September 2007 Archives

Arbitron is reporting that satellite radio listening is growing at what looks to be a steady pace, though its listenership pales in comparison to terrestrial radio.

According to Arbitron's latest numbers, both Sirius and XM account for 4.1% of the metro unweighted quarter hours. That's up from 3.5% in Spring 2007, and even a nicer increase from the 3.4% reported by Arbitron for the Fall 2006 survey.

In total, 6.9% of metro in-tab diaries contained satellite radio listening - that's up as well, from 5.9% in Fall 2006. Respondents also said they listened to 303 different satellite radio channels, up from 297 separate satellite radio channels in Fall 2006.

A vast majority of entries clearly identify both the service (XM or Sirius) and the channel, so Arbitron says that a satellite radio entry can be credited to a specific channel. Word has it that Arbitron will be circulating to subscribers a workup from the Fall 2006 survey that breaks out individual satellite channels, allowing a never-seen-before glimpse into how people listen to satellite radio (e.g., Howard Stern's audience, Opie & Anthony's audience, etc.).

That should make things interesting.

[Radio Online via Orbitcast Forums]

Maybe I'm just seeing things, but the latest HD Radio "plug-and-play" offering - the JVC KT-HDP1 - looks strikingly similar to the Sirius Starmate line of satellite radios.

Here's the JVC KT-HDP1:

Now here's the Starmate 4:

But that's not really close enough to the JVC HD Radio... so let's look at the old-school Starmate Replay:

Ah yes, there's the resemblance. But HD Radio isn't competing with Satellite Radio, isn't that right? There's no reason why they would create a similar looking product. Not at all to create confusion at retail... would they? Nah, that's just paranoia.

Still, imitation is indeed the purest form of flattery, because this HD Radio plug-and-play looks far better than HD Radio's previous plug-and-play offering.

Just in case you're at the edge of your seat with credit card in hand, the JVC KT-HDP1 will MSRP for a mere $149.95, and that includes a built-in FM transmitter. That's right, you can go from "CD quality" digital HD Radio, right back to good ol' analog FM without skipping a beat. Ah, the beauty of innovation... err, imitation.

[via Engadget]
Thanks Todd!

Top management from both Sirius Satellite Radio Inc.and XM Satellite Radio Holding Inc. met with the Federal Communications Commission this week according to separate ex parte filings made with the agency.

From XM, four representatives attended the meeting: Gary Parsons, Eric Logan, Mark Vendetti, and Jeff Blattner. Latham & Watkins LLP (counsel for XM) also attended the meeting. XM met with the FCC on Wednesday, September 26th.

On Sirius' side, five representatives attended the meeting: Mel Karmazin, Scott Greenstein, David Frear, Patrick Donnelly, and Terry Smith. Representatives from Wiley Rein LLP (Sirius' counsel) also attended the meeting. Sirius met with the FCC on Thursday, September 27th.

During the meeting, both XM and Sirius discussed various aspects of the satellite radio business, including the topics of subscribers and service, content and advertising, technical issues, and business relationships with automobile manufacturers and retail outlets (so pretty much... everything).

[View FCC Filings: 1, 2 (PDF) via Orbitcast Forums]

Yesterday at the NAB Radio Show, NAB President and CEO David Rehr unveiled a campaign to reposition radio for the future: "Radio 2020."

Radio 2020 a cooperative effort between the NAB, the Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB) and of course the HD Digital Radio Alliance.

"As we near commercial radio's 100th anniversary in 2020, this initiative will be our road map to building radio's future," said Rehr.

The first item of attack for the Radio 2020 initiative (which, by the way, is a pretty hokey name... c'mon, it's up there with Hulu), is to address consumers' demands for playlist variety and format diversity. Unfortunately, "variety and diversity" is something that "radio" is no longer associated with... and just happens to be what consumers get from iPods, satellite radio and internet radio.

"But," Rehr said, "we need to do a better job of informing listeners about the great variety that radio already provides."

(sigh) Radio is still stuck in this mindset that telling listeners something that isn't true will convince them otherwise. That only works in the old pre-fragmented world. That worked when radio, and TV, were all the public depended on for information. But it doesn't work today. Radio stations can't keep playing the stingers declaring "We're [you're state's] #1 home for rock 'n roll!" and expect people to believe it (because that new 160Gb iPod sure seems to be the real #1 home for rock and roll). And the same applies with telling listeners that there's great variety on radio - it doesn't work anymore. Don't tell them about it... do it.

"We must continually seek ways to meet the demands of our consumers - encouraging more variety and diversity, spurring more innovations in electronics, and helping marketers develop even more innovative and compelling advertisements," said David Rehr.

As much of a critic of Rehr as I am, I really can't argue here. Innovation, variety, diversity... all great things, and something that radio has lost in the last 15 years. But the proof is in the pudding - you can't make a purse out of a sow's ear... right David?

"You don't have to be wealthy to own a radio. In fact, you can buy one for a buck. And you don't have to be stationary to listen to radio - it's in your car, MP3 player, or headphones. What listeners love most, and what radio must promote, is how accessible, ubiquitous, and easy to use radio is," added Rehr.

Wrong.

Listeners don't care how accessible radio is. Listeners don't care that it's ubiquitous. Listeners don't care that radio has towers, spectrum, transmitters, contours, satellites, repeaters, buffers or anything for that matter. Telling the listener about distribution means nothing. Because they don't care.

What listeners care about is content. They want to turn on a device - be it a radio, a satellite radio, an iPod, their cellphone, whatever - and listen to something on their drive to work. Or hear something in the background while working on the job site. Or rev them up while they're cranking away behind a computer at work. Or laugh during the drive home after a crazy day at work.

Rehr concluded by saying that Radio 2020 will, "give ammunition to radio's loyalists" as they respond to industry critics. He told NAB Radio Show attendees, "We need you to be evangelical about Radio 2020 and talk to as many people as possible. Repeat it to yourself, to your colleagues, and to your family."

How about this? How about instead of drinking the NAB Kool-aid, and repeating "2020 2020 2020" to everyone in some cult-mania mantra... why not just do it instead? If "Radio 2020" is going to be some revolution in radio - which, let's face it, is a direct response to the fragmenting of media from satellite radio, internet radio, iPods, mobile audio, etc - then start acting on it, and stop talking about it.

If broadcast TV stations can survive cable (and even thrive amid 600 other channels), then radio can too... they just need to give a reason to do so.

[Radio Ink]

Oh how I love it when goodies show up at my doorstep. Today a well-fed FedEx man dropped off a new Bushnell ONIX 400 GPS/XM Weather tracker on my doorstep. I had the opportunity to play with ONIX 400 hands on at the beginning of the year, but this is a special joy because now she's ready for prime-time.

Before I run out into the woods for a couple days with only my trusty knife and the Bushnell in hand, let's do an unboxing first... check out an ample number of photos (plus discover who's mystery foot that is) after the jump.

The Heritage Foundation's Edwin Meese III (Ronald Reagan Distinguished Fellow in Public Policy and Chairman of the Center for Legal and Judicial Studies), and James L. Gattuso (former FCC official) have written an article summarizing the NAB's fight against the Sirius-XM merger.

It's an endorsement for the merger, systematically debating all of terrestrial radio's points against the merger, not to mention using the NAB's own words against them (which isn't hard).

Entitled "Beyond the Fairness Doctrine: Radio’s Fight over the XM–Sirius Merger" it's a well written piece and a highly recommended read, regardless of where you stand on the merger debate.

There's a radio war going on in Washington, and this one has nothing to do with the Fairness Doctrine. Talk of re-imposing the requirement by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that broadcasters air opposing views on controversial topics sparked an intense and highly publicized debate this summer. Almost lost in the "fairness" furor, however, has been a second, but no less intense, radio industry battle over the merger of satellite radio providers XM and Sirius. After months of review, a ruling from the Justice Department is expected within weeks, to be followed by a decision by the FCC, which also must approve the transaction. The merger debate is different from the "fairness" debate in that it involves the structure, rather than content, of the radio industry. Like the "fairness" debate, however, the outcome could determine how Americans will listen to the radio for years to come.

Jim Gattuso, who co-authored the article, has quite the interesting background, especially with the FCC. From 1990 to 1993, he was the Deputy Chief at the FCC's Office of Plans and Policy. From May 1991 to June 1992, the FCC detailed him to the office Vice President Dan Quayle, where Gattuso served as Associate Director of the President's Council on Competitiveness.

[The Heritage Foundation]

Oprah Winfrey's weekly show on XM Satellite Radio, "Soul Series," will debut its 2nd-season on Thursday, October 4th on Oprah & Friends (ch 156).

Oprah's first guest on the new season of "Soul Series" will be Dr. Wayne W. Dyer, best-selling author and internationally renowned speaker in the field of self-development.

Oprah's "Soul Series" airs on Thursdays at 4am, 10am, 4pm and 10pm (all times Eastern).

XM was airing encore broadcasts of "Soul Series" throughout the summer, with two episodes airing back-to-back every Thursday. Fans can still get the opportunity to catch up on every episode with Oprah's "Soul Series Weekend," which starts this Saturday, September 29th and continues throughout the weekend.

In addition, it appears that Oprah has quietly sneaked (snuck?) into the DirecTV lineup, with Oprah & Friends now becoming available to DirecTV subscribers on channel 807. Perhaps it's a sign that Harpo is stepping up its public partnership with XM? It's been a year since Oprah has debuted on XM, and there's been little from Oprah (that I've seen at least) in terms of external promotions. It'd be nice if we saw more of a presence of XM on her show this holiday season.

FCC Commissioner Michael Copps expressed skepticism today about whether he would endorse the proposed merger of Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. and XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc.

