FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Niel Ritchie (612) 879-7578
May 31, 2007
SIRIUS/XM SATELLITE RADIO MERGER CRITICAL TO GROWTH AND
DEVELOPMENT OF RURAL COMMUNITIES
Minneapolis, MN - The League of Rural Voters urged the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) to approve the merger between XM Radio (Nasdaq: XMSR) and
SIRIUS Satellite Radio (Nasdaq: SIRI), noting that the combined entity would offer
listeners in rural communities more programming options at lower prices than those
currently available from the two companies separately.
"In many rural areas throughout America, commercial radio reception can be extremely limited. Satellite radio has offered listeners in rural areas a robust alternative with hundreds of specialized channels that meet the programming needs of rural America," said Niel Ritchie, the League's Executive Director.
Consolidation of the commercial, over-the-air radio industry over the last decade has left much of rural America behind in recent years, as locally-owned stations are replaced with corporate conglomerates producing homogenized content with so-called local news and weather delivered from offices hundreds of miles away.
In announcing its support of the merger, the League also highlighted rural listeners who depend on satellite radio's emergency and public safety stations.
Satellite radio is often the best source of diverse music, talk, news, and sports in remote areas, as many other alternatives to terrestrial radio have yet to reach there. A successful merger of XM and SIRIUS creates even more programming options and provides a clear benefit to the many listeners living in rural America.
The League of Rural Voters was founded in 1985 as a non-profit organization dedicated to increasing the representation of rural people in the public policy making process. The League seeks to build awareness of the economic challenges facing rural communities while advocating for federal and state policies that focus government resources on education, health care and local and regional economic development.
League of Rural Voters Press Release_May_2007 2.pdf
