Karmazin testifying in Washington at 3pm ET
Mel Karmazin is Washington, DC, today to testify at the House Antitrust Task Force Hearing on: “Competition and the Future of Digital Music”. SSG posted the schedule and link to listen to the hearing. Here are the details from the House’s website:
Wednesday 02/28/2007 - 3:00 PM
2141 Rayburn House Building
Full Committee
Hearing on: “Competition and the Future of Digital Music”
Before the Antitrust Task Force, to be established by resolution on the morning of February 28, 2007.By Direction of the Chairman
Watch after the jump for news that comes from the hearing today.
Sirius CEO Makes Pledges To Congress On Service, Prices
By Corey Boles
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)–A merger between Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. (SIRI) and XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. (XMSR) wouldn’t lead to less choice or higher costs for listeners, the chief executive of Sirius toldCongress Wednesday.
In his written testimony submitted to the Antitrust Task Force, a body comprised of House Judiciary Committee members, Sirius Chief Executive Mel Karmazin pledged that consumers would not lose out as a result of the $13billion merger.
“We operate in an intensely competitive environment that will continue to intensify post-merger - and continue to provide an inherent check on programming as well as pricing,” said Karmazin’s statement.
In his opening remarks, Judiciary Committee Chairman and head of the task force, Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., said that while he was approaching the matter with an open mind, the burden of proof lay with the companies to convince Congress of the merits of the deal.
He said the “critical threshold” was whether the market that the two satellite companies compete in is “all forms of digital and retail music and radio, or simply satellite radio.”
Conyers’ statement went on to say that from one perspective, the merger “can be said to turn a duopoly into a monopoly.”
When satellite radio was licensed a decade ago, Sirius and XM were granted the only two licenses. In exchange, Federal CommunicationsCommission rules stated that the two wouldn’t be allowed to merge in the future.
Sirius and XM have argued that in the ensuing 10 years, the market has changed substantially and they are no longer just competing against each other.
The Department of Justice’s antitrust task force would have to approvethe merger and FCC rules would have to be changed to allow the deal before it could receive final approval.
Karmazin was appearing before the inaugural hearing of the task force alongside David Rehr, chief executive of the National Association of Broadcasters, and representatives of consumer groups.
The NAB, which represents mainly smaller radio and television broadcasters across the U.S., is a fierce opponent of the deal.
“The proposed merger must be rejected,” said Rehr in his opening statement. “Public policy should never allow one entity to acquire state-sanctioned, monopoly control over the 25 megahertz of spectrumallocated to satellite radio service.”
Taking a somewhat less strident view was Gigi B. Sohn, president of public interest group Public Knowledge.
In her opening statement, she said that the merger should be given the green light only if it met three conditions.
It must make available pricing choices such as channel-by-channel subscriptions or tiered programming; it must hand over 5% of its capacity to noncommercial educational programming; and it should agree to not raise prices for three years after the merger was granted approval.
-By Corey Boles, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-6637; corey.boles at dowjones.com
Sirius CEO: Committed To Lowering Prices Post-Merger
By Corey Boles
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)–Sirius Satellite Radio (SIRI) Chief Executive Mel Karmazin on Wednesday told a congressional committee the company would cut consumer prices if its merger with XM Satellite Radio Holdings (XMSR) is approved.
Testifying before the Antitrust Task Force of the House Judiciary Committee, Karmazin said subscriber costs would not rise, as some have feared, but would actually decline.
“The idea of raising prices to compete with free radio is bizarre and doesn’t work,” said Karmazin. “We are committed to not raising prices and, in fact, are committed to lowering prices.”
Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., the head of both the task force and main Judiciary committee was skeptical.
“We don’t have too good a record of satellite companies keeping their promises,” said Conyers. “‘Trust me’ isn’t going to work here, not just today, but in the longer-term examinations you will be going through.
You’ve got some high hurdles to overcome.”
In response to questioning from the ranking Republican member of the task force, Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Ohio, Karmazin said that Sirius and XM weren’t making a “failing company argument” and said the merger between the two companies wasn’t necessary.
But, he said, it would be in the best interests of consumers for the merger to be allowed.
-By Corey Boles, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-6637;
corey.boles at dowjones.com
i was on my way here and i saw the post below. i was going to say, is it me or is mel doing a REALLY good job and the guy from the NAB is a total f..king idiot.
- Jon by jon01
Oddly, I'm hearing harder questions from Republicans than Democrats.... by syphix924
http://www.c-span.org/watch/cs_cspan...at=TV&Code=CS3 by SIRIusStockFan
I hope this happens!!!
-E by evan2000
Mel did a great job! I can see many of the congressmen and senators are going to have special interests and are going to want their own channels given to their constituents in exchange for votes to let this merger happen. It’s going to be a long and political road ahead.
by me_rubin
See the page here: http://inside.c-spanarchives.org:808...n/schedule.csp by ptkdude
(gobble-dee-goop...just to pass the "minimum post threshold"
- Jon by jon01
I can't believe Berman ran out of time when he had Rehr on the hotseat and backpedaling... by TheScionicMan
I can't believe Berman ran out of time when he had Rehr on the hotseat and backpedaling...
I like Gigi Sohn, she kicked some ass. by TheScionicMan
- Jon
I am recording this but from what I have seen/heard, it's a quality discussion.
Matt by djmatso
I am recording this but from what I have seen/heard, it's a quality discussion.
Matt
Matt by djmatso
Yeah, I know. Towards the end there someone actually commented on how good a sport he had been about everyone saying it wrong.
I yield my remaining time back to the chairman. by ptkdude
Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin defended the proposed transaction, saying the deal shouldn't be judged so early in the process. He said the merger is not anti-competitive and is in the consumers' best interest.
Karmazin also said a merged company promises to offer more choice to consumers, and that "no radio will be obsolete" when the companies combine operations. That would allow customers of both services to get the same content once the companies merged operations.
The Sirius exec told the House panel that a combined satellite radio entity would not raise prices, and he even committed to lowering prices in the future through a la carte and tiered programming options. "Raising our price to compete with free radio is absurd," Karmazin said.
Others at the hearing, however, criticized the pending deal.
David Rehr, president of the National Association of Broadcasters, said the satellite radio companies want to become "a government-sanctioned monopoly (and) the power to set subscription rates without constraint from a competing service." The NAB head added,"They want the power to eliminate the need to compete with one another to acquire programming and talent. They want the power to demand exclusive deals and the ability to cross-subsidize to unfairly compete against local broadcasters.
"And the fact is, this monopoly would reduce innovation for services and equipment for consumers since there will be no competition in their defined market," Rehr said.
Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers questioned whether a combined satellite radio company would leave "customers high and dry and with complications" if they couldn't get compatible reception equipment."
source: www.skyreport.com by w0kie