"The other side, as outlined by Serius, is that satellite radio cannot be seen as an entity all to itself. It has to compete with AM, FM and now the all digital radio stations out there."
Sounds kinda like that whole right wing talk radio monopoly that some people whine about. Of course they too have to compete with... the rest of AM, all of FM, TV, not to mention all the other printed and electronic media.
I was listening to Howard Stern yesterday and he was talking about the already “9” month old request to Congress by X-M & Sirius satellite radio companies to merge.
Reportedly Sirius has spent $800K for lobbyists to champion the merger.
The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) has spent somewhere over $6 million on lobbyists to defeat the merger.
Could any of the “Free Market” pundits around here present an explanation why the NAB is so demonstrably opposed to an exercising of the “Free Market”?
Rupert Murdock was recently given permission to add The Wall Street Journal to his already copious consortium of media control after only about a 2 week wait for Congress's approval.
"Inquiring minds want to know."
P.S. Ad hominem attacks of Howard Stern, his radio program's content or his credibility are NOT "explanations".
It's not "buying" Congressmen, but it certainly looks like an ideologically "free market" can interfere in government but never the opposite.
The argument on the 'Free Market' side by terrestrial radio is that a merger of Serius & XM would give the combined company a monopoly in that they're the only two stations licensed to broadcast satellite radio. The other side, as outlined by Serius, is that satellite radio cannot be seen as an entity all to itself. It has to compete with AM, FM and now the all digital radio stations out there. None of these latter charge for it's services.
It's very similar to the argument Whole Foods Market made to the FTC when that agency first opposed WF's purchase of it's largest rival, Wild Oats, saying that the combined company would have a monopoly in their 'organic' market. Whole Foods won that arguing successfully that traditional grocers like Safeway, Walmart and Kroegers had entered the organic market in a major way and that that market should be considered to be a part of the whole grocery market.
"The other side, as outlined by Serius, is that satellite radio cannot be seen as an entity all to itself. It has to compete with AM, FM and now the all digital radio stations out there."
Sounds kinda like that whole right wing talk radio monopoly that some people whine about. Of course they too have to compete with... the rest of AM, all of FM, TV, not to mention all the other printed and electronic media.
but there IS a rightwing talkradio monopoly.... its called Clear Channel radio. In many rural areas, they are the ONLY choice. There might be 6 radio stations in Remoteland, but Clear channel owns all 6 of them.
And Clear Channel is so right wing theres nothing left.
during the past few weeks.
Please give me the geographic coordinates of "Remoteland" or where is "might" be located. I see no evidence it exists.
Well, ok, i'll fall for your little trap here even thoughyou know darn well i was using the name Remoteland as an example.... but if you want me to get serious;
In the late '90's and early Y2K+, Clear Channel spent $30 billion and wound up with over 1,200 radio stations nationwide, including as many as seven in some markets.
Look it up if you don't believe me.
a few of the major markets, where Clear Channel's penetration is most likely too high even for my liking considering they are on my side (j/k).
It's also not talk radio where they are not as much of a threat as they are in the music biz. They also own over 100 concert venues.
Nationwide their 1200 stations are only about 10% of all radio stations and their total market penetration (nationaly) is actually quite small. It's those few markets where they have gotten big. While not a monopoly, they wield a lot of power.
did in this area... why we owned the radio stations... and that was a very big help.... hee hee
Why has no one yet satirized them as ClearAndPresentDangerChannel?
Or is FOX the presumptive favorite there?