NPR Finds XM's Achilles Heel

PreacherTom writes "In the ongoing radio wars, one only has to listen to 20 seconds of Howard Stern's language to know that the lack of regulation gives satellite radio a distinct advantage. Of all the challengers, it seems that NPR has finally found a weakness in XM, which supplements its satellite coverage with earth-bound transmitters. A recent test found that 19 of these transmitters were unlicensed and another 221 exceeded their authorized power level, giving NPR an opening to press with an apparently sympathetic FCC. It certainly doesn't help that XM's own filings support their case."

A war over antiquated technology?

[dada21]

XM is cool -- I tried it out for a few months and actually found myself listening to the radio for the first time in a long time. That ended when the lady of the house gave me her old iPod, which is now my primary listening device. I download a ton of independent music, go to a lot of shows, and also produce a few bands so I get demos all the time. A few podcasts make their way to the little device, and I'm happier for it. I'm 32, but it seems that most teenagers don't even know what a radio is, except for 88.7 FM or whatever station their FM transmitter for their iPod uses.

I think radio technology is old and dated, and I can't really see a future for it. I've been calling for the FCC to deregulate (or lessen regulations) on the old analog TV channels -- and it looks like others have too because the FCC is doing just that. Setting up large chunks of bandwidth for broadcasting is ridiculous, it would be like setting up large chunks of the Internet for one-way non-interactive websites. The future is about a la carte selections, narrowcasting, custom playlists, whatever. The future is not massive 50,000 watt transmitters hitting the numb masses, but about individuals selecting what they want.

I think the future is either WiFi-based communications, or EDGE-network communications. I already stream my music from my home server to my PDA via EDGE (HP PDA with Bluetooth dialup to my cell phone). It works great and I have instant access to gigs of music (and limited video).

I realize that I am in the minority here, but everyone who checks out my system loves it and asks how they can do it. For now, they can't do it easily, but I don't expect that to last as more cell phone companies embrace wireless access for the web. For now it will stay proprietary (t-zones, vCast, etc), but give it time and as more bandwidth is deregulated, more people will jump on the narrowcast system. I even download a podcast of a few bands that put an hour playlist together, and it is perfect for my drive. Interactive real-time broadcasts aren't that interesting to me.

The short future will be both local and satellite radio stations bashing each other over legal infractions, and that's fine -- let them spend their money on lawyers and lobbying Congress for more power over the airwaves. That future is only good for a little while, though. Right now people love the web over TV because they demand what they want, and someone supplies it RIGHT NOW. As the TV becomes more copyprotected, more people will demand more of the web, and suppliers will meet their needs.

As wireless connectivity reaches more of the masses, and becomes easier to use, and becomes faster, the days of broadcasting (TV, radio, newspaper, etc) will fall away, left as a memory to what the previous generation did. How antiquated. How cute.

Sidenote: Funny how radio can not compete in the same way as XM because of the FCC. The FCC was created to support big radio conglomerates and keep out little competitors. They're still using the FCC to keep their monopoly, without realizing they're leaking customers like a sieve.

Why the anti-NPR slant?

[MobyDisk]

The article says that NPR is filing a complaint with the FCC due to non-compliance by satellite radio broadcasters and devices. That's a perfectly reasonably thing to do. But both the article and Slashot summary imply that NPR has an axe to grind against Satellite radio. Is there some NPR -vs- satellite radio thing going on that I don't know about? It seems like that is pre-requisite knowledge for understanding this article.

Re:A war over antiquated technology?

[brunes69]

I think the future is either WiFi-based communications, or EDGE-network communications. I already stream my music from my home server to my PDA via EDGE (HP PDA with Bluetooth dialup to my cell phone). It works great and I have instant access to gigs of music (and limited video).

I realize that I am in the minority here, but everyone who checks out my system loves it and asks how they can do it.

I don't want to know how you do it, that seems trivial. I want to know how you afford it.

Around here GPRS/EDGE data costs $60 for a measly 25 MB. That'd be good for about what, 30 songs at 56kbps maybe?

Wouldn't last me one commute.

Re:A war over antiquated technology?

[seriesrover]

Actually this is a very good point. I listen to BBC Radio 4 and BBC 7 (over the internet) from the US - whilst there are plenty of shows I'd like them to put on there are many that I've enjoyed that I wouldn't have done a search on.

Similiarly, terrestrial radio I pretty much only listen to in the car on the way to and from work. Whilst I enjoy the current affairs and news opinions etc. its not something I would pay for.

NPR ain't bad.

[Anonymous Coward]

Everyone seems to be complaining about the quality of NPR. Honestly, I don't listen to the radio much since I got my iPods, but when I do, it's ALWAYS NPR. It's good stuff. And this is coming from someone who's 16 years old.

Re:A war over antiquated technology?

[planetmn]

Now the point is, who the hell is going to actually have the Sirius tuned to a populated frequency?

The people I've found waiting near me at a traffic light when my radio goes from playing NPR to a garbled mix of NPR, static and whatever crap that person is listening to.

It's not a matter of could it happen, it's a matter of it does happen. There have been numerous complaints to local station operators about the material that people are hearing when tuned to their station. The material is not coming from the station, but rather from nearby FM modulators.

Even the manufacturers of the FM modulators have admitted that they exceed the power levels and that it is a problem. They just don't care.

-dave

Re:NPR abusing taxpayer money.

[avdp]

A SMALL (and ever shrinking) portion of their funds come from the government. The largest portion come from people like me, who donate $x/year to them so that I can continue to listen to their excellent content. Another large portion comes from corporate sponsors.

- First of all, you have no idea how they funded this research and complaint. You're making assumptions. If let's say I donate x thousands of dollars for NPR to figure out why I am getting all kinds of interference while trying to listen to it, would that be something you think you should have ANY say about?

- Second if it is funded by their government grant, why is it not ok? Making sure their spectrum is not being infringed by the competition is a perfectly legit use of their money regardless of source. It's called customer service. People seem to be saying they're trying to cause trouble to the competition. That is a weird statement for two reasons: 1) they pretty much are one of a kind, they don't have any competition that I am aware of. 2) NPR has a channel on either XM or Sirius (or both)