# NAB Keeps Pushing Local Sat Radio Issues



## Chris Blount (Jun 22, 2001)

The National Association of Broadcasters made another push last week at the Federal Communications Commission concerning its issues with satellite radio's delivery of local traffic and weather services.

During the week, NAB officials met with FCC Commissioner Kathleen Abernathy and Jon Cody, a legal advisor to FCC Chairman Michael Powell, concerning local/satellite radio concerns. The meetings follow contacts NAB staff had with FCC Commissioners Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein about the topic, which occurred during the last week of October.

In a filing detailing the meetings, NAB said it discussed its "increasing concern" with satellite radio's plans to enter the local advertising market "and the disastrous economic effect such entry would have on small and medium markets." The meetings last week also dealt with broadcaster efforts within the digital TV transition, and it appeared that matter was more generally discussed between the two sides.

Broadcasters are pushing the FCC to restrict or prohibit satellite radio from delivering locally oriented programming, such as local traffic and weather reports that XM Satellite Radio and Sirius rolled out earlier this year. The FCC could hand down a decision concerning the matter soon.

Meanwhile, the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) sent a letter to the FCC last week offering support for local satellite radio services and asked the commission to dismiss the NAB petition asking for a review of those offerings. CEA said the broadcaster move if approved "would drastically limit the innovative service offerings of the satellite radio providers, XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio, to the detriment of the consumer electronics industry and American consumers."

http://www.skyreport.com (Used with permission)


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## RichW (Mar 29, 2002)

I hope the FCC uses logic rather than lobby pressure in making any decision. The NAB does not own the exclusive right to report weather or traffic information.


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## Guest (Nov 8, 2004)

Well this is not a case of retransmitting a national feed of NBC, this instead would be XM and Sirius installing their own infrastructure in local markets either reporting this information from that market Live or sending it back to their home broadcast center in New York or wherever for broadcast.
The NAB is crying like a little girl with a skinned knee just because they are
going to get their asses handed to them by Satellite Radio in the next 2 years
with the drop in listeners (being assaulted by ads). It will take this long maybe a little longer due to the current survey system they use to judge how many listeners they have. Every quarter the station owners send a survey to a very small percentage of the listeners in each market and set their ad rates
based on those surveys. When they get a noticable percentage of people 
responding saying they don't listen due to satellite radio, then real change will happen. But ya know, it's all educated guesses on my end of things.
But what is obvious is that they are freaked out already.
I listen to the radio only when I'm changing cds in my truck.
And that is all of 10 seconds a pop.

Lata, C.J.


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