JUSTIC DEPT APPROVES SIRIUS, XM MERGER

[genlock]

Spelling not corrected from Drudge.

[Ace Purple]

From the AP: The Justice Department has approved Sirius Satellite Radio's $5 billion buyout of rival XM Satellite Radio.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id ... _article=1

[SPIKE NESMITH!]

Man, there just ain't no justic in the world.

[Ace Purple]

It's worth noting that the deal still needs FCC approval.

[Force Commander]

It's worth noting that the deal still needs FCC approval.

True, but the FCC is expected to follow DOJ's lead.

Broadcasters are going to have to sue to stop this, perhaps the FCC itself. The FCC licensed this as a NATIONAL service. Already their terrestrial repeater give local weather and traffic in some markets. In an engineering post XM had lost a new satellite upon launch. I thought the company is about dead and bankrupt without the merger. Mark my words, if this goes though you will see regional channels, then state, and eventually large market local.

If radio doesn't draw the line in the sand it deserves what it gets. Viewers have proven they don't mind paying for TV, radio on a large scale can't be far behind.

Maybe radio owners will start to see the writing on the wall and start going more LOCAL with their programming.......sorry I was daydreaming for a moment. I realize that won't happen until it's almost too late.

[Hoosier Daddy]

Spelling not corrected from Drudge.

Typical Drudge. Don't get it right, get it first.

[AmpedNow]

Orbitcast has the text of the DOJ's statement.

...The Division reached this conclusion because the evidence did not show that the merger would enable the parties to profitably increase prices to satellite radio customers for several reasons, including: a lack of competition between the parties in important segments even without the merger; the competitive alternative services available to consumers; technological change that is expected to make those alternatives increasingly attractive over time; and efficiencies likely to flow from the transaction that could benefit consumers.

The Division's investigation indicated that the parties are not likely to compete with respect to many segments of the satellite radio business even in the absence of the merger. Because customers must acquire equipment that is specialized to the satellite radio service to which they subscribe, and which cannot receive the other provider's signal, there has never been significant competition for customers who have already subscribed to one or the other service...

Interesting take... Never thought of that.

Broadcasters are going to have to sue to stop this, perhaps the FCC itself.

Um, on what grounds?

Lord knows the NAB has made numerous cases to the FCC to stop it. But it still didn't convince them.

The FCC licensed this as a NATIONAL service.

Yes.

Already their terrestrial repeater give local weather and traffic in some markets.

Of some markets... That can be heard nationally.

Urban repeaters simulcast the sat signal 100% of the time. There is nothing illegal about that.

Mark my words, if this goes though you will see regional channels, then state, and eventually large market local.

Heck, they could do that now...

As for "regional" programming, XM has simulcasted WLW for about 2 years.

The thing that actually surprises me is there appears to be little to no concessions to be made by the new company.

Wonder if they will change the name...

[Lester]

Don't get it right, get it first.

The 22 Immutable Rules of Marketing. If you haven't read it yet, I highly recommend it.

[Arp2]

Broadcasters are going to have to sue to stop this, perhaps the FCC itself.

Um, on what grounds?

The spectrum exists for two competing providers. That was the offer made, the offer accepted, and the offer agreed to.

If this goes through, somebody's gonna have to explain the DirecTV/Dish decision again...and, of course, all the SyndEx and other laws that stop cable and satellite companies from giving customers whatever TV they want from wherever they want.

How there can be even the possibility of such a massive difference in the treatment of radio and TV is beyond me.

Don't get it right, get it first.

The 22 Immutable Rules of Marketing. If you haven't read it yet, I highly recommend it.

Although it's certainly not bad to be first, the "First In The Brain Wins" rule has been being undermined by reality....I mean, Best Buy wasn't the first national electronics retailer, Costco wasn't the first warehouse club, iPod wasn't the first portable music player, and Google wasn't exactly the first search engine!

On the other hand, one might argue that "selection," "surprise," "capacity," and "comprehensiveness" created new categories. On top of that, Best Buy put the electronics and the content under one roof, Costco gave warehouses upscale appeal, iPod added the idea of "fashion accessory," and Google...well, Google seems to be trying to be God.

[AmpedNow]

http://www.orbitcast.com/archives/nab-i ... iusxm.html

NAB is "astonished" by DOJ approval of Sirius/XM

Monday, March 24, 2008 at 5:56 PM

NAB vs Satellite Radio

The National Association of Broadcasters is disgusted. They're hurt. They're angry! And quite possibly even... astonished!

