“Let’s be clear: Radio broadcasters do not compete in the national market of the satellite radio companies, but XM and Sirius do compete in the local radio markets.”
Mary Quass, president/CEO of NRG and a member of the NAB Radio Board, testified this week for NAB at the Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“The commission foresaw the dangers of a monopoly,” she told senators. “It explicitly licensed more than one provider to ensure ‘intra-market’ competition and to prohibit one satellite radio provider from ever acquiring control of the other. There is no reason to change now.”
The national availability of satellite radio, she said, sets it apart from local broadcasters.
