September 2005 Archives

While no official announcement has been made, the official silence after several attempts to get an answer from Xact - combined with the chatter we’ve been hearing through various unnamed Xact contacts - has led us to the conclusion that the much awaited Xact ReGo is a NoGo.

Here’s a timeline of events:

1. Orbitcast obtains the ReGo’s original launch date: Spring of 2005 - specifically late-April/early-May.
2. The release date is then updated to Father Day according to sources.
3. Then we saw the ReGo on Crutchfield, with an earlier release date than Father’s Day. There was much rejoicing.
4. Finally, delays occur. First July, then August, then mid-August, then later. Then the runaround. Crutchfield removes release date (and finally the product listing), Color Match Antenna has to put the ReGo on indefinite backorder. etc etc etc.

Now apparently the only things I’ve been hearing was that the ReGo had overheating issues (some have said to the point of melting internals?!). With the S50 on the way, there’s really no point to the ReGo anyway (especially at the prices that we were seeing).

I’m sorry to say it, but unless they reincarnate it back in some form, I don’t see any hope to the ReGo seeing the light of day anytime soon.

Reading this press release from STMicroelectronics, it's easy to get caught up in the wonderous world of microns and technobabble. But hidden in the press release (which essentially just talks about how they've been improving the chipset over the years, and have shipped over 10 million units) are some gems that hint towards the arrival of XM's 4G chipset.

If you're into chipsets and stuff like that, read on after the jump. Otherwise just skip this post.

With the original tampon antenna that came with the MyFi, listeners had high hopes of improving receptions in areas where the internal MyFi antenna simply didn’t do the trick. Unfortunatly, it pretty much did nothing. In fact, it did so little to improve reception that the additional XM2go units (the Airware and Tao) didn’t even include it.

Enter the ClipXT. The 2nd generation personal antenna that packs a serious reception punch. The ClipXT still looks like a tampon, but don’t be fooled, it doesn’t act like one.

XMFan has a great review on it, showing exactly how much it boosts your signal. If you’re an XM2go owners, the ClipXT is pretty much a no-brainer purchase.

Thanks OneWithDog!

UPDATE: Thanks to all who pointed out that MyRadioStore has the ClipXT for only $15!

This is pretty cool, Get Sirius Info has a great feature on how the display changes between songs on Sirius’ new Super Shuffle channel. Damain has a couple pics of before/after shots to boot. Very neat!

XM Satellite Radio CEO Hugh Panero, along side the recently signed Ludacris, rang the bell at NASDAQ this morning and also made an appearance on MarketWatch. Watch the video here.

Panero addresses the possible conflict with the RIAA regarding XM’s upcoming satellite radio/mp3 devices, reinforcing the fact that they comply with all the RIAA requirements. It’s a nice little video to watch, check it out.

This is interesting. It seems that Sirius and MTV are going to be providing a video stream together on Sirius according to a little slip within this article.

Here’s a snippet from the article:

Chicago disco band, 000000000001, tops the charts at download.com / cnet for 5 consecutive months. With a projected download forecast of 1,000,000 mp3’s and Podcasts with exclusive DJ mixes on XM and Sirius Satellite Radio. Always on the cutting edge of technology, the band expects to launch its video show with MTV tributes on Sirius’ video service, using the Windows Media Video 9 player in 2006

…interesting.

Thanks sr!

Legendary Duke Head Basketball Coach Mike Krzyzewski will host ?Basketball and Beyond with Coach K,? on XM Satellite Radio.

?Basketball and Beyond with Coach K? will offer a mix of topical issues, such as the state of college basketball; interviews with special guests, and Krzyzewski?s personal perspective for life on and off the court.

Coach K and his co-host, sportscaster Dave Sims, will launch the XM Radio program on October 12th. The hour-long program will air Wednesdays at 4:00 pm ET on XM?s college sports channels 191 through 199, with encore broadcasts on various channels during the week.

Eric Logan, EVP of Programming at XM was quoted as saying, ?College basketball will be an integral part of Coach K?s show…” — thanks Eric! :)

Wow. This is big news. XM Satellite Radio and DIRECTV have partnered together to deliver XM content to DirecTV’s 14.6 million customers starting on November 15th.

72 channels of XM’s programming will be available via DIRECTV, almost doubling the current audio programming lineup at no additional cost. In addition to music channels and children’s programming, XM will provide XM’s Major League Baseball “Home Plate” talk radio channel, and the High Voltage channel (AFRO!).

Customers subscribing to the DIRECTV TOTAL CHOICE programming package will have access to 50 XM Satellite Radio music channels and customers subscribing to the DIRECTV TOTAL CHOICE Plus programming package and above will have access to more than 65 channels. DIRECTV PARA TODOS customers will also have access to the same XM channels, as well as five additional Latin music channels.

There's a controversial article on Billboard Radio Monitor about Sirius running 2.5 minute long commercials (on their non-music channels - music channels remain commercial-free as they should be).

