NAB pleads for FCC delay, looks for ways to subvert XM / Sirius merger

As the constant battle between the National Association of Broadcasters and nearly everyone else continues on over the potential XM / Sirius merger, the entity is now asking the FCC to put a stop on the 180-day clock for considering the junction. Reportedly, all the NAB wants is "time to go through documents it said it is getting through a Freedom of Information Request filed in March," and it seemingly feels that some of the articles it's still waiting for contain proof of "serious apparent wrongdoing by XM and Sirius executive and senior-level employees regarding the operation of FM modulators / translators and / or terrestrial repeaters." Of note, both of the aforementioned sat radio providers shot back by stating that the NAB's "allegations are unfounded and its recent filing is just an attempt to stall the process." From the outside looking in, we'd say that sounds just about right. [Warning: PDF read link]

[Via BroadcastingCable]

[Cash @ Oct 13th 2007 4:19PM]

The NAB can bite me. If it weren't for their BS, we would have had Sirius here in Alaska by now. Thanks to their injunction, instead we get to listen to their 6 channels of Top 40, 3 of New Country, and 4 of "Classic" rock and adult contemporary. Cuz ya know, that's way better for the Alaskan consumers then say, hundreds of channels of variety programming.

Jackholes.

[Cash @ Oct 14th 2007 5:37PM]

Thought I'd add a little backstory into my gripe for clarity.

Alaska is a closed market because of our location, obviously. As such, we go gaga over any kind of variety in media. The local broadcasters know they have us by the short hairs, as satellite *anything* is both expensive and difficult thanks to the big effing mountain ranges that sit between most of us and the satellites chilling in their geosyncronous orbits above the continental US. Unless any major telecom company decides to launch a new sat to service the more northernly parts of Canada as well as Alaska and possibly Russia, this isn't going to change anytime soon. Because of the demand from residents all over the state (we love to email and send letters) as well as prohibitive costs of putting up said satellite, Sirius took a big step and applied for rights to install repeaters in most of the major cities, as well as a few out in the rural areas we call "The Bush," where a large part of the native population live. If all had gone as planned, the system would have been up by this summer, and of course we were all wetting ourselves in anticipation. Then the local broadcasters and the NAB stepped in, and essentially roadblocked the permit process with the FCC. They argue that since the signal is coming from terestrial repeaters and not from an actual satellite that this method of delivery goes beyond their permitted means, basically claiming that even though the repeaters get their signal from a satellite and then retransmit it, since it is servicing a market that couldn't get the signal straight from the satellite it is actually a terestrial broadcast tower and requires permits as such, which of course Sirius doesn't have. Technically they do have a point, but seeing how they sandwich the whole thing with the declaration that they are doing it to protect the alaskan consumers as Sirius would be charging for a service they couldn't guarantee a quality and reliable signal from because it would only work in areas within range of their repeaters. Yeah thanks NAB... we don't need any favors from you chuckleheads.

It's a stalling tactic so they can take their sweet time rolling out HD radio while keeping prices of receivers at a premium (can someone explain to me why Sirius and XM modules for my stereo cost half to a third as much as HD modules btw? I call major BS on that.) satellite radio being the biggest threat to both currently. The Radio tuner in my stereo crapped out a year ago, but I haven't bothered having it looked because as long as my ipod connector still works, what do I care? Long story short, the repeater permit is still stuck in red tape, classified as being in a "public comment" process. Well the public is commenting, but damned if the FCC is listening to us.

[Nate @ Oct 13th 2007 4:32PM]

Lobbyist at there finest. I wonder how much money the NAB has given to congressman because of this? Corruption and greed shining brightly.

[Andrew @ Oct 13th 2007 4:35PM]

Baba Booey Baba Booey!

[Jonhimslf @ Oct 13th 2007 11:35PM]

As soon as I saw this story I half expected to see someone post that.. haha

[Ramone @ Oct 19th 2007 8:04PM]

Frrrrrrunkis!

[dzap @ Oct 13th 2007 5:20PM]

Will they just give it up already? I have XM and would definitely love the additonal channels Sirius has. And the whole FM broadcasting thing was due to an order by the FCC to do so. I want my XM+Sirius, and the NAB is just getting extremely annoying about it. As much as I love XM, I would like to see a successful merger, as they both are barely standing up by themselves.

