Washington – SiriusXM leased out 13
full-time audio channels on a 24/7 basis to other companies to fulfill a merger
condition imposed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
Channel leasing was one of
multiple conditions imposed by the FCC when it approved the Sirius-XM merger in
2008. Other conditions included a la carte service plans, family-friendly
service plans, and a
, which expires July 28 unless the FCC chooses to extend, remove or
modify the cap.
The FCC said it imposed the requirement
to lease out 4 percent of the company’s full-time channels to “help ensure
consumers have programming options available to them on issues unique to their
communities.”
Under lease agreements approved
by Sirius XM, consumers will get access to content of interest to blacks, Latinos,
Koreans, and Mormons.
The lease holders consist of
Howard University, which gets two channels on Sirius and two on XM to provide
music and talk programming for African Americans; BYU Radio, which gets one
channel on Sirius and one on XM for Mormon music and talk programming; Eventus/National
Latino Broadcasting , which gets one channel on Sirius and one on XM for Spanish-language
talk programming and one channel on each for Spanish-language music
programming; WorldBand Media, which gets one channel on Sirius and one on XM
for Spanish-language talk programming; and KTV Radio, which gets one XM channel
for Koran-language music and talk programming.
