FCC Commissioner Michael J. Copps appeared on PBS' Bill Moyers Journal recently to discuss the state of media consolidation and the current outlook of the media today.
As always with Commissioner Copps, media consolidation is a sore point. He's never been a big fan of media consolidation (neither has Adelstein), but the interview still remains enlightening throughout the 19 minutes.
They start off the interview showing a clip from one of the recent public hearings on media consolidation:
MICHAEL J COPPS: Now we're back at square one. It's all up for grabs. And if we are going to do better this time around, it's going to be because of input from folks like you.MIKE MILLS: We must ask the question, is American radio better today than it was 10 years ago? [Audience yells "No!"] ...that was the answer.
A key takeaway from the interview isn't that Copps is against media consolidation just to be against it, he takes the stance that it generally doesn't work towards the public interest. Copps defines "public interest" (which can be up to much debate) as three things: localism, diversity, and competition.
He also reiterated his stance on the shortening of broadcaster's license renewal process (something he brought up strongly during an editorial he wrote which was published in the New York Times).
While Copps doesn't directly address the Sirius-XM merger, it's a good interview to watch to get a sense of where he might stand. I think most would agree with his viewpoint. Question is - in trying to serve the public interest - what effect would a merged satellite radio service have on terrestrial radio in terms of localism, diversity, and competition?
[Watch Video or Read Transcript]
Thanks Bruce!
anyone else hear the rumors that the merger is a done deal and that the powers that be are simply waiting til Q4 to announce it? the internet is abuzz with word that xm and sirius will become one!
this rumor isnt real as the market would have indicated this with a huge gain
this is interesting..
A director with XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. purchased 270,000 shares of common stock, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Friday.
In a Form 4 filed with the SEC, Jeffrey Zients reported he bought the shares Wednesday for $11.05 to $11.20 apiece.
Insiders file Form 4s with the SEC to report transactions in their companies' shares. Open market purchases and sales must be reported within two business days of the transaction.
XM Satellite is based in Washington.
They want to bring some attention back to the stock. I mean maybe its ligit but most likely its just a way to gain confidence again in the stock. They always do this shit.
So, Dave, the managment came to Zients and said," look, we want people to have more confidence in the stock, so why dont you just take 3 million dollars out of your bank and prop us up". Does that sound more logical than the possibility that this guy thinks he is going to make a significant return on his investment?
Give me a break.
This merger is goin right through. I think its a shame though that they are dragging this out so long when time is so important to these companies right now.
Furthermore, its a sad reflection upon the Fcc/doj that they had to ask whether something is a rule or not. What the hell are they doing over there anyways? Doesnt sound like they are going to strictly enforce this "rule" as stackpointer would like you to think is set in stone and "on its face be denied", if they need to ask people outside the organization if its a rule or not. Sounds like a bureaucratically friendly way of smoothing out the NAB's whining when they declare that it was not a rule in the first place.
Good day.
I do some work with the NAB and would disagree with Copps' assertion that consolidation is the enemy of diversity. When several stations in a market are afforded the resources of corporate ownership, they are able to focus less on competing amongst one another and focus more on appealing to a wider audience through offering more varied content, with the chief beneficiary being the public.