Top management from both Sirius Satellite Radio Inc.and XM Satellite Radio Holding Inc. met with the Federal Communications Commission this week according to separate ex parte filings made with the agency.

From XM, four representatives attended the meeting: Gary Parsons, Eric Logan, Mark Vendetti, and Jeff Blattner. Latham & Watkins LLP (counsel for XM) also attended the meeting. XM met with the FCC on Wednesday, September 26th.

On Sirius' side, five representatives attended the meeting: Mel Karmazin, Scott Greenstein, David Frear, Patrick Donnelly, and Terry Smith. Representatives from Wiley Rein LLP (Sirius' counsel) also attended the meeting. Sirius met with the FCC on Thursday, September 27th.

During the meeting, both XM and Sirius discussed various aspects of the satellite radio business, including the topics of subscribers and service, content and advertising, technical issues, and business relationships with automobile manufacturers and retail outlets (so pretty much... everything).

[View FCC Filings: 1, 2 (PDF) via Orbitcast Forums]

FCC Commissioner Michael Copps expressed skepticism today about whether he would endorse the proposed merger of Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. and XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc.

Copps, one of two Democrats on the FCC, said it would be a "steep climb" for him to cast a favorable vote because he has serious concerns about media consolidation. Copps had previously referred to the proposed Sirius-XM merger as a "steep climb" as well back in mid-April.

"Somebody's going to have to make a pretty powerful and potent demonstration that it serves the public interest," Copps said of the XM-Sirius deal.

"The parts of the (public) record that I've looked at so far have not shown me that (the deal) serves the public interest," Copps told reporters at a briefing.

Copps declined to comment on how he will vote, but said he had "very serious worries" about media consolidation in general. "I think localism, competition, diversity (in the media) have been seriously threatened." The Commissioner has historically had problems with the overall state of consolidation in U.S. media, and has expressed this vocally in the past.

[Reuters]

Contrary to more positive reports on Kevin Martin's appearance at the NAB Radio Show this morning, RadioInk is reporting that Martin has said that the FCC is considering fines against satellite radio.

Martin said the FCC's Enforcement Bureau is investigating claims that some of Sirius and XM's receivers were built to operate at levels that exceed permitted limits. Last year, both XM and Sirius halted shipments of receivers after it was learned that they were over the approved FM modulator limits.

Martin also said the FCC investigating claims that terrestrial repeaters owned by XM were operating beyond the allowed limits. XM said earlier this year that they are working with the FCC on the repeater issue (which they voluntarily lowered last year).

As a result, Martin said that the Commission is considering forfeitures against Sirius/XM for the series of violations.

(I'd personally like to hear the context in which Martin said this, because it could very well just be spin-central coming from the terrestrial radio camp. But hey, it worked, the RadioInk article made it onto the Drudge Report.)

[RadioInk]

Speaking at the NAB Radio Show this morning, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin spoke only generally about the Sirius-XM merger but said that the companies had "interesting proposals" to justify the merger and protect consumers.

During the annual FCC Breakfast, the FCC Chairman fielded several questions: from public interest questions, to changes to the EAS system, and of course, the merger between Sirius Satellite Radio Inc., and XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc.

Martin spoke only generally about the merger, stating that the current rules prohibit both companies from merging, but said that Sirius and XM have provided "interesting proposals" stating their case.

NAB Radio Board Chairman Russ Withers asked about the NAB's concern that the satellite companies are planning to go after local revenue, but Kevin Marin noted that the companies are not prohibited from going after local ads. They just cannot insert local-only ads and material through the local terrestrial repeater network.

"I would be concerned if they were trying to become a local broadcaster," said the FCC Chairman. Martin didn't agree that local material broadcast nationally violates the local prohibition placed on the satellite companies.

[AllAccess]

The Federal Communications Commission is being flooded with what appears to be a form letter stating opposition to the Sirius-XM merger. As a result, the tide of "public opinion" has just been turned against the Sirius-XM merger.

SiriusBuzz has been tracking the progress of comments and note that prior to the anti-merger form letter, "over 77% of the comments submitted to the FCC would be pro merger." But as it stands now, 50% of the comments submitted are anti-merger, while only 49% are pro-merger.

Whether you are for or against the merger, the use of form letters to portray the public opinion can only be considered deceptive and misleading. The form letter reads as if this is being led by the NAB, as it uses similar rhetoric that the NAB has been spewing, but there has not been any confirming details to prove that the NAB is behind this.

Whoever it is, I think it's dirty and underhanded.

Call to action!
If you're a merger proponent and want to help out, please use the form available here or here, and voice your support. Even if you are against the merger, but feel tactics like form letters are dishonest and shouldn't play a part in this, please contact the FCC and let them know.

There's something inherently wrong with this technique, and I really hope that we can band together to let regulators know that we don't agree with it. If the public opposes the merger, then so be it, but let that be decided upon fairly and based on its merits. Not with rapid-fire form letters.

View a copy of what is written in the anti-merger form letter after the jump. Please note that the typographical and formating errors are actually part of the letter and are not mistakes on my behalf.

Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. has received authority from the Federal Communications Commission to operate five new repeater towers in four U.S. cities.

Located in Cincinnati, St. Louis, Miami and Houston (Houston gets two actually), the new repeater towers are rated at 2,000 Watts EiRP of average power.

Sirius applied for the towers back in July. Satellite Radio TechWorld notes that the FCC has reacted fairly quickly since adopting average power, as opposed to peak power, for its standard of power measurement.

These repeaters will operate at or below a power level that has been considered acceptable by both the FCC and WCS licensees. WCS licensees, who consistently have been a thorn in side of Sirius and XM when it comes to licensing matters, have said that repeaters at or below the 2,000 Watt threshold are unobjectionable.

[Satellite Radio TechWorld]

While speaking to reporters today, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said that the Commission plans to vote on the pending Sirius-XM merger in the fourth quarter of this year. Martin said the FCC is trying to meet its goal of deciding on pending mergers within 180 days.

"That's our target," said Martin.

The FCC began the XM-Sirius merger proceeding on June 8th, which would put the agency on schedule to make a ruling by December 6th. Last week, we reached the half-way point of the FCC's informal timeline.

In mid-July, Bank of America analyst Jonathan Jacoby wrote in a client note that procedural hurdles to regulatory approval needed to be overcome by the September 10th date. Jacoby added that "the chance of approval increases to above 50% if the clock doesn’t stop by that date, according to our contacts."

With the Sept. 10th date having been overcome, and Martin essentially confirming publicly that the FCC does not foresee any clock-stopping events, this serves as good news for merger hopefuls.

[via Bloomberg]