Copps, one of two Democrats on the FCC, said it would be a "steep climb" for him to cast a favorable vote because he has serious concerns about media consolidation. Copps had previously referred to the proposed Sirius-XM merger as a "steep climb" as well back in mid-April.

"Somebody's going to have to make a pretty powerful and potent demonstration that it serves the public interest," Copps said of the XM-Sirius deal.

"The parts of the (public) record that I've looked at so far have not shown me that (the deal) serves the public interest," Copps told reporters at a briefing.

Copps declined to comment on how he will vote, but said he had "very serious worries" about media consolidation in general. "I think localism, competition, diversity (in the media) have been seriously threatened." The Commissioner has historically had problems with the overall state of consolidation in U.S. media, and has expressed this vocally in the past.

[Reuters]

E Street Radio, Sirius' channel dedicated to Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, will be returning tonight with a rare concert from the "Darkness On The Edge Of Town" tour, featuring Springsteen and the band performing at the Capitol Theater in Passaic, New Jersey in 1978.

The channel launches today at 6pm ET, replacing The Bridge (ch 10) - at least temporarily - as E Street Radio will run on through late March 2008.

The launch of E Street Radio coincides with the start of the band's 2007 concert tour, as well as the October 2nd release of their new album Magic. The channel will air daily features on the new album's music and track-by- track discussions with Bruce Springsteen and E Street Band members, as well as archival concert recordings dating from early 1973 and some behind-the-scenes insight from band insiders.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney will headline the National Journal’s first show on XM Satellite Radio's POTUS '08 channel, set to debut tomorrow at 1pm ET.

"National Journal On Air" will also be available on the National Journal’s web site as either a live stream or as podcasts of the show. (Interesting, XM is really pushing this "free to air" concept...)

In addition to Mitt Romney, tomorrow's show also will feature National Journal political writer Jim Barnes, National Journal White House correspondent Carl Cannon, and Senior Editor of The Hotline, John Mercurio.

National Journal Group, through it's partnership with XM Satellite Radio, will host "National Journal On Air" every Friday from 1-2pm ET on XM's POTUS '08 (ch 130).

Contrary to more positive reports on Kevin Martin's appearance at the NAB Radio Show this morning, RadioInk is reporting that Martin has said that the FCC is considering fines against satellite radio.

Martin said the FCC's Enforcement Bureau is investigating claims that some of Sirius and XM's receivers were built to operate at levels that exceed permitted limits. Last year, both XM and Sirius halted shipments of receivers after it was learned that they were over the approved FM modulator limits.

Martin also said the FCC investigating claims that terrestrial repeaters owned by XM were operating beyond the allowed limits. XM said earlier this year that they are working with the FCC on the repeater issue (which they voluntarily lowered last year).

As a result, Martin said that the Commission is considering forfeitures against Sirius/XM for the series of violations.

(I'd personally like to hear the context in which Martin said this, because it could very well just be spin-central coming from the terrestrial radio camp. But hey, it worked, the RadioInk article made it onto the Drudge Report.)

[RadioInk]

Speaking at the NAB Radio Show this morning, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin spoke only generally about the Sirius-XM merger but said that the companies had "interesting proposals" to justify the merger and protect consumers.

During the annual FCC Breakfast, the FCC Chairman fielded several questions: from public interest questions, to changes to the EAS system, and of course, the merger between Sirius Satellite Radio Inc., and XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc.

Martin spoke only generally about the merger, stating that the current rules prohibit both companies from merging, but said that Sirius and XM have provided "interesting proposals" stating their case.

NAB Radio Board Chairman Russ Withers asked about the NAB's concern that the satellite companies are planning to go after local revenue, but Kevin Marin noted that the companies are not prohibited from going after local ads. They just cannot insert local-only ads and material through the local terrestrial repeater network.

"I would be concerned if they were trying to become a local broadcaster," said the FCC Chairman. Martin didn't agree that local material broadcast nationally violates the local prohibition placed on the satellite companies.

[AllAccess]

Sirius Satellite Radio's Cousin Brucie, who just recently resigned with the satellite radio broadcaster, blasted his former home of WCBS-FM for not truly returning to the "oldies" format.

Bruce Morrow said he talked with WCBS-FM about returning to the station, but decided to renew with Sirius because WCBS-FM wasn't planning to play enough '50s and '60s music.

"I'm very concerned that radio isn't doing enough to keep this early music alive," he said. "There are so many people in their 40s, 50s and 60s who still love it, and I don't think they should be written off."

Cousin Brucie feels that WCBS is making the same mistake they did when they dropped the oldies format in lieu of the "Jack" format back in 2005.

Morrow added that "they have every right to program what they want - and I have nothing against '80s music. But there's a real need for earlier music, too."

Sirius, he said, understands that.

"When I first talked to people here, like Mel [Karmazin], they gave me a commitment and they've kept it. In almost two and a half years here, I've never felt like I had more freedom on the radio."

Brucie held "informal" talks with WCBS, but decided to stay at Sirius instead.

"They wanted me to come back, help sign them on, and that made sense," he said. "But I told them they're still writing too many people off.

"Now the station has the jingles back and the advertising back. But it doesn't have me and it doesn't have the music."

[NY Daily News]

XM Satellite Radio has expanded their NHL offering from six NHL play-by-play channels to nine channels, allowing for fans to hear every game for every NHL team wherever they are.

Games can be heard on XM channels 204-209 and channels 237-239. Why didn't XM just do a reshuffle of the channel numbers to group them together? That's a darn good question.

Either way, the 2007-2008 NHL season starts this weekend as the Anaheim Ducks begin defense of their first Stanley Cup championship against the Los Angeles Kings. The Ducks and Kings will play Saturday and Sunday at the O2 Arena in London, making this the first time that a NHL regular-season game was played in Europe. The games will air live on XM channel 205.

XM and the NHL have a $100 million long-term relationship that extends through 2015. Their broadcast partnership went exclusive earlier this summer.

Just got word that XM's full-color, split-screen XpressRC plug-and-play receiver is now available and shipping in limited quantities.

Check with your favorite retailer (we recommend TSS Radio) for availability.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of getting a hands-on look at the upcoming Ford SYNC handsfree in-vehicle operating system. I walked in with the full intentions of gathering enough ammo to rip apart the spawn of the Ford/Microsoft partnership, only to walk away completely impressed.

Here's the quick breakdown: unlike Chrysler's MyGIG or GM's OnStar, which embed the functionality of a Digital Audio Player and a cellphone, respectively, into the vehicle - Ford opted to make your existing devices seamlessly integrated into your vehicle instead. So they partnered with Microsoft to create the software platform for which to do this. And that's the main thing to understand, this isn't hardware, this is software - complete with firmware updates for when new devices come out.

But instead of describing to you the functions of what the Ford SYNC does, I'd rather give my overall impression of how this is a groundbreaking system is. So watch the video from Autoblog below which demonstrates the Ford SYNC's capabilities far better than I can describe them.

Now here's the killer: Ford is making SYNC available as a factory-installed option for just over $300. And for the top-end trim levels, like the Focus SES, it'll be a standard feature. That's right... standard.

So if you have an iPod, or Zune (ha!), you can now control it easily while you drive. If you have a cellphone that supports a service like mSpot, or a phone that supports Pandora, you can now listen to them in your car... easily.

"If I was Sirius or XM, I'd be pretty worried right now," a Ford rep told me. "Why would I subscribe when I already get this stuff on my phone or on my iPod?" (This was before he realized I wrote about the satellite radio industry... which evoked a wide-eyed look - followed by the press-speak equivalent of 'hamina-hamina-hamina' - when I told him.)

To add insult to injury, Ford announced this morning that HD Radio receivers will now available as a dealer-installed option nationally throughout almost all 2008 model Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles. Great, thanks Ford.

Now you can't blame them for giving consumers more audio options. It's what the consumers are demanding now... so they're forced to respond. "Exclusive" partnerships be damned, Ford's job is move vehicles, not keep the warm-and-fuzzies going with the folks at the 1221.

So what does this mean for the "state of competition"?

The main argument by merger opponents is that live content cannot be heard in a nationwide format other than with satellite radio. When you point out that services like mSpot, which broadcasts hundreds of channels to over 1 million subscribers nationwide, the argument is usually "yeah well, that's on the cellphone, I can't hear that in my car!" It's usually argued that any solution to integrate mobile audio into the vehicle is years away. That HD Radio won't be adopted on a mass market scale for years. That connecting your iPod to your vehicle is little different than using a cassette adapter.

But Ford SYNC is coming out this fall. And it'll be standard on the top trim levels (which constitute about 40% of Ford's sales). And this will have a ripple-effect throughout all the other auto manufacturers as the platform is licensed to GM, Honda and Toyota (this is Microsoft we're talking about... though as Dave Zatz point out to me last night, there is no Microsoft logo when you boot up).

And if I was working at XM or Sirius, I'd be looking this and shaking my head. Because those OEM subscriber numbers are going to take a turn for the worst as soon as this hits the streets. But nah, that's not competition...

XM today announced that they've signed on the Grand Ole Opry. XM will feature the live Friday and Saturday night performances as well as the Tuesday Night Opry, all starting off with Opry's 82nd Birthday Bash on Saturday, October 20th.

The Grand Ole Opry features will be spread out across several channels. First, country hits channel Nashville (ch 11) will feature live Tuesday (8pm ET), Friday (9pm ET), and Saturday night (7:30pm and 10:30pm ET) performances.

Encore broadcasts of new Opry episodes will air on XM's classic country music channel America (ch 10) every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 10am ET, along with archival Opry broadcasts.