This all comes from a comment made by Sirius' Senior VP of Advertising Sales Sam Benrubi at Wednesday?s Gundersen Partners Power Breakfast. Sirius recently closed an ad campaign with a "spirits manufacturer" that will feature a two and ?-minute spot.

Before you get your panties in a bunch, keep in mind that this doesn't mean that there will be MORE commercials on Sirius as opposed to Terrestrial - in fact, the number of commercial minutes per hour will still be far less. It just means there's the potential for longer spots (and quite possibly - more entertaining commercials because they have more time to deliver the message). Mel has made it a point in the past that he intends on maximizing the profits from advertisers - and what better way than giving them longer ad spots?

(I'm downplaying this a bit because I've gotten some heated emails from people. XM runs ads on their non-music channels as well, and in my opinion, it's not that big of a deal. Longer ad spots might be more entertaining anyway as long as the actual commercial breaks don't get longer. Just my $0.02.)

XM has redesigned their website to give it a newer look. They still retain the brand identity, which has been consistant throughout the entire life of the site. The main change is the addition of the Flash-based “billboard” on the homepage. Very nice - I like it!

Sirius has put up a neat lilttle page showing the channel lineup changes (that’s going into effect tomorrow). I love the “related channels” section when you click on something. Very slick!

These landing pages seem to be part of a new trend for Sirius - very nice to see.

USA Today has an absolutely intriguing interview with Hugh Panero, President/CEO of XM Satellite Radio, and they surprisingly didn’t toss the kind of softballs we’ve become used to from most interviews.

One key question to highlight is over the issue of interoperability:

Q: Where are you in developing radios that consumers could use for either XM or Sirius?

A: The companies have worked together on an interoperable platform based on the government’s desire to explore that technology. But it’s several years away. It depends on manufacturers deciding whether this is a product they want to support and consumers deciding what price are they willing to pay for it.

So he’s not dismissing interoperability but he’s also pointing out that it’s not going to happen anytime soon. Hugh is also pointing out that the interoperability initiative was not based on the desire of XM or SIRIUS, but rather the government. What exactly that entails is hard to say.

Another great question/answer:

Q: What keeps you up at night?

A: Everything keeps me up at night. Arrogance is the demise of any business, and you have to be very careful not to fall into that trap.

Hell yeah Hugh! I absolutely love that statement, because time and time again I’ve seen that to be a major problem with companies that are experiencing massive growth (referring to personal experience here).

Anyway, it’s a truly great interview, give it a read here.

XM Satellite Radio has registered a new trademark - HELIX.

Word Mark HELIX
Goods and Services IC 009. US 021 023 026 036 038. G & S: satellite radio hardware, receivers and related accessories
Standard Characters Claimed
Mark Drawing Code (4) STANDARD CHARACTER MARK
Serial Number 78716222
Filing Date September 20, 2005
Current Filing Basis 1B
Original Filing Basis 1B
Owner (APPLICANT) XM Satellite Radio Inc. CORPORATION DELAWARE 1500 Eckington Place, NE Washington D.C. 20002
Attorney of Record Cynthia Greer
Type of Mark TRADEMARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Live/Dead Indicator LIVE

So, since the description leaves a little room for speculation, let the speculation begin!

A Helix can be many things, but when referred to as the shape of a Helix, essentially a spiral, can commonly be referred to as an antenna configuration. So maybe this is a new antenna. That's the first thing that comes to mind.

A double helix is two spirals wrapped around each other (like DNA). So we could look at it like two things combined - sort of like the neXus was the "connection" or "link" of things (MP3 + Satellite Radio). But that's a very loose definition, so unlikely..

A helix is also referred to as the outer part of the outer ear (that folded cartilage area). But, from a marketing standpoint, that's sort of gross.

So that brings me back to the Helix shape. A spiral. Something to do with an antenna. That's my best guess - what's yours?

UPDATE: Our questions have been answered and it looks like the first guess was the right one - MP3 + Satellite Radio - and so the Samsung Helix XM2go has been unveiled!

Multi-platinum-selling artist Ludacris will host a weekly music show exclusively for XM Satellite Radio called “Disturbing Tha Peace Presents Ludacris’ Open Mic.” The show will feature music hand-selected by the Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges, including songs from his own personal music collection, as well as special guests and interviews with other artists.

“Disturbing Tha Peace Presents Ludacris’ Open Mic” will debut in January 2006 on XM’s uncut hip-hop channel RAW (XM channel 66).

Get Sirius Info put together all the screens from the S50 details page into one screenshot. Very neat, check it out here.

Sirius has updated their website with a specific page about the S50 including some product details and most notably, a video clip.

(drool)

XM Satellite Radio today announced that it “recently” surpassed 5 million subscribers.

Speculation Alert: I have a funny feeling that the subscriber numbers were hit a while ago, but amidst the growing speculation from analysts (i.e., reporters who are just paid more), XM felt compelled to release today. See, oddly enough the press release on this is quite short. Considering how in-depth the 4.4 Million press release was, I’d be willing to say that XM made a snap decision to make this announcement so as not to create doubt that XM is holding something back.

