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The FCC has started a public comment period on Liberty Media's application for the agency to approve its plan to take control of Sirius XM Radio.

Moving ahead with its evaluation of the application, the FCC said in a notice that comments are due by Nov. 1, with responses to them due by Nov. 20. A decision is expected within weeks of that final deadline.

John Malone's Liberty filed a second request with the FCC in August, asking for approval to take outright control of the satellite radio firm. Liberty has in recent weeks continued to acquire Sirius stock, inching closer to owning a 50 percent stake. It is expected to wait for a final FCC decision before crossing the 50 percent mark.

Much debate has as of late focused on the future of Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin whose employment contract expires at the end of the year. Liberty chairman Malone and CEO Greg Maffei have said Karmazin has done a good job, but also emphasized that Sirius will be fine without him at the top.

Malone, Maffei and Karmazin are all expected to speak at Liberty Media's annual investor meeting in New York next Wednesday. Observers will closely follow their latest comments and body language for potential clues on the future leadership of Sirius.

Email: Georg.Szalai@thr.com Twitter: @georgszalai

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FCC Starts Comment Period on Liberty Media Request to Take Control of Sirius XM

PHILADELPHIA, PA and NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - Oct 1, 2012) - The Business Intelligence Group, hosts of the 2012 BIG Awards, today named AdSafe Media Product of the Year for 2012 in the Professional Services industry. The BIG Awards specialize in recognizing top performing companies and organizations with a proprietary judging process scored by recognizable and experienced leaders and executives from across the globe.

"AdSafe Media is thrilled to be honored as a Product of the Year by the Business Intelligence Group," said Scott Knoll, CEO of AdSafe Media. "We take tremendous pride in our technology, so it is great to receive recognition from this prestigious organization. We believe we are delivering valuable solutions to our clients and this award further confirms it."

AdSafe Media is the digital advertising industry's recognized leader in brand protection and ad viewability data. AdSafe's Content Rating System is the only solution that scores and evaluates the brand safety, context and viewability of web pages on the individual page level.

"AdSafe Media's proven brand safety and viewability solutions are unique in the industry," said Russ Fordyce, managing director of the Business Intelligence Group. "Its proactive, predictive solutions for online media buyers provide the confidence and actionable insights necessary to advertise effectively online."

AdSafe's suite of advertiser, network and platform solutions enable campaign control and optimization for hundreds of the top global brands, over half of the top 50 Ad Networks, all major agency holding companies, and a constantly growing roster of DSPs, SSPs, and real time trading platforms.

To learn more about AdSafe Media's award-winning solutions, visit: http://adsafemedia.com/our-services.

About AdSafe Media AdSafe is the leading global provider of actionable advertising intelligence data for buyers and sellers of digital media. Its technology engine is the foundation of the industry's leading brand protection solution, and its exclusive, predictive data informs page context, brand safety and ad viewability before campaigns are placed or bid on. As a result, digital advertising runs in the optimal performance environment at the optimal price, and it is accurately measured. AdSafe is headquartered in New York City with operations in San Francisco and London. For more information visit: http://www.adsafemedia.com.

About Business Intelligence Group The Business Intelligence Group, creators of the BIG Awards, was founded with a mission of recognizing true talent and superior performance in the business world. Unlike other award programs, real business people, those with experience and knowledge, judge the BIG Awards. The organization's proprietary and unique scoring system selectively measures performance across multiple business domains and then rewards those companies whose achievements stand above their peers.

The 2012 BIG Awards will be expanding in early 2013. For more information visit http://www.bigawards.org.

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AdSafe Media Named 2012 Product of the Year by the Business Intelligence Group

TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

OKI (TOKYO:6703) has recently developed Bandwidth Allocation Control Technology to enable OLT*1 drive control for next-generation optical access systems. This technology controls the number of OLT drive units*2 in response to traffic conditions and ensures efficient bandwidth allocation by varying the number of OLT drive units. In addition to dramatically increasing OLT bandwidth efficiency, the technology allows OLTs to sleep when traffic is low, cutting power consumption by a projected 30% on average.

In terms of subscriber access systems (PON systems*3), the rapid introduction of FTTH*4 has been assisted by the spread of GE-PON*5. Based on continuing growth in communications traffic, 10 Gbps PON systems (10G-EPON*6) are currently being developed to expand the bandwidth of FTTH communications. However, higher communication speeds increase power consumption. Projections for higher energy consumption by communication devices have prompted a search for ways to cut power consumption.

