• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, May 5, 2008

Two senior congressional Democrats are saying that XM and Sirius Satellite Radio should be required to allow manufacturers to offer additional options in satellite receivers, making them accessible to HD digital radio broadcasts and the Internet.

John Dingell (D.-Mich) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.) laid out their position last week in a letter to Kevin Martin, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. Dingell is the chairman of the House Commerce Committee, while Markey is chairman of its Telecommunications Subcommittee.

The demand from the two influential Representatives echoes one made several months ago by the HD Digital Radio Alliance, representing terrestrial broadcasters that are pushing a competing digital radio technology. The Alliance sent a letter to Martin in January arguing that XM and Sirius should make all their radios open to HD signals, if the merger is allowed to proceed.

The two Democrat Congressmen appear to be demanding even more, allowing manufacturers to include Internet connectivity and iPod ports. However, they did not demand that the satcasters cancel their existing deals with automakers, as the Alliance did.

Several weeks ago, the attorneys general of 10 states signed a letter opposing the merger, with four also arguing that if the merger is allowed to go forward, the FCC should set aside part of the satellite-accessible spectrum for a free service to be started by a new third-party company. One such service has already been proposed by a private-equity firm, Georgetown Partners.

(In an earlier article titled "Static: 14 State AGs Oppose XM/Sirius Merger," published April 28, MediaDailyNews incorrectly reported that 14 state attorneys general signed the letter to the FCC. Only 10 attorneys general did so, with four signing a second letter making additional demands.)

The congressional pressure on XM-Sirius comes at a delicate time for Martin, who is under fire from both Democratic and Republican members of Congress for his decision last December to revise a 1965 rule that prohibited cross-ownership of newspapers and TV stations.

Martin hurried an FCC vote to approve the revision over objections from members of Congress and the two Democrats on the FCC. They claimed he hadn't given the public and Congress enough time to review and comment on proposal. On April 24, the Senate Commerce Committee approved a resolution to block the rule change, which is likely to be approved by the full Senate.

Last week, investigators from the House Commerce Committee advised Chairman Dingell to hold hearings on Martin's "broken" management of the FCC in June.