Church coalition trying to stop satellite radio merger

[Superman]

Church coalition against merger
Stern's 'filth' cited to FCC

Kara Rowland (Contact)
Thursday, June 26, 2008

A group representing more than 16,000 black and Hispanic churches has urged federal media regulators to reject the merger of XM Satellite Radio Inc. and Sirius Satellite Radio Inc., citing its objections to a segment of Sirius shock jock Howard Stern's show in which audio clips of country singer Dolly Parton were manipulated into racist and sexually vulgar comments.

In a June 21 letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin J. Martin, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Times, the National Black Church Initiative said, "There is no 'public interest' in allowing Mr. Stern a larger platform to spew his filth."

The group cites a May 6 show in which Mr. Stern aired clips of Miss Parton apparently using racial slurs and describing vulgar sexual acts, mentioning other celebrities including Kenny Rogers, Linda Ronstadt, Burt Reynolds and Johnny Carson. The sound bites are manipulations of an audio-book recording by Miss Parton.

The incident is hardly the first time Mr. Stern has sparked outrage for lewd comments. But since he left broadcast radio in 2006 - after signing a five-year, $500 million contract with Sirius - his show is no longer subject to federal indecency standards. Regardless, the National Black Church Initiative is using the clip to ask the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) to urge federal media regulators to reject the deal outright.

"The notion that Mr. Stern, through the proposed monopoly-merger of Sirius and XM Satellite Radio, may soon have twice the spectrum to disseminate such despicable content is simply disgracefully," wrote the Rev. Anthony Evans, president of the group.

The pending merger between XM and Sirius, announced in February 2007, was approved without conditions by federal antitrust officials in March. The deal is awaiting the green light of the FCC, whose determination hinges on whether it would be in the public interest.

Mr. Martin, a Republican, earlier this month announced his support for the merger after XM and Sirius agreed to a number of conditions, including a three-year price freeze and leasing 8 percent of their combined channels for minority-owned programming and noncommercial programming. The agency's remaining commissioners, two Republicans and two Democrats, have yet to publicly disclose their intentions.

Members of the CBC had previously called for 20 percent of channels to be set aside for minority programmers.

Calls to the offices of CBC Chairwoman Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, Michigan Democrat, and Rep. G.K. Butterfield, the North Carolina Democrat who chairs the CBC's working group on satellite radio, were not returned Wednesday.

FCC spokesman Robert Kenney said the agency has received the letter, which is being reviewed by the chairman's office.

A spokesman for Sirius did not respond to a request for comment.

Communications lawyer Harry Cole dismissed objections over the content of Mr. Stern's show as "raising no substantive issues."

"This is a satellite, subscription service we're talking about, as opposed to over-the-air broadcast, which is subject to a different set of standards, a different set of rules. That's one of the reasons, as I understand it, Stern left for satellite - because he would not be constantly concerned about whether the FCC would come after him for alleged indecency violations," said Mr. Cole of Arlington-based Fletcher, Heald & Hildreth PLC. Mr. Cole briefly performed on Mr. Stern's show in the early 1980s.

The merger between XM and Sirius has been opposed by consumer advocates such as the Consumer Federation of America, anti-media consolidation groups including Free Press, and traditional broadcasters led by the National Association of Broadcasters.

Fuckers

Just when I thought I couldn't hate church assholes any more than I already do, I read this bullshit. I have Sirius, and it's mostly because the Stern show is my favorite thing to listen to. That bit they're referring from May 6 is an ongoing thing he's done for years... they just used that excuse because they managed to find it.

I hope that the merger goes through, because I'll be able to access baseball (which is exclusive to XM). So here's what it comes down to. These church motherfuckers think they have a say in this because they don't approve of Howard Stern. Instead of simply not buying the service (and it IS a pay service), they would rather fuck everyone else who enjoys it.

[Gandalf]

Yet another angry lot of uppity Christians looking for a suburban crusade. Yesterday it was Eminem, the day before it was Beavis and Butthead.

audio clips of country singer Dolly Parton were manipulated into racist and sexually vulgar comments.

*chuckle*

It's not quite the interview with John Howard talking about Richard Marsland sticking a flag up his own arse, but that sounds pretty good.

[General Zod]

So where's all the churches rallying against black comedians on major cable networks who have almost nothing but racist epithets in their routines?

[Glocksman]

Color me cynical, but I wonder just how much money these church groups get in contributions from merger opponents like the National Association of Broadcasters?
It wouldn't be the first time that corporations buy political support with grants to groups that you wouldn't normally associate them with.

Personally I'd think the bluenoses would be happy that Stern is on Sirius.
Unlike broadcast radio, you have to choose to pay for it and both XM and Sirius will block specific channels.
IOW, if you're paying for Sirius for your 10 year old, you can have them block Stern or any other channel you don't want them to hear.

[Superman]

Color me cynical, but I wonder just how much money these church groups get in contributions from merger opponents like the National Association of Broadcasters?
It wouldn't be the first time that corporations buy political support with grants to groups that you wouldn't normally associate them with.

I'd take that bet. The NIB has opposed this since the beginning, and they seem to have more than a few congressmen on the take.