To resolve such issues, OKI has worked since 2009 as part of the "Research and development of wide area optical access networks" project commissioned by the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT). OKI has also sought to develop virtual PONs that would permit flexible configuration of connections between an OLT of central office and user ONUs,*7 thereby ensuring an immediate and practical application of the research technology.

"OKI developed its OLT drive control technology as part of this research program. The Bandwidth Allocation Control Technology developed by OKI is technology that will advance OLT drive control technologies, allowing OLT drive control units to vary the number of operating OLT drive units and thereby responding to bandwidth shortages by adjusting upper bandwidth limits in response to bandwidth volume fluctuations generated by user demand," says Takeshi Kamijoh, General Manager of Research and Development Center at OKI. "Varying the numbers of OLT drive units will result in significantly more efficient use of bandwidth. Verification testing has shown the system can cut bandwidth shortages by roughly one-fifth and power consumption by roughly 30%."

OKI will strive to commercialize this technology, including efforts to extend the technology to multi-channel bandwidth control and deployment to software defined networks (SDN*8).

The research leading to this technology was presented on September 18 at the ECOC 2012 (European Conference and Exhibition on Optical Communication), held from September 16 to 20 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

[Glossary] *1 OLT (Optical Line Terminal) A terminal device that forms part of a PON system.

*2 Number of OLT drive units OLT drive control is achieved by switching the OLT MAC (Media Access Control) function on or off. The number of OLT drive units is equal to the number of MAC functions.

*3 PON (Passive Optical Network) system Optical access systems currently in wide use to create networks in which the central office and user devices are connected without active devices.

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OKI Develops Bandwidth Allocation Control Technology for Next-generation Optical Access Systems

Last year, ACP magazines reportedly generated earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of about $100 million.

BAUER Media last night signed off on the acquisition of Australia's largest magazine publisher, ACP, after securing approval from the Foreign Investment Review Board.

The move was the last remaining hurdle for the German publisher to take control of popular titles such as The Australian Women's Weekly.

Bauer publisher Yvonne Bauer is expected to arrive in Sydney today, but company executives have been camped out at ACP's Park Street headquarters since last week finalising the details of the deal.

We are pleased to have completed the sale of ACP. Bauer Media is one of the worlds largest magazine groups, and they were a logical owner for the business, said Nine Entertainment CEO David Gyngell.

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Mr Gyngell said that there would be close ongoing collaboration between Nine Entertainment and ACP:

Nine and ACP will continue to work extensively together in the years ahead. In Sales, we will maintain focused ongoing cooperation between Nine, ACP and Mi9 through our Powered division. We will also continue to cross-promote ACP and Nine brands across the two companies, he said.

FIRB approval was considered a formality and the sale was effectively sealed last week when lenders to ACP's current owner, Nine Entertainment, gave their approval to the transaction, which will deliver just under $500 million to the debt-laden network owner.

All of the proceeds will be paid to senior lenders who are owed about $2.8 billion and effectively control the network's fate as it needs to restructure this debt if it is to avoid collapse.

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Bauer takes control of ACP

NEW YORK (AP) A Citi analyst on Tuesday raised his rating for Liberty Media Corp. to "Buy" from "Neutral," predicting that the company will soon take control of Sirius XM Radio Inc.

Jason Bazinet, who also backed his "Buy" rating for Sirius XM, noted that over the past few months Liberty has spent $1.4 billion to boost its stake in the satellite radio broadcaster to from 40 percent to 49.6 percent. He added that he expects the company to cross the 50 percent line later this year.

Once Liberty Media has a 50 percent stake in Sirius, Bazinet said it's likely that Sirius will begin a $3 billion stock buyback program that will allow Liberty to largely recoup its $1.4 billion investment while keeping a 50 percent stake in Sirius.

Meanwhile, Bazinet expects Sirius' stock should rise to $3 per share over the next 12 months, boosting value for Liberty. In light of that, Bazinet boosted Sirius' price target by 50 cents to $3 and Liberty's by $27 to $121.

The Englewood, Colo.-based conglomerate controlled by cable TV magnate John Malone saved Sirius from near-bankruptcy in 2009 by agreeing to lend it up to $530 million in exchange for preferred stock.

This year, Liberty has been steadily increasing its ownership of Sirius as part of its plans to take control of the company.

In premarket trading, Sirius shares rose 7 cents, or 2.5 percent, to $2.63, while Liberty shares were unchanged at $104.77.

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Citi analyst boosts Liberty Media rating to "Buy"