Local Emergency Radio Service Preservation Act of 2005

The Local Emergency Radio Service Preservation Act of 2005 (H.R. 998) sought to restrict satellite radio providers, such as Sirius and XM, from broadcasting content tailored to specific local markets. Under this bill, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) would have required satellite companies to broadcast the same programming nationwide and limited their ground-based repeaters to simply retransmitting that national signal.

For the average citizen, this legislation aimed to protect local AM and FM broadcast stations by preventing satellite radio from competing for local audiences and advertising. Proponents of the bill argued that by keeping satellite radio strictly national, local stations would remain financially viable and better able to provide essential community-specific information, such as emergency weather alerts and local news.