It seems that the original statement sent out by the FCC wasn't the right one, and so Commissioner Tate has issued a new statement regarding the Sirius and XM merger.This time around, Tate says that few decisions "have been more difficult" than the Sirius and XM one.
"As a strong supporter of free-markets and limited government regulation, I am predisposed to allow private companies the autonomy to make business decisions without the heavy hand of government regulation," said Tate.
"My personal office received hundreds of phone calls from individual citizens and organizations in at least 30 states," she added. "It seems that every segment of society has an interest in this merger."
[Read the full statement (PDF)]
Yeah, but... You killed the companies involved? Logic. None.
Hundreds of phone calls my ass. I called hundereds of times myself.
O.K.----- Where is the timeline to incorperate the various subscription rates,,,,,
aka ala-carte.
XM and Sirius killed themselves, don't blame the government for not bailing them out as quickly as you'd have liked. I can't think of one member of congress that was responsible for gross overspending at either company. Was it Tate that gave Stern 1 billion dollars or did she give the NFL & MLB millions? Maybe it was the much maligned Martin?
pfreak, dont be a sore looser.
Tates opinion was very well written and much more informative than any of the other opinions. (and yes, I have read all 5 now). I think she did a great job on the opinion peice, but then again, being in the lime-light is her forte.
Worthless bunch of cunts ... all three of them. Sit on their fucking asses for 17 months and then whine. Cunt.
Here's a great sentence near the bottom of page 4.
You'd expect her to say something like "I believe forbearance in regulating so-called inappropriate content on subscription services...serves the public interest." But here she's actually saying that "keeping inappropriate content on subscription services...serves the public interest." Good decision...but if this content is in the public interest, why deem it inappropriate?
Please stop with the Stern overpay crap. Yes it is insane but he was worth it at the time.
Sad to say it took his kind of show to save Sirius but it did.
Ployboy must you continue to show your fear, desperation over YOUR investment mess? Being rude, crude and disrespectful is not going to help your lack of smarts when it comes to investing money in corporations which have never made a dime in almost 8 years now, and claimed they needed a government bailout granting a MONOPOLY in order to compete with others. The blame cannot and shouldn't be placed on anyone but yourself. Remember if you don't like the direction of the company or the LAWS FCC Commissioner Tate has made then you might want to invest elsewhere as the satradio industry volatility is just too much for you. Have you be served liable for slander by Michael Tate yet?
Pfreak, you are dead wrong. First off, Stern didnt get a billion, and of the money he got, part of that was for the production costs of his show. Seconldy, BusinessWeek did an article in which they showed that Sirius earned the money back in about 2.5 years.
As for the sports leagues, they were given stock in Sirius as thier portion of the consideration for entering into the deal.
It would seem to me that you do not pay attention to the exact details, or you would have known these things.
Pfreak, you are dead wrong. First off, Stern didnt get a billion, and of the money he got, part of that was for the production costs of his show. Seconldy, BusinessWeek did an article in which they showed that Sirius earned the money back in about 2.5 years.
As for the sports leagues, they were given stock in Sirius as thier portion of the consideration for entering into the deal.
It would seem to me that you do not pay attention to the exact details, or you would have known these things.
Tate mentions 5 years of violations on the part of SIRI and XMSR. What has the FCC been doing during this time? Part of that 5 years has been during her tenure. Why did she wait until after the DOJ ruled to even take up the issue of compliance? I think they sat on their collective butts until they realized they would have to make a decision after the DOJ ruling. What about the 180 day time clock? Tate and the others have proven themselves to be to be political hacks only interested in preserving their own interests at the expense of virtually everyone else! And, for the life of me I cannot understand how she thought Ibiguity, Georgetown Partner's, Jesses Jackson's and others' proposals were worthy of anything more than an outright rejection or possibly even racketeering charges! This is a case of common sense, right versus wrong, and morality, and it is a poor relfection on the FCC that they have come up lacking in these areas!
WIth regards to the madatory inclusion of HD chipsets into satellite radio receivers, Tate says "Thus, I believe the proper path for the Commission to take is to review the issue,
along with the price cap, in three years. In addition, we will launch a Notice of Inquiry to
examine what the resulting costs would be and whether HD should be mandated. In the
interim, I encourage the HD radio industry to find new and innovative incentives to offer
car manufacturers to include their technology in automobiles, just as other technologies
have done, to increase their uptake and adoption, perhaps including an innovative
revenue-sharing model."
Sounds to me like this new emergency hearing that the HD supporters demanded, and that the FCC acceded to, won't change a thing...at least for three years. That's good for now.
WIth regards to the mandatory inclusion of HD chipsets into satellite radio receivers, Tate says "Thus, I believe the proper path for the Commission to take is to review the issue, along with the price cap, in three years. In addition, we will launch a Notice of Inquiry to examine what the resulting costs would be and whether HD should be mandated. In the interim, I encourage the HD radio industry to find new and innovative incentives to offer car manufacturers to include their technology in automobiles, just as other technologies have done, to increase their uptake and adoption, perhaps including an innovative revenue-sharing model."
Sounds to me like this new emergency hearing that the HD supporters demanded, and that the FCC acceded to, won't change a thing...at least for three years. That's good for now.