New York Post: This doesn’t look good. According to this article, the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) has been raising a suspicious eyebrow at the two latest MP3/Satellite Radio devices - the Sirius S50 and the Samsung neXus - being introduced by XM and SIRIUS this fall. Apparently the RIAA doesn’t like the fact that you can record the music and listen to it later - essentially reducing the revenue generated by per-per-download services like iTunes.

As a result, things could get ugly for both XM and SIRIUS because the seven year music licensing contracts are coming up for renewal at the end of this year. The RIAA gave the satellite radio industry their current music licensing contracts at “below market rates” as a means to help jumpstart the industry. But apparently the RIAA is taking these devices as a slap in the face, and could very well bump those licensing fees much higher.

A lawsuit also isn’t out of the question (or out of character for the RIAA), If XM and SIRIUS don’t modify the devices to appease the RIAA gestapo then “they can’t do this without being sued,” says a high-level music exec involved in the discussions.

Ugh.

Yep, the Word Network is suing Sirius. They were putting up a stink over being dropped from Sirius’ line-up, and now they’ve just escalated it to a lawsuit.

UPDATE: An anonymous reader sent us a copy of the suit against Sirius (Download PDF). Very interesting stuff, especially considering the equipment and marketing ‘fees’ TWN had to pay.

Interestingly enough, at least in the 'news to me' category, Sirius and XM count their subscriber numbers differently from each other. I was never aware of this, but I'm sure a bunch of you stock/investor geeks have been all over this already. For the rest of us who can barely spell "CFBE" it's sort of eye opening.

Apparently Legg Mason analyst Sean Butson was speculating that XM Satellite Radio has hit 5 Million subscribers this past weekend - basing his figures on "recent auto and retail trends." In his report, he said something verrrry curious that was also echo'd in last Wednesday's BoA Investment Conference.

Shall I quote?

Based on recent auto and retail trends, we believe XM is on pace to cross the 5M subscriber mark this weekend.

If the company counted subscribers when the car is delivered to the dealer (similar to Sirius) instead of when the car is sold, we believe XM would have nearly 5.5M subscribers due to the 400,000-500,000 XM-installed autos sitting on lots.

Importantly, if XM did adjust its subscriber count to match its competitor, this would reduce ARPU by about 7%-9% due to the fact that despite different subscriber recognition, Sirius and XM both recognize auto revenue when the car is sold. Churn would decline by a similar percentage.

So wait. Sirius counts a subscription when it's delivered to the dealership (essentially "sold" to the dealer), whereas XM counts a subscription when it's... activated (after the "trial" period?!). If you anyone has more info to add to this, I'd really be interested. It's hard to compare the subscriber numbers between the two when there's no standard for measurement.

According to this article in Automotive News (subscription required), Honda is making XM Satellite Radio available on four new models.

The 2006 Element SUV will have XM as standard equipment (nice!). The 2006 Honda Civic (which is a huge seller - 203,673 units in August alone), as well as the CR-V and Pilot SUVs will be “factory wired” for quicker satellite radio installation at auto dealerships.

I looked everywhere to find a non-subscription-required link, but to no avail. If anyone can find a better link with this info, please let me know.

Sirius Satellite Radio will broadcast the hurricane relief concert Country Reaches Out: An Opry Benefit for the American Red Cross on two of its channels tomorrow, Tuesday, September 27th. SIRIUS will broadcast the event from 8pm to 11pm (ET) on WSM Entertainment (Channel 137), and from 9pm to 11pm (ET of course) on New Country (Channel 31). The special event is a project of the Grand Ole Opry and television network Great American Country (GAC), and will take place at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville, Tennessee.

The commercial-free event will include appearances and performances by country music artists to raise awareness for the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund, and urging contributions from listeners. Country music artists scheduled to perform include Alan Jackson, Alison Krauss, LeAnn Rimes, Terri Clark, Keith Urban, Marty Stuart, Porter Wagoner, Craig Morgan, Julie Roberts, Riders in the Sky, Billy Currington, Jimmy Dickens and Jimmy C. Newman.

Profits from the show?s ticket sales will also benefit the American Red Cross.

So last month, New York radio personality Cousin Brucie launched two weekly music programs as part of joining Sirius Satellite Radio. Well, starting this Thursday (Sept 29th) Cousin Brucie will also become a SIRIUS talk show host, with the debut of his new weekly program, Talkin’ With the Cuz.

Morrow plans to feature special guests from the world of music, media, politics and film on his new talk show. The debut of Talkin’ With the Cuz will feature scheduled special in-studio guest New York Senator Charles Schumer.

Billboard Radio Monitor: iBiquity director of broadcast marketing Don Kelly said that within 3-5 years HD Radio enabled radios will have a buy-button to purchase a digital download of any song they hear.

Gee, wonder where they got that idea from.