Many individual performances recorded live on the Opry stage will also be featured on XM's other country music channels, including Willie's Place (ch 13), Bluegrass Junction (ch 14), Highway 16 (ch 16), and U.S. Country (ch 17).

XM will also add "The Eddie Stubbs Show" to their lineup. The popular WSM program is hosted by Eddie Stubbs, a regular announcer for the Grand Ole Opry, award-winning country music DJ, and respected country music historian. "The Eddie Stubbs Show" will premiere later this fall on America (ch 10).

The Grand Ole Opry debuted on the radio airwaves in 1925 on Nashville's 650 AM WSM and can still be heard on its flagship station. Sirius dropped WSM/Grand Ole Opry from its lineup just over a year ago.

Bruce Morrow, aka "Cousin Brucie," has renewed with Sirius in an exclusive multi-year deal.

Brucie will continue to host "Cousin Brucie's Saturday Night Party" on Saturdays from 8pm to 12-midnight ET on Sirius' 60s Vibrations (ch 6). He will also host "Rockin' with the Cuz," Wednesdays from 5pm to 9pm ET on the same channel.

In addition, Sirius will air special live broadcasts from events in New York City and The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame throughout the year.

Brucie will also host "Cousin Brucie's Music and Memories" which features Brucie discussing the music and events of the early days of rock and roll. These mini-audio documentaries will air throughout the day on 60s Vibrations and Sirius Gold (ch 5).

Sirius' New York traffic channel will also feature Brucie as the host of the "New York Minute" where he'll highlight local New York events and fun facts.

Cousin Brucie joined Sirius back in the summer of 2005.

It's funny what different news services choose to focus on when reporting the same situation. Thomas Barnett, assistant attorney general at the Justice Department, was asked about the Sirius-XM merger review at a congressional hearing yesterday, yet two media outlets each have an entirely different take on what was said.

The Denver Post is reporting that DOJ officials need more information to determine whether the proposed merger of Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. and XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. would hurt consumers.

"I can't give you an exact time frame," Barnett told Rep. Ric Keller, at a hearing of the House Judiciary Committee's antitrust task force.

Meanwhile Reuters is reporting that the Justice Department is moving "as quickly as possible" in its antitrust review.

"We want to do that as quickly as possible, but we also want to get to the right answer," Barnett told lawmakers.

Bank of America analyst Jonathan Jacoby chose to focus on the former statement in a note issued this morning.

"The big question is what does 'more information' require for the merger process at the DOJ? Will it require more documentation from the companies or just more time by the DOJ to review the submitted documents?" wrote Jacoby. He also noted that Bank of America has not had the chance to speak with their regulatory contacts this morning.

Jacoby pointed out that while the delay could be minimal, "it could also be longer than the market would anticipate." Adding that it would likely take longer than the 15-45 days that the street is hoping on.

Bank of America's contacts put the chances of the satellite radio marriage receiving regulatory approvals before the end of 1Q08 at ~30%.

[Reuters, The Denver Post]

Fox News Radio is now offering a new on-demand service to the nearly 400 affiliates of its 5-Minute news service. This makes the Fox News Radio the first radio network to provide an On Demand service for its affiliates.

Constantly updated 24-hours daily, the service provides radio stations with On Demand newscasts - aptly called "Fox News Radio On Demand" - directly to the affiliate website. Yes, this service is only to websites.

“People today are getting their news and information not just from the radio but are also looking to the Internet for what they need,” said Kevin Magee, EVP of Fox News Radio. (Wait... people are looking to the internet for news and information?! Amazing!)

Now, this news sounds interesting until you realize that it's relegated to online listening only. Since everything online is essentially "On Demand" there's little in terms of breakthrough here. Maybe it's an updated embeddable player that's the big deal? I don't know, but the thought of On Demand and Radio sure makes a lot of sense to me. And that spells an opportunity for Satellite Radio (not to mention headlines)... if they can pull it off.

I personally would love something like "Satellite Radio On Demand" - with the ability to access a limited variety of programming (likely original programming only) that you can listen to whenever you want. It would bring the listening experience to the next level.

I don't know exactly how they'd do it, since the receiver would need to send a signal to access the different programming, but that's up to the engineers to figure out. I just want a true hybrid between choice, and selection... how great would that be?

[via MediaWeek]

XM and Sirius published an advertisement in Communications Daily, The Hill, The Politico and Roll Call today publicizing the recent survey that found a majority of voters support the merger of the two companies.

The text of the advertisement reads:

Finally, Democrats and Republicans agree on something.

70%* are in favor of A La Carte and Best of Both programming packages that would be offered in a XM-SIRIUS merger.

In fact, voters agree that the merger is in the public interest by a margin of more than 2 to 1. But it's not just Republicans and Democrats who agree. It's every segment of the population. People of all ages. People who live in the country and the city. People of all races.

Here's the actual ad:

(The decision for this merger really just can't come soon enough...)

UPDATE: The image and text I posted was actually the wrong version of the ad. I've updated the post and the image removing the "Everyone thinks it's a good idea" copy which was never run in any of the publications above. Sorry for the misunderstanding...

The Federal Communications Commission is being flooded with what appears to be a form letter stating opposition to the Sirius-XM merger. As a result, the tide of "public opinion" has just been turned against the Sirius-XM merger.

SiriusBuzz has been tracking the progress of comments and note that prior to the anti-merger form letter, "over 77% of the comments submitted to the FCC would be pro merger." But as it stands now, 50% of the comments submitted are anti-merger, while only 49% are pro-merger.

Whether you are for or against the merger, the use of form letters to portray the public opinion can only be considered deceptive and misleading. The form letter reads as if this is being led by the NAB, as it uses similar rhetoric that the NAB has been spewing, but there has not been any confirming details to prove that the NAB is behind this.

Whoever it is, I think it's dirty and underhanded.

Call to action!
If you're a merger proponent and want to help out, please use the form available here or here, and voice your support. Even if you are against the merger, but feel tactics like form letters are dishonest and shouldn't play a part in this, please contact the FCC and let them know.

There's something inherently wrong with this technique, and I really hope that we can band together to let regulators know that we don't agree with it. If the public opposes the merger, then so be it, but let that be decided upon fairly and based on its merits. Not with rapid-fire form letters.

View a copy of what is written in the anti-merger form letter after the jump. Please note that the typographical and formating errors are actually part of the letter and are not mistakes on my behalf.

XM is expanding their jazz music programming with two new shows, "Live from Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola" and "Live from Jazz at Lincoln Center," set to launch in October.

Both new jazz shows will feature live performances from notable jazz musicians recorded direct from the Frederick P. Rose Hall, home of Jazz at Lincoln Center (JALC) and XM's New York broadcast studios (see photos from the opening reception here).

"Live from Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola" will broadcast concerts recorded live from the famed New York jazz club Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola, located in Frederick P. Rose Hall. Artistic Manager Todd Barkan, will serve as host for this weekly series, airing a variety of musical performances from the club Tony Bennett called "the best jazz room in this city." Premiere episode will debut Friday, October 19th at 8pm ET on Real Jazz (ch 70), featuring a performance by jazz pianist Cedar Walton.

"Live from Jazz at Lincoln Center" is a weekly series that takes listeners into the "House of Swing" with Wynton Marsalis leading the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (JLCO), now in its 21st concert season. Premiere episode will air Saturday, October 20th at 8pm ET on Real Jazz (ch 70), kicking off the "Benny Carter Centennial," on what would have been his 100th birthday, as the JLCO performs music and arrangements by the legendary trumpeter/saxophonist.

JALC Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis is kicking off a new season of his critically-acclaimed original XM series "In the Swing Seat with Wynton Marsalis" on September 28th. The hour-long, monthly series takes listeners on a journey through the world of jazz while exploring the genius of artists like John Coltrane, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and Thelonious Monk.

"In the Swing Seat with Wynton Marsalis" premieres Friday, September 28 at 2pm ET also on Real Jazz (ch 70). You'll be able to hear the premiere episode all day Friday on XMX (ch 2).

Clear Channel Communications Inc (CCU) shareholders have approved a $39.20/share buyout offer from private equity firms Bain Capital Partners and Thomas H. Lee Partners... worth almost $20 billion.

73% of the total shares outstanding were voted in favor of the deal.

Under Texas law at least two-thirds of the San Antonio-based company's shares had to vote in favor of the transaction. Shareholders who failed to vote were counted as voting against the sale.

In an e-mail to employees after the vote result was announced, Clear Channel CEO Mark Mays wrote that the next step was getting the merger closed. The deal is awaiting approval from the FCC and the DOJ.

Approval will "hopefully be granted in the next few months, putting the most likely merger completion date in December, although it could be somewhat before or after that timeframe," wrote Mays in the e-mail.

[Reuters]

I was reading an article in the Washington Times when this quote from iBiquity's CEO Bob Struble jumped out at me:

"Five years from now, you won't walk into a Best Buy and say, 'I want an HD Radio." You'll just say, 'I want a radio' — because that will be the standard."

Uhm, yeah. Here's a reality check for everyone in the industry, including satellite radio: people don't walk into a Best Buy and buy a radio. They don't. Radios come with your car. Radios just happen to be part of your alarm clock. Nobody walks into a store looking to buy a radio.

The "tabletop radio" segment, which consists mostly of alarm clocks, isn't something that people buy on a whim. College kids buy "tabletop radios" because they need to wake up after a night of hard partying (and guess what, a cellphone works just as well). They don't buy a radio because by-golly they need to have a radio. That AM/FM functionality is just there by default. Oh, and that alarm clock they're looking at now had better have an iPod charger included.

