Senate Bill Backs Terrestrial Radio, Targets XM, Sirius
Three senators introduced a bill targeting local content on satellite radio. The NAB-backed legislation, coupled with a companion bill in the House, is intended to hold XM and Sirius “accountable” to the national nature of their FCC licenses, the NAB said. The move is the latest salvo in old arguments between satellite radio and the NAB. The SDARS licenses were originally auctioned with national rights only, and the sides have long been at odds over how much satellite can localize its service.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
Sponsored by Sens. Snowe (R-Me.), Baucus (D-Mont.) and Lott (R-Miss.), the bill introduced Wed. would require the FCC to rule within 270 days whether satellite radio may offer locally originated services on nationally distributed channels. Among other things, the bill would have XM and Sirius pull traffic, weather, or any other “locally differentiated” content.
The NAB applauded the bill. NAB Pres. and CEO David Rehr said: “It is crystal clear that both XM and Sirius -- with nearly $1 billion in combined losses last year and having failed as a national programming service -- are skirting the intent of their original FCC licenses.” The bill holds satellite radio “accountable to those licenses,” said Rehr. The bill is nearly identical to Rep. Pickering’s (R-Miss.) HR-998, which has gained 111 co-sponsors in the House since it was introduced last year. The NAB is pushing for more signers, an NAB spokesman said.
In response, XM said it “will continue to deliver information like Amber Alerts, reports of severe weather, traffic jams, and play-by-play sports as long as the law and our FCC license continues to allow such programming. We trust that the majority of policymakers agree that the availability of more information is good for consumers.” Sirius didn’t comment.
The Congressional action comes as XM’s $200 million acquisition of WCS Wireless and its WCS licenses sits at the Wireless Bureau. The XM move added new bandwidth to the NAB’s satellite radio concerns (CD July 22 p6), as industry observers said the WCS spectrum would be perfect for localized multimedia services. XM’s application for transfer of WCS Wireless’s FCC licenses has been removed from streamlined processing. “XM still won’t say what they're planning to do with the WCS licenses,” said an NAB spokesman. But a satellite radio onlooker said a literal reading of the bill would likely limit it to SDARS spectrum, keeping it from stretching to WCS.
A satellite radio official said the bill could “frustrate” the FCC’s Emergency Alert System (EAS) rulemaking, however. In Nov., the FCC extended national warning system rules to satellite radio, DBS and others previously not subject to Emergency Alert System controls (CD Nov 4 p4). The FCC didn’t mandate state and local EAS compliance when it amended its EAS rules in Nov., but it strongly encouraged compliance by all EAS participants -- satellite radio included -- many times over in the order. The FNPRM asks how satellite radio and others can be part of local alerts or EAS alerts issued statewide by governors.
XM volunteered to participate in EAS, and the firm said in an Oct. letter to lawmakers it’s concerned the legislation being pushed could jeopardize its ability to provide emergency information to the public.