As the congressional investigation of the FCC continues, a memo obtained by The Washington Post turned up complaints about the way Chairman Kevin Martin runs the agency.

"The bottom line is that the FCC process appears broken and most of the blame appears to rest with Chairman Martin," wrote Commerce and Energy Committee staff members in the April 28th memo to committee chairman Rep. John D. Dingell (D-Mich.), and Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), chairman of the subcommittee on oversight and investigations.

The memo to Dingell and Stupak said the investigation is ongoing and proposed holding hearings on the findings in June, according to The Post.

Additionally, more than 30 current and former FCC employees were interviewed, along with telecommunications industry representatives and private citizens, according to the memo. This is the first indication that the investigation has turned up material to support complaints against Martin himself.

[The Washington Post]
Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

Stilllll going! Just when you thought we had reached a lull in the meetings at the Federal Communications Commission, along comes American Public Media to keep the fire burning.

Rick Chessen, Senior Legal Advisor to Commissioner Copps, and representatives for American Public Media met on Monday to discuss a letter (PDF) it sent to the FCC last week. Yes, that's right, a letter sent late last week deserves a meeting.

The non-profit organization reiterated its letter (you think?) urging the FCC to require that Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. and XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. hand over 20% of its combined spectrum for "for non-commercial educational use."

[View Filing (PDF)]

The meetings at the FCC continue occur as we rapidly approach the May 1st deadline for the extended merger agreement between Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. and XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. This time, the National Association of Broadcasters is the latest group to enter the fray.

NAB President and CEO David Rehr (pictured) and NAB Executive VP of Legal & Regulatory Affairs Marsha MacBride, met with FCC Commissioner Michael Copps and his Senior Legal Advisor/Media Advisor Rick Chessen last Friday, according to a FCC filing.

At the meeting, Rehr and MacBride argued that a merged Sirius-XM will "harm consumers" as well as "undermine fair competition in local radio markets."

The NAB stuck to the same stale argument from over a year ago that approving the merger would "violate the Commission's long-standing prohibition against a merger of the nation's only two satellite radio licensees" that the FCC needs to be mindful of Sirius and XM's "record of violations of the Commission's rules."

How much longer does this need to drag on? Seriously. I think we've exhausted all the angles and it's time to make a decision. Nothing new is being added that hasn't already been said.

[View FCC filing (PDF)]

Mums the word for FCC chairman Kevin Martin about the merger between Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. and XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. at a recent meeting with reporters at the agency's DC headquarters.

Martin said he had no comment on the timing for a decision. When asked whether the FCC had waited for the Justice Department's decision to issue its own ruling Martin told Radio Ink,  "I wouldn't say that the DOJ was slowing us down."

He also rejected the suggestion that the FCC is holding out for a unanimous 5-0 commission vote on the deal, but said, "I always think it's preferable that we have a unanimous decision."

In related news, representatives from Sirius and XM met with Chairman Martin and Daniel Gonzalez on Wednesday (PDF). The subject of the meeting focused on - once again - the review of "pending issues raised in recent filings."

The Department of Justice approved the Sirius-XM merger over a month ago.

Attorneys General from Maryland, Connecticut, Ohio and Washington - who all greatly oppose the Sirius-XM merger - feel they have found the answer to preserving competition in satellite radio: offer it for free.

This revelation was uncovered in a recent letter (PDF) to FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, where the state Attorneys General suggest that the Federal Communications Commission lease a portion of Sirius and XM's bandwidth to a 3rd party. And that leased portion, should be made available, for free.

Does this plan sound familiar?

Radio & Records nicely sums it up for us, "the only entity that has made a pitch to lease satellite spectrum from a combined Sirius-XM is Georgetown Partners."

R&R adds that should the deal win approval, Georgetown Partners "would be willing to take a long lease on the spectrum and form a free, commercial-based satellite radio company," which it promises "will be richly diverse."

It's so nice to see these AGs coming to the rescue.

[View letter (PDF) via Radio & Records]
Thanks Nathan!

The fan favorite Sirius Starmate 5 (ST5) satellite radio receiver has landed in the halls of the Federal Communications Commission, giving us a sneak peek into what's to come, albeit accompanied by some not-so-sexy FCC testing photos.

According to the FCC submissions, the Starmate 5 will feature:

• Sirius Replay: Pause/rewind/replay up to 44 minutes of live radio
• Memo function: Store up to 30 favorite songs and artists, plus a favorite sports team or NASCAR car, and be alerted whenever they're on.
• Wide-angle 5-line display
• Built-in wireless FM transmitter
• Remote control
• Universal dock
  

Reading through the product manual (PDF), it doesn't look like the Starmate 5 will feature the same multi-color display functionality that it's big brother the Sportster 5 enjoys. That's unfortunate, because I love the color-changing capability.

