Alabama House passes resolution against Sirius-XM merger
Thursday, March 29, 2007 at 4:06 PM
Tags: 2, XM
The Alabama House of Representatives has unanimously passed a resolution opposing the proposed XM and Sirius merger.
House Joint Resolution 144 was introduced last Tuesday, March 20th, and will now go to the Alabama Senate.
The resolution stated "that the Attorney General of the United States and the Federal Communications Commission are encouraged to disapprove the proposed merger between the only two national satellite radio companies."
The resolution also says: "that the merger will result in consumers, musicians, and other entertainers being subject to a single company with unlimited market power to impose anti-competitive terms, conditions, and prices;" "the combination of these two satellite radio companies will potentially restrict programming, reduce diversity, and diminish creativity; each result negatively impacting the public interest;" and "unquestionably, a government sanctioned monopoly is harmful to consumers and the public and should be avoided and denied."
In a statement, the NAB said that "It is our hope that similar resolutions will be introduced in other states."
[FMQB]
UPDATE: XM Satellite Radio has issued a statement about the Alabama resolution:
"The NAB’s unprecedented campaign against the merger demonstrates that AM and FM broadcasters vigorously compete with satellite radio. The more the NAB does to oppose the merger, the more it weakens their credibility."
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Comments
Slow month in Alabama, huh?? Nothing else the House/Senate could work on, no??
Posted by: syphix ? | March 29, 2007 4:44 PM
I'm a little unclear---why should anyone (FCC/FTC) care what a particular state's house thinks?
Posted by: Amnesia ? | March 29, 2007 4:57 PM
The resolution is no doubt a result of rampant inbreeding.
Posted by: Max | March 29, 2007 4:59 PM
Shut the merger down! Don't see how this helps but whatever it takes.
Posted by: weeeeee | March 29, 2007 5:19 PM
9 days to pass a resolution through any governmental entity has to be a world record. Wonder how this time spent debating the evils of satellite radio and the virtues of the terrestrial radio compares to getting a stop sign put up at an intersection?
Posted by: Rich ? | March 29, 2007 6:04 PM
Who dreams this stuff up. So what if the merger goes through subscribers in alabama are not allowed to benefit from the merger? Very confusing state. They should rename their state, "Confusion.)
BTW it is times/articles like these that make me wish that there were more politicans/public officials like Budd Dwyer.
Posted by: another thought | March 29, 2007 8:05 PM
Wow! Is this for real? Someone needs to see who sponsored this bill. Any doubt they received money from the NAB? I can't believe Alabama cares about this issue? I mean, where are they in education ranking 49th or 50th? Wow. What a joke of a state!
Posted by: rjr | March 29, 2007 11:36 PM
I was a little harsh in that last comment, obviously, Alabama is a fine state. But for a little background on this bill. It was sponsored by Mike Hubbard who is the Republican Minority Leader in Alabama. You can check out his biography here-
http://www.rephubbard.com/Biography.aspx
I've cut and paste a part of it here-
"Hubbard’s company, Auburn Network, Inc., owns and operates WANI NewsTalk 1400, a commercial radio station in the Auburn/Opelika market as well as Studio 197, an audio production company serving the national broadcast industry,"
Posted by: rjr | March 29, 2007 11:58 PM
So this Mike Hubbard, who owns a terrestrial radio station, and is a member of the Alabama Broadcasters Association, sponsors a bill which DIRECTLY benefits him? Is that ethical? Is that appropriate?
I mean, how nice would it be if we all were in our respective state's legislature so we could pass bills that would DIRECTLY benefit our own business interests. Talk about a gov't sanctioned monopoly!
Posted by: rjr | March 30, 2007 12:17 AM
Hello Alabama, Is there a war in Iraq going on?
Posted by: Albert | March 30, 2007 2:48 AM
"that the merger will result in consumers, musicians, and other entertainers being subject to a single company with unlimited market power to impose anti-competitive terms, conditions, and prices;"
uh...isn't that what the RIAA does too?
Posted by: delbert_grady ? | March 30, 2007 8:46 AM
Well, I just moved to Alabama this past year because of Katrina, so don't blame me for the hypocrisy. I just sent a letter to my Alabama senator to urge him to oppose this resolution. I also explained to him that his buddy Mike Hubbard is only pushing this resolution for his own benefit since he owns a terrestrial radio station.
Posted by: Onestroke | March 30, 2007 9:23 AM
I live in Alabama as well. I am divided regarding the merger, but if it will result in more options I am with it, plus if over the air radio is against if it can't be bad.
I have written my US Senator and told him my feeling about the merger. I am glad someone has pulled the cover off Mr Hubbard. Maybe some of his voters will see him for what he is and see what satrad can offer them.
Posted by: Winston | March 30, 2007 2:32 PM
http://www.rephubbard.com/Contact.aspx is the idiot's contact page. Write him an email and express your opinion.
Posted by: Rich ? | March 30, 2007 7:52 PM
It seems that a local paper has picked up on the story on the conflict of interests:
http://www.postchronicle.com/news/original/article_21272190.shtml
Posted by: Rich ? | March 31, 2007 11:55 AM