On April Fools Day, Chester Davenport and Reverend Jesse Jackson met with the two Democrat FCC Commissioners, among others, to discuss their proposal for divesting the broadcast infrastructure of Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. and XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc., according to a recent ex parte filing.
Specifically those in attendance at the meeting were Chester C. Davenport, Founder and Managing Director of Georgetown Partners; Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr., Founder and President, Rainbow PUSH Coalition; and Kimberly Marcus, Rainbow PUSH Coalition. From the FCC Commissioner Adelstein, Commissioner Copps, Rudy Brioché, Rick Chessen and Scott Deutchman were in the meeting.
In addition to discussing the forced leasing of spectrum to Georgetown Partners, Jackson and Davenport also discussed the DOJ’s decision not to block the Sirius-XM merger. Georgetown stating that “the decision is contrary to years of well-established law in the antitrust area, as well as sound public and economic policies.”
They added that the Justice Department’s decision “rewards Sirius and XM for their failure to honor the commitment they made to the Commission to develop and market an interoperable radio capable of receiving both Sirius and XM.”
In an earlier filing (PDF) made public last week, Georgetown detailed that the public interest, in their opinion, would be achieved by requiring that “[a] minimum of 20 percent of the total satellite DARS capacity and access to the requisite infrastructure” be made available to an independent party, such as Georgetown.
Georgetown continued to propose that the lease be “privately negotiated or imposed at commercially acceptable terms” that would compensate Sirius-XM while prohibiting any control or influence over the competitor or the competitor’s programs.
At the recent meeting with Copps and Adelstein, Georgetown said they are prepared to be “a viable competitor”
to a merged Sirius and XM, as well as satisfy “the need for diversity.”
Both Adelstein and Copps have long felt that diversity in media, or lack thereof, is a sore point in the FCC’s current policy. There’s no question that Georgetown Partners, with the backing of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, brings “diversity” to the table (though, it must be noted that top executives at XM - including current CEO, Nate Davis and Chief Marketing Officer, Vernon Irvin - represent diversity that we don’t see in the rest of the industry).
One has to question though… how is Georgetown Partners otherwise “prepared” to be this viable competitor? Aside from being a minority-owned, private-equity firm that analyzes FCC regulated
communications markets “for opportunities to extend minority ownership
and control,” (their own words) - what other qualifications do they bring to the table?
[View FCC Filing (PDF)]
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