[Eric @ Oct 13th 2007 11:50PM]

Having had Sirius in the past, and now an XM subscriber, they both have their place, but the music channels are far superior on XM. Sirius is a lot like the standard pop stations, only without the commercials (perfect place for Howard). XM plays all that stuff that cool girl in the coffee shop has on her iPod, but you never heard of.

[brian @ Oct 13th 2007 5:54PM]

The NAB is the lowest form of life. It is truly pathetic that it's attempting to stop this merger, when it will clearly benefit Sirius and XM subscribers. What is really ironic is that the NAB is arguing that the merger would create a monopoly when what it is really trying to do is stop any kind of competition that threatens terresital radio. David K. Rehr can go F himself!

[Dave Sarnoff @ Oct 13th 2007 7:24PM]

Can we please have some honest debate about this merger.

Senator Kohl. It seems that everytime a lawmaker comes out in opposition of the Sirius-XM merger, they have some level of financial motivation. First there was Arizona's Mike Hubbard, who ended up owning his own radio station, and now it turns out that Senator Herb Kohl has his own financial stake in a terrestrial radio endeavor.

See, Senator Kohl owns the Milwaukee Bucks - here's the public disclosure (PDF). Now normally that's all fine and dandy.

But it turns out that the Milwaukee Bucks have worked out a deal with WTMJ-AM (620) to sell advertising for when their games air.

Previously the Bucks and WTMJ shared that revenue, but with the 2007-2008 season, the Milwaukee Bucks will assume full responsibility for all their broadcast advertising sales.

In short, Senator Kohl directly earns revenue from Bucks broadcasts on WTMJ.

Connect the dots.

Sirius is the exclusive satellite radio broadcaster of the NBA. If XM and Sirius merge, then XM's 8 million subscribers can have access to these NBA games. And a this could put the amount of revenue that Senator Kohl and his company can generate, at risk.

Conflict of interest? You tell me.

[via Yahoo! Finance Sirius message board]
Thanks Brandon!

[Alex @ Oct 13th 2007 7:34PM]

the fact that the NAB has continually been involved in this reeks of panic. Very rarely does it get mentioned that if they are so concerned about a merger obviously it IS NOT a monopoly! It seems pretty rational that if the NAB is spending so much money they are worried about competition, even though they still have 95% of the nation as listeners. Why aren't the larger media outlets doing any reporting on the NAB fighting so hard? Hmmm...

[culbeda @ Oct 13th 2007 9:34PM]

They seem to have no problem letting 5 companies gobble up all of the stations, the homogenization of all programming or the slow, methodical elimination of dissenting political opinion. But heaven forbid two satellite companies merge and form a 12 million national subscriber base so that people can choose what they want to hear. Heaven forbid people no longer have to choose a package based on exclusivity deals with different talent / sports leagues. Heaven forbid people (even in large markets) no longer be subjected to pathetically limited selections. Heaven forbid consumers have a clear choice!

They're scared and for very good reason. They offer next to nothing because they appeal to the lowest common denominator so that they can do it cheaply. The stations that don't make it go Spanish-speaking or Jack FM.

Enough of these clowns. I made the move to Sirius long before Stern announced and I could never go back to terrestrial radio in its current form.

[LC @ Oct 13th 2007 9:40PM]

The big question is why? I haven't seen any print article where a reporter asks a rep from the NAB why they are fighting this. I mean we all know why, but the NAB states that a merger would be a monopoly and that they cannot be considered competitors to Satellite radio. If we take their statement at face value, then why would they give a rats ass about a merger if they feel they are not in competition with Sirius/XM? It would be like the NAB filing petitions to delay Krispy Kreme merging with Dunkin Donuts.

We all know the truth and that is the NAB is scared shitless that another medium besides their commercial laden crap, will be out there for consumers to choose.

[Eric @ Oct 13th 2007 11:46PM]

Well, when you have a monopoly you don't tend to want to let anyone else play in your territory. I used to work with radio station. The GM heard DMX (this was in the early 90s) over the cable system and commented that he was "sure glad it wouldn't work in the car."

I was using a borrowed vehicle for work last week and had to listen to the standard AM/FM band, since I didn't want to bother with moving the XM receiver. I can't believe the commercial blocks, and all the talking. I take back what I said about Martin Goldsmith reading the liner notes on XM Classics. There IS something much more annoying, and it lives on the FM band. I finally get the Family Guy episode where Brian and Stewey have the radio show. I though they were exaggerating for comedic effect. Turns out they were right on the money.

[John Doe @ Oct 14th 2007 12:19AM]

I really wish they and the RIAA would up and fucking die already.

