Alabama Representative Doesn't Even Try To Hide Conflict Of Interest In Fighting Sirius/XM Merger

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from the a-bit-over-the-top dept

The NAB has certainly been a bit ridiculous in fighting the XM-Sirius merger. Part of the problem is that they’re fighting it by saying that it would create a monopoly — but their very actions in fighting the merger proves that’s not true. After all, if they didn’t think that XM and Sirius competed with terrestrial radio, why would they care? The latest, though, is beyond ridiculous. Last week, the NAB convinced the Alabama House of Representatives to pass a resolution against the merger, though they conveniently had some help. Steve points out to us that the main sponsor of the bill, Mike Hubbard, happens to own a bunch of radio stations. For most people, this would represent what’s known as a “conflict of interest” which should keep Hubbard from even voting on it, let alone sponsoring the bill. However, what fun is that? Apparently the old saying of “no conflict, no interest” is true in the Alabama House of Representatives as well. The NAB, however, is happily using the success of the Alabama resolution to convince other states to introduce similar resolutions as well. I guess they haven’t yet found morally flexible radio station owners in the House of Representatives for the 49 other states.