Mancow was quoted in Inside Radio recently, criticizing satellite radio and uncensored content in general.

"Mancow says satellite radio is like a one night stand. He says uncensored content is 'kind of exciting — but you cannot have a substantial relationship with that kind of host.' 'Mancow,' [the creator of 'Drunk Chick Friday'] says the pressure for morning show hosts to push the envelope has been 'a cancer on our business' and he’s renewing his call for a less coarse content on radio."

As Mark Ramsey of Hear 2.0 points out, Mancow calling for "less coarse content" is like taking diet advice from trans fats.

I just find it funny that the guy who publishes a book about free speech is now saying that uncensored content is "kind of exciting." His entire career, until recently, has been based on coarse content.

But to associate satellite radio and its uncensored content with being a "cancer" in the business? C'mon, you need to try harder than that Mancow.

Either way, sounds like yet another attempt at publicity to me.

[Hear 2.0] 

Jimmy Schaeffler, Senior Analyst and Chairman for the Carmel Group, is quoted in The Denver Post as saying that a satellite merger makes "a ton of sense."

Now mind you, he's not talking about Satellite Radio... he's talking about Satellite TV (DBS). But that's precisely my point.

"All of a sudden with the telcos involved, you have competition," said Jimmy Schaeffler, senior multichannel analyst for the Carmel Group. "It (a merger) has always made a ton of sense. ... Look at the billions they spend in redundancies."

Note that The Carmel Group has said they have a record of opposing mergers that they deem as "anti-competitive" such as the proposed Sirius-XM merger. They point to their similar opposition to the DirecTV-EchoStar merger as an example of their historical stance.

The DirecTV-EchoStar merger was rejected just 4 years ago. And in this increasing fast-paced media environment, a lot can change in those four years.

Verizon is aggressively rolling out its FiOS TV service, and now has around 500,000 customers. AT&T's U-verse service has more than 40,000 customers in 23 markets. These are two companies that have a massive existing consumer base that they can easily upsell these new services to. With the telcos involved, Schaeffler now appears to see viable competition for both satellite and cable TV providers.

And that's video based services.

Audio services require far less bandwidth, and so the barrier to entry is much lower than video. Take a look at Muzak and DMX - and soon Slacker - who all utilize existing satellites to broadcast their audio content. A company doesn't need to launch satellites to be a satellite player. (That's ignoring the IP-based services from mobile providers... and is there really any difference between 1,300 HD Radio stations and DARS repeater towers?)

My point is that The Carmel Group took the position of opposing the EchoStar-DirecTV merger using the same short-sighted logic that they're applying to the Sirius-XM merger. (Let's not forget: they also took a completely different position on "competition" in a non-NAB commissioned report.)

So what happens in the years to come?

[The Denver Post] 

There's nothing I like better than leaked information, especially when it's about channel lineup changes. And it turns out that XM has a few changes coming down the pipe that have yet to be "official" yet. (oh goody!)

So I won't hype this up anymore than that, because the changes are pretty minor in the grand scheme of things.

First, XM Cafe (ch 45) is getting the boot, and Hear Music (ch 75) will be moving in its place. They're then renaming Hear Music to something a bit more intuitive, like Starbucks XM Cafe (The Sound of Starbucks).

Second, and far more exciting, is a new channel is moving its way onto the XM lineup: XM Exclusives (ch 2). XM Exclusives will be the exclusive home for exclusive programming airing exclusively on XM.

Mondays air Artist Confidentials, Tuesdays get Ludacris - Open Mic, Wednesdays have Bob Dylan's Theme Time Radio Hour, Thursdays welcome Tom Petty's Buried Treasure, and Fridays/Weekends are home to various "XM Stars."

(It's about time a channel was dedicated to this type of programming!)

Check out a super-secret leaked scan of the new XM channel lineup brochure (PDF), which also features a new look-and-feel. (Warning: it's fairly large.)

Sirius Canada, in collaboration with The Consulate General of Canada, New York, will host an exclusive music showcase event featuring up-and-coming Canadian artists to celebrate Canada Day.

The showcase event will be held at Joe's Pub in New York City on Sunday, July 1st, will feature some of Canada’s best up-and-coming musical talent including Serena Ryder, Peter Elkas and Wil. The performance will immediately follow the Canadian Consulate’s fourth annual all-star tribute to Canadian songwriting (itself part of the Consulate’s ongoing Upper North Side Canadian Music Series at Joe’s Pub) at 7pm.

“Thanks in part to our series with Joe’s Pub, the venue has become an important partner in presenting emerging Canadian musical talent to a New York audience,” says the Consulate’s Cultural Affairs Officer, Jeff Breithaupt.  “We’re thrilled that Sirius Canada is building on that momentum with what we hope will be another important Canada Day tradition in New York.”

Sirius subscribers throughout North America can listen to the concert live on Sirius' Iceberg 95 (ch 95) starting at 9:30pm ET.

iBiquity presented yesterday at the Radio Symposium 2007, and appears to be poised for a major push in services and offerings in the near future.

