NAB, FCC RESPOND TO SATCASTER MERGER Jeffrey Yorke – Radio and Records Not unexpected, the Sirius Satellite Radio/XM Satellite Radio deal was met with immediate resistance from the powerful National Association of Broadcasters.
“Given the government's history of opposing monopolies in all forms, NAB would be shocked if federal regulators permitted a merger of XM and Sirius. It bears mentioning that regulators summarily rejected a similar monopoly merger of the nation's only two satellite television companies -- DirecTV and DISH Network -- just a few years back,” NAB Executive VP Dennis Wharton said.
"When the FCC authorized satellite radio, it specifically found that the public would be served best by two competitive nationwide systems. Now, with their stock prices at rock bottom and their business model in disarray because of profligate spending practices, they seek a government bail-out to avoid competing in the marketplace,” Wharton continued.
"In coming weeks, policymakers will have to weigh whether an industry that makes Howard Stern its poster child should be rewarded with a monopoly platform for offensive programming,” Wharton said. “We’re hopeful that this anti-consumer proposal will be rejected."
NAB has lobbied hard both Congress and the FCC to keep the two satcasters to national-only service when each has asked for additional terrestrial repeater networks. The NAB-backed "Local Emergency Radio Service Preservation Act of 2007," introduced into Congress on Feb. 12, proposes to keep satcasters focused on their “national-only licenses” while declaring local radio broadcast stations "an important source of local news and weather programming."
FCC chairman Kevin Martin issued his own statement late Monday (Feb. 19):
"Obviously the Commission will evaluate any transaction filed to make a determination whether or not approval would be in the public interest. The hurdle here, however, would be high as the Commission originally prohibited one company from holding the only two satellite radio licenses. The companies would need to demonstrate that consumers would clearly be better off with both more choice and affordable prices." |