Old school hip-hop is coming back to Sirius XM after having been axed from the lineup late last year. Sirius XM says it’s in response to “overwhelming” fan reaction. The company is listening to us! → Read More
Did Santa Claus give you a Sirius XM Radio yesterday? Boy are you in for a treat if he did, since “Secret Show to the Future” will be re-airing tomorrow night (Saturday, 12/27) at 9pm on XM channel 202 and Sirius channel 197. → Read More
As the only satellite radio fan here at CrunchGear, I feel it’s my duty to review the year that was and point out some of the events that made the medium such a joy. This isn’t a typical “Top 10 Movies” snoozefest, but rather an illustration of what makes satellite radio inherently superior to regular, terrestrial radio (provided you don’t mind a nominal monthly fee). Please note that this list isn’t to be ranked, but seen as a sum total “these were the best moments of the year, in my [worthless] opinion.” With that… 1. The Back to the Future Secret Show on XM. If any broadcast showed the power of satellite radio it was this one. Hosted by the Opie and Anthony staff (minus Opie), they narrated the classic movie Back to the Future live on the air, riffing on the abject corruption of Mayor Goldie Wilson, the awkwardness of having your high school-age mother hit on you in the past (even though you’re from the future and know she’s your mother) and just how big a creep the Doc is. I could have done without Sam’s last 100 examples of “foreshadowing,” however. → Read More
XM has this cute little radio+car kit bundle on sale today for $100 less than you’d usually pay. You get the XMp3 and the standard car kit (you need an aux input in your car, or you’ll have to buy the cassette adapter, too). for the low, low price of $249.99. Here’s hoping that Sirius XM show off new radios next month at CES. That’s one of the things I’ll be personally interested in investigating. → Read More
Flickr’d Sirius’ Howard Stern made a strange comment yesterday that’s causing people to freak out, speculating wildly till they pass out. Discussing his possible plans vis-à-vis [satellite] radio, Stern said, “This is my sawn song.” Now, what he was actually referring to was his aversion to returning to terrestrial (“regular”) radio, but it does raise a broader issue. That is, what’s to happen to satellite radio when he quits? It’s not like he needs the money at this point, so his continued presence (such as it is, what with his frequent days off) is more to do with him keeping busy than it is earning a paycheck. → Read More
Should you still plan on celebrating the holidays this year—money’s tight, I know—then you may want to check out some of the deals the XM half of Sirius XM has going on. For example, you can grab the portable XMp3 player, which can record around 100 hours of programming, for $259, a full $20 off the regular price. You can also grab the slightly older Inno for $179, which is a full $70 off the regular price. I used to use a similar radio, the Samsung Helix, about two years ago. A fun, functional little radio, that. And while we’re at it, be sure to thank DirecTV for completely changing the XM lineup. There goes my habit of changing to channel 879 (XM 202 The Virus) during commercials. → Read More
Here’s the Sirius lineup for you, to go with the XM lineup we wrote about earlier today. I’m not as familiar with Sirius as am I with XM (being an Opie and Anthony fan and all), but I do like how Sirius is all, “Don’t like X? Try Y instead!” Um, no. We like X, meaning we’re likely to hate Y. The comments over at Orbitcast are worth reading. Holy smokes are people upset about this. Like that old saying goes, you can’t get people to protest [important issue of the day], but take away their [trivial piece of entertainment] and all Hell breaks loose. The full PDF is here. → Read More
Hi-res version here This scan from last Friday’s USA Today (yes, I know that’s “ancient” in Internet time, but that’s all we’ve got) sheds some light on just what Sirius XM’s combined offering will look like. What’s not understood is if this ad represents the finality of the Sirius XM. That is, should we assume that the only dance channels that will be offered are BPM and Sirius XM Chill? (There’s no logo for Chrome, The System and so forth.) Or, is this merely a “hey, here’s some of the cool stuff you can expect”? Keep in mind who Sirius XM was targeting with this ad: people who read USA Today, which is about as Real America (Middle America, whatever you want to call it) as it gets. That is, being that it’s USA Today, we shouldn’t expect more nuanced channel listings. The “new” lineup is rumored to launch on Wednesday, dontcha know. → Read More
