NAACP supports Sirius-XM merger. Wait, what?
July 2, 2007 11:41 pm News, Politics
SIRIUS/XM Welcome NAACP Support for Satellite Radio Merger Related Quotes SIRIUS Satellite Radio (Nasdaq: SIRI) and XM Satellite Radio (Nasdaq: XMSR) today announced the endorsement of The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the nation’s largest and most widely-recognized grassroots civil rights organization with over 400,000 members, for their pending merger. “We are extremely pleased to enjoy the support of such a well-respected and influential organization in the African American community,” said Gary Parsons, Chairman of XM Satellite Radio and Mel Karmazin, CEO of SIRIUS Satellite Radio, in a joint statement. In a letter to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), NAACP Director Hilary Shelton affirmed, “We are convinced that the pending Sirius-XM merger will be a positive development for consumers. More diverse, accessible and appealing options at lower prices in satellite radio will help further expand the reach of this medium.” Both XM and SIRIUS offer numerous music and entertainment channels of interest to the diverse taste of African-Americans. For instance, XM’s “The Power” offers thought and opinion on social, political and economic issues from an African-American perspective on the nation’s only 24/7 radio channel programmed by and for the African-American community, while SIRIUS’ “Foxxhole”, hosted by Jamie Foxx, offers exclusive 24/7 programming from Urban Comedy to radio theater. In their letter to the FCC, the NAACP also applauded both companies for maintaining “a strong commitment to diversity” and utilizing “significant resources to recruit and retain minority talent and leadership at all levels.” “We have no doubt that a merged satellite radio company would continue, and in fact, strengthen its commitment to diversity in employee recruitment and retention, while expanding its pool of diverse contractors and vendors,” added Shelton. SIRIUS and XM look forward to continuing their strong working relationship with the NAACP to provide high-quality programming to an even wider audience of African-American listeners and other communities of color following the merger. Additional information regarding the merger can be found at http://www.SIRIUSmerger.com and http://www.XMmerger.com. 
The NAACP recently announced its support of the Sirius-XM satellite radio merger. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (yes, it’s really that NAACP) said, among other things, that the merger would lower prices and increase diversity in broadcasting. Ok, maybe, but it’s still quite a stretch, guys. Here’s the article from E*TRADE:
PR Newswire - June 28, 2007 3:04 PM ET
Symbol Last Chg
ANCS Trade 1.25 0.00
SIRI Trade 3.03 +0.01
XMSR Trade 12.06 +0.29
Quotes delayed at least 15 minutes
Walt :
Date: July 3, 2007 @ 11:07 am
I’m afraid I fail to get their reasoning. Why would having a monopoly in satellite radio result in lower barrier to entry for minority ownership?
Now, I work for the NAB on this issue, and one of our problems is that this would give the XM-Sirius behemoth too much power in setting advertising prices. That would have an adverse effect on local radio — and would in all likelihood result in lower minority ownership of radio stations.
I don’t get it. I don’t have any special insight, but I think this was a made-in-DC deal that doesn’t really benefit the NAACP’s constituents.