digital prowess. They have turned to XM and Sirius because that's where they find the listeners who have a proven predisposition to be free with their disposable income.

No one is paying for terrestrial radio, HD radio, and most Internet stations. XM and Sirius are the ones cornering the market when it comes to premium audio programming. Companies such as Audible (NASDAQ:ADBL) and RealNetworks (NASDAQ:RNWK) have thriving audio subscription services serving niche segments, but they are no match for the girth of the two satellite-radio stars that can pay the likes of Howard Stern and Oprah Winfrey tens of millions a year for their voices.

I still believe that the market for premium audio is limited. The next time Tim wants to see The Hunt for Red October, all he has to do is pull up a Sirius or XM income statement. He'll find all the red he needs there. Still, I just can't conceive of the FCC signing off on a combination of the only two companies licensed to broadcast satellite radio.

It's as simple as Monopoly. Go back three spaces? Go back five years. History repeats, my friend.

XM is a former recommendation in the Rule Breakers newsletter service.

Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz has been a Sirius satellite subscriber since 2004 and an XM subscriber since 2006. He does not own shares in any of the companies in this story. He is also part of the Rule Breakers newsletter research team, seeking out tomorrow's ultimate growth stocks a day early. The Fool has a disclosure policy.