The Wall Street Journal today has an inspired article written by someone who is obviously hooked on satellite radio (much like everyone reading this blog). The thing I like about the WSJ article is that writer Jeffrey Zaslow focuses on the comedy channels (specifically he talks about XM, but it applies to Sirius too) which provides content that you would NEVER hear on terrestrial. Ever. Terrestrial can throw against the wall as many ideas as they want (Jack, Jill, HD Radio, whatever) but in the end they can’t give us true comedy in it’s untainted entirety. In the end, the laughs you get from terrestrial are watered down versions of what is possible.

The NAB can whine and complain, or talk about how great they think they are, but in the end - they’re inferior to satellite - and they know it.

Go read the WSJ article, it’s definitely worth it.

Billboard Radio Monitor has a great interview with Eric Logan (E-LO!), EVP of Programming at XM Satellite Radio. One of the most interesting questions was about the decision to drop MTV/VH1 from the lineup, and Eric’s response really gives some insight about where satellite radio in general will be a few years from now:

“[Channels like] 20 on 20, Highway 16, the City, Sweet 62, Watercolors and our decades channels, because of the sheer size of our audience base, are some of the most powerful and biggest radio outlets in the U.S. today. Our content strategy is to really create our own brands … which is why the decision was not to renew with MTV or VH1. “

XM’s Bob Edwards, who left NPR last year, apparently will be back on the public radio airwaves again. Public Radio International (PRI) will be distributing “Bob Edwards Weekend,” a selection of greatest hits from Edwards’ show on XM Satellite Radio.

His show will be offered to public radio stations around the country - no word as to whether Sirius’ PRI will be picking him up too. That would make things interesting. :)

I know these have been going on for sometime now, but it’s worth mentioning for those who don’t know - Sirius Satellite Radio has an ongoing auction with some of the coolest stuff I’ve seen yet (Super Bowl XL VIP tickets, signed helmet by Donovan McNabb, BMW driving school, etc) and XM Satellite Radio’s pest-inciting duo Opie and Anthony have been running an ongoing auction on eBay as well with some cool MLB and O&A related items.

I love to see that both companies are using their connections to do something good. And the winners get some awesome items, all the while knowing that the money spent is going to a good cause. Can’t beat that.

Thanks Josh!

General Motors announced it has produced more than three million vehicles with factory-installed XM satellite radios. With more than 50 vehicle models featuring XM Satellite Radio, nearly 90 percent of GM’s U.S. retail models will offer factory-installed XM satellite radios as either an option or as standard equipment in the 2006 model-year.

In November 2001, GM began offering XM Satellite Radio in the Cadillac line the same month that XM launched its service nationwide. Rawq on.

(Damn, I went nearly 2 days without posting. No, I’m not dead. The recent job hunt has taken up alot of my time and energy. Speaking of which, if you’re in the NYC/CT area and are looking for an online marketing guru - shoot me an email)

As part of its new programming lineup starting on September 29, Sirius Satellite Radio is introducing a new music channel called Revolution (channel 67) that will be devoted to Christian rock music and is geared to complement Sirius’ current Christian music offerings. Revolution will feature today’s most popular, faith-based rock music, by artists such as Switchfoot, Relient K, Thousand Foot Krutch and many more.

Although its popularity has been growing steadily for the past decade, sales of albums in the Christian Rock genre grew an astounding 125% in 2004 (according to the Gospel Music Association) and Christian music is currently the sixth most popular in the US, behind rock, hip-hop, R&B/urban, country and pop music - but ahead of jazz and classical.

There appears to be some concern regarding Sirius’ updated channel guide that’s being mailed out to all subscribers. I probably shouldn’t go into anymore details since the idea is to not increase the security risk, but it’s probably a good idea - as with any subscription based service - to keep an eye on your account. There’s really nothing to panic about since your credit card information always hidden, but it can’t hurt to keep your eyes open.

Thanks Adam!

Hey now this is pretty cool, I just noticed that the boys over at AOL Music have linked to Orbitcast as part of the Bon Jovi concert tonight. The concert is being multicasted by Network LIVE, the joint venture by XM Satellite Radio, AOL and AEG. You can watch it on AOL Music Live or if you’ve been listening to XM’s Boneyard, or uhhh… BON-yard… then you’ve been hearing Bon Jovi all day long before the live concert tonight at 9pm. This is all part of the kickoff for Bon Jovi’s new album Have a Nice Day.

Definitely tune into the concert, and Orbitcast tips our hat to AOL Music in appreciation for the link-love.

TWICE: Sirius Satellite Radio is running field tests for its future satellite video service and states that it is on track to deliver video by mid-2006 (the date announced at CES 2005). Receivers for the video service may take the form of combo Sirius audio/video tuners that are designed to work with after-market video screens and DVD players. Pricing for the equipment supposedly won't cost too much either.

?The circuitry required for us to do video is the same as we re-broadcasting over today. You have to add the capability to process the video signal, but the basic receiver is essentially the same. We're not expecting it to be a tremendous premium,? said Sirius' Retail Operations Senior VP Bob Law.

This sort of stinks, it’s barely been two weeks since Sprint started serving up Sirius content, and they turn around and sign with Rhapsody (called the biggest subscription digital music deal for North America).