Now this might come as a surprise to everyone, because we all at one point in time decided to buy "a radio." But you didn't buy a satellite radio. You bought Howard Stern. Or Opie and Anthony. Or NASCAR. Or the MLB. Or the wide range of music that you can't get anywhere else. You bought the convenience of hearing this content wherever you are. The radio you purchased was only the vehicle - it provided the functions you needed to access that content you wanted.

So here's the newsflash to Bob Struble and all the other suits getting ready to yuck-it-up at the NAB Radio Show this week... in five years? No one is going to be saying "I want a radio" when they walk into Best Buy.

[Washington Times]

Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. has received authority from the Federal Communications Commission to operate five new repeater towers in four U.S. cities.

Located in Cincinnati, St. Louis, Miami and Houston (Houston gets two actually), the new repeater towers are rated at 2,000 Watts EiRP of average power.

Sirius applied for the towers back in July. Satellite Radio TechWorld notes that the FCC has reacted fairly quickly since adopting average power, as opposed to peak power, for its standard of power measurement.

These repeaters will operate at or below a power level that has been considered acceptable by both the FCC and WCS licensees. WCS licensees, who consistently have been a thorn in side of Sirius and XM when it comes to licensing matters, have said that repeaters at or below the 2,000 Watt threshold are unobjectionable.

[Satellite Radio TechWorld]

Sirius host Andrew Wilkow and Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay are joining forces for a special campus event at George Washington University this Wednesday, September 26th, 8pm ET.

Presented by The George Washington University College Republicans, the event is located at GW University's Elliott School of International Affairs, 1957 E Street, room 113.

At the event, Tom DeLay and "The Wilkow Majority" host Andrew Wilkow will discuss topics ranging from the current state of politics, to the election, health care, welfare, immigration and global warming, and take questions from the audience.

Immediately following the event there will be an on-site booksigning for Tom DeLay's No Retreat, No Surrender: One American's Fight. Wilkow and DeLay are speaking at college campuses across the country as part of their coverage of the 2008 presidential election, portions of which will be broadcast on Sirius.

"The Wilkow Majority" airs live weekdays from 12 - 3pm ET on Sirius Patriot (ch 144).

Sirius Satellite Radio will kick off its second season of Metropolitan Opera Radio tonight with an Opening Night performance beginning at 6:30pm ET.

Sirius is also launching a new show on Metropolitan Opera Radio (ch 85) entitled "The Met on Record," a new program featuring Met studio recordings that will be broadcast weekly during the 2007-08 opera season.

Sirius will broadcast up to four live performances each week throughout the Metropolitan Opera's 2007- 08 season. Met Opera Radio's second season of live broadcasts begins with Gaetano Donizetti's tragic opera Lucia di Lammermoor.

Highlights of the Met's 2007-08 season include Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, Verdi's Macbeth, Gluck's Iphigenie en Tauride, Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel, Britten's Peter Grimes, Phillip Glass' Satyagraha, and Donizetti's La fille du regiment.

"The Met on Record," begins on Sunday, September 30th at 9pm ET and will spotlight the studio opera recordings made by the Metropolitan Opera throughout its history.

Starbucks will be handing out free iTunes "Song of the Day" cards in over 10,000 store locations, from October 2nd to November 7th.

Starbucks estimates it will give away 1.5 million songs per day - that's over 50 million in all - to promote the iTunes WiFi store to which Starbucks will grant free access over its WiFi network.

Thirty-seven artists with featured songs include Paul McCartney and Joni Mitchell (the first two to sign on with Starbucks' Hear Music label) along with Joss Stone, Dave Matthews, John Mayer, Annie Lennox and Band of Horses.

The first song will be Bob Dylan's "Jokerman."

This is all part of the strategic partnership between Starbucks Corp. and Apple Inc. to integrate iTunes purchases into Starbucks' WiFi network. Participating Starbucks stores - starting with New York and Seattle in October, followed by San Francisco in November and many more locations in 2008 - will allow iPod Touch and iPhone users to find the song currently playing in store, and purchase it directly on the devices.

The "Song of the Day" promotion will not be limited to these stores, however.

Starbucks also will offer a limited-edition reloadable purchasing card that includes two free iTunes downloads when customers register their cards online.

[via Gizmodo]

Thousands of members of the United Automobile Workers (UAW) union walked off the job today at General Motors plants across the country as the two failed to reach an agreement over new contract negotiations.

The UAW has 73,000 members who work for GM at 82 U.S. facilities, including assembly and parts plants and warehouses.

GM has been pushing hard for a health care trust (known as a Voluntary Employees Beneficiary Association, or VEBA) so it could move $51 billion in unfunded retiree health costs off its books. GM estimates the liability is a stumbling block to becoming competitive with leaner Japanese manufacturers.

Even after a deal is reached at GM, the union must still come to agreements at Ford and Chrysler, where the issue of a health care trust is likely to be discussed.

Together, the three auto companies have a collective liability of around $100 billion. The VEBA health care trust, would take over responsibility for paying benefits to workers and their families.

It remains to be seen what effect the strike would have on GM sales, though it has enough in stock to withstand a "short" strike. GM had an estimated 65-day supply of cars and trucks when September began, but a strike will still be costly for the company.

In 1998, GM vehicle output was shut down nationwide by local strikes at the Flint Metal Center and a Delphi parts plant in Flint. The shut down stopped GM’s North American production for 54 days and cost the company $2.2 billion.

Over 90% of GM vehicles offer factory-installed XM Satellite Radio.

[AP, New York Times]

UPDATE: According to CNBC, it's estimated that GM will lose $100 Million daily, and 12,200 vehicles daily, as a result of this strike.

It seems that the rumors were true, although the number was a bit off: XM Canada has added several new channels to its lineup.

While not the rumored 40 additional channels, XM Canada added 10 new channels to the roster.

• Radio Disney (ch 115)
• ESPN Radio (ch 140)
• ESPNEWS (ch 141)
• IndyCar (ch 145)
• ATN-Asian Radio (ch 159)
• Pac 10 Play-by-Play (ch 193)
• NHL Play-by-Play (ch 237)
• NHL Play-by-Play (ch 238)
• NHL Play-by-Play (ch 239)
• Big XII Play-by-Play (ch 241)

"Our enhanced sports lineup further solidifies XM Canada's position as the leader in sports programming," said XM Canada EVP Stewart Lyons, in the press release. "Not only do we have an exclusive agreement to broadcast every team and every game for the next eight NHL seasons, but we also cover MLB, PGA Golf, IndyCar Racing and much more."

[via Orbitcast Forums]

It's been almost two years since XM unveiled the Pioneer Inno. Since then we've seen little in handheld offerings from XM, although the Delphi SkyFi3 might be considered one (I'd call it more of a "hybrid" handheld/plug-and-play).

Sirius meanwhile had released its own live-handheld last year - the Sirius Stiletto - and soon its second-generation Sirius Stiletto 2 will be joining the fray.

But the question we're all wondering: where's the next generation handheld offering from XM? Where's the next "Inno"?

XM demonstrated to analysts a video-capable handheld prototype in early 2006 (fake photo, real info), and the ONIX400, unveiled at CES this year, is set to hit the streets any-day-now. So we know they've been busy down in Florida. Yet still nothing has been announced.

Handhelds generally don't fly off the shelves when it comes to retail sales. By their own admission, both Sirius and XM have said that the handheld satellite radio market is pretty weak. But they serve a function beyond just appealing to early adopters. They act as "halo" products (e.g., the popularity of the iPod has helped spur sales of Apple computers), and serve as fodder for media coverage. There's value beyond just sales.

So come this CES, will we see a new handheld from XM? I sure hope so...

XM's presidential election channel POTUS '08 (ch 130) will debut tomorrow morning at 6am ET, and C-SPAN will on hand with live coverage of the channel's first day on the air.

C-SPAN's morning show "Washington Journal" will be checking in on the POTUS studio at various times throughout the morning, starting at around 7am ET.

C-SPAN is a primary content partner for POTUS '08.

XM Satellite Radio said yesterday that they are canceling a paid "advertorial" program featuring Fredric Dryer, after learning about Dryer's legal problems.

Dryer was the co-host of a paid "advertorial" that appeared on XM's America Right (ch 166) last Saturday which had more installments planned. The program was sponsored by Convergent Acquisitions and Development Inc. - a company that acquires rental properties for investors.

"The advertorial aired once and it won't air again," said XM spokesman Nathaniel Brown.

Titled "Real Estate Wealth Myths Facts and Strategies," the paid program featured Dryer and Gary Eldred (a faculty member at Trump University and writer of over 21 books about real estate) both giving advice on real estate investments.

Brown said the satellite radio company pulled the show because it was "not aware of the legal issues surrounding one of the personalities that Convergent chose to use for the advertorials."

Fredric "Rick" Dryer (pictured), the founder of Mile High Capital Group LLC, last year was indicted on 67 felony charges ranging from theft to securities fraud for his involvement in an alleged real estate Ponzi scheme. Dryer has pleaded not guilty on all the charges, and is scheduled to go on trial next February.

The show was XM's first foray into paid "advertorial" programming (an advertisement produced in the form of an editorial program - essentially an infomercial for radio). Brown said the incident has inspired XM to reassess how it enters deals with companies that want to air advertorials.

"We haven't typically done background checks on the personalities our clients choose for our advertorials," Brown said. "We are reviewing our vetting process."

[Denver Business Journal]

Sirius Satelite Radio will be celebrating what would have been legend Hilly Kristal’s 76th birthday, with a special broadcast celebrating his life. Hilly Kristal, the founder and owner of the legendary rock club CBGB, died in late August.

The show, "Happy Birthday Hilly Kristal," will rebroadcast an interview conducted with Kristal by his friend and Sirius host, Meg Griffin.

