With the passage of the merger between Sirius and XM came stipulations regarding minority programming. Early in the process Georgetown Partners wanted a piece of the pie, but they have been silent ever since the merger was announced. Another company, AlphaStar, has proposed what appears to be a very viable solution, and because they already have infrastructure, could launch services right away should a deal be struck. Now, a small radio station in Texas is proposing that they would like to broadcast over the Sirius XM system.

KQBO 107.5 FM is a small 12,000 watt terrestrial radio station broadcasting in Rio Grande City Texas. The ownership, Media Ventures Unlimited, is Hispanic, and the programming caters to a Latino audience. In a filing with the FCC, Media ventures stated that they would broadcast their programming 24/7 and are willing to enter into a contract with Sirius XM radio so that operations could begin immediately.

Should Media Ventures be successful in their bid to provide minority programming, their reach would shift from a 50 mile radius to a national footprint. One interesting issue will be that of “local advertising”. Satellite radio can not carry localized advertising, but a station such as KQBO would have ads built into their programs. this could bring such a proposal to it’s knees should the NAB challenge the concept.

Position – Long SIRI