NAB Asks FCC To Dismiss XM-Sirius Merger Application
By Amy Gilroy -- TWICE, 8/28/2007
New York — The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) asked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to dismiss the application for XM and Sirius to merge.
The request was made in a reply to the FCC’s call for comments on a 1997 “rule” stating that one DAR licensee will not be permitted to acquire control of the other.
XM and Sirius argue that the rule was simply a “policy statement reflecting the Commission’s understanding of competition in 1997.”
The NAB argued that the FCC should dismiss the merger application based on the statement.
Also today, XM and Sirius accused the NAB of misrepresenting the views of congressmen, Toyota and public groups in its comments to the FCC.
The NAB sent a letter of apology to the FCC this month for “erroneously” claiming Representatives John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) and Steve Chabot (R-Ohio) were opposed to the Sirius-XM merger. The representatives had “raised questions about the merger” but were not necessarily opposed to it, said the letter.
XM and Sirius said Toyota also claimed the NAB mischaracterized its comments.
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Actually it IS different. Echostar and DirecTV were competing with another pay service, so the consumer was already expecting to pay for it. They were also "the only game in town" in many rural areas.
XM and Sirius are competing against radio, which is free so there will be a limit to what consumers will pay. And has AM/FM radio a signal that is MUCH easier to acquire than cable TV. AM/FM tuners are ubiquitous and all but the most remote areas are able to get FM reception which can have about 2 times the coverage range of TV signals. This is in no way comparable to the Echostar / DirecTV merger.
And with "a la carte" programming, people would be able to get their favorites from both XM AND Sirius and still pay less than they would for one subscription, nevermind two. Not to mention they would only need to buy one tuner instead of two for an additional $200 in savings. This would be a blessing for consumers, not a curse.
Jason Brown - 2007-4-9 07:50:00 EDT -
I do some work with NAB and just wanted to add that not only are there rules forbidding a monopoly in satellite radio, but not too long ago EchoStar and DirecTV were blocked from forming a monopoly in satellite TV. This case is not much different -- a monopoly is a monopoly.
Chinook - 2007-29-8 15:40:00 EDT
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