Recorded at CBGB on Thanksgiving Day 2003, the interview features Hilly Kristal describing the early days of CBGB and the artists who broke out during that era including The Ramones, Pattie Smith, Talking Heads, Television and Blondie. Hilly also discusses how important providing a space for artists was to him and how the most legendary ‘punk’ club became so by accident.

Kristal lost a bitter fight with the club's landlord last year to stop the club's eviction from its home of 33 years. Last October, CBGB had its final show featuring Patti Smith who first performed at CBGB in February 1975. The show was broadcast live on Sirius. During the final show, the legend was using a cane to get around and showing the effects of his cancer treatment.

Sirius Disorder (ch 70), will air "Happy Birthday Hilly Kristal" this Sunday, September 23rd at 9am ET and again at 6pm ET. An encore broadcast will air September 24th at 5pm ET.

Forbes last night unveiled their Forbes 400, highlighting the 400 richest people in America - and several radio-related moguls are on the list.

For all the whining that the NAB does about Howard Stern's $500 million contract, you'd think these folks were paupers. But that's not at all the case, far from it, especially since you need to have a net worth of at least $1.3 billion to even get on the Forbes 400 list.

So follow the link below, and check out the Top 10 Richest People in Radio... and the disgusting amount of their net worth.

Yesterday, XM Satellite Radio joined Jumpstart for its "Read For The Record" event at the Smithsonian's Discovery Theater in Washington D.C., to raise awareness of early literacy and the importance of reading to children of all ages.

XM has partnered with Jumpstart as a part of the greater effort to encourage reading in underserved preschoolers across the country. Jumpstart's second annual "Read For The Record" campaign, which launched yesterday, set a new record for the most people reading the same book on the same day. This year's event shattered last year's record of 150,000 participants.

Below are some photos from the Washington D.C. event. It's hard to see, but the hats read "XM Empowers" which is XM's corporate giving and community outreach program.

Joe Madison, on-air host for XM The Power (ch 169), reads The Story of Ferdinand to preschoolers at Jumpstart’s "Read For The Record." The event took place at the Smithsonian's Discovery Theater and featured appearances from U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), U.S. Sen. Robert Casey (D-Penn.), U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-RI).

XM Satellite Radio’s Chance Patterson looks like he's having a blast reading The Story of Ferdinand to preschoolers at the event.

It's great to see satellite radio being involved in community outreach programs like these. Not only does it serve as good PR (because, let's face it, it does), but on an ethical level it's important for corporations to use their extended resources to give back to the community. Media companies especially have the responsibility to embark on community outreach programs, because they interface directly with the general public. "Serving" the community is part of the territory.

Plus, as you can see from these photos, it could even be fun at the same time...

XM Canada is rumored to be announcing the addition of up to 40 new channels in the coming days, according to sources at Digital Home.

XM is expected to announce that it has increased its channel count from 160 channels - up from 120 channels currently be broadcast today. Digital Home thinks that at least 10 or 20 new channels will be added to the pack, including the new ATN Asian channel and Radio Disney.

An XM spokesperson confirmed that changes would be announced shortly but added that the “details have yet to be finalized.”

[Digital Home]

Sirius Satellite Radio has topped Deloitte & Touche's list of the fastest growing companies in New York: the 2007 New York Technology Fast 50.

Deloitte's New York Technology Fast 50 ranks technology, media, telecommunications, and life sciences companies headquartered in the state by percentage revenue growth over five years. Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. beat out the competition - by a long shot - with an incredible 79,060% revenue growth over a five-year period.

To put this figure in perspective: the #2 company, Orchestria Inc., "only" had a 20,692% of five-year revenue growth.

"We commend Sirius for envisioning, and then creating, an entirely new technology platform that changed forever how people think about radio", said Ed Moran, Director, Deloitte Services. "Sirius has overcome enormous challenges in successfully developing and integrating the hardware, software, content and personalities needed to delight their customers."

Technology Fast 50 companies are selected based on percentage revenue growth over the five years from 2002 to 2006. To be considered, entrants must have operating revenues of at least $50,000 in 2002 and at least $5,000,000 in 2006; be headquartered in New York; own proprietary technology or proprietary intellectual property that contributes to a significant portion of its operating revenues, or devote a significant proportion of revenues to the research and development of technology.

To see a list of other winners, visit Deloitte's search page here.

A "high profile source" is saying that Google Inc. is on the verge of buying out Sirius Satellite Radio Inc., according to a blog posting on ClickZ News.

Hard to say anything else - as there's no other information - but the blog post does come from Zach Rodgers who's the Managing Editor for ClickZ (he's been with the company for over 6 years).

Just over a year ago, Google and XM inked a partnership to provide targeted ads to satellite radio subscribers. Is there a connection? Who knows, that's what makes "rumors" so much fun.

[ClickZ News Blog]

A FCC filing by Wiley Rein cites a recent Radio & Records article about the merger between Sirius Satellite Radio, Inc. and XM Satellite Radio Holdings, Inc.

But it's not the filing that's interesting. It's not even the R&R article, or the quote by the PTC that Wiley Rein was highlighting.

It's the image you see...

(grrrr...)

[View FCC Filing (PDF) via Orbitcast Forums]
Thanks tankedsecondchance!

Slacker is on a roll today. Not only have they signed with all four major music labels (effectively giving them a far deeper playlist), but now they've gone and inked deals with indie music IODA, The Orchard, Beggars Group and Matador Records, IRIS, Ubiquity Records and Sanctuary Group PLC.

The agreements give Slacker the rights to play their "personal radio stations" anyway - from the online Web player, to the Desktop player, as well as on their upcoming Slacker Portables.

It looks like Slacker is really pushing the "discovery" aspect of their service (IODA's catalog includes close to 1 million tracks alone), and it looks like the flood gates have just been opened.

Now, if they could only get that Portable on the streets....

Sirius Satellite Radio has just announced the return of E Street Radio, a music channel dedicated to the music of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, which will premiere on September 27th at 6 pm ET, on Sirius channel 10.

E Street Radio will air on Sirius through late March 2008.

The return of E Street Radio coincides with launch of the band's 2007 concert tour, as well as the October 2nd release of Magic, Bruce Springsteen's first album recorded with the E Street Band since 2002's multi-platinum and Grammy(R) award-winning The Rising.

As the band's 30-city worldwide tour rolls on after its kickoff concert in Hartford, CT on October 2nd, listeners to Sirius' E Street Radio channel will hear daily features on the new album's music and track-by-track discussions with Bruce Springsteen and E Street Band members.

The E Street Radio channel will also feature archival concert recordings of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band dating from early 1973, and behind-the-scenes insights from band insiders.

Fans will also have the opportunity to submit their favorite live recordings of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band concerts, and selected submissions get the chance to guest host a show on E Street Radio.

E Street Radio was originally launched by Sirius back in late 2005.

Tom Petty will be returning for yet another season of his celebrated XM Satellite Radio show, “Tom Petty’s Buried Treasure” on September 24th. Bringing together favorite tracks from Petty’s personal collection, forgotten masterworks, and live-in-concert classics recorded by rock and roll’s most inspired legends - and at the heart of it all, is Tom Petty himself.

One of the very first artist-presented XM shows, “Tom Petty’s Buried Treasure” has helped to usher in a new wave of inventive radio programming - and established for many people, exactly why satellite radio is an exploratory medium for music.

The artist-presented shows (like Tom Petty's and Bob Dylan's) are based on the idea that even the legends of popular music are music's most passionate listeners and biggest fans themselves.

Petty will treat fans to songs like Lee Dorsey’s “Ride Your Pony,” The Searchers’ “He’s Got No Love,” and The Pyramids’ “Penetration,” among others, when the season premiere of “Buried Treasure” airs Monday, September 24th at 10am ET on XM’s Deep Tracks (ch 40).

Starting in October, “Buried Treasure” will then move to Thursdays, still on Deep Tracks. “Tom Petty’s Buried Treasure” will also be available all day every Thursday on XMX (ch 2).

Can't wait, I will be among the many tuning in.

Get the full schedule, info and even an audio preview of "Tom Petty's Buried Treasure" right here.

Slacker, the Internet Radio/Satellite Radio hybrid service, has finalized agreements with the major labels EMI Music, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group - making the labels' content available to listeners on the Slacker Personal Radio service.

Sony BMG Music had already previously reached a similar agreement with Slacker. The addition of EMI, UMG, and Warner gives Slacker agreements with all four major record labels.

With all four music labels under its belt, Slacker listeners will now have access to a much deeper playlist to access on their personalized radio stations. And as part of the agreement, Slacker listeners can transfer their personalized stations to Slacker Portable Players with a single click and automatically refresh them via Wi-Fi or over USB.

The Slacker Portable Player is still "coming soon," but I assume they wanted to reach this agreement first before launching their retail offering. Slacker Personal Radio is available for free (for both online use and on the Slacker Portables) using an ad-supported model (the premium service will be unveiled soon).

Also "coming soon" is the Slacker Satellite Car Kit, which delivers fresh content to your Slacker Portable Player directly to your car via satellite. Complete with a car dock and antenna, the Satellite Car Kit allows you to receive new music for your stations while you drive. The Slacker Portable Player will store content in its cache, so your music never stops playing even when you lose signal.

XM Satellite Radio chairman Gary Parsons compared th NAB's lobbying efforts to stop the Sirius and XM merger to a "jihad" at the Goldman Sachs conference in New York yesterday.

"They clearly view it as competition and, candidly, they should," Parsons told attendees.

"I've been a bit surprised about the raw magnitude of the dollars they have spent and the somewhat visceral nature of the jihad against the merger going forward," he added.

