The US regulators have agreed to conditionally approve the merger between the only two satellite radio providers in the US, Sirius and XM - and they will pay millions of dollars to settle allegations of past violations on their part.

They will pay $19 million to the FCC to settle compliance issues involving certain radios that include FM transmitters and repeater stations. The new agreement will allow the two companies clear a regulatory marathon after the merger was announced over a year ago, in February 2007.

It will also see the unification of big names like Oprah Winfrey and Howard Stern under both providers, which has been criticized for being anti-competitive by the radio industry.