Washington D.C. – The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) asked the FCC to stop satellite radio broadcasters Sirius and XM from transmitting metro-area weather and traffic reports.
The FCC wants responses to the petition sent to its office before June 4. Replies to those responses are due before June 21.
NAB filed a petition for declaratory ruling to prohibit satellite radio services “from using any technology to permit the delivery of content that would be aired on a receiver in one location that differs from the content that would be aired on a receiver in a different location,” and prohibit satellite radio broadcasters “from providing locally oriented services on nationally distributed channels.”
Alternatively, NAB asked the FCC to reopen satellite-radio licensing proceeding to evaluate the impact of these services on local broadcasters, the FCC said.
XM and Sirius launched weather and traffic channels in the first quarter for select markets. Sirius devotes 10 channels to the service, and reports for two markets are aired in each channel. For example, continuously updated reports for Los Angeles and New York are broadcast on channel 150. XM dedicates a single channel to a particular region’s reports. Both companies said they rely on traffic reports generated by aircraft, traffic cameras, ground reporters and other sources.
