Congressional Hearing on Digital Radio

A House of Representatives subcommittee will hear from Mel Karmazin, CEO of Sirius; Peter Smith of AM/FM broadcaster Greater Media, and Bob Kimball of RealNetworks at 2:30 PM (eastern) today tomorrow. The title of the hearing is "DigitalFuture of the United States:
Part II -- The Future of Radio."

One thing that should happen this tomorrow afternoon is that RealNetworks will tell Congress that they need to step in on the new webcasting royalty rates that threaten to end the webcasting business. According to a DiMA email I received earlier, Kimball (RealNetworks) will broach the topic:

"Mr. Kimball will testify about the Internet radio industry, the benefitsof Internet radio to consumers and music creators, and the recent decision ofthe of the Copyright Royalty Board that jeopardizes the future of Internetradio."

Stay tuned...

Update: DiMA has told me they will send me an update after the hearings tomorrow; I'll post the details then.

(image from teachpol.tcnj.edu)