Taking terrestrial radio’s side against the satellite merger is the National Association of Neighborhoods.
Ricardo C. Byrd, its executive director, said he wrote to the FCC on behalf of its 2,500 organizations.
“We believe this merger will do irrefutable harm to the availability of diverse radio programming,” he wrote, “impair the survival of small-market community-oriented radio stations, and lacks significant benefits for consumers.”
The group stated that “of the more than 300 channels available between the two companies, currently, there is only one talk channel committed to African-American interests and issues (XM 169). Further, local radio stations throughout the country are programmed by radio station staff that live in the communities they serve, catering to the specific tastes and interests of their hometown neighborhoods. It is unlikely that the central programming of XM and Sirius will be as reflective of the needs and interests of local neighborhoods as the programming broadcast by local radio stations.”