Serving up Podcasts and Internet Radio, it looks like Sprint is working to have a well-rounded digital music service, but at the expense of competiting with the Sirius service. I know there’s a few Sirius peeps that are a bit pissed over this one.

Thanks Brandon!

XM Satellite Radio will exclusively cover the “From the Big Apple to the Big Easy” Benefit Concert for Hurricane Katrina relief at Madison Square Garden in New York City, live and nationwide on XM Live (XM Channel 200) on Tuesday, on September 20th, at 7:00 pm ET.

Expect to hear Dave Matthews, Simon and Garfunkel, Elton John, Lenny Kravitz, Jimmy Buffet, Cyndi Lauper, Bette Midler, John Fogerty, Diana Krall, the Neville Brothers, the Meters, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, and several others.

Sirius Satellite Radio today boosted it’s revenue guidance from $225 million to $230 million. That’s not much especially since “analysts” are expecting $234.5 million. Sounds like they’re trying to remain conservative?

In the Form 8-K, they show that as of September 15th, Sirius had 2,076,582 subscribers, and are projecting 3 million by the end of the year. Crazy.

An interesting Business Week article on investor pitches reveals a quick tidbit about XM Satellite Radio possibly expressing interest in buying this unnamed wireless information technology company. Microsoft also apparently was interested in them. No clue who they are, but hey, since we’re speculating tonight - figured it’s worth bringing up.

Check out the article here (scroll down to “CUTTING TO THE CHASE”).

An interesting thing has crept past us almost unnoticed. An investor presentation by XM Satellite Radio released yesterday lists the usual investor-type things: how great we are, how profitable we will be, and look at all our great new products coming out. But in the midsts of all that, specifically on page 25, there’s a curious little line item for XM’s new Plug-and-Play Radio:

“$99 portable headphones available for Christmas along with other universal accessories by brand name manufacturers”

Now, I”m purely speculating over here, but what could “univeral portable headphones” be? Let’s do a little math here. Let’s take the MyFi Antenna Headset ($50) and add another $50 for, oh say a Connect-and-Play chip ($50), and what do you get? $100 “universal” headphones. Or, in other words, the ability to make XM-Ready units (like, maybe the Samsung neXus?) listen to live XM Satellite Radio.

Thanks cb!

UPDATE: I’ve been pwned. Apparently I must’ve missed the headphones listed with the Roady XT? These are simply the next iteration of the Roady 2’s PAS. Oh well, one can dream.

Chalk this up to the ‘news to me’ category, but we just got a tip in that the Xact Visor (aka, the XTR3CK) for Sirius is now on sale at Circuit City. Not sure when this happened, and if CC is the first to bring it to market, but it’s worth noting that this funky Plug-and-Play unit only costs about $50. Not too bad if you’re into the unique design.

Thanks Mike!

A study by Bridge Ratings & Research since Fall 2004 has some pretty interesting results. According to the study, Sirius Satellite Radio will gain an estimated 980,000 new subscribers from October through December, and pick up another 500,000 in January, for a total of 1.48 million new subscribers by February of 2006.

10% of those surveyed say it was “very likely” that they would subscribe to Sirius by December 31st and also intend on giving subscriptions as gifts, which would account for more than 50,000 additional subscriptions.

Q4 should be very interesting….

XM Satellite Radio today announced the addition of the radio show Satellite Sisters to their lineup for the XM?s upcoming women’s lifestyle channel Take Five.

The wacky-named “Satellite Sisters” is a three-hour show that will air six days a week as part of the Take Five programming lineup. Syndicated nationally since 2000, Satellite Sisters was created by five real-life sisters ? Julie, Liz, Sheila, Monica and Lian Dolan ? representing five points of view from three different cities on two continents.

For their first week on XM, ?Satellite Sisters? will feature conversations with women who have been ?first? including: ABC News White House Correspondent Anne Compton, Colonel Eileen Collins (first female pilot of a space shuttle), Author/Journalist Anna Quinlan, Writer Lisa McElroy and Journalist Andrea Mitchell.

UPDATE: The title of this post has been updated to a more accurate description.

Marky Ramone will host a music show exclusively on Sirius Satellite Radio. The show, called “Punk Rock Blitzkrieg” starts October 4th and will be a two-house weekly music show featuring punk music from its inception through its current incarnations. Marky joined the Ramones in 1978 and continued with them until 1983, returning to the lineup four years later, and remaining in the band until they disbanded in 1996. Starting in 1987, Marky shot more than 400 hours of video of the Ramones, some of which appears in the definitive Ramones home video released in 2004, Ramones Raw.

“Punk Rock Blitzkrieg” will be heard live each Tuesday on SIRIUS Faction 28 from 8 to 10 pm ET, and will be re-broadcast on Saturday nights from 10 pm to midnight ET on SIRIUS Disorder 24.

Stifel, Nicolaus & Company have a nice report (Download PDF) on XMSR. They expect XM to hit 5 million subscribers in two weeks (around Sept 23rd) and give it a 1-year target of $44. This is a very well written report in my opinion and worth the read even if you’re an XM-hater (anti-xmelot?) though history has shown us to be weary of what those crazy analysts say anyway.

