Digital Radio

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By now, everyone knows that XM and Sirius have announced plans to merge into a single nationwide satellite radio service provider.  This plan is, of course, subject to approval of the FCC.  The NAB has announced plans to oppose the merger, and Congress today scheduled hearings on the matter, to be held next week.  The obvious issues to be considered by the Department of Justice and the FCC will be whether the merger will be anti-competitive and whether it will serve the public interest.  But there are numerous other legal issues, possibly affecting other FCC proceedings, that may well come out of the consideration of this merger.

For instance, the merger raises the question of whether satellite radio is a unique market that should not be allowed to consolidate into a monopoly, or whether there is a broader "market" for audio programming encompassing not only satellite radio, but also traditional over-the-air radio, iPods, Internet radio, and other forms of audio entertainment.  While the opponents of the merger may argue that satellite radio is a unique market, such a finding may affect the broadcast multiple ownership proceeding, where some broadcasters are advancing arguments similar to the satellite companies in hopes that the FCC will loosen multiple ownership restrictions. 

Another issue that seemingly will be raised by the merger is how important a la carte programming is to FCC Chairman Martin.  The Chairman has been pushing both satellite and cable television companies to allow consumers to purchase only the channels that they want rather than whole packages of channels.  He has argued that consumers could save money by buying only the channels that they want, and consumers could also avoid programing that they don’t want (like adult oriented content).  Service providers have countered that forcing the unbundling of program tiers will make it economically unfeasible to offer many of the more niche program channels.  Published reports indicate that part of the merger proposal to be advanced by the satellite companies may include a proposal for a la carte pricing.  Thus, this case may show how important the Chairman really believes such offerings are – and whether that offering may help tilt the public interest considerations in the proceeding.Continue Reading XM and Sirius – The Issues Beyond the Issues

I’ve just returned from this year’s Radio Advertising Bureau convention in Dallas.  In reflecting on the convention, and in discussing it with many who were in attendance, the consensus was that this was not your Father’s RAB convention.  I was surprised by how little discussion there was of traditional radio at the conference.  The sessions weren’t the typical…

As we reported on July 7 and 17, the FCC had intended to issue final rules on Ibiquity digital radio standard in July, but suddenly pulled the item off their agenda.  Currently, all broadcast stations operating in a digital mode are doing so on temporary authorizations pursuant to interim rules, and multicast operations are conducted pursuant…

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting announced recently that it has provided $7.74 million in grants to assist 85 public radio stations in their transition to digital operations.  This announcement is interesting, coming as it does only a week after Communications Daily reported on August 16 that CPB engineers were finding that HD Radio was…

On Thursday, July 13, the FCC was supposed to consider the formal rules for digital radio.  As I wrote on July 7, AM and FM stations operating digitally are currently doing so under temporary rules.  The Commission was supposed to resolve the many issues surrounding digital radio at this meeting.

The meeting was to…

The FCC yesterday announced that it will consider Digital Audio Broadcasting at its meeting on July 13.  While many radio stations are already operating with Ibiquity‘s In-Band On-Channel operating system, that operation has been under interim rules adopted by the FCC while the Commission continued to consider the permanent rules for the service.  All multicast operations by FM stations have been under "experimental authorizations." 

There remain a number of substantial issues to be considered by the Commission.  Perhaps the most substantial is whether or not to authorize AM nightime digital operations.  Also, there are a number of issues related to other interference issues, as well as the request of the recording industry that the system include an "audio flag" to allow for the adoption of technologies that would prevent copying of music off of the over-the-air digital streams.

Washington rumors have indicated that the Commission’s consideration of the rules has been delayed by debates over whether to adopt standards for the public interest obligations of radio broadcasters on their second and third multicast channels.  According to these rumors, the Democratic Commissioners have wanted public interest obligations to be in place before the multicast service was authorized on a permanent basis, while the Republicans had preferred to consider those issues on a seperate track.  Perhaps, with the third Republican commissioner now in place, any impasse which may have existed can now be resolved.Continue Reading FCC to Consider Final Rules for Digital Radio