MemeStreams | MemeStreams Discussion

Create an Account

This page contains all of the posts and discussion on MemeStreams referencing the following web page: XM VS. FM. You can find discussions on MemeStreams as you surf the web, even if you aren't a MemeStreams member, using the Threads Bookmarklet.

XM VS. FM
by Shadow404 at 10:29 am EDT, Aug 3, 2004

[[ Conventional broadcasters, worried about losing business, have [[ cried foul. The National Association of Broadcasters, the
[[ lobbying arm of traditional radio, says local programming by
[[ satellite radio would violate government regulations.

[[ "We believe satellite radio companies were licensed for
[[ national radio programming services exclusively," NAB spokesman [[ Dennis Wharton says.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/science/07/30/satellite.radio/index.html

/ If FM didn't suck so bad I wouldn't of gotten XM. Besides, how exactly does XM violate government regulations when FCC licenses the sattelite spectrum and the FCC is a gonvernment run branch.

RE: XM VS. FM
by Decius at 12:48 pm EDT, Aug 3, 2004

Shadow404 wrote:

] / If FM didn't suck so bad I wouldn't of gotten XM. Besides,
] how exactly does XM violate government regulations when FCC
] licenses the sattelite spectrum and the FCC is a gonvernment
] run branch.

The FCC has regulations against providing "local programming" over wide area networks. The rules were created for the DSS TV services. They can't serve you ABC/NBC/CBS/FOX unless you are too far away from the local transmitter to pick up those stations with an antenna. The theory is that it harms diversity of programming by cutting small local stations out of the market. The reality is that people simply choose to not watch those stations anymore when they get DSS as a result. Furthermore, the regulations are written such that DSS can't offer you the channels if you could pick up your local stations with a big backyard antenna, which literally puts a lot of suburbia in a no man's zone which simply cannot be reached in a practical way by these networks.