Parsons wondered why terrestrial radio dismiss satellite radio as having limited appeal while simultaneously spending vast sums of money - through the NAB - to try and stop the satellite radio merger.

Using the term "jihad" to describe the NAB's opposition is strategically brilliant in my opinion, and it's not the first time Gary Parsons has used this term. But it's an effective, and accurate I might add, description of their relentless lobbying - despite NAB members' own SEC filing having cited satellite radio as competition (and these constitute admissions under the law).

In response to Parsons comments, NAB spokesman Kris Jones said, "a monopolist will say and do anything to get their monopoly."

Wait... which group is it that will say anything and do anything again?

[Hollywood Reporter]

On Monday, George Washington University hosted the annual Future of Music Coalition conference where musicians (as opposed to the RIAA) can convene over the state of the music business.

Washington Post writer Rob Pergoraro was in attendance and gave a very nice recap of the happenings at the show. Of particular interest is the plight of independent musicians and their lack of exposure on terrestrial radio.

Rich Bengloff, president of the American Association of Independent Music, cited figures gathered by SoundExchange: In 2006, 37 percent of the songs played on "non-terrestrial" radio (i.e., Satellite Radio and Internet Radio) came from independent artists.

On AM/FM, they had less than 10 percent of airtime, Bengloff said.

And HD Radio doesn't look to be the answer to this problem anytime soon. When a speaker asked the room of 70+ people in the music biz if any of them owned an HD Radio, the WaPo reporter saw only 2 hands go up.

[Washington Post]

XM Satellite Radio has signed on country music legend Marty Stuart to host a new weekly show, “Marty Stuart’s American Odyssey,” starting on Friday, October 5th.

Each hour-long episode will focus on a different part of the country and bring the musical sounds and stories of that region to life through informal interviews with local musicians, stories, guests and a regular cast of studio and tour musicians. “Marty Stuart’s American Odyssey” will bring together a broad range of American music including traditional country, blues, rockabilly, bluegrass, gospel and rock songs.

Stuart began his career in the country spotlight as a musical prodigy at bright-young age of 13 when he started touring with Lester Flatt, and later joined Johnny Cash’s band before he turned 20. He's played with the likes of Willie Nelson, Emmylou Harris, Bob Dylan, Randy Travis, and Roy Rogers.

Episodes of “Marty Stuart’s American Odyssey,” air Fridays at 8am ET on XM America (ch 10), and will also be available all day every Friday on XMX (ch 2).

Looks like Wisconsin Attorney General JB Van Hollen - who urged the DOJ to oppose the Sirius-XM merger - might have been returning a favor to his former boss, Former Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson.

See, the Four Term Governor of Wisconsin Tommy Thompson just happens to be the Chairman of the Board for Armada Media Corporation, a terrestrial radio company which has closed on the acquisition of eighteen radio stations in Aberdeen, SD and Marinette, WI / Menominee, MI, and McCook, NE.

A quick look at the Wisconsin AG's biography reveals that Van Hollen's father served as Governor Tommy Thompson's first Northern Representative.

Then in 1993 Governor Tommy Thompson appointed Van Hollen to the position of District Attorney in Ashland County. Nearly six years later, Van Hollen was appointed to serve as Bayfield County District Attorney, again by Gov. Tommy Thompson, and was later elected to the position.

Tommy Thompson also publicly endorsed J.B. Van Hollen - not to mention helped in fundraising efforts - in his run for Attorney General last year.

There's some additional ties between Van Hollen, Tommy Thompson and another individual: Nick Hurtgen. Not only was Van Hollen seen with Hurtgen, but Phil Prange (Van Hollen's campaign manager) apparently was close friends with Hurtgen.

But who is Nick Hurtgen? Well, he's not only a former owner of Armada Media (having had 12.5% of the company, before being cut from its ranks), but was also charges with seven counts of extortion and mail & wire fraud charges (later dismissed by a federal judge). Hurtgen is also a good friend of - not to mention a former aide of - (you guessed it) former Governor Tommy Thompson.

Good Ol' Boys Club anyone?

Obviously it's not hard evidence of a conflict of interest, not like Wisconsin Senator Herb Kohl... but, if it walks like a duck.

[via Yahoo Finance Groups]

XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio have issued a press release this morning highlighting that major retail corporations and auto manufacturers have thrown their support behind the XM-Sirius merger.

It's a good thing to highlight because if consumers really wouldn't react positively to a merged entity, then the retail/auto companies would feel the pain first. On the same token, alternative audio sources like HD Radio, iPods, and the like, are undoubtedly eating into retail and auto satellite radio offerings - so they're seeing the competition from the supply-side.

Both retail companies and OEMs the ones who are on the front-line interfacing directly with the consumer. So when companies like RadioShack, Circuit City Stores, and Crutchfield; join with auto manufacturers like Honda, Toyota and Hyundai; it's something to brag about.

And don't think the NAB doesn't understand the value of these filings. To the point where they listed Toyota as opposing the merger, a fact that Toyota was not very pleased about (and let's not forget the NAB's apology for misrepresenting the stance of several Congressmen).

Below are some of the quotes from FCC filings used in the press release:

"...the merger will bring greater vitality and financial resources to this upstart technology. Allowing this to happen will, in turn, spark a new generation of services and products with more advanced and user-friendly features. Consumers, of course, will be better off as a result."

-- Julian C. Day, Chairman and CEO, RadioShack Corporation

"Based on our longstanding expertise in both the home and car audio entertainment business, we strongly believe that this merger will be beneficial to consumers. In fact, we believe that it is critical for the continued growth of this medium."

-- William G. Crutchfield, Jr., CEO and Founder, Crutchfield Corporation

"Circuit City believes that the FCC should allow Sirius and XM to implement their plans to make satellite radio a stronger competitor, and provide improved product and service to consumers, by approving their applications in this proceeding."

-- Philip J. Schoonover, Chairman, President and CEO, Circuit City Stores, Inc.

"We are informed that as a result of the proposed merger satellite radio customers will be able to select packages of fewer channels at lower prices. If these enhanced options in fact become available, satellite radio subscribers stand to benefit as entertainment choices would increase and overall pricing would become more affordable."

-- George S. Cary and Michael R. Lazerwitz, [on behalf of] Toyota Motor Corporation

"We believe that efficiencies realized from the merger will benefit our customers in other ways, as well. For example, the merged company will likely improve upon current in-vehicle services that support the driving experience, such as traffic and weather, and promote the introduction of exciting new services. It will also provide a more robust and stable platform for satellite radio generally, and maximize its prospects for success in the increasingly competitive market for audio entertainment services."

-- Wayne Killen, Director, Product Planning, Hyundai Motor America

"While American Honda has seen early promise in this collaboration, it has become evident that satellite radio and digital satellite services must compete mightily in the U.S. with a wide array of burgeoning entertainment forms and an ever-widening list of technology participants who are delivering services in this space."

-- Charles Koch, Manager American Honda Product Planning, American Honda Motor Co. Inc.

Wisconsin's Attorney General yesterday asked the Department of Justice to block the XM-Sirius merger.

In his letter to the DOJ, Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen said the combination of Sirius Satellite Radio, Inc. and XM Satellite Radio Holdings, Inc. would create a monopoly that would be bad for consumers.

"The proposed merger would eliminate competition in the satellite radio industry and the combined XM-Sirius companies would be free to raise prices, stifle innovation, and reduce program diversity," wrote the Republican Attorney General.

XM and Sirius maintain that they face competition from terrestrial radio, iPods, internet radio and mobile-cellular audio. The satcasters argue that these audio entertainment choices would prevent them from doing what the Attorney General from Wisconsin claims.

But Van Hollen rejected that argument, saying XM and Sirius offer a unique range of live sports, weather and news. Consumers may be forced to pay more for what they already get under the companies' proposed post-merger pricing plan, he said.

[CNN Money via Orbitcast Forums]

XM Satellite Radio has (finally) released the full details and line-up of its highly anticipated presidential election channel, POTUS '08.

The channel, which will be free for everyone with an XM radio (no subscription required), will launch on September 24th along with XM's other channel changes.

As we learned last week, the National Journal will be joining POTUS '08, but in addition the channel will air radio shows from content partners like C-SPAN, Slate, and Washington Monthly and the polling group Zogby International.

Liberal voices will come in from the political blog DailyKos; conservative voices from the Heritage Foundation. Other contributors include the National Press Club, George Washington University, and TV networks CNN, ABC, and FOX News.

XM-produced shows will also be prominently featured on POTUS '08, gathering together opinions from all sides of the presidential elections. As Kevin Straley, XM's senior VP of news, talk, and sports programming, puts it: "You can hear diverse views across the political spectrum, including voices you don't typically hear on traditional media."

Yesterday, some sniffing around uncovered a few trademarks that XM filed for, which undoubtedly were for POTUS '08 show titles. Today we get to learn a bit more of what those XM-produced shows shows will feature:

• "1600" comes in from the XM studios in Washington D.C. weekdays from 3pm to 6pm ET. Hosted by POTUS '08 managing editor Rebecca Roberts (who comes from NPR News).
• "Morning Briefing" with XM senior director of news programming Scott Walterman
• "P.O.T.U.S. Press Pool" with XM senior director of talk programming Tim Farley
• "P.O.T.U.S. '08 Live" hosted by the channel's program director Joe Mathieu, who comes to XM from Marketwatch Radio.

Sunday programming on P.O.T.U.S. '08 will offer audio broadcasts of the FOX News shows "FOX News Sunday" and "Beltway Boys," ABC News' "This Week with George Stephanopoulos," CNN's "Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer," and the Chicago-based radio program "Beyond the Beltway."

More schedule info is available on xmradio.com/potus.

