Satellite Radio Under Attack

We the Undersigned, are asking you to please vote against H.R. 4026, the Local Emergency Radio Service Preservation Act of 2004 which, if passed, it will prevent Satellite Radio Companies from broadcasting local traffic and weather service to their subscribers in some of the major cities in the United States.

The National Association of Broadcasters is lobbying this bill because they fear that Satellite Radio is a threat to them. XM Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio, have between them about 1.8 million subscribers nationwide, a mere drop in the ratings bucket for radio stations. The New York public radio station, WNYC, has about the same number of listeners.

The satellite services do plan to offer local traffic and weather in some markets, not by offering specific channels to specific markets, but by offering it on a national scale, thus meeting the letter, if not the spirit, of a "national service." You would be able to hear SIRIUS' or XM's Washington information in any of the other cities it serves.

The Satellite Radio operators have spent billions of dollars in setting up a unique system of quality programming and entertainment for their subscribers and are fighting hard to sign up enough subscribers to guarantee their survival. To prevent those same paying subscribers from being able to receive important traffic and weather service is just plain and simple unfair and un-American.

I trust you will do what is right and vote against H.R. 4026 as I know that you are in favor of "the free market" and doing what's best for consumers.