Jesse Jackson speaks out against the Sirius / XM merger
By Nilay Patel 
posted November 1st 2007 7:59AM
posted November 1st 2007 7:59AM
The proposed Sirius / XM merger has always ruffled a few feathers at the NAB (and the NAB has certainly ruffled back), but it's another thing entirely when a national political figure like Jesse Jackson comes out opposed to the deal. Jackson, who spoke at the FCC hearings on the merger yesterday, said that allowing Sirius and XM to combine would essentially create a monopoly in the satellite radio market, eliminating the potential for diverse ownership and possibly squelching minority voices on the dial. Control of the media has always been a hot-button issue for activists of all stripes, and we can certainly see why Jackson would oppose such a merger on those grounds, but another organizations with a similar agenda, the NAACP, has actually issued statements supporting the merger, saying that combined, XM / Sirius would ""strengthen its commitment to diversity." It's obviously a thorny issue with a lot of viewpoints, so please -- let's keep the comments civil, shall we?
Does that symbol remind anyone else of a warning sign for a drunken dog with gas?
come on this guy got paid off to say that he is a high profile person and its clear that groups are spending RIDICULOUS amounts of money just to stop this merger ... there is so many other forms of entertainment that compete with sirius/xm and normal radio its not just ONE thing and whats so bad about competition why are they freaking out NOW they just wanna be a thorn in Howard Sterns ass what happen to all of the fines that were going to be given out by the FCC NOTHING!!! Every freaking day there is something THEY consider bad escaping onto the airwaves but they dont do shit about it but if Stern was under their market they would no doubt go after it FUCK THE FCC GET THIS MERGER GOING!!
How dare they be guilted into giving this race hustler/ poverty pimp a say in the matter.
I'm sorry but when someone with THEIR OWN RADIO SHOW speaks up on this, I give them no credibility:
http://www.keephopealiveradio.com/index.html
What is his incentive in keeping this merger from going through, could it be his crappy radio show?
Do we really think Jesse has everyone's best interest in mind? Of course not he is a paid shill and doesn't want to lose his show on Clear Channel stations. Money > NAACP
http://www.clearchannel.com/Radio/PressRelease.aspx?PressReleaseID=462
His list of radio stations:
CITY STATE CALL LETTERS FREQUENCY TIME
New York NY WWPR-FM 105.1 FM Sun. 8-9am
Los Angeles CA KTLK-AM 1150 AM Sun. 6-7pm
Chicago IL WGRB-AM 1390 AM Sun. 7-8am
Philadelphia PA WDAS-FM 105.3 FM Sun. 8-9am
San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose CA KMEL-FM 106.1 FM Sun. 5-6am
Washington DC WWRC-AM 1260 AM Sun. 8-9am
Atlanta GA WGST-AM 640 AM Sun. 8-9am
Detroit MI WDTW-AM 1310 AM Sun. 11-12pm
Montgomery AL WAPZ 1250 AM Sun. 7-8AM
Houston TX KPRC-AM 950 AM Sun. 7-8am
Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota FL WBTP-FM 95.7 FM Sat. 6-7am
Cleveland OH WARF-AM 1400 AM Sun. 8-9am
Miami, Ft. Lauderdale FL WINZ-AM 940 AM Sun. 11-12pm
Denver CO KKZN-AM 760 AM Sun. 3-4pm
St. Louis MO KATZ-AM 1600 AM Sun. 6-7pm
Portland OR KPOJ-AM 620 AM Sun. 5-6am
San Diego CA KLSD-AM 1360 AM Sun. 2-3pm
Hartford, New Haven CT WAVZ-AM 1300 AM Sun. 8-9am; Sun. 1-2pm
Cincinnati OH WCKY-AM 1530 AM Sun. 8-9am
Columbus OH WTPG-AM 1230 AM Sun. 5-12pm
San Antonio TX KSJL-AM 810 AM Sat. 12-1pm
Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Battle Creek MI WJNZ-AM 1140 AM Sun. 8-9am
Norfolk, Portsmouth, Newport News VA WKUS-FM 105.3 FM Sun. 8-9am
Oklahoma City OK KRMP-AM 1140 AM Sun. 2-3pm
Tulsa OK KGTO-AM 1050 AM Sun. 2-3pm
Flint, Saginaw, Bay City MI WOWE-FM 98.9 FM Sun. 8-9am
Syracuse NY WPHR-FM 106.9 FM Sun. 8-9am
Madison WI WXXM-FM 92.1 FM Sun. 5-12pm
Savannah GA WLVH-FM 101.1 FM Sun. 8-9am
Charleston SC WJNI-FM 106.3 FM Sun. 8-9am