(Pictured, XM's POTUS '08 on-air team, from left-to-right: Rebecca Roberts, Joe Mathieu, Scott Walterman, Tim Farley)

Click the jump to see more photos, and quick bios, of the POTUS ’08 on-air team...

During an interview, Artie Lange talked with Sports Illustrated about an off-air moment when OJ Simpson was on the phone "yelling at" Howard Stern, saying "I'm coming for you next, Howard."

"That's what I heard, though Howard never told me what he said," said Lange. Adding that it "was the first time I had seen Howard flustered on or off the air."

The confrontation supposedly took place when Laurence Taylor was a guest on The Howard Stern Show, and received a call during the commercial break, explained Lange. L.T. handed the phone to Stern saying that a "friend" wanted to speak with him. "It took Howard a few moments to realize it was O.J. Simpson," said Lange.

"...I heard O.J. talking a mile a minute. He was yelling at Howard, saying 'I'm coming for you next, Howard. You're f---ing with me. I'm coming for you next.' Almost goofing on him," Artie told SI.

"L.T. saw Howard squirming and was laughing. Howard, obviously, is one of the highest profile guys who has messed with O.J. from the beginning."

[Sports Illustrated]

BBC Radio 1 turns the big 40 on September 30th and Sirius Satellite Radio is celebrating the event with a variety of musical legends - including Sir Paul McCartney, Gwen Stefani, Noel Gallagher, Debbie Harry, and Ozzy Osbourne - hosting their own shows.

The dedicatation kicked off yesterday, September 17th, with legend Paul McCartney hosting his own show. Each night, some of the biggest names in the music biz - like Dave Grohl, Paul Oakenfold, Gwen Stefani and Ozzy Osbourne - will be hosting their own show as well.

On Sunday, September 30th (the day of Radio 1's debute broadcast back in 1967) the current BBC Radio 1 DJs will co-host shows with iconic Radio 1 DJs from yesteryear. Along the way, the station will be talking to recording artists that helped shape its history and to the audience who discovered music through Radio 1.

Click to see the full schedule of guest hosts and the line-up for BBC Radio 1's birthday on the 30th, after the jumpage...

The guys at XM Online Marketing must be smiling ear-to-ear today, because xmradio.com just recognized as "Best Radio Website" in the 2007 WebAwards from the Web Marketing Association.

The panel of independent judges described the site as having a "very intuitive interface, great logically structured content and a clean design."

Designed and built by Avenue A - Razorfish, the XM Online Marketing team managed the design and development of xmradio.com.

It's quite the accomplishment considering that a year ago ClickZ blasted XM's website in a head-to-head usability comparison to Sirius.com. Not too long afterward, XM completely redesigned their website - similar to what we see today, but with incremental improvements along the way.

Great to see everyone's hard work getting recognized. Congrats!

UPDATE: Sirius renews contract with Bubba for 2 more years!

Bubba The Love Sponge's contract with Sirius Satellite Radio, Inc. is coming up for renewal in December/January, and it's long been known that the negotiations between the two parties have not been going too well.

A recent blog post by Bubba seems to indicate that the grumblings about being underpaid and underappreciated by Sirius are coming to a head, and that the contract might very well not be renewed:

"the amount of money they have given non-radio people is absolulty insane....we meanwhile have done radio, and good radio i might add, for over 20 years, we are radio people that know the business, but because we are not martha stewart, or lance armstrong, or jamie foxx, granted all of which are big time names, but none have ever done radio. sirius feels they can pay us pretty much anything they want....and give us take it or leave it type options........if you only knew some of the stuff they have done to us,"

Howard Stern this morning even brought up the situation with Bubba, giving his full support on the air, but expressed a level of doubt that the negotiations can be resolved.

The real looming question is whether Bubba has another offer on the table. He was seen exiting Cox Radio offices with his agent, fueling speculation of his return to terrestrial radio.

This morning though, Bubba confirmed that two offers from terrestrial radio companies are currently on the table:

"its kind of sad that i have two regular radio offers on the table that are willing to pay me over double right now to come back. granted i wont have as much fun, but at least i will have a steady contract for a long time, with good money and they (regular radio) will treat me as a valueable asset, not talk down to me, and push me around like the way i am being treated now..."

Many would hate to see Sirius go, especially since many Howard listeners have become Bubba fans. But as it stands, it definitely doesn't sound hopeful...

[BTLS Blogs]

UPDATE: The blog posting in question has been removed.

XM Satellite Radio and the Asian Television Network (ATN) have partnered up to create a channel dedicated to the South Asian community: "ATN-Asian Radio."

ATN-Asian Radio (ch 159) will launch in October, providing both the U.S. and Canada with news, sports, music and entertainment for the South Asian community. ATN currently operates 14 television channels in Canada.

The channel will also offer live cricket commentary from ATN, Canada's largest distributor of World Class Cricket.

The programming on XM's ATN-Asian Radio will also include a range of music, from the best of Bollywood to popular South Asian artists. The channel will also broadcast Hindustani classical and carnatic music and will feature pop, folk, chutney and re-mixes.

While the majority of the channel's talk programming will be in English, there will be a substantial amount of content broadcast in South Asian languages such as Hindi, Punjabi, Gujarati, Urdu, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Marathi and Sinhalese, among others.

I don't doubt that this will generate interest in the South Asian community (folks with origins in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, etc), but can we please get a Technology-centric channel? Please? Leo Laporte is great and all, but geeks need some love too. Then again, I doubt catering to techie-types will do much in catering to serving the public interest.

XM Satellite Radio over the past weeks has filed for various trademarks, something that we haven't seen in quite a while.

The most recent trademark filings, made in the past week or so, are: "Morning Briefing," "Unfiltered," and "1600."

All three trademarks have the descriptions of being "an ongoing radio program in the field of politics" - with 1600 obviously being a reference for 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Most likely all three are shows meant for the highly anticipated Presidential Election channel POTUS '08.

Other trademarks that XM has registered for are "Where Everyone is an Insider" and "Wherever You Are Saturdays." The former is described as being a "audio programs featuring talk, news, music, and data via satellite and the Internet," which could literally be anything. The latter is currently a college sports program on XM Sports Nation (ch 144).

[Trademark Links: 1, 2, 3, 4]

If you missed Mel Karmazin's presentation at the Merrill Lynch Media & Entertainment Conference this morning, and subsequently learned the archived audio is no longer archived, there's a few writeups 'round the interweb you can read... each with their own take.

Forbes focused on how Karmazin discussed the fundamentals of Sirius' business strategy. From the goal of ad revenue reaching 10% of total revenue, to key growth drivers like factory-installations, to Sirius Backseat TV; Forbes actually gives a good rundown of some highlights.

CNN Money Blogs took the merger angle, shining the spotlight on Mel's response to Merrill Lynch media analyst Jessica Reif Cohen introduction. "How dare you say XM is our only competitor?" said Karmazin. "We compete with terrestrial radio and Apple’s iPod in a robust digital entertainment market."

Radio Ink, on the otherhand, decided to point the finger at the Sirius Satellite Radio, Inc. CEO's statement that the XM-Sirius merger would lead to lower costs to consumers, and thus be "good for the country." (Likely in the public-interest sense, and not in the geo-political sense... but ehh, it makes for good headlines.)

Amazingly though, Radio Ink did include Karmazin's statement that Sirius competes "with the Clear Channels and CBS's of the world, and ... we are the fifth-largest radio-revenue company today." SiriusBuzz posted a slide from the presentation illustrating this.

Thanks Gary!

Comedian and MySpace-guru Dane Cook has taken over Sirius Satellite Radio's Raw Dog Comedy (ch 104) for an uncensored hour with Pete Dominick.

This special hour with Dane Cook aired today at 2pm ET... but, oddly enough, Sirius issued the press release announcing Cook's appearance at 3pm ET today. No worries though, because it'll rebroadcast at a slew of timeslots: today at 6pm ET, tomorrow at 11am ET, September 19th at 1pm ET, September 20th at 10am and 8pm ET, and September 21st at 2pm and 6pm ET (phew).

But if that wasn't enough of Dane for you, he'll also be making appearances on Sirius Maxim Radio (ch 108), "The Mike & Murray Show" on Sirius Sports Central (ch 123), Sirius Hits 1 (ch 1), and Super Shuffle (ch 12).

XM's former CEO Hugh Panero will get severance payments totaling about $4.9 million, according to a SEC filing made today.

Panero announced back in July that he would be resigning as CEO of the company, and Nate Davis would become the interim-CEO as a result. Panero had a salary of $620,480 in 2006.

The former head of XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. (XMSR) is also eligible for benefits for 18 months and cash payments instead of 3.5 years of benefits. All of Panero's options and restricted stock awards vested on August 10th, except those issued in 2007. His options remain exercisable over the next 18 months.

He'll still be providing part-time consulting services to XM until March 31st, 2008, or until the merger with Sirius is completed.

[Wall Street Journal]

While the terrestrial rags are booming headlines like "Consumer group blasts XM-Sirius merger" and "Consumer Group Opposes XM-Sirius Merger," a quick Google search shows that the American Consumer Institute isn't actually a consumer group.

Nope, thanks to Hear 2.0, we learn that...

"...the American Consumer Institute isn't actually a consumer group. It's an amalgamation of think tank reps pushing a free market ideological agenda under the guise of consumer advocacy. A quick WhoIS notes that the ACI website is registered to Stephen Pociask, a telecom consultant and former chief economist for Bell Atlantic, who via groups like the Competitive Enterprise Institute, works to shape data that argues against government regulation of industry." (The 'American Consumer Institute' - Broadband Reports, Aug 22 2006)

Of course, this isn't the first time we've seen merger opponents conjure up "consumer groups" in order to support their opposition. C3SR, the best funded bunch of college kids I've ever seen, is supported by the NAB.

