Dingell And Markey Letter Positive For Merger
This letter however could actually be good news for the merger. The concessions sought deal with pricing guarantees and open access. Both issues seem to have very workable solutions in terms of implementation and do not strip away synergies that make the deal less attractive. Sirius and XM have already outlined A-La-Carte pricing, and would seem to be open to the concept of a price freeze for a specified period of time. On open access, the theory is sound, but mechanics are a bit more cumbersome. Open access is something that has a high potential of getting somewhere if the FCC decides that the issue is important enough.
This letter, from high profile congressional representatives gives ammunition to the merger being approved on terms that would protect consumers while at the same time being street friendly from an investment standpoint. If indeed spectrum concessions were being sought by some of the FCC commissioners, a letter such as this helps deflect such positions. In particular it is not what is written in the letter as much as who the letter is from that can be viewed as positive in merger terms.
The FCC has had the proposed merger on their plate for 410 days.
Position – Long Sirius, Long XM
Bad news. Seems the press release left out a few minor details. What we have here is one of our weekly congressional NAB puppets, trying to get HD radio into satellite radio equipment. The funny thing is, it CANNOT be done. Sirius does not manufacture radios. You cannot tell a company such as pioneer, blaupunkt or directed that their radios must include cassette decks and cd’s and ipod connections etc…They don’t have to do it and its unenforcable by the fcc.
Here is the letter…
Dominick….
While the FCC could not place such a requirement on the manufactureres, they could place such restrictions on Sirius and XM and make Sirius and XM the responsible party
Good morning Tyler…
We did some googling. Guess who’s on the NAB’s payroll? You can google “Dingell NAB donations” … it’s quite an eye opener. I sent links to Chairman Martin yesterday…
” “…In addition to these soft money contributions, the NAB doled out more than $60,000 to House and Senate members during that time, including large contributions to Lindsay Graham (R-South Carolina), Richard Burr (R-North Carolina), and John Dingell (D-Michigan), all of whom later went on to sponsor pro-industry amendments.”
“In the second quarter of 2004 alone, Markey raised $1.35 million—not all of it coming from constituents appreciative of Markey’s service to the Bay State.
Political action committees operated by the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) and NCTA have also gotten into the act, with each donating $10,000—the maximum amount allowable—to Markey.” “
This one explains John Kerry’s threats…326,ooo dollars…as of 2004
I’m sure your contacts can research plenty more…hint…hint…
I would not get over excited about prior concessions being left out of the latest letter. The previous consessions may already be a “done deal” in the eyes of the FCC. If I were XM or Sirius I’d be off the handle at this point and fight any concessions.
In this current politically motivated era I’d be screaming of the money and time the govt has wasted on this merger. The FCC has demonstrated their complete uselessness in this matter.
Most of my voting in November will be tied to how this mess was miss-handled. If they can’t manage this simple merger review how the hell can they be trusted with- healthcare, taxes, war, the economy or anything else that really matters?