Wisconsin's Attorney General yesterday asked the Department of Justice to block the XM-Sirius merger.
In his letter to the DOJ, Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen said the combination of Sirius Satellite Radio, Inc. and XM Satellite Radio Holdings, Inc. would create a monopoly that would be bad for consumers.
"The proposed merger would eliminate competition in the satellite radio industry and the combined XM-Sirius companies would be free to raise prices, stifle innovation, and reduce program diversity," wrote the Republican Attorney General.
XM and Sirius maintain that they face competition from terrestrial radio, iPods, internet radio and mobile-cellular audio. The satcasters argue that these audio entertainment choices would prevent them from doing what the Attorney General from Wisconsin claims.
But Van Hollen rejected that argument, saying XM and Sirius offer a unique range of live sports, weather and news. Consumers may be forced to pay more for what they already get under the companies' proposed post-merger pricing plan, he said.
[CNN Money via Orbitcast Forums]
I'm Paul R. Nelson
c'mon Ryan...dig up some NAB dirt on him. you know he's just GOTTA be tainted; if he's gonna give canned, BS commentary...lets find out who canned it. lol
....from a guy who probably wears a foam cheese wedge on Sundays...
Wow, do we really care what the attorney general of the state of Wisconsin thinks? I mean, the next press release will get from the NAB is that the guy selling cigarettes at your local 7&11 is against merger...
Did he suddenly wake up yesterday and decided that merger is monopolistic? This sounds more like his bias was concluded by "powers that be" against the merger
See what eating too much cheese does to you.
Doesn't this guy own the Bucks or is that someone else in government in wisconsin that doesn't like the merger because it will hurt his consittt...... errr profit margins.
Look at what eating all that cheese does to your teeth... ugh!
another thought...you're thinking of Sen. Kohl (D-WI)
Ryan, can we get a "seperated at birth" side-by-side photo of Van Hollen and Rehr? Something about his smile reminds me of our buddy David!
As a Wisconsinite, I voted for VanHollen last November. He's probably looking at it from a legal anti-trust point of view if you look at it as a monopoly and not competing with terrestirial, ipods, internet and such. However where there is a flaw in his argument could be if a subscriber to one service wanted sports coverage of the other service that the first does not provide, which is where the a-la-carte provision comes in, even though it would require purchasing a new reciever.
My take is that I am opposed to the merger based on what could happen down the road with merging of certain channels. I saw what they did to Sirius Gold and don't want the 50's channel (obviously my favorite channel) following the same route where the on air people were sacked and the channel basically turned into a automated jukebox (XM's 50's channel also has a much larger playlist).
As for the MIlwaukee Bucks owner, that would be our less than illustrious senior US Senator Herb Kohl, who is also opposed to the merger, as well as the junior US Senator Russ Feingold.
Oops. After I posted that I came across the orbitcast post from May. That guy is scary.
That pic instantly made me imagine him sitting in a stall next to Rehr tapping his toe...UGGGH!
That pic instantly made me imagine him sitting in a stall next to Rehr tapping his toe...UGGGH!
That pic instantly made me imagine him sitting in a stall next to Rehr tapping his toe...UGGGH!
Sorry about that :)
Hmmm.....I feel the dirt (NAB ties) starting to rise on this "public servant".
Can you feel it?
http://www.orbitcast.com/archives/busted-sorta-wisconsin-ag-exboss-has-ties-to-terrestrial.html
He is making up for politcal favors, from Tommy Thompson, typical politcal crook, should be prosecuted
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Let's look and see if he's accepted money from the NAB. If he has, he should be prosecuted and put in jail for corruption.