One interesting thing to note, though, is that there's some question as to whether this radio will be capable of receiving both Sirius and XM due to a comment made by the FCC in its correspondence with the testing firm. Judging from all the documents submitted to the FCC, there is no other mention of dual-mode/interoperable functionality, so I don't think this is the case.

But see for yourself. Check out another photo of the Starmate 5, and read the correspondence letter after the jump...

And the meetings continue at the FCC, only this time, it's by phone.

According to an filing made public by the FCC this morning, counsel for XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. had a telephone conversation with Amy Blankenship, Legal Advisor in Commissioner Tate's Office.

The conversation, which occurred yesterday, was to "review pending issues raised in recent filings" as is frequently the case.

Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) there's little else to report except that XM's counsel, Latham & Watkins, urged for "prompt approval" of the pending merger with Sirius Satellite Radio Inc.

Today marks the 400th day anniversary since Sirius-XM filed their application with the FCC.

[View FCC Filing (PDF)]

Primosphere, one of the original four bidders for the satellite radio licenses in the 90s, held a series of meetings recently with the FCC to discuss the pending merger between Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio.

According to five separate filings made public today, Primosphere met with various members of the Federal Communications Commission to reiterate points made in prior filings.

Primosphere is asking the agency to consolidate the Sirius-XM licenses and grant them the other half of the SDARS spectrum. The company has said that it is prepared to construct and launch their own satellites in order to be "a new competitor" in satellite radio.

On April 8th, Primosphere met with FCC Commissioner Adelstein and Rudy Brioche of Adelstein's office, as well as held a separate meeting with Amy Blankenship of Commissioner Tate's office.

On the same day, Primosphere also met with Elizabeth Andrion of Chairman Martin's office, Rich Chessen of Commissioner Copps' office and with staff members from the Media Bureau, International Bureau and Office of General Counsel.

[Read FCC Filings: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 (PDF)]

Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND), has once again voiced his opposition to the merger between Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. and XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. - this time in a letter to FCC Chairman Kevin Martin.

In March, Dorgan said that the DOJ's approval "didn't make any sense" to him and last August the Senator cited terrestrial radio as a form of audio that had "sprouted up" since 1997.

In the letter sent on Friday, the high-ranking member of the Senate Commerce Committee urged that the FCC should not follow the "illogical" decision of the Justice Department.

"This merger is contrary to the public interest. I hope that the FCC will stand up for competition in the public interest and deny this merger," wrote Dorgan.

"The Department of Justice did not believe that the merger would allow for an increase in prices," Dorgan said in the letter. "Yet when the satellite companies no longer compete with one another, there will be no direct competition with the ability to regulate the cost of the satellite radio service. The iPod will not affect the price of satellite subscriptions. Terrestrial broadcast radio will not affect these prices."

On the financial state of the companies, Dorgan said: "Even if the companies were failing, they should not be rewarded with a government-granted monopoly."

You can contact Sen. Byron Dorgan here.

[Reuters, RadioInk via Orbitcast Forums]

The offices of FCC Commission Deborah Tate has been busy the past few days with meetings with various parties over the pending Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. and XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. merger.

On April 11th, the Media Access Project met with Commissioner Tate and her legal assistant Amy Blankenship. Media Access suggested that a portion of Sirius-XM's spectrum could be used much like cable leased access. Additionally, the lessee could be subject to FCC regulations if it were a free advertiser-supported service.

Then on Tuesday, April 15th, C3SR met with Amy Blankenship of Tate's offices. There's really nothing new to say about C3SR's meeting - they simply disclosed that the merger should be denied and that, if approved, there should be a "structural remedy" to restore competition.

On the same day, Commissioner Tate and Amy Blankenship met with iBiquity to discuss their proposal to require inclusion of HD Radio chips into Satellite Radio receivers.

"iBiquity explained that this proposal will help promote the development of a level playing field between satellite and terrestrial digital radio," wrote the company in the filing.

And I agree with iBiquity - almost. But why limit it to just digital? Let's level the playing field across the board. They're right, a level playing field between satellite and terrestrial radio is necessary.

So let's require that all AM/FM radios must include Satellite Radio capabilities as well. How's that for a level playing field? I think that's a fair request.

[View FCC Filings: 1, 2, 3 (PDF)]