http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070523/tc_nm/xm_sirius_dc_1;_ylt=Aj8X9txfNwyP9cWt.FqeSBkE1vAI

Reuters is reporting that Sen. Herb Kohl (D-WI) has come out on record as opposing the XM-Sirius merger.  As we’ve said before, Congress does NOT have a direct role to play in the merger decision, but that regulators who do have a role will take the input from those who control their funding very seriously.  Senator Kohl is the chairman of the Senate’s anti-trust subcommittee, and works closely with the DoJ anti-trust division.

For Mel and the merger team, this is clearly bad news.  On the good news front the marketing department ought to take some of Sen. Kohl’s words for their advertising.  Terrestrial radio is too limited to compete with satellite radio, while personal audio players can not match the programming of satellite service, he wrote.

“No other technology available today is a substitute for the satellite radio,” Kohl wrote.

Heck, we’ve been saying that for years!!  As much we all of us here would tend to agree with the Senator on these points, we also need to recognize that millions of consumers disagree and find their terrestrial radio stations and personal music players not only competitive, but superior.

Orbitcast is reporting that XM “shock jocks” Opie and Anthony will immediately start serving a 30-day suspension. Apparently there were comments made on yesterday’s program that indicated to XM management that their earlier apology was insincere (as many commenters here pointed out at the time).

The XM statement is here

More details as they become available…

Update 3:50pm ET: Orbitcast has a second post that includes the offending audio.

Update 5/16: Although I first found this report at Orbitcast, I have to give credit where it it is due, and recognize Ryan at XMFan for being first to break this story early yesterday morning.

This morning, Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin stopped by the Howard Stern show for nearly an hour. The Stern staff and callers asked him questions regarding plans for the merger.

He said that merger Talk began nearly two years ago. XM passed on it then, but talks have been ongoing since. The companies’ lower stock prices combined with greater external competition has made the deal more appealing to both sides.

Click here to listen to the interview (54 minutes)

22MB // MP3 Audio // Credit: Guins

Monthly Price

When asked if rates will increase:

Mel: Sirius charged $12.95 when they started, and still charge $12.95 after signing Howard and Nascar. They’re not in a price war with XM, they’re in a price war with free radio.

He hinted the tiered programming plan may allow some subscribers to pay less than they do now. The pricing and the subscriber packages are still vague at this point, but pointed out there have been no rate hikes since he’s been CEO.

In response to Artie’s concern about vending machine prices increasing:

Mel: I don’t know how long we can keep the current pricing on our vending machine. Our service, we’re not going to raise the prices on our service, but I never said anything about the vending machine.

Robin: If they don’t approve it [at first], could they say if you do this, this, and this…?

Mel: For example, if someone said ‘we’re concerned about pricing, is there something you can do to guarantee prices won’t increase’?. I mean, there are a number of things we’re prepared to do or trade off in this event.

(more…)

This was pointed out to us from this article from Orbitcast:

http://www.orbitcast.com/archives/sirius-gets-fcc-clearance-for-alaska-hawaii-correction-clearance-was-not-granted.html

Incorrect version here:
http://www.radioandrecords.com/RRWebSite/Search.aspx?search=sirius

According to Lasar’s Letter, an FCC-oriented blog at http://www.lasarletter.net/drupal/ XM has filed a letter with the FCC, in support of a recent Sirius petitiion that requests rules be promulgated to insure that WCS technologies do not interfere with SDARS repeaters. XM appears to be fully backing the Sirius proposal which includes the following points:

• Emission limits be established for DARS repeaters and WCS transmitters. Sirius contends that the firm’s research indicates that interference from WCS transmitters higher than -44 dBM (milliwatt decibels) will block service to satellite radio subscribers.
• DARS and WCS licensees must give advance notice of their equipment rollouts. “Such notice will ensure all licensees have ample opportunity to investigate whether their operations will be affected by the new deployment and request adjustments, in advance, to avoid interference,” Sirius writes.
• Firms be permitted to establish perimeters of an agreed upon size where extra transmitters can be deployed to compensate for interference.

A couple of takeaways from this news…First, remember that at one point XM was trying to buy into WCS, to use that bandwidth to augment their own. Now that the deal has fallen through, they are free to work with Sirius to limit the damage WCS services can do to SDARS broadcasts. Next, this demonstates that even in the absence of a merger, these two companies have plenty to gain by working against common enemies, rather than beating each other up. Finally, it shows that not ALL FCC regulation is bad for SDARS; some of it might even help!

Direct link here

 

Comment Here

Source: RCR Wireless and Orbitcast

The WCS Coalition, a group including Sprint Nextel, BellSouth, NextWave Broadband, AT&T and Comcast, has appealed to the FCC over SIRIUS and XM repeater regulations.

The Coalition argues that their WiMax deployment (located in the 2 GHz band) has been delayed due to uncertainty over SIRIUS and XM interference.

This is a farce, as the Coalition has been hogging this spectrum for years without any sign of development. SIRIUS and XM have only now become the excuse-of-the-week for the WCS.

As Google and Earthlink have demonstarted, broadband wireless services can be viable using existing public spectrum.

We propose that the FCC acknowledges the potential and popularity of satellite radio, and seize the spectrum from WCS in 2007 when the government buildout deadline expires.

To learn more about the history of WCS and satellite radio, check out Satellite Radio TechWorld.

Comment here.

Source: Satellite Standard Group

Mr. Rehr, perhaps your energies would be better focused on improving the content that you deliver. After all, the music you play is royalty free. This gives you a distinct advantage over satellite radio, which pays royalties on every song they play. Surely you can make that work to your advantage somehow (we wont get into all of the payola). Hopefully you will also begin to see that you are attacking millions upon millions of people who have made their listening desires clear.

Some powerful words from SSG in a letter to NAB head David Rehr. You can read the full letter here.

NAB president David Rehr recently sent letters to the FCC, calling for investigations of SIRIUS and XM over ground repeaters and free trial offers.

Comment here.

The Stiletto home kit received certification from the FCC today.  It will have an FM transmitter, however, the Stiletto itself will not.  Also receiving approval was the coming soon (we guess) Starmate 3 and the Stratus.

Via Satellite Radio TechWorld

Comment here.

Thanks magneto!

SIRIUS said today that manufacturer Kiryung Electronics Co. has received FCC approval to resume production and distribution on three radio models.

The authorization comes for the Xact Visor, Sirius One and Sportster Replay radios.
Sirius said the grants were issued after the FCC’s laboratory confirmed that the devices were compliant with applicable rules.

Earlier this week, SIRIUS manufacturer Wistron NeWeb said they are expecting to fix related problems in two weeks and begin shipments to SIRIUS soon.

Comment here.