Someone give FCC chairman Kevin Martin a Red Bull, because he’s definitely asleep on the job. How else can we explain the thumbs up recently given to both the Sirius/XM and Verizon/Alltel mergers on his watch? While Martin happily panders to the public with far-flung plans for free, nationwide wireless Web access (that’ll be the day…), he’s been delinquent with the most important of duties charged to him: shielding us from the unfair business practices of monopolies. What happened to the FCC that had our best interests in mind when it dismantled Ma Bell in 1984?
XM/Sirius may be the only satellite radio providers, but their merger creates no monopoly. They have to complete with AM/FM radio, internet radio, podcasts, and all other portable media. It is similar to the WWE/WCW merger years back. They were the only big players in the game, but they still have to compete with everything else on television, and more directly with the rising popularity of MMA. In both cases, if the norm WWE, XM/Sirius, stagnate and don't provide customers/viewers with quality entertainment, they will go elsewhere for it.
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