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Calls For Government Investigation Of Radio Merger
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| Calls For Government Investigation Of Radio Merger
- Click HERE to go to the original thread with graphics
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| Psychomike |
XM-Sirius Monopoly Could Profitably Increase Prices and Commercials, Directly Harming Consumers
Apparent Price-Fixing Behavior by XM-Sirius During the Merger Approval Process Warrants an Injunction and Government Investigation
The Consumer Coalition for Competition in Satellite Radio ("C3SR") today submitted to the Federal Communications Commission ("FCC") an expert antitrust report (http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....ract_id=1018487) that exposes gaping holes in the economic analysis submitted by XM and Sirius in support of their proposed merger. The report, authored by J. Gregory Sidak, an internationally recognized expert on antitrust and telecommunications law who teaches at Georgetown University Law Center, primarily responds to a recent FCC submission by Charles River Associates ("CRA"), which purports to show that a satellite radio monopoly would not be harmful because there is adequate competition from other media such as terrestrial radio (AM and FM broadcasting), iPods/MP3 players, Internet radio, and mobile telephones.
Professor Sidak demonstrates that none of the economic studies offered by XM and Sirius prove that the relevant product market is any larger than satellite radio services under the Department of Justice ("DOJ") and Federal Trade Commission's long-established Horizontal Merger Guidelines. Therefore, because XM and Sirius are the only two competitors in the satellite radio industry, their combination would result in a merger to monopoly, clearly in violation of section 7 of the Clayton Act, which forbids mergers that may tend to lessen competition substantially.
http://marketwatch.nytimes.com/cust...story.asp?guid={108F0A2C-325B-47FF-AB12-84FDC93652E5}&symb=&sid=&siteid=NYT&dist=NYT&osymb= |
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| mobsmith |
| Cant wait till Howard says price fixing is good for satellite radio. |
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| Tom from T.O. |
| Whose funding this submission? That is all you need to know. |
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| Psychomike |
"The Sidak report also identifies a serious antitrust problem facing XM and Sirius that has escaped notice in analysis of the proposed merger by journalists and equity analysts, and in public comments filed at the FCC. Professor Sidak explains that XM's and Sirius's public statements that they will not provide channels on a la carte basis unless the government approves their merger is a breathtaking admission of critical antitrust significance. "It is an agreement not to compete over the pricing and unbundling of currently bundled content," he explains. "Rarely do price-fixing cases contain such conclusive evidence of a meeting of the minds between two competitors to refrain from competing with one another."
Such price fixing is a per se violation of section of 1 of the Sherman Act and should be immediately enjoined. "It is no defense to price fixing among two currently separate competitors that they are in the process of seeking government approval of a proposed merger to monopoly," Professor Sidak notes. According to Professor Sidak, XM and Sirius are exploiting the merger approval process" |
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| Tom from T.O. |
Quote: Originally posted by Psychomike
"According to Professor Sidak |
Who is paying Professor Sidak for this? |
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| Psychomike |
It looks like Congress is getting into the act against the proposed satellite radio merger.
A bipartisan group of 72 Congressional leaders sent a letter Monday to the chairpersons of the Federal Communications Commission, the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission, opposing the merger of the nation's only two satellite radio companies, XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. (XMSR) and Sirius Satellite Radio (SIRI), saying “On its face, we believe that sanctioning the marriage of the only competitors in the satellite radio market would create a monopoly which would be devastating to consumers,” the letter said.
Among the 47 Democrats signatories are Budget Committee chair John Spratt of South Carolina, Agriculture Committee chairman Collin Peterson of Minnesota, Rules Committee chairwoman Rep. Louise Slaughter of New York and presidential candidate Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio. |
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| Psychomike |
A group of college kids are behind this!
A group of law students at the George Washington University ("GWU") in Washington, D.C. have announced the launch of a new consumer advocacy group dedicated to ensuring continued competition in the digital satellite radio industry.
The "Consumer Coalition for Competition in Satellite Radio" ("C3SR"), a student-run organization created on behalf of the 13 million digital satellite radio subscribers, has been spawned in response to rumors about the potential merger of XM and Sirius.
Here is their website
http://www.c3sr.org/index.asp |
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| Tom from T.O. |
Quote: Originally posted by Psychomike
A group of college kids are behind this!
A group of law students at the George Washington University ("GWU") in Washington, D.C. have announced the launch of a new consumer advocacy group dedicated to ensuring continued competition in the digital satellite radio industry.
The "Consumer Coalition for Competition in Satellite Radio" ("C3SR"), a student-run organization created on behalf of the 13 million digital satellite radio subscribers, has been spawned in response to rumors about the potential merger of XM and Sirius.
Here is their website
http://www.c3sr.org/index.asp |
If you don't realize that they are a front for someone else than you also believe that OJ did not kill his wife and Tan is truly coming. |
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| Psychomike |
| Well with 47 Democrats pledged to stop it, I think it might not be just done, but investigated as well. |
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| porscheC4S |
Quote: Originally posted by Tom from T.O.
If you don't realize that they are a front for someone else than you also believe that OJ did not kill his wife and Tan is truly coming. |
Ever hear of the work "ad hominem"? In other words, attack the argument not the arguer. Who cares who is behind it. It is a legitimate case and I agree that a merger of two satellite radio companies would, in essence, be a monopoly. Plus, a merger like this has never and will never benefit the customer. Unless you are a moron, it's trivial to see. |
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| ruggertheretard |
| if this is true that merger is dead |
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| T Rath |
Quote: Originally posted by porscheC4S
Ever hear of the work "ad hominem"? In other words, attack the argument not the arguer. Who cares who is behind it. It is a legitimate case and I agree that a merger of two satellite radio companies would, in essence, be a monopoly. Plus, a merger like this has never and will never benefit the customer. Unless you are a moron, it's trivial to see. |
I'm opposed to the merger, but Tom's question is legitimate. You should always look to the money to dtermine WHY something is being done.
In other words, who profits from blocking the merger? |
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| Beall |
| I wanted baseball, that sucks.... |
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| peoplejuice |
http://www.orbitcast.com/archives/b...by-the-nab.html
C3SR is just a front for the NAB.
The actual study is funny in the parts I skimmed. One reason he says satrad would be a distinct market monopoly is because of the FCC's own doing with tighter indecency standards. It also claims this indecent material is the most compelling reason to get satrad. Pop music and major sports are less compelling than Howard Stern if that's true.
One trick he uses is in calculation of if they could get away with raised prices, he uses XM growth data from before Stern. After Stern it totally changed but he disregards it. Tons of speculation on post-merger pricing.
He erroneously claims the Playboy channel drew 1 million customers to Sirius. That's not true it had 1 million customers opt-in to get it. That doesn't mean they bought Sirius for it as most were already there.
It also lies and says FCC standards already prevent the merger when that's not true it just requires the approval process. |
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| otherone4life |
| colin powell ... |
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| LongShoreman |
Quote: Originally posted by Tom from T.O.
Who is paying Professor Sidak for this? |
The NAB.
The Consumer Coalition for Competition in Satellite Radio ("C3SR") = NAB shell organization. |
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| peoplejuice |
| "Sirius and CBS Radio are direct competitors." - CBS when they sued Stern. |
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