My guess is that XM has already hit 5 million subscribers and are holding out for “the right time” to announce it (those PR boys are crafty).

Thanks Greg!

Whoops, looks like Sirius isn’t the only one covering this. In fact, Jazz at the Lincoln Center announced it and included XM Satellite Radio’s participation several days ago, I must’ve missed it in the mix. (I should’ve noticed that it’s being broadcast out of XM’s own NYC studios)

XM Satellite Radio will carry this concert live, this Saturday, September 17 at 7pm, on their network from coast to coast on XM channel 70, the Real Jazz channel.

Sirius Satellite Radio will air NPR’s national broadcast of the Higher Ground Hurricane Relief Benefit Concert on Saturday, September 17th on SIRIUS channel 70, Planet Jazz, from 8 - 11 pm ET. The Higher Ground Hurricane Relief Benefit Concert, hosted by actor Laurence Fishburne and Wynton Marsalis, a native of New Orleans, the radio broadcast is a co-production of NPR and NPR member station WBGO, Jazz 88 in Newark, New Jersey. The concert will also be televised nationwide on Live from Lincoln Center from PBS.

Contributions to the Higher Ground Hurricane Relief Fund will benefit New Orleans musicians affected by Hurricane Katrina and provide general hurricane relief.

MarketWatch: When Sirius Satellite Radio CEO Mel Karmazin was asked at an investor conference whether Apple’s announcement of the iTunes-equipped cell phone, the Motorola ROKR, could open the door to the possibility of a Sirius-enabled iPod, Karmazin responded that Sirius considers its upcoming Sirius S50 MP3/Satellite Radio unit to be equivalent to the iPod.

Karmazin said the Sirius S50 offers as much variety as listeners can experience on an iPod, with the advantage of letting users discover new music. Mel also said that Sirius’ talks with various MP3 makers and other electronics manufacturers are ongoing.

SIRI Shareholders should like this one. Orbitcast has obtained a report from Merrill Lynch (Download PDF) from this morning’s Merrill Lynch Media and Entertainment Conference (listen). It’s got some interesting bits in there that would probably get you investors excited. Enjoy.

Thanks Anonymous!

Sirius Satellite Radio and BMW have extended their exclusive relationship with each other through August 2008. Factory-installed Sirius satellite radios will continue to be available on the hot new BMW 3-Series Sedan and Sports Wagon, as well as the BMW 5, 6 and 7 Series, with a one-year bundled Sirius subscription included in the price of the vehicle.

Other BMW models, including X3, X5, Z4, M3, 3-Series Coupe and 3-Series Convertible, as well as the BMW-owned MINI will continue to have Sirius Satellite Radio available as a dealer-installed accessory.

Their relationship doesn’t stop at just satellite radio service, SIRIUS has partnered with BMW as a sponsor of a variety of BMW consumer events throughout the US. These include the Formula BMW USA Championship, The Ultimate Drive for Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, The Ultimate Driving Experience, BMW Team PTG M3 race cars, and The BMW Golf Cup.

Sirius Satellite Radio also played a key role in the launch of the 2006 BMW 3-Series Sedans, including daily support of the 44-day “3 Across America” tour, which culminated with an 18-hour marathon broadcast that aired on a special SIRIUS BMW Channel.

XM Satellite Radio just announced they’ll offer play-by-play coverage of every game for home and visiting teams’ broadcasts of the American League Championship Series (ALCS), National League Championship Series (NLCS), and the 2005 World Series.

In addition to the game broadcasts, MLB Home Plate (XM Channel 175) will offer thorough coverage of the 2005 Pennant Races, Division Series, League Championship Series, and of course the World Series including the latest team news, game updates, interviews, highlights and more.

XM’s MLB en Espanol (XM Channel 190) will provide Spanish language coverage of the 2005 League Championship Series and World Series with national feeds from ESPN Deportes Radio.

A complete listing of MLB play-by-play channels (XM Channels 176-189) for the 2005 MLB post-season will be available soon on XM Satellite Radio’s website.

The glove has been thrown. Think the programming wars are over? Think again. XM Satellite Radio today announced a 10-year, $100 million dollar, exclusive, agreement with the NHL. XM will begin broadcasting NHL games in the 2005-2006 season, and in 2007 (when NASCAR jumps to Sirius) XM will be the National Hockey League’s exclusive satellite radio provider. Touche!

XM will provide live play-by-play broadcasts of every game from every team (covering over 1,000 games per season), as well as the NHL All-Star Game, the Stanley Cup Playoffs and the Stanley Cup Final. XM Satellite Radio will also produce a dedicated NHL radio channel featuring pretty everything about the sport (think MLB Homeplate for hockey). And of course, Canucks can rest assured that this will all be covered on CSR (ya hosers).

All this is set to debut on Opening Night, on October 5th.

I’m doing a little catch up here, so I apologize to those who know about this already - but for those who didn’t know - Canada’s Federal Cabinet upheld the license by the CRTC to allow Sirius Canada and Canadian Satellite Radio to broadcast nationwide. It has been a long battle, but it’s safe to say it’s finally over. Good stuff.