Santa Barbara, Santa Maria, SLO CA KVEC-AM 920 AM Sun. 5-6am
Santa Barbara, Santa Maria, SLO CA KTMS-AM 990 AM Sun. 5-6am
Santa Barbara, Santa Maria, SLO CA KSMA-AM 1240 AM Sun. 5-6am
Wichita Falls, TX, -Lawton OK KKRX-AM 1050 AM Sun. 2-3pm
Albany GA WJIZ-FM 96.3 FM Sun. 8-9am
Wheeling, WV, Steubenville OH WWVA-AM 1170 AM Sun. 8-9am
Monopoly? No competion? We are talkign about TWO companies out of the filed of TWO competitors who were both not making much money if at all. So they merge in order to survive. Yet people are worried? Who!? Subscribers aren't miffed and the smaller package are more tempting.
Satellite Radio is part of the larger radio marketplace. To say that the merger would reduce diversity is like saying two random radio stations across the country merging would somehow reduce diversity. There's umpteen thousand terrestrial, satellite, and internet broadcasts out there. Two of them don't make a big difference.
Jesse Jackson's comments on this merger are a plain joke. As others have said, he clearly has an agenda of his own because of his radio show on ClearChannel stations. Sad, for someone who supposedly has the respect of many.
What topic does this attention whore NOT get involved in, because that will be my new favorite topic.
what does jesse jackson even do for a living? I don't think you can make money just being an activist.
You can make *lots* of money by just being an activist.
jesse jackson doesn't care about black people.
He should be speaking out on why there isn't a single dual XM/Sirius Radio out yet since their merger.
I can't prove it, but I suspect my car stereo may be racist...
When Jesse Jackson speaks, all I hear are crickets.
Satellite radio is not a necessity it's a luxury. Where is the monopoly on that?
Fuck him. And terrestrial radio. And exactly what everyone else is saying. He's a RACIST. As is Al Sharpton
"what does jesse jackson even do for a living? I don't think you can make money just being an activist."
Jesse is a shakedown artist, not an activist. He runs his mouth, or threatens to run his mouth and companies pay him to shut up. Jesse and his family do very well for themselves because people are scared to death of being painted as a racist.
I'm black and I can tell you that Jesse Jackson is no representative of mine. I never elected him and nor would I have if given the opportunity.
I fully support the XM/Sirius merger because as a Sirius shareholder it benefits me directly. Which more than I can say for Jesse the shakedown artist!
i am the 69th comment!!!!!
Unless KFC is handing out RoadyXTs or something, I doubt he's ever heard SatRad! I now turn your attention to Chris Rock's "Black People vs. N.gg.rs".
Perhaps the XM/Sirius merger would create a monopoly in the satellite radio market. Think about what that means, though: virtually nothing. Satellite radio is just one of scores of outlets competing for our entertainment dollar and is a luxury, not a necessity. Nobody is forced to subscribe. For those of us that do subscribe, the implications are nothing but positive: more diverse programming and lower cost as a result of less overhead. National political figures should be spending their time addressing more important issues like...anything else.
does everything have to revolve around how minorities will be affected? this is a desperate platform- even for mr. jackson...
Jesse Jackson is a terrorist and must be stopped.
I guess when jessie jackson is against some thing then its a good bet that he either has not been paid off,or the thing he is against is a very good thing that should be approved.
Also who is the only monopolyhere.Its regular radio.Lets face it,these idiots have 90 percent of the market.I just hope they didn,t pull a chinese trick and pay off the fcc or who ever.But I am sure they did.but did they pay off the right people.
Who is this moron kevin martin think he is.Maybe he wants the chinese to start a satellite radio after he trys to put sirius ans xm out of bussiness.