Rehr Presses FCC on Satellite, Asks for ‘Full Investigation’

NAB President/CEO David Rehr wants the FCC to “immediately commence a full investigation into both the actual and reported operations of Sirius and XM’s terrestrial repeater networks.”
The association says Rehr sent two letters to the FCC this week. In the first letter, he asked the commission for the investigation, saying XM and Sirius recently requested authorization to continue or resume operating terrestrial repeaters that were constructed and deployed inconsistently with FCC rules. “These latest disclosures reveal a persistent corporate (if not industry) circumvention of the FCC’s regulations.”
In another, NAB questioned what it calls the “privileged regulatory position” enjoyed by satellite radio given “the expanding delivery of complimentary satellite radio services to nonsubscribers.” He asked the commission to note and XM deal with Acura and the availability of Howard Stern’s show on the Internet for free.
“Drawing a regulatory distinction between satellite and traditional broadcast radio simply because satellite radio content is available on a subscription basis may no longer be justified.”