Tuesday, shareholders will vote on the proposed $13 billion merger between Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. and XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. They are expected to approve the deal, which was announced in February. The real concern, however, is the hiccup that may come when it's time to get approval from the Department of Justice and the Federal Communications Commission. So it's always nice when a former chairman of one of these regulatory agencies steps up to back your deal. Reed Hundt (right), who served as chairman of the FCC from 1993 through 1997, went on the record announcing his approval of the deal in an interview filed with the FCC.

In the last year of Hundt's tenure, the FCC granted licenses to XM and Sirius on the condition they never combine to create a potential satellite radio monopoly. Hundt now says the deal would be "pro-competitive in all likelihood" and that the "two firms have proved when kept apart to be incapable of mounting the really serious competition against ... terrestrial radio." He goes on to say that issuing the licenses and creating certain rules were part of a trial period to see how the firms would fair. The market has changed over the past 10 years, he continues, and satellite radio is a necessary competitor to AM/FM radio. — Baz Hiralal

Read more of Hundt's analysis here

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