Who the hell is the "Carmel Group"?

[acroyear]

And why the hell are they making accusations about technology that are 2 years out of date?

Opinions Rise on XM-Sirius Plan - washingtonpost.com:

Such regulators as the Department of Justice and the Federal Communications Commission must decide whether Internet radio, MP3 players and traditional AM and FM radio compete with satellite radio, and whether a single satellite radio provider would harm consumers.

One of the main arguments against the merger, according to the Carmel Group, is that consumers' audio options, particularly in the car, are limited. While some technology firms promise great advances that could bring more choice -- such as in-car, high-definition radio and built-in MP3 technology -- regulators should consider only what's available now, the group says. [emph mine]

"The FCC and DOJ aren't in the business of looking into some crystal ball and predicting some technology in the future," said Jimmy Shaeffler, Carmel Group senior analyst and author of the group's report released last week. "Somewhere down the line, maybe 5 years, 7 years or more, XM and Sirius can come back to this argument and possibly prevail."

Uh, Carmel, whoever the hell you are, HD RADIO and CAR MP3 PLAYERS (off cdroms, flash drives, and built-in sync through usb ports from laptops, as well as a variety of ipod installations) ARE ALREADY HERE!!!!!. HD Radio has been advertising on WTOP for over a year and a half now, and I'm seriously looking to buy a new car stereo that 1) plays cds, 2) plays cdroms of mp3s, and 3) has an input jack right on the front for plugging in my XM and my wife's IPod, as desired.

So guess what, you're argument is over two years out of date and extremely easily discredited.

Now tell me, Carmel: who the hell are you really working for?

Comments

yeah

[zammis.livejournal.com]

that is odd- guess they've never heard of Crutchfield. I've had my Sony that does all of that for 18 months now....and it was an onsale discountinued model.

[thelongshot.livejournal.com]

Well, I couldn't find a quote on their site that exactly matched up with the above on Carmel's site, but I did find this:

The Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division would still be expected to see the competitive arena as a rather limited one, where XM and Sirius—and only XM and Sirius—compete as a product/service. This would mean the DOJ would still not recognize MP3 devices, HD terrestrial radios and Internet radios as competition to satellite radio, at least not until each has a defined service and significant competitive base. That change is still years away.

Personally, I think that is a bunch of BS. More and more vehicles are coming with iPod interfaces. Most CD decks in new cars can read MP3 files on CD. My car had the option of an MP3 player, which I currently have installed in my car.

They also seem to forget the most obvious competition: broadcast radio. While the content is less, it has the advantage of not costing the listener any money. I have a coworker who was a big O&A fan, but wasn't willing to pay for XM to hear them. He'd rather hear the free options out there.

If the DoJ honestly thinks this, they have their heads up their asses.

I can't say that I'm impressed by this Schaeffler guy either. What has he done that is worthy of an opinion?

[acroyear70.livejournal.com]

HD radio is commercial-based as well, free to listeners except the increased cost of the initial radio. The only thing that differs it from normal radio is that many stations tend to be "national" so they're more like a tv network than regular radio (or even NPR). ClearChannel is pretty much he dominating power and supplies much of the national-level content, which certainly explains why CC is so adamant to say that HD's presence is irrelevant to a satellite radio monopoly.

The trouble is that the DoJ isn't the only player in the bureaucracy with a stake in this. FTC, FCC, and SEC all can put a stop to it as well, and the hearings are happening before a science and technology committee within the Senate (one that John Kerry is on).

[mandrakan.livejournal.com]

From what I know of antitrust law, I would consider the market to be either (1) Subscription, commercial-free radio, or (2) Commercial-free plus commercial-paid radio plus Public Radio.

I'm not convinced the latter is a fair substitute for the former, but it might be. In-car MP3 players are not, nor are CD-players, 6-disc CD-changers, or in-dash cassette decks.

I think that a 2-to-1 merger of Satellite Radio providers is likely to be anti-competitive, because there really is no other option if you want to (1) pay to avoid commercials, and (2) listen to music (or talk radio, etc.) that you don't alredy own.