• by Erik Sass , September 30, 2008

Even after their merger, the Sirius-XM saga continues. Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA), the chairman of the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, proposed a new bill that would require all satellite radio receivers with AM/FM capability to also include hardware that allows them to receive HD digital radio signals from terrestrial broadcasters.

The bill, with bipartisan sponsorship by six other Representatives, would enact a series of suggestions and demands voiced by radio lobbyists and members of the Federal Communications Commission, as well as the Congressmen themselves.

In an official statement, Markey argued: "Millions of Americans today rely on local broadcast radio for news, public safety bulletins, sports, weather, traffic, and other information," adding: "This legislation will ensure that consumers are able to readily receive free service through consumer electronics systems that are otherwise receiving satellite digital audio radio and traditional AM or FM stations." He said the bill would provide for more robust consumer control and choice in media consumption.

Markey's bill drew applause from the National Association of Broadcasters, which had previously opposed the Sirius-XM merger as monopolistic and anti-competitive. During the debate over the merger, another group representing terrestrial radio stations with HD broadcasts, the HD Digital Radio Alliance, had demanded that satellite radio sets be required to include HD receivers as a condition for approval of the merger.

Senators John Kerry (D-MA), Claire McCaskill (D-MO) and Ben Cardin (D-MD) also asked that satellite radio receivers be required to include HD digital radio receivers, casting this condition as "an essential check against the merged entity using its monopoly power to stifle a promising new free, over-the-air technology."

In May, a compromise position was suggested by Representatives John Dingell (D.-Mich) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.), who proposed that satellite radio manufacturers should be allowed--but not required--to include other audio options such as HD receivers, as well as iPod ports and Internet hookups.

Jonathan Adelstein, one of two Democratic Commissioners on the Federal Communications Commission, voiced essentially the same demand in the final week before the FCC voted to approve the merger in late July. Adelstein said he would vote in favor of the merger if this and other more stringent conditions related to the use of satellite spectrum were met; however, the broadcasters refused.

Adelstein's offer to vote in favor was widely viewed as political posturing; in the end the FCC voted along party lines to approve the merger, with Chairman Kevin Martin and two Republican colleagues carrying the day.

Several big radio manufacturers have opposed the idea of including HD receivers, however. Also in May, Pioneer North America sent a letter to the FCC arguing against this condition--warning that forcing manufacturers to include HD tech would "interfere with the useful and healthy free market mechanisms extant in radio electronics purchases" and result in a host of technical difficulties, including "decreasing AM/FM tuning performance."

Nonetheless, in late August the FCC issued a Notice of Inquiry inviting comment from the public and companies on a proposal to require inclusion of HD receivers, indicating that the issue remains unsettled. The bill proposed by Markey would require the FCC to prescribe rules to implement the act within six months of its passage.