I think it's really interesting how she only approved the merger on the grounds that Opie and Anthony not be renewed when their contract is up in September. I didn't realize that so many dissenters were upset at that show for not being funny or entertaining.
Chris J,
Every point you make is absolutely correct. Sirius should have been investigating the FCC - compared to them, satellite radio and the people who run it are SAINTS! FCC = CORRUPTION.
"Tate mentions 5 years of violations on the part of SIRI and XMSR. What has the FCC been doing during this time? Part of that 5 years has been during her tenure. Why did she wait until after the DOJ ruled to even take up the issue of compliance? "
The FCC was looking the other way, they were giving both XM and Sirius the benefit of the doubt that they were solving their violations, but in reality XM and Sirius were thumbing their noses at the FCC and doing nothing to solve their violations. Sirius wanted to go against the no "merge" agreement, putting heat on the FCC and it's time to pay the piper. The mess stops and will not carry over to the new company for more excuses and noses being thumbed.
FCC = The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent United States government agency. The FCC was established by the Communications Act of 1934 and is charged with regulating interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite and cable. The FCC's jurisdiction covers the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. possessions.
Your blind, and ignorant if you think satradio "and the people who run it are saints", that will be proven incorrect soon. Till then dream ignorant.
"The FCC was looking the other way, they were giving both XM and Sirius the benefit of the doubt that they were solving their violations" Regardless of how you want to spin it, the FCC, including Tate, did not do their job!
"The mess stops and will not carry over to the new company for more excuses and noses being thumbed." Now that the compliance issues of Sirius and XM have been resolved, how do we get the FCC into compliance? When can we expect them to begin doing their job on a timely basis? When will the self-imposed 180 day clock become meaningful again? When will selfish-interest groups such as the NAB, C3CR, and Jesse Jackson finally be denied the opportunity to derail the process by their frivolous accusations and self-serving demands?
"Your blind, and ignorant if you think satradio "and the people who run it are saints"," By your description, I guess they would make excellent commissioners!!
The HD radio chipset requirement is not going to happen. There is no precedence in US business law whereby one party was required by law to install a competing party's technology in their apparatus. If HD chpsets are ever included it will be because the market place requests it. Having the FCC mandate it in three years will simply result in Sirius-XM taking it to the US Appelate Court and/or the US Supreme Court. I doubt that the Supreme Court would go along with the FCC mandate as this would open Pandora's Box to all sorts litigation based on the ruling. Can you imagine software manufacturers being 'required' by law to have their software run on ALL platforms as a matter of law before being released to the public? The list of similar situations would go on and on in all facets of life. One could say that it smacks of Communism. As I see it HD will have to make it 100% on its own or they can kiss their behind goodbye.
"V. HD CHIP
As a lifelong champion of the music industry and local broadcasters, I am
sympathetic to the needs of the HD radio industry and promises it holds as another audio
choice for consumers. However, many commenters, particularly those in the automobile
industry oppose a government mandate requiring inclusion of HD chips in all radios, and
the resulting increase in cost. HD radio is already in cars manufactured by BMW,
Mercedes, Land Rover, Mini Cooper, Hyundai, Rolls Royce, and Jaguar. In 2009, it will
also be available from Volvo and Ford. I do not believe the record of performance by
this nascent technology supports a mandate for inclusion of the HD chip in every satellite
radio. I do, however, support the Order’s prohibition on any attempts by the Applicants
to bar, by agreement or otherwise, a car manufacturer or other third party from including
HD radio chips, iPod compatibility, or other audio technology. The merged entity must
provide open access. In fact, I demanded that the technical specifications be available
immediately, rather than in a year, as originally proposed.
In considering this difficult issue, I consulted the auto industry, where satellite
radio has established a strong foothold. Without exception, the auto manufacturers I
spoke with urged the Commission to forbear from imposing an HD chip requirement.
Their estimate of the cost per car was, on average, two, three, or four times the cost
suggested by iBiquity. With this level of disparity in information, it is impossible to do a
proper cost-benefit analysis. Additionally, at a time when the auto industry is struggling,
it would be unreasonable to require them to assume a cost, or, even worse, pass a cost on to their consumers, for a technology that has not yet proven the strength of consumer
demand.
Thus, I believe the proper path for the Commission to take is to review the issue,
along with the price cap, in three years. In addition, we will launch a Notice of Inquiry to
examine what the resulting costs would be and whether HD should be mandated. In the
interim, I encourage the HD radio industry to find new and innovative incentives to offer
car manufacturers to include their technology in automobiles, just as other technologies
have done, to increase their uptake and adoption, perhaps including an innovative
revenue-sharing model."
It's not over yet.....
"WIth regards to the madatory inclusion of HD chipsets into satellite radio receivers, Tate says Thus, I believe the proper path for the Commission to take is to review the issue, along with the price cap, in three years. In addition, we will launch a Notice of Inquiry to examine what the resulting costs would be and whether HD should be mandated. In the interim, I encourage the HD radio industry to find new and innovative incentives to offer car manufacturers to include their technology in automobiles, just as other technologies have done, to increase their uptake and adoption, perhaps including an innovative revenue-sharing model."
Looks like the fucks at iBiquity are on their own, now - lol, iBiquity will be a bust in three years, and will never have the funds to get HD Radio into Satrad receivers.