MMTC Wants Clarification On Sirius XM Order
MMTC Wants Clarification On Sirius XM Order
November 19, 2010: After a number of delays, the FCC in October released an order under which Sirius XM can begin leasing spectrum to qualified entities in an effort to achieve "source, viewpoint, and programming diversity." The Minority Media and Telecommunications Council has filed a petition for reconsideration, asking that the definition of "qualified entity" be limited to this instance and contending that the definition itself is too vague.
Sirius XM agreed to lease 4 percent of the spectrum on Sirius and on XM as one term of the merger that created Sirius XM Radio Inc., but it was left up to the FCC to define the qualifications and to choose the lessees. With the October order, Sirius XM agreed to take a hand in choosing who'd get the leases, based on FCC criteria and subject to commission approval.
That order specified that potential lessees not be directly or indirectly owned by Sirius XM or an affiliate, and that they not share officers, directors, or employees with Sirius XM. A lessee also cannot have supplied programming to Sirius XM for at least two years before the order's adoption.
The MMTC is now asking for a supplemental ruling to "establish clear standards as to what constitutes a 'relationship' that precludes a programmer from participating in the diversity program."
The group would also like the definition of "qualified entity" used for the Sirius XM lessees to be confined to this case in particular, saying, "Due to the definition's extremely dilute impact, the commission's goal of promoting diversity would be severely set back if this definition were to become the de facto standard." The MMTC says that "99.9 percent of programmers, including huge multinational organizations such as Google, would qualify for the channel set-aside because they have no 'relationship' with Sirius XM." Additionally, it says the definition would "implicitly reject 16 of the 71 ending diversity proposals now before the commission."
The FCC said in the Sirius XM order that its definition of "qualified entity" was intentionally race-neutral, citing potential constitutional challenges to its earlier, more specific definition.
In the petition for reconsideration, the MMTC sets out what it calls "race-neutral" but "not racially dilute" classifications it would like to include as part of the definition for these purposes: Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic serving institutions, Asian American serving institutions, and Native American serving institutions, saying such organizations are "based on mission, not race." It would also like multilingual programmers to be included, "a classification based on language, not race," and tribal entities, "based on treaty relationships, not race."
Says the MMTC, "None of these categories of programmers is significantly represented on Sirius XM now, and the public interest would be well served if they were."
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Dr. Laura Moves to Satellite Radio
NEW YORK, Nov. 26, 2010
Talk show host Laura Schlessinger won't stay away from radio very long - only a weekend, in fact. Sirius XM Radio Inc. said Monday it has a multiyear deal with Schlessinger to bring her "Dr. Laura" advice program to satellite radio in January. Specific terms were not revealed. Schlessinger had said in August that she was quitting her syndicated radio program, a week after she apologized for using the N-word on the air 11 times while talking to a black woman, and activists demanded her ouster. She ends her traditional radio program on Friday, Dec. 31. The following Monday, her "Dr. Laura" show will begin live at 2 p.m. on Sirius XM. It will air for three hours a day on Monday through Friday. Schlessinger announced on CNN's "Larry King Live" Aug. 17 that she was walking away from her radio show when her contract ended. The next day Sirius talk programming chief Jeremy Coleman called her to discuss a switch, she said. "The first and most important thing that appealed to me was the freedom to speak my mind without advertisers and affiliates being attacked by activist groups that just love to censor anything they don't agree with," she said. "That just about made my heart and head explode." The liberal watchdog Media Matters for America was a persistent critic. Its leadership didn't accept her apology and sought to encourage advertisers to drop her show. She was reading the Media Matters website when she decided, "that's it, I'm done with this," Schlessinger said. In the radio incident that prompted her to quit, Schlessinger said to the woman involved, who was married to a white man, that "if you're that hypersensitive about color and don't have a sense of humor, don't marry out of your race." Schlessinger said she'll have some new segments on her show, including interviews with people about situations "that are relevant to the morals, values, principles and ethics that I nag about everyday." She said she's sure she'll say things that will offend someone. "When I talk about married couples staying together for the sake of the children, somebody's offended," she said. "When I talk about mothers staying home with their babies, feminists are offended. when I talk about how wives should have more sex with their husbands, women are offended." Schlessinger will be the biggest radio star to jump from traditional to satellite radio since Howard Stern, who had also tired of controversies over things he said and found the opportunity for a big payday. She's likely to sacrifice some viewers. It's estimated her show is currently heard by about 8 million people a day. Sirius XM has 20 million subscribers, but it's not certain how many of them will be interested in Schlessinger. The service does not release figures estimating listeners for their shows. Her show will also be available online and through apps on many smart phones, Sirius said; shows will be repeated on radio over the weekend.