Pandora’s proposed buy of KXMZ(FM) Box Elder, South...

that would allow it to buy the station without proving that it isn’t foreign-owned (WID July 2 p6). The only objections to the deal have been raised by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, and ASCAP “did not suggest in any way that the small amount of foreign ownership in Pandora may influence or control Pandora’s programming or operation of KXMZ,” Pandora said. ASCAP’s objections are “speculative” and concern music licensing rights that are “outside of the Commission’s primary jurisdiction,” Pandora said. Pandora seeks to buy KXMZ to qualify for the same publishing royalty rates as broadcasters to better compete with services like iHeartRadio’s similar service. Pandora’s buy of the station will serve the public interest by providing “broadcast programming that is highly customized to KXMZ’s local listeners,” by allowing listener tastes to select the station’s content, Pandora said. Allowing the foreign ownership rules to block Pandora’s purchase “would be inconsistent with the Commission’s objective of facilitating new entrants, and promoting the investment of new capital, into the U.S. broadcast market,” Pandora said. “Pandora’s petition for declaratory ruling is ripe for Commission action and is soundly supported by public interest benefits.”