Just a quick heads up to satellite radio listeners, Ron and Fez (noon to three) will be hosting some sort of election night extravaganza tonight starting at 7pm EST. Best of all, it’ll be on both XM and Sirius—XM channel 202 and Sirius channel 197. Of course, you could also stick to the more “traditional” POTUS (XM channel 130) for your satrad election coverage, but where’s the fun in that? Sure, you could watch CNN or Fox News, what with their garish maps and dunderheads blabbing about nothing, or you could listen to the great Ron Bennington conduct his world-famous interviews with people on the ground. It’s being presented as “Presidential Thunderdome ’08,” and being broadcast until one man is left standing. Judging by some projections this thing could be over before sunset on the west coast. via Orbitcast → Read More
Flickr’d Sirius XM will launch Led Zeppelin Radio on November 1, marking the second year in a row that satellite radio subscribers have had such a channel. It’ll be on channel 12 on Sirius and channel 39 on XM. Also like last year’s channel, Led Zeppelin Radio isn’t merely going to broadcast “Stairway” over and over again—Sirius XM promises that the channel will be filled with rare songs and archived interviews of band members. Maybe they’ll even drag Robert Plant out to ask him which he looks like an elderly woman these days? Last year’s channel was pretty neat, so as long as Sirius XM don’t fiddle with the programming too much it should be worth a listen. Led Zeppelin Radio runs through December 31. → Read More
For the past three years, Bob Dylan has hosted the “Theme Time Radio Hour,” an hour-long radio show on XM that showcases music from all sorts of genres and artists. It’s very artsy, and it’s starts again today. Beginning at 10am ET on XM channel 40, Deep Tracks, “Theme Time Radio Hour” starts anew. Each show focuses on a theme, then explores music related to that theme. Past themes include war, famous people, and Biggs’ metabolism. I heard one or two of these shows when it first debuted, but, and I’m almost afraid to admit this, I really don’t “get” (read: understand) Dylan. Don’t crucify me. via Orbitcast → Read More
Following the merger, XM content has made its way to Sirius-branded radios. This photo shows XM’s Opie and Anthony playing on a Sirius radio, on channel 197, and Howard Stern on an XM radio. Yeah, it’s weird. → Read More
If we’re to believe the latest XM Signal Guide (a weekly newsletter it uses to promote all sorts of XM-related fun), XM listeners may well be able to hear Howard Stern as early as tomorrow. The recently merged company, actually known now as XM Sirius Radio, has The Howard Stern Shows listed on its Channel 100 Web site, as this pic shows. Now, whether or not that’s merely the work of some rogue Web developer, or actual company policy, I guess we’ll see in a few hours’ time. Never was a fan of Mr. Stern (y’all know I’m an Opie and Anthony fan), but I guess you have to respect what he’s done for the medium. via Orbitcast → Read More
You may have woken up to news that we’ll all be standing in bread lines in just a few short weeks—I’ll be back in the US of A in just about a month to witness the country’s unraveling in person—so credit to Sirius XM’s Mel Karmazin for trying to keep the company afloat. Sirius XM is, after all, a luxury expense; when there’s proper bills to pay, listening to commercial-free music all of sudden becomes a hell of a lot less relevant. How does Sirius XM plan to whether to coming storm, to convince people this holiday season that spending X amount on a receiver, plus monthly fee, is worth the trouble? → Read More
Possibly their worst photo ever, and one that’s several years old Mel Karmazin, the CEO of Sirius XM Radio, was just on the Opie and Anthony show</a to discuss a few post-merger items. For the most part, it looks as if Opie and Anthony are safe, and that Karmazin wants them to be a part of the new company (i.e., renew their contract). At the same time, Karmazin once again expressed his distaste for sharing satellite radio with terrestrial radio. Reading between the lines, it sounds as if Karmazin doesn't want the show to be on CBS Radio anymore. Hardcore fans, fans who can't stand the watered down CBS portion of the show, will like that news. Karmazin also said that he didn't know if Opie and Anthony and Ron and Fez (another fine radio program heard on XM channel 202, noon to 3pm) alone constitute a channel. So one would think he has some changes in mind as far as that goes. That could mean moving them to a new channel, or bringing additional talent to 202 to flesh out the programming. Jim Brewer would feel right at home, right? That was pretty much the gist of it. It sounds as if Opie and Anthony are more than welcome on Sirius XM Radio, possibly, maybe having to give up on terrestrial radio in the process. CBS, you probably already know, has a wonderful, free application for the iPhone on the Apple App Store. Terrestrial radio will have to continue to innovate along those lines if it wants to compete in the current radio climate, where everyone has every song they’d ever want on their iPod or cellphone, or can tune into Internet radio using programs like Pandora. That, and now a combined satellite radio company less concerned with making the other guy look bad, and more concerned with convincing people to leave commercial-laden terrestrial radio once and for all. (Karmazin also expressed his dislike for satellite radio music channels with commercials, so expert moves in that direction, too.) Interesting times to be a radio fan, to be sure. Opie and Anthony (Possibly NSFW) → Read More