[B @ Oct 14th 2007 1:27AM]

Once again engadget has forced me to fantasize about having the superpower of making large groups of people die in a fire.

[zorg @ Oct 14th 2007 9:10AM]

Nobody *FORCED* you to fantasize about that. You're obviously one of those sicko hippie "listeners" who *likes* to sit around a campfire roasting an NAB lawyer on a spit while singing Kumbayah and paying no royalties. Loser.

Come to think of it, you could do a shishkebab thing where you have a marshmallow, then an NAB guy, then another marshmallow, then an RIAA guy, then a final marshmallow. That would roast up real good. Perv.

[jdrock @ Oct 14th 2007 1:34AM]

Considering the adolescence of satellite radio, a merger may consolidate sat-radio interests enough to garner a larger percentage of listeners from AM/FM, and may in turn actually invite more competing companies in the long-term.

My question is: if "Opie & Anthony" and "The Howard Stern Show" merge, will we hear more lesbian strippers singing 'Chocolate Rain'?

[GhostDoggy @ Oct 14th 2007 5:18AM]

I cannot see how the FCC or any other federal entity provide approval of a merger between these to direct by satellite radio companies. The whole premise for my position is that the FCC already disallowed previous merger attempts between two direct by satellite companies (DirecTV and Dish Networks).

[LC @ Oct 14th 2007 8:24AM]

Actually they can do it quite easily. It is up to their discretion. The FCC has never been known to be consistent in the past as it pertains to how they fine one person for using certain language, but not another for using the same.

Still, the devil may be in the details. I haven't seen the details, but perhaps there were significant variables in the Sat TV merger that are not in the Sat Radio merger that prevented the former from succeeding.

[Alex M @ Oct 14th 2007 9:08AM]

As a Sternfan I'm waiting for this merger to happen...It is bullshit that it hasn't happened because Howard just mentioned something like coors and miller just merged which is also big...

[PakieMak @ Oct 14th 2007 11:10AM]

I would love to have XM and Sirius to marry only if it won't hurt my "life-time" subscription.

1 - XM & Sirius together will open up more opportunities for the consumer. More choices on hand-helds, table radios, vehicles with OEM receivers (some of us don't like clutter) and more stations. Also with this merger, we will be able to get more UN-COMMERCIALIZED stations to choose from.

2 - The merger will also help businesses because now they have a larger audience and with the merger, prices for advertising could stay the same or drop also helping.

3 - It also isn't a monopoly because we have a choice. AM/FM, HD, Satellite, MP3's and CD's.

[dgregory @ Oct 14th 2007 12:39PM]

Wise up, boys! A long time ago in a galaxy far away, a group of businessmen stated sat TV. They promised NO COMMERCIALS if you paid for their product!! Slowly but surely ALL the commercials returned. The same thing is already happening on Sat radio. It's just a matter of time.

[Alex M @ Oct 14th 2007 3:57PM]

Hi. This is Sal Governale. White women...

[Pavan @ Oct 14th 2007 4:37PM]

"Tell them about the merger, Harry!" -Psycho Sunsetter freak-wife.

[Prantha Trivedi @ Oct 14th 2007 4:44PM]

You all have good points! Why not send an email to the FCC commissioners who count? Here are their addresses (from FCC's web site):
---------------------------
How to Contact the FCC:

To Contact the Commissioners via E-mail

Chairman Kevin J. Martin: [e-mail]

Comm'r Michael J. Copps: [e-mail]

Comm'r Jonathan S. Adelstein: [e-mail]

Comm'r Deborah Taylor Tate: [e-mail]

Comm'r Robert McDowell: [e-mail]

[freakshow1 @ Oct 15th 2007 3:51AM]

Howard said it best the other day:
If Satelite radio died tomorrow, would anyone notice, other than the current subscribers? probably not. No one would care. That means no momopoly.

This is such a joke. We have both, and still listen to the local crap.

[OnAFanatic @ Oct 15th 2007 12:29PM]

Frrrrrrrrrrrrunkis!!

(Sorry, after the BaBaBooey comment, I just HAD to do it!)

[cmburnu @ Apr 10th 2008 10:13AM]

..once more..
If you cannot wait to give GM or XM your money or provide them with your credit info, which is a prereqresit, make sure it comes from the MONEY TO GIVE AWAY ACCOUNT.

