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Former FCC Chairman, Mark Fowler, Calls for Approval of Satellite Radio Merger
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| Former FCC Chairman, Mark Fowler, Calls for Approval of Satellite Radio Merger
- Click HERE to go to the original thread with graphics
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| pluckinstrings |
Chides Broadcast Lobbyists for Opposing Increased Competition in the Audio Entertainment Market
WASHINGTON and NEW YORK, Sept. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- XM Satellite Radio XMSR and SIRIUS Satellite Radio SIRI today announced the support of Former FCC Chairman, Mark Fowler, for their pending merger.
"We are extremely pleased to receive support from one of the most highly regarded thought leaders in the communications industry," said Gary Parsons, Chairman of XM, and Mel Karmazin, CEO of SIRIUS, in a joint statement. "As the longest serving Chairman of the FCC in our nation's history, Mr. Fowler has had a lasting impact on global communications. His backing of this merger further illustrates the benefits a combined SIRIUS and XM will bring to audio entertainment consumers."
Since the FCC opened its docket on the merger, more than 4,300 individuals have filed in support of combining the two companies. The FCC docket also includes positive comments from over 30 organizations and businesses, representing a broad spectrum of Americans.
The text of Mr. Fowler's opinion piece, published today in the New York Sun, reads as follows:
As chairman of the Federal Communications Commission in 1981, I was
visited by a lobbyist for the broadcast industry. Over-the-air
broadcasters vehemently opposed the FCC's authorization of Direct
Broadcast Satellite television services, and the lobbyist quickly launched
into his preamble: "We are all for competition, Mr. Chairman, but... "
Meaning, "forget what I said up to the word 'but,' and now listen
carefully..."
In observing the broadcasters' intense negative reaction to the proposed
merger of the two satellite radio companies, XM and SIRIUS, it struck me
that little has changed in 26 years. Each year, the skies over Washington
darken as the Lear jets bring industry lobbyists to the latest battlefront
against competition and its offshoot -- mergers that enhance competition.
In 1981, we were only beginning to envision the possibilities of
satellite-delivered entertainment media services. Twenty-six years later,
we live in an entertainment media marketplace that features a striking --
and exciting -- competitive dynamic beyond anything we could have
envisioned. Although traditional over-the-air radio remains the most
dominant audio entertainment platform, continued technological innovation
has forced broadcasters to confront that they must offer better service
and more choices to consumers if they are to compete and survive.
Satellite radio offers a perfect example of the phenomenon. Although it is
a relatively nascent service, launched a little more than five years ago,
satellite radio today offers diverse programming targeted to many
audiences and tastes, largely on a commercial-free basis, using very
high-quality digital signals.
And, in spite of the fact that satellite radio constitutes only 3.4% of
radio listening today, traditional over-the-air radio operators have
understood the potential threat and have had no choice but to compete, and
have been dragged, albeit kicking and screaming, into the digital age.
Thus, the broadcast industry recently introduced and is pushing its own
"HD Radio" initiative to allow radio stations across the country to offer
multiple new, high-quality digital channels.
This is all to consumers' benefit. In the mean time, satellite and
terrestrial radio also have been besieged by a host of additional
competitors: iPods and other MP3 players, Internet radio services, and now
mobile phones. All offer exciting new means of providing audio
entertainment to consumers.
That is how things should be. Indeed, it is the precise dynamic that
American communications and entertainment media policy should continue to
foment. If the two satellite radio companies, each only several years old,
need to combine to be more effective competitors in an audio entertainment
marketplace teeming with technological change and innovation, the
government should not stand in the way.
In the end, satellite radio may or may not survive, but let that be
decided by the people through their electronic choices in the marketplace.
Mark Fowler served as Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission
during the administration of President Ronald Reagan
http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/ti...0905&id=7419817 |
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| SoCalJeff |
:pray:
:whistle: first. |
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| LIFAN12 |
| Good article, sorry for my duplicate thread. |
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