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www.southgatearc.org
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Rule barring satellite radio merger can be changed - FCC ChairmanUS Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Kevin Martin said recently that a rule that bars XM Satellite Radio Holdings and Sirius Satellite Radio from merging could be altered, if requested. Martin, speaking to Reuters on the sidelines of a conference in New York, said he was not aware of any request to change the rule on satellite radio licensing ownership, which currently prohibits one entity from owning both licenses. “The Commission looks at anything that is presented to it (and) all of the Commission’s rules are open to be changed,” Martin said. He declined to comment on the specifics of any potential satellite radio merger. Martin said that no rule is set in stone, but first there has to be a reason to revisit a policy. “We have rules that Congress requires us periodically to review,” he said. “This particular rule, we are under no obligation to review at this particular time. Someone would have to say (to the FCC) ‘look at this rule.’” Fellow Republican FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell said he and his aides were looking into any precedents for changing the agency’s rules. “It’s intriguing,” he told reporters after a Federal Communications Bar Association luncheon in Washington. “We’re looking at that right now.” Speculation over a deal has rippled through the market for months. Neither XM nor Sirius have said they are pursuing a deal, but neither has ruled it out.
Source: Media Network, Reuters
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