"We are astonished that the Justice Department would propose granting a monopoly to two companies that systematically broke FCC rules for more than a decade. To hinge approval of this monopoly on XM and Sirius's refusal to deliver on a promise of interoperable radios is nothing short of breathtaking."

That's the statement issued by the NAB following the DOJ's approval of the Sirius-XM merger.

What's even more astonishing is the NAB's reasoning for expressing such dismay: breaking FCC rules and under delivering on promises. C'mon, is that the best you've got Dennis? You've had 400 days to prepare for this moment... and you give us that?

Wait... have any radio stations broken any FCC rules? Like maybe... indecency rules? Using your logic, all those nasty rule-breakers shouldn't be allowed to merge either. I'm sure your members would love to hear that bit of knowledge.

The NAB should stick to calling bloggers "nattering" instead, it's far more effective.

I would like to know how XM and Sirius have violated FCC regulations for "more than a decade", considering they didn't hit the air until 2001 and 2002, respectively...

If this goes through, somebody's gonna have to explain the DirecTV/Dish decision again...and, of course, all the SyndEx and other laws that stop cable and satellite companies from giving customers whatever TV they want from wherever they want.

I couldn't care less if Direct/Dish were to merge.

It would also be nice to see that stupid, anti-consumer TV market law be repealed, instead of expecting people to spend a bunch of money putting up a big, ugly antenna in order to get network programming from toilet bowls passing for TV stations. (You know who you are...) Why don't they really come out and say how much they hate their audience...

There is no way that the public would stand for such a backward, protectionist, anti-consumer law if they really knew how sinister it is.

Anyway, that's another topic, but maybe the merger controversy will bring these rulings to light.

[Force Commander]

The FCC licensed this as a NATIONAL service.

Yes.

Already their terrestrial repeater give local weather and traffic in some markets.

Of some markets... That can be heard nationally.

Urban repeaters simulcast the sat signal 100% of the time. There is nothing illegal about that....

I hate to disagree K-Rock, but urban repeater in large markets do not simulcast 100%. Local weather and traffic in some markets are already happening. Regional and local across the country from the bird is on it's way in larger markets I'm sure. If they license as a national service, that is what they should be. If they want to be local, but a local station (or 6 lol).

[AmpedNow]

http://www.orbitcast.com/archives/bosto ... us-xm.html

Boston talker gets bleeped talking about Sirius, XM

Tuesday, March 25, 2008 at 10:54 AM

Howie Carr
Apparently Entercom is real serious about not mentioning Sirius or XM on the air, because it's being reported that an afternoon talker was bleeped when mentioning the news about the companies yesterday.

According to Radio-Info, regionally syndicated afternoon talker Howie Carr was bleeped when reading the news about the DOJ's approval (from the Drudge Report Matt-Drudge-Valuation Jan-08 apparently).

Carr supposedly was discussing the merger news on air, saying "Justice Department approves [EDIT]. That's good." Then later Carr said to his producer: "Did you cut that out? I can't report the news?"

More and more it's the corporate regulations - not the FCC mandated indecency regulations - that are crippling broadcasters from doing their job. This is a perfect example.

[AmpedNow]

I hate to disagree K-Rock, but urban repeater in large markets do not simulcast 100%. Local weather and traffic in some markets are already happening. Regional and local across the country from the bird is on it's way in larger markets I'm sure. If they license as a national service, that is what they should be. If they want to be local, but a local station (or 6 lol).

The only thing that would come close to this is XM's NavTraffic service, which integrates with GPS to bring real-time traffic flow speeds and accident sites in metro areas on-screen.

Otherwise, I can tune in weather/traffic reports for select cities on both XM and Sirius channels anywhere in the country, not just in those cities.

There's the loophole... It's been in use since 2004. This is nothing new.

But, the allegations that they use their repeaters to broadcast different content from the sats is simply not true. It is blatant misinformation. The current technology doesn't allow for it, as the receivers are not programmed to decipher the sat and ter signals for completely separate content.

Besides, they are strictly forbidden to do so, even if they wanted to.

If the NAB wants to bring up all of these mass violations going back a freaking decade, then we're right back to the whole "glass houses" thing...

[genlock]

Some Garmin GPS units offer voice traffic and road conditions via somebodys subcarrier and other things via a datacast. I don't think they are available here.

[Hoosier Daddy]

If the NAB wants to bring up all of these mass violations going back a freaking decade, then we're right back to the whole "glass houses" thing...

Now that's never stopped the NAB from complaining before ...

<cough> Translators <cough> and LPFM <cough>