Following the approval [PDF] of the XM-Sirius merger (read: buyout), we can now focus on some of the specifics of the deal, fallout, and all sorts of post-merger hysterics. The first order of business: what happens to Opie and Anthony, of which I’ve been a fan since their WNEW days? Their contract with XM expires on October 1, but, according to what they’ve said on the show, XM has yet to approach them about a renewal. That may well have been the fault of the merger, but now is when people will speculate for fun. Copy-paste, BCC, etc. Mel Karmazin, slated to be the combined company’s CEO, has long said that he doesn’t like the idea of sharing content between satellite radio and terrestrial radio. Opie and Anthony can currently be heard on terrestrial radio in New York, Boston, Cleveland and other cities. To uncertainty! via Orbitcast → Read More
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the XM-Sirius merger has been given the tentative OK by the FCC. Deborah Taylor Tate, the final FCC commissioner to cast a vote, is expected to vote in favor of the merger, thus clearing the way for the merger. There are, of course, a few restrictions to be placed on the newly combined company. • Price freeze. They have agreed not to raise prices for at least the next three years. • Fines. The companies have to pay some $20 million in fines for all sorts of transgressions, including building satellite repeaters in unapproved locations, and creating FM transmitters that were more powerful than the FCC allows. • Minority programming. The companies will have to set aside a percentage of their bandwidth, currently thought to be about 8 percent (24 channels) for educational and minority programming. Be sure to watch the National Association of Broadcasters’ Web site, since the merged companies are not being forced to include regular radio or HD Radio in their new receivers, something the NAB lobbied for. Expect to hear from both XM and Sirius soon. → Read More
Today was a big day vis-à-vis the XM-Sirius merger, as Johnathan Adelstein, the FCC commissioner who wanted to place all those restrictions on the merger in exchange for his support, has officially withdrawn his proposal, voting against the merger in the process. That leaves us all tied up for votes for and against the merger with one single, solitary vote pending. Deborah Taylor Tate (right), a Republican, is now the final deciding vote. If she votes for the merger then it goes through. If she votes against it, all of this merger talk has been a giant waste of time, even more so than it already has been. Tate is thought to be in favor of the merger. Adelstein’s statement reads as if he expects the merger to go through: … it appears they’re going to get a monopoly with window dressing. We really missed a great opportunity to reach a bipartisan agreement that would have benefited the American people. Call me crazy, but I’m pretty sure more Americans are concerned with things like high gas prices than whether or not a couple of subscription radio services merge. Bottom line, this merger thing should be wrapping up sooner rather than later. Imagine that! → Read More
Oh for the love of God, now what? Surely by now you’ve heard about the long-delayed (to put it mildly) XM-Sirius merger, which is really more of a Sirius buyout of XM, but let’s not nuance ourselves to death. So yeah, now it looks like the merger won’t be allowed to take place unless the combined company agrees to set aside 25 percent of its bandwidth for minority and non-commercial broadcasts. If you’re a satellite radio fan like me, it’s easy to get annoyed at that, but life’s too short to freak out over the demands of our Precious Regulators. The 25 percent threshold was put forward by Jonathan Adelstein, a commissioner at the FCC, the same FCC whose boss already gave the merger the go-ahead some time ago. While that request sounds a little silly&mdsh;why should the companies be told what to broadcast?—as a consumer I do like his idea of preventing price increases for the next six years. (I said as a consumer: I know that price restrictions hurt the company’s ability to do business, but if I can save a few dollars, why not?) You do know that this merger will never happen, right? → Read More
Believe it or not, the XM-Sirius merger could be finalized “any day now.” Cowen & Company, a high-profile investment bank, says the merger “is finally at hand and should occur by the end of this month.” Finally, right? In other possibly corroborating news, XM staffers have been asked to cancel any vacation plans for the week of July 21 (Opie said as much last week), when The Final Vote is expected to be cast. We can see the light, people! → Read More
