U.S. radio broadcasters have asked federal regulators to bar rival satellite radio services from offering content tailored to local markets, according to a petition obtained on Friday. The National Association of Broadcasters, which represents radio conglomerates like Clear Channel Communications Inc. , filed the request due to concerns the up and coming satellite services are trying to replace local radio outlets. Both XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. now offer traffic and weather for several cities on its national service, but are barred from using ground-based transmitters that extend service into hard-to-reach areas to air programming aimed specifically at a local market.
“This foray into local content is directly contrary to … repeated and express promises that satellite radio service would be limited to delivering national programming to serve the unserved and underserved,” according to the petition filed this week and obtained by Reuters. NAB said the two companies may also be developing satellite radios that can receive advertisements, news and other content targeting a local market by using Global Positioning Satellite (GPS). The broadcasters’ group demanded that the Federal Communications Commission, which licenses satellite services, explicitly ban their rivals from using any technology to offer content in one area that is different from another location.
This is a good example of the absurd notion of the inherently conservative big corporation. Big corporations love socialist governments, because instead of having to compete with competitors spawned by new technology, they can simply lobby the government to ban their competitors altogether. The left’s attempt to create a dichotomy between big business and big government is a false one, as the two, in fact, tend to feed off each other. This is why the PRC has massive corporations, and why Hitler had no trouble reaching accomodation with the industrial giants of Germany. I always find it ironic that the environmental and anti-globalist left believes that government will somehow help them seriously rein in the big corporations.