NAB Will Fight Sirius/XM Merger at FCC
By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 3/23/2007 11:48:00 PM
The National Association of Broadcasters has communicated to the FCC an intention to file a petition to deny the merger of Sirius and Xm satellite radio.
In a March 22 letter to FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, NAB President David Rehr called the merger a monopoly that violated antitrust laws. He also wrote it will lead to predatory pricing that would "harm the public by erroding the valuable, advertiser-supported programming and services provided by local stations."NAB has been making that and other arguments against the merger in Hill hearings and in advertisements they have taken out in Washington political papers , but now that the official merger application has been filed at the FCC and the SEC, Rehr has made it clear to the commission NAB's intention to fight it. "NAB intends to submit a Petition to Deny the proposed merger at the appropriate time," Rehr told Martin.