When I started Orbitcast I wanted to express through the site one of the key things that makes Satellite Radio special - the end of censorship. Adults deserve the right to listen to adult content, and so it made sense to allow adult discussion as well.

So “in the spirit of satellite radio” I decided to stay out of comment moderation. I had hoped that this would stimulate the conversation amongst readers, and encourage people to post honest opinions (another reason why I allow Anonymous comments as well).

Unfortunately, in the past weeks, this place has turned into mayhem. I’ve stopped reading the comments myself, so I can imagine how many of you have also stopped. What used to be adult discussion has turned into the senseless ramblings of only a handful of readers (while ‘anonymous’ I still see everyone’s IP addresses).

So, as it turns out, I’m going to start moderating. I hate to do it, but this shit really needs to stop. My policy of “no censorship” still remains, adult language is permitted and disagreements/arguments are encouraged, but there’s a limit to the stupidity I can allow. The pollution of this blog needs to end if we, as a community, are to be taken seriously.

If you agree or disagree either way, I’d love to hear your opinion. So feel free to comment, or email me if you wish.

Howard Stern announced on his show today that he’s signed Bubba the Love Sponge. Bubba will be on Sirius Channel 100 and it’s expected that other ‘shock jocks’ will be featured on Sirius 100 as a “haven” for those from terrestrial radio.

Bubba and Stern didn’t get along very well a few years back, so it’s interesting that this has developed. More info as it develops…

Thanks Rev the Pest!

UPDATE: FMQB is adding to this with a bit more info. Would MANCOW be part of the “Douche 100” channel as well? Interesting.

UPDATE 2: A Sirius spokesman has confirmed to MediaWeek that Bubba the Love Sponge will be joining Sirius Satellite Radio. No press release yet, but this is our best indication that this is “official” as of yet.

XM Satellite Radio will air live the 20th Anniversary Farm Aid Concert on Sunday, September 18th, beginning at Noon on X Country and XM Live, direct from the Tweeter Center in Tinley Park, Ill.

Coverage of the 20th Anniversary Farm Aid concert will feature artist interviews and complete live performances from the main Farm Aid 2005 stage with the line up including performances by Farm Aid directors Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, Neil Young and Dave Matthews. Other celebrated musicians like Kenny Chesney, Arlo Guthrie, Buddy Guy, Emmylou Harris, Los Lonely Boys, John Mayer, Susan Tedeschi, Widespread Panic and Wilco will be performing as well.

Farm Aid has raised more than $27 million to promote a strong and resilient family farm system of agriculture. Through public education and direct grants, Farm Aid supports national, regional and local efforts to build and strengthen family farm food production.

Farm Aid dispatched a truck carrying 3,500 pounds of family farm raised pork products to help feed victims of Hurricane Katrina that is scheduled to arrive today. The food will be distributed by the Federation of Southern Cooperatives, a Farm Aid partner, through a relief shelter near Selma, Alabama.

So Apple announced yesterday it’s new iPod nano, which is definitely a sexy product. They also finally unveiled the Motorola ROKR iTunes Phone, which is seemingly “blah” in my opinion (100 songs? c’mon). But admist all the mayhem, Apple also announced their partnership with Acura, Audi, Honda, and Volkswagon to integrate iPods into their 2006 model lines. And that’s raising some eyebrows in terms of competition with satellite radio. Some are feeling this will put a dent in the growth of the satellite radio industry, but will it really affect it that much?

I’m having troubles seeing iPod support being an actual selling factor, it’s just a convenience. But with Satellite Radio you actually get the unit, plus a free trial subscription, so the benefits are much more tangible to the consumer.

Sprint PCS Vision subscribers can now access the 20 music channels provided by Sirius Satellite Radio. Which is pretty cool... I guess. But with Sprint PCS Vision costing something like $10/month, it's only something that will attract Sextel subscribers who want to show off to their friends - you won't really attract the core satellite radio audience to this service (and I don't think it's meant to).

You have to wonder about the sound quality though, I don't have Sprint PCS Vision, but I have yet to hear any good sounding phones. And considering the Sprint/Sirius deal is the reason for the whole censorship issue, I'm not sure if they're going to attract more customers than they've pissed off.

UPDATE: I'm told that the Sirius content is available for an additional $6.95/month. Does anyone have any reports on the sound quality?

The American Red Cross and XM Satellite Radio have joined forces to start up Red Cross Radio (XM Channel 248), a 24-hour XM channel to give news and information for Hurricane Katrina victims, Red Cross workers along the Gulf Coast and across the country.

On top of that, XM is donating radios to the Red Cross for relief workers, shelters and aid stations. The Red Cross is not only using the XM Radio channel to deliver news and info directly to workers but is also using the channel to send mass messages to staff across the country.

Red Cross Radio is airing continuous updates on the elief efforts in New Orleans and other Gulf Coast areas devastated by Katrina, as well as the sites where victims have been relocated to receive Red Cross assistance.

Very impressive and smart. In a place where terrestrial radio has been knocked out, this shows the benefits of satellite radio first hand.

The boys over at XM411 are holding their 4th annual XM Bootcamp - a journey down the dial of XM Satellite Radio. I love the concept, and really want to plug this event for all those interested.

Learn more about the XM Bootcamp or just join the fun. The XM Bootcamp IV is starting today, so get in there! Thanks OneWithDog!

(I’m not aware of a Sirius Bootcamp, but if anyone knows of one, I’d be glad to plug it too.) UPDATE: Sirius Backstage has their own journey down the dial called “Walk the Dog” - thanks SR!

?Mira! Sirius Satellite Radio just announced they'll be airing Spanish-language broadcasts of NFL games for the 2005-06 NFL season, including Monday Night Football, the playoffs and the Super Bowl. SIRIUS will carry NFL Futbol Americano, CBS Radio Sports/Westwood One's Spanish language package of NFL games.

The 31-game broadcast schedule includes the 2005 season opener on Thursday, September 8th, all Monday Night Football games, Thanksgiving Day games, the NFL Playoffs, the AFC and NFC Championships and Super Bowl XL on February 5th, 2006. Included in this year's schedule is the special October 2nd, Sunday night game that will be played at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City where the San Francisco 49ers will meet the Arizona Cardinals in the first regular season game in league history played outside the United States.

The Spanish language broadcasts -- which feature commentators Armando Quintero, Benny Ricardo and Clemson Smith Muniz -- will air on SIRIUS Hispanic Talk (channel 181).

Check out the full schedule after the jump...

XM Satellite Radio will launch a new talk and lifestyle channel targeting women called Take Five. This new women's channel will feature daily satellite radio broadcasts of the Emmy Award-winning "Ellen DeGeneres Show," and the new "Tyra Banks Show," as well as original content from the Food Network and HGTV. XM's new Take Five will launch in October 2005.

Take Five will also include "The Judith Warner Show," which will be hosted by the New York Times best-selling author of 'Perfect Madness: Motherhood in the Age of Anxiety'.

To kickoff the launch of Take Five, Ellen DeGeneres will be giving away Pioneer AirWare XM2go portable satellite radio receivers to her in-studio audience during the first week of the new season of "The Ellen DeGeneres Show."

More details on the new Take Five content after the jump:

Y’know, I really wish she’d make up her mind. Back in February, we heard hints about Oprah being in talks with Sirius Satellite Radio, then last week we heard that Oprah may be making her way to XM Satellite Radio.

Now, the NY Post is reporting unconfirmed rumors of Oprah going to Sirius, yet again.

Something’s up with this woman, and I have a feeling we’re going to find out for sure sometime soon…

Thanks cb!

XM Satellite Radio will provide coverage of Supreme Court nominee John Roberts’ confirmation hearing before the U.S. Senate beginning September 6th.

XM news and talk channels will carry live testimony, news, and commentary about the hearing. A full list of the XM news and talk channels that’ll cover the hearings are online on XM’s website.

XM will also provide a toll-free telephone number (1-866-267-0375) for listeners to voice their opinions about the hearing. XM will air highlights of the calls on a variety of news and talk channels.

(Pop Quiz: John Roberts has 37 stocks in his portfolio. Which stock consists of 20% of it? Hint here: .)

SIRIUS and XM will both broadcast NBC?s live benefit special ?A Concert For Hurricane Relief? on Friday, September 2nd at 8pm ET, to help victims of the Hurricane Katrina tragedy.

The hour-long music and celebrity driven benefit, hosted by Matt Lauer from NBC?s New York City studios, will air live in its entirety on SIRIUS? CNBC channel 101, XM’s MSNBC channel 130 and XM’s CNBC channel 127.

?A Concert for Hurricane Relief? will feature scheduled performances by artists with ties to the affected areas, including Faith Hill, Aaron Neville, Tim McGraw, Harry Connick, Jr., and Wynton Marsalis, and appearances from stars including Leonardo DiCaprio, Mike Myers, Hilary Swank, Lindsay Lohan, Claire Danes, John Goodman, Eriq LaSalle and Eli Manning.

Listeners are encouraged to donate to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund, which will provide assistance to the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

SIRIUS subscribers will be reminded of the donation information on the display of their SIRIUS radios, and through its web site.

XM is encouraging its listeners to donate to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund through its web site and by phone at 1-800-HELP-NOW.

Sirius Canada and Canadian Satellite Radio today announced that they will each commit to carry an equal number of French and English Canadian channels as part of their initial program offering. Of the eight channels required by the CRTC, Canadian Satellite Radio will be committing four French channels (two will be music) and Sirius Canada will also dedicate four French channel (three will be music).

In addition, Sirius and CSR will commit to equal French and English programming if new Canadian channels are added in the first 24 months.

Thank God. The Playboy Channel is gone, as is it’s Playboy Advisor and other “suggestive” talkshows. XM never released subscriber numbers for the $2.99/month service, and I really don’t blame them.