Bear Stearns analyst Robert Peck, in a recent note to clients, listed several key takeaways from the presentation:

New Services:

• HD Radio is planning on offering features like enhanced PAD data to show sports scores, stock tickers, and even text-ads.
  
• On-demand radio, including traffic and weather
• Time-shifting capabilities with pause, record and playback functionality
• The ability to purchase music
• Subscription or opt-in services

More Stations:

• There are currently over 1,300 HD Radio stations nationwide, covering 82% of the U.S. population
• iBiquity is expecting 5,700 HD Radio stations by 2011.

In an interview with The Washington Times, Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin said that XM Satellite Radio's Washington, DC headquarters will remain post-merger.

"It was very important for XM to continue, after the merger, to be headquartered in Washington, D.C.," Mr. Karmazin said.

XM's Eckington Place headquarters, fondly referred to as "The Eck" by those in the biz, is the work-place home to some 800 employees. The restored printing factory is also cheap compared to Sirius' rent at Rockefeller Center in NYC.

"We've even said we won't have less employment here in the District than we already have," Karmazin added.

That statement should cause a sigh of relief for many XM employees, but the fate of Sirius' headquarters (and employees) is still something of a mystery. The name of the merged company also remains up in the air.

[The Washington Times]
Thanks Robert!

XM Satellite Radio's flagship women's channel, Oprah & Friends (ch 156), has entered into an agreement with American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) for the nine hosts and one announcer on the channel.

AFTRA is a performer's union that represents personalities in radio and television, similar to the Screen Actors Guild (SAG).

"This ground-breaking agreement is the first contract that provides union salaries, benefits, and working conditions for talent on a program only carried by satellite radio," said Eileen Willenborg, AFTRA Chicago Local Executive Director. "I commend the producers at 'Oprah & Friends' for working together with AFTRA members to create a sensible and responsible agreement."

The deal covers compensation and benefits with provisions on union security, grievance and arbitration, dues check-off, non-discrimination, late penalties, and the right to participate in pre-tax savings plans. The contract is retroactive from January 1, 2007 and runs through August 31, 2009.

[AllAccess]

An extremely influential group has today announced its support for the Sirius/XM merger: the NAACP.

The the nation's largest and most widely-recognized grassroots civil rights organization, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) today has officially endorsed the pending merger.

"We are extremely pleased to enjoy the support of such a well-respected and influential organization in the African American community," said Gary Parsons, Chairman of XM Satellite Radio and Mel Karmazin, CEO of Sirius Satellite Radio, in a joint statement.

In a letter to the FCC, NAACP Director Hilary Shelton affirmed, "We are convinced that the pending Sirius-XM merger will be a positive development for consumers. More diverse, accessible and appealing options at lower prices in satellite radio will help further expand the reach of this medium."

The NAACP also applauded both companies for maintaining "a strong commitment to diversity" and utilizing "significant resources to recruit and retain minority talent and leadership at all levels." Both XM and Sirius offer several music and entertainment channels (like XM's The Power (ch 169) and The Foxxhole (ch 106) on Sirius) which cater to the diverse tastes of African-Americans.

"We have no doubt that a merged satellite radio company would continue, and in fact, strengthen its commitment to diversity in employee recruitment and retention, while expanding its pool of diverse contractors and vendors," added Shelton.

While there have been a wave of groups supporting the merger, none have the level of recognition that the NAACP and its membership of over 400,000 nationwide holds. This is a huge achievement for merger supporters.

As part of a limited time promotion, Infiniti will be offering consumers 3-years of free XM Satellite Radio and XM NavTraffic service on the redesigned 2008 Infiniti QX56. All 2008 Infiniti QX56 models come with XM Satellite Radio and the Infiniti Navigation System (which features XM NavTraffic) as standard equipment.

To support the kickoff of the 3-year service offer, Infiniti has developed an integrated marketing program that includes television, print, online and billboard advertising.

Earlier this year, XM announced that every 2008 Infiniti model will have XM Radio available as a standard, factory-equipped feature. XM NavTraffic is currently available on the 2007 Infiniti G35 sedan, and will be available on the all new 2008 G37 Coupe (which is the new hotness, coming in August) as part of Infiniti's Nav package.

STMicroelectronics is providing the chipset for Sirius Backseat TV, which is set to be launched later this year in select 2008 model Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge vehicles.

Manufactured by Delphi, the core of the in-vehicle satellite video receiver is based on three ST chips:

• The STA210 RF tuner IC
• The STA240 channel, service and source decoder IC
• and the STA264 advanced hierarchical demodulator chip, which extracts the video stream and performs error correction on the received signal.
  

ST is also the chip supplier for XM receivers, in addition to Sirius, and is now the world's leading supplier of microchip components powering digital radio receivers.

[Sirius Uplink]