WASHINGTON, DC -- Yesterday, NAB President and CEO David K. Rehr sent two letters to the FCC regarding satellite radio companies XM and Sirius.
In his first letter, Rehr called on the FCC to "immediately commence a full investigation into both the actual and reported operations of Sirius and XM's terrestrial repeater networks." XM and Sirius recently requested authorization to continue or resume operating terrestrial repeaters that were constructed and deployed inconsistently with FCC rules. "These latest disclosures reveal a persistent corporate (if not industry) circumvention of the FCC's regulations," Rehr told the FCC.
In a second letter, Rehr questioned the "privileged regulatory position" enjoyed by satellite radio given "the expanding delivery of complimentary satellite radio services to nonsubscribers." Noting a recent XM deal with Acura and the availability of Howard Stern's show on the Internet free-of-charge, Rehr writes, "drawing a regulatory distinction between satellite and traditional broadcast radio simply because satellite radio content is available on a subscription basis may no longer be justified."
About NAB
The National Association of Broadcasters is a trade association that advocates on behalf of more than 8,300 free, local radio and
television stations and also broadcast networks before Congress, the Federal
Communications Commission and the Courts. Information about NAB can be found at
www.nab.org.
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