[GrandMasterTerwynn]

Personally I'd think the bluenoses would be happy that Stern is on Sirius.
Unlike broadcast radio, you have to choose to pay for it and both XM and Sirius will block specific channels.
IOW, if you're paying for Sirius for your 10 year old, you can have them block Stern or any other channel you don't want them to hear.

Are you kidding? The existence of such hedonistic filth anywhere show's Man's defiance of God and Man succumbing to temptation by Satan. The only law that all men everywhere must adhere to is God's law, and the only ruler they are permitted is the Lord, Jesus Christ. Therefore, things that God has decreed to be sins and abominations in Scripture are things that must be banned for all people, for otherwise, some may give into temptation, and through them Satan may do his work to lead other people into eternal damnation.

Remember, these sorts of people believe that people shouldn't be trusted to judge what is right and what's wrong, and that all morality flows from God alone. Ergo, anything that might be even remotely fun to the un-brainwashed needs to be banned, for our own protection, of course.

[NeoGoomba]

Wow, where were these people ten years ago when Billy West, on over-the-air radio, used to do his Marge Schott and "Black Guy" impersonations on Stern? I don't remember ANY backlash to his stuff, and he did some insanely over the line stuff on K-Rock.

[Darth Wong]

I don't give a shit about on-air crude language or mature content. I do, however, have a problem with the idea that there are currently only two competitors in the satellite radio market, and they want to merge into a monopoly.

The last 20 years have seen an incredible agglomeration of media companies until only a handful of companies control virtually all of the media in the United States. Why is no one concerned about this except for some idiot fundies who are upset for all the wrong reasons?

[Sea Skimmer]

I don't give a shit about on-air crude language or mature content. I do, however, have a problem with the idea that there are currently only two competitors in the satellite radio market, and they want to merge into a monopoly.

Interestingly the decision of the US department of justice (yeah I know… Bush DOJ = shit) in approving the deal (one of several approvals needed mind you) basically said that they don’t think the merger is anti competitive because almost no one switched from one provider to another in the first place. Buying a second satellite radio is just too expensive for most people, and few people buy the radio in the first place, they use whatever came in the car they bought if they pay for a subscription at all. So being stuck with one provider wouldn’t really matter, and satellite radio can’t afford to cut its rates any lower. I’m not sure I buy that completely, but I think it is mostly true.

The judgment also cited the availability of other mediums for most of the same content outside of satellite radio, especially cell phone based internet radio. Cell internet doesn’t have quite the same reach as a satellite, but I don’t think most people would notice the difference.

The last 20 years have seen an incredible agglomeration of media companies until only a handful of companies control virtually all of the media in the United States. Why is no one concerned about this except for some idiot fundies who are upset for all the wrong reasons?

Well this merger has taken FAR longer to approve then almost any previous media company or even big oil company merger, so it’s certainly not an ignored issue. The FCC actually had a standing ban on satellite radio company merges from the first existence of the industry until now, and it’s still not certain (getting close though) that this will change.Oone should also remember that both these companies have done nothing but lose money as long as they have existed, to the tune of like eight billion dollars now, and even with subscriptions higher then ever they still each lose over a half billion a year. It was kind of silly for two companies to spend so many billions of dollars orbiting three satellites each which only deliver voice radio messages.

Me, I’m against the merger for the very reason of too few media companies, I’d love to see every big media outlit cut in half, but if those sat companies can’t become profitable then that’s a real problem too. One good thing that would come out of this is that the new company would be forced to dedicate a slew of channels (24 I think) to non profit and public access programming

[Glocksman]

On the merger itself, I'm more 'meh' than anything else.
While I don't like media consolidation, my understanding is that both XM and Sirius are losing money and that a merger could save both companies.

Of course the cost savings are going to come out of programming consolidation, not hardware (the big cost is the satellites themselves) consolidation, as XM and Sirius receivers are incompatible.

I don't know if it's true, but I recall reading that originally the FCC required XM and Sirius to use receivers that could pick up both companies broadcasts but both fought that tooth and nail in order to 'lock in' their subscriber base.

If that's true, I bet they feel stupid now.

[Superman]

I don't give a shit about on-air crude language or mature content. I do, however, have a problem with the idea that there are currently only two competitors in the satellite radio market, and they want to merge into a monopoly.

The last 20 years have seen an incredible agglomeration of media companies until only a handful of companies control virtually all of the media in the United States. Why is no one concerned about this except for some idiot fundies who are upset for all the wrong reasons?

Satellite radio makes up less than 5% of all radio, and neither company is profitable. The justice department ruled that the merger will likely have little or no effect when it comes to lessening the competition. The main opposition to the merger is the NAB.

It's taken the government over a year to come this far, and there's still no approval or denial for the merger. I wonder why they only held one hearing for the Exxon-Mobil merger, or the Chevron-Texaco deal...

[Elfdart]

Yet another angry lot of uppity Christians looking for a suburban crusade. Yesterday it was Eminem, the day before it was Beavis and Butthead.

audio clips of country singer Dolly Parton were manipulated into racist and sexually vulgar comments.

*chuckle*

It's not quite the interview with John Howard talking about Richard Marsland sticking a flag up his own arse, but that sounds pretty good.

They do it with a lot of audio autobiographies, like this one by Ed McMahon:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hA8EgYu7GvA

And this one by George Takei, where they took clips from his audio book and used them to prank call a redneck:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLsPlDjQCNA