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MMTC WANTS CLARIFICATION ON SIRIUS XM

ORDER
November 19, 2010: After a number of delays, the FCC in
October released an order under which Sirius XM can begin
leasing spectrum to qualified entities in an effort to achieve
"source, viewpoint, and programming diversity." The Minority
Media and Telecommunications Council has filed a petition
for reconsideration, asking that the definition of "qualified entity" be limited to this
instance and contending that the definition itself is too vague.
Sirius XM agreed to lease 4 percent of the spectrum on Sirius and on XM as
one term of the merger that created Sirius XM Radio Inc., but it was left up to
The Best Managers in
the FCC to define the qualifications and to choose the lessees. With the October
Radio speak out --
order, Sirius XM agreed to take a hand in choosing who'd get the leases, based
anonymously.
on FCC criteria and subject to commission approval.
Also: A candid Q&A with
former KGO & KSFO That order specified that potential
President/GM Mickey Related Stories lessees not be directly or indirectly
Luckoff. FCC Adopts Rules For Sirius XM Leases owned by Sirius XM or an affiliate, and
Click here to that they not share officers, directors, or
subscribe. employees with Sirius XM. A lessee also cannot have supplied programming to
Sirius XM for at least two years before the order's adoption.

Radio Ink Podcast with The MMTC is now asking for a supplemental ruling to "establish clear standards
Rob Curley as to what constitutes a 'relationship' that precludes a programmer from
Click here to listen. participating in the diversity program."
The group would also like the definition of "qualified entity" used for the Sirius
XM lessees to be confined to this case in particular, saying, "Due to the
definition's extremely dilute impact, the commission's goal of promoting diversity
would be severely set back if this definition were to become the de facto
standard." The MMTC says that "99.9 percent of programmers, including huge
multinational organizations such as Google, would qualify for the channel set-
aside because they have no 'relationship' with Sirius XM." Additionally, it
says the definition would "implicitly reject 16 of the 71 ending diversity proposals
now before the commission."
The FCC said in the Sirius XM order that its definition of "qualified entity" was
intentionally race-neutral, citing potential constitutional challenges to its earlier,
more specific definition.
In the petition for reconsideration, the MMTC sets out what it calls "race-neutral"
but "not racially dilute" classifications it would like to include as part of the
definition for these purposes: Historically Black Colleges and Universities,
Hispanic serving institutions, Asian American serving institutions, and Native
American serving institutions, saying such organizations are "based on mission,
not race." It would also like multilingual programmers to be included, "a
classification based on language, not race," and tribal entities, "based on treaty
relationships, not race."
Sony dash
Internet Viewer Says the MMTC, "None of these categories of programmers is significantly
represented on Sirius XM now, and the public interest would be well served if
Play Internet
they were."
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