I'm here to tell you after personal experience with XM that is attributed, apparently to the billing department or someone or another and the "OTHER" account that continues to be referred to as the subscription that wasn't and still isn't, yet remains my accounting "mistake", "mix-up", "misunderstanding", (symantics applied using the template). No matter, when you call XM customer service, who is not customer service at all it is a dead end that repeats over and over, with periods in which you can begin again, having become a total stranger in the process. In the last 19 months and in excess of 25-30 calls to the "call center" that is reached when using the only avenue available, I've landed outside the country 95% of the time.

Prepare yourself, or actually don't, because the template applies here too, documenting, investigating, escalating, mixed with holding & checking, (never less than 45 min., numerous times, HOURS, and I do mean hours)

They don't do a thing. I paid for 2 years in advance and receive THE CALL that seems to be epidemic and does not seem to discern those who paid in advance verses those who are....um, a member of the mixed up mob.

Don't waste your time, 30 years as a reaserch analyst and IT support for Consumer Affairs/Education/Legislative Council, I am patient, tenacious and unrelenting! To date 19 months and counting & I have not let up. It leads one place, to a round robin of nothingness because GM and XM already has your money.

Notwithstanding the GM committment to excellence, if you purchased this garbage that, (lets see what did XM CEO state at the press conference and at the XM website?)....oh yeah, he/they PROMISE that the current equipment will not be obsolete FOR LIFE post merger.

Promises, promises, (excuse me, sir, someone over the past 19 months of my personal experience with GM & XM is a, pardon, Liar mouth! My equipment purchased for substantially more than the current $20 deal I've recently heard something about, didn't last long enough to get dusty. Which was about 8 days after the check was cashed.

Take note; if my account was confused with another account that added a second radio but provided a credit card that couldn't be prosessed....THEN WHY did the six months that XM so graciously waited while giving free service equal nearly 300 dollars???? I am holding, in my copious collection of XM assurances and the like that the "family plan" would give you the 6.99 per month bargain??

If you purchased your equipment in your new car, and so as not to paint with a broad stroke, your new General Motors car, let me enlighten you on the company whose committment is "SERVICE JOB ONE." When you receive the extensive marketing survey complete with the process for dissatisfaction after you call their client relations hot line, so as not to risk ramifications by my statements, I want you to know that another two weeks, three different reps, a call back from Christina, and a letter, I was told after investing yet more time and effort, "I recommend you pose your complaint to XM radio!"

Not surprised, I just wanted to see if the survey was REAL or not and did not expect much. Particularly because, GM customer service told me several times during the fantasy problem resolution process that; "They are them, they have nothing to do with us, and are COMPLETELY SEPERATE!"

I will leave you to check into the distribution deal that represents GM's distribution deal that is base on projected subscription projections. Those projections, that are based on the assumption that of seven or eight million OEM installations, revenue realized upon roll out of new receivers and programming, will cancel out the 'chum' or drop outs. Although, isn't the argument to SEC/FTC that the potential monopoly like scenario will actually be providing 'subscribers' with more for less.

Personally, myself and not an insignificant number of others wonder how it can get better than this.

Unless.......

you call GM service department, specifically, Mike, and ask what the effect of a receiver swap will be to my 45,000 mile, bumper to bumper warranty......which I actually attempted to solicit him to repeat it without success. That was of course after I had identified myself as a disgruntled customer.

In closing, how unhappy did it make me after an attempt to forward me back to the same person that I had started with two weeks prior when I requested we just be honest with one another. I asked to save me from 19 months and one more hour on the phone by asking if another email was sent and another call back was made, if it were done however many times necessary would the subscription or refund have any chance to reach anyone who cared at General Motors, or was this just a call center like XM Radio, someone to take my call who was not connected and had no means to communicate to anyone relevent to the equipment or the subscription that was destined to be LESS THAN useless once the remaining dedicated radio programs are handed out.

I don't mind saying in consideration of the arrangements for the new folks handling the business accounts for XM, it seems appropriate to present a paying "subscriber?" such as myself, something that is equally recognized and appreciated. Like, I don't know, why don't you two save yourself a small chunk of those multi-millions you are throwing about in an effort to one day, (or not), legally claim yourself as a "profitable" business, hardy har. I know I'd appreciate if this last many months I didn't believe their was anyone to call.
----much like the regulatory agencies who closed the investigation into marketing, refund, unfair....blah blah.....what a joke~~

h." who had just discovered that the people I had been talking with from GM customer service
are on the market with the great new additions