[Broadband Reports via Hear 2.0]

XM isn't the only one celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month, Sirius too will be paying tribute by visiting "20 Countries in 20 Days" starting today.

Sirius channels Universo Latino (ch 90) and Rumbon (ch 92) will be traveling through 20 countries in 20 days and discovering the rich culture and personalities who have influenced the American traditions. At the beginning of each hour, Sirius will highlight the music and culture of a single Hispanic nation each day.

Week One:

• Costa Rica
• Chile
• Guatemala
• Mexico
• El Salvador

Week Two:

• Spain
• Peru
• Cuba
• Ecuador
• Argentina

Week Three:

• Bolivia
• Puerto Rico
• Honduras
• Panama
• Uruguay

Week Four:

• Dominican Republican
• Nicaragua
• Venezuela
• Paraguay
• Columbia

The tribute starts today and continues all day through October 12th.

In case you missed it, XM Chairman Gary Parsons and iCEO/President Nate Davis were interviewed in the New York Times this weekend.

It's part of, what I feel, is an important initiative to help increase the public profile of XM Management. Parsons also has been stepping up his speaking gigs lately, so it's good to see Davis doing his share in the press rounds.

The interview itself has some good bits where Davis and Parsons give an overview of the current state of the merger, and XM's scenario should the merger not go through. I do love how Gary refers to the NAB's persistent opposition as a "jihad" - a fitting description that definitely doesn't conjure up images of being the good-guy.

I also like how they directly addressed the number of channels that subscribers will have available post-merger. It's good to set realistic expectations of what is possible in the near term.

[New York Times]
Thanks Donald!

Two class action lawsuits were filed against Sirius and its directors in New York County Supreme Court, according to a recent SEC filing.

The two lawsuits, filed on March 14th and March 20th, allege that Sirius breached their fiduciary duties and engaged in self-dealing by agreeing to merge Sirius with XM at an unfair exchange rate.

Brockwell v. Sirius Satellite Radio, Inc. (Index No. 60019/07) and Johnson v. Sirius Satellite Radio, Inc. (Index No. 600899/07) more specifically allege that in agreeing to merge with XM, the directors failed to adequately account for and consider:

1. The true value of Sirius and XM
2. Certain XM litigation and regulatory liabilities
3. and the impact of concessions that Sirius and XM would need to make in order to obtain antitrust approval for the merger.

Brockwell and Johnson seek an order to prohibit Sirius from consummating the merger with XM and an award of attorneys’ fees.

Shortly after filing the original complaints, Brockwell and Johnson advised Sirius that they intend to file an amended and/or consolidated class action complaint. As a result, on June 11th, Sirius entered into a stipulation requiring plaintiffs to move to consolidate their actions within 30 days, and to file an amended and/or consolidated complaint within 30 days from the date the court enters a consolidation order.

So far, the plaintiffs have not moved to consolidate or amend their actions.

[via Orbitcast Forums]

Sirius will being giving listeners comprehensive coverage of the 2007 Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup, broadcasting all ten races live and airing in-car audio from NASCAR's top drivers as they compete for the coveted NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series Championship.

Starting tomorrow, September 16th, Sirius will broadcast the first event of the Chase, the Sylvania 300 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series race (1:15pm ET) live from New Hampshire International Speedway in Loudon, NH on Sirius NASCAR Radio (ch 128). For all ten Chase races, Sirius will provide the live race call on channel 128, plus ten additional Driver2Crew Chatter channels that will combine the race broadcast with the in-car audio of ten different race teams.

Sirius' roster of NASCAR on-air expert hosts have provided their picks/predictions for the championship, view their insight after the jump...

So this is a fairly entertaining video promoting being an intern at XM - which, I have to admit - would be a pretty cool place to intern at. Anyway, check out the video below:

Top Internships: XM Satellite Radio

Media consultant John Gorman has an absolutely hilarious blog post this morning on David Rehr and the hypocrisy of the NAB's battle against the Sirius-XM merger.

"There were no secrets. XM and Sirius claimed the merger would not be a monopoly since they compete with terrestrial radio, Internet radio, and MP3 players. That’s what they focused on and never deviated from that claim.

In response, the unfocused David Rehr who looks like David Johansen impersonated still another David – David Byrne and danced around the merger issues like Byrne did on the Talking Heads video, 'Once in a Lifetime.'

It’s taken him just two years to go from the NAB’s hopeful hero to a hopeless zero.

Sometimes it is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one’s mouth and remove all doubt.

Rehr had all the charisma of dead fish when he pitched Capitol Hill. And Mel Karmazin was Mel Karmazin. No contest."

Ouch! Read more of Gorman's scathing blog post here... trust me, it's well worth it.

XM Satellite Radio last week quietly released a free channel audio preview feature on their website.

The feature (or dare I say, a "widget"), included on various channel pages, allows visitors to experience the style of music many of XM's channels play. It's not available on all channels (the Clear Channel channels, explicit language channels, and several others are excluded), but it's a huge step in the right direction.

The next step, of course, is to create an embeddable widget (similar to Slacker's) that fans can place on their MySpace, Facebook, Bebo, or whatever-pages. The more customizable they can make it, the more it will be used (and spread).

People who would embed these widgets aren't just fans: they're evangelists and influentials. And the more widgets that are embedded, means more of their friends are experiencing a taste of the service. And as we all know, a taste is all you need to get hooked on satellite radio.

Check out a full XM channel listing that include the "audio preview" feature, after the jump...

Thanks XM81FAN!

Fans will get a treat at Sirius Satellite Radio's New York City studios when 50 Cent will perform in front of a live studio audience on Saturday, September 29th.

The performance, which includes 50 Cent joined by G-Unit's Lloyd Banks and Tony Yayo, will air on "G-Unit Radio" (the weekly 50 Cent-produced show) on Sirius Shade 45 (ch 45). Expect to hear songs from 50 Cent's new album Curtis, as well as others during the live broadcast on Sept. 29th at 9pm ET.

Fans can enter to win tickets to attend this exclusive performance starting today (September 14th) at 1pm ET from Shade 45's webpage.

XM Satellite Radio Chairman Gary Parsons is continuing to increase his public profile with the addition of two speaking gigs in the coming week.

Gary will first present at the Merrill Lynch's conference in Marina Del Ray on Tuesday, September 18th - the same conference that Mel Karmazin will be speaking at the day prior. You can catch a live webcast of the presentation from approximately 9:30am to 10:10am Pacific Time (12:30pm to 1:10pm Eastern).

Additionally, Parsons will be speaking at the Goldman Sachs' Communacopia XVI 2007 Conference in NYC, the day after on Wednesday, September 19th. Again, you can tune in via a live webcast from 2:50pm to 3:30pm ET, followed by a breakout session at 3:35pm ET.

Both presentations will be available as archived audio, in case you miss either of them.

The XM Chairman also recently appeared on CNBC to discuss the XM-Sirius merger prospects. While nothing "new" was revealed (well... at least for Orbitcast readers) it's good to see Parsons increasing his public profile. Mel has traditionally held the limelight in the merger PR battle, but with this being a "merger of equals" it's important - and refreshing - to see the XM Chair doing his share of public appearances.

Ultimate Fighter Matt Arroyo will be joining up with Sirius' uncensored radio host Bubba the Love Sponge starting next week.

Matt Arroyo, a cast member of Spike TV's “The Ultimate Fighter 6,” will provide weekly recaps and commentary on the sixth season of the upcoming Spike TV series. He's scheduled to appear live on Bubba's show every Thursday at 5:30pm ET, starting next week (Sept. 20th).

The 24-year-old Arroyo is a former baseball player at the University of Tampa, who left the sport in favor of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. He now teaches at the Gracie Academy in Tampa (which is the same camp where Bubba The Love Sponge’s Brent Hatley trains).

XM is launching a new comedy interview series, "Unmasked," which will kick off with comedic legend George Carlin as the inaugural guest for the show.

"Unmasked" premieres on Saturday, September 22nd at 8pm ET, on XM's uncensored comedy channel, XM Comedy (ch 150). New episodes will air every other Saturday.

Recorded in front of a live studio audience, "Unmasked" will air candid, one-on-one interviews with both established and emerging comedic talent for an uncensored look into their creative process and the lives that shape their comedy.

Future episodes of "Unmasked" will feature Jim Norton, Patrice Oneal, Bob Saget, Brian Regan, Carlos Mencia, Jeff Garlin and others. Ron Bennington, from XM's Ron and Fez show, will be the host of future episodes.

More info and a schedule of guests is available here.

Rapper 50 Cent will be stopping by Sirius' Shade 45 (ch 45) to discuss the release of his latest album Curtis and the initial results of the head-to-head with Kanye West’s album Graduation released on the same date.

50, who also produces G-Unit Radio on Shade 45, will sit down for the channels morning show with DJ Cipha Sounds on The Cipha Sounds Effect with Angela Yee, tomorrow September 13th at 9:10am ET.

Kanye and 50 have been in a head-to-head battle over album sales. 50 Cent even went as far as to tell SOHH.com that he would quit the rap game if Kayne's album outsold his, both of which were released yesterday. According to Billboard, the SoundScan Building Chart indicates first-day sales of 437,000 for Kanye West's "Graduation," besting 50 Cent's "Curtis" at 310,000.

XM Satellite Radio has joined Jumpstart’s “Read for the Record” initiative, and as part of their contribution, has launched a challenge to DC residents to deliver the children's book The Story of Ferdinand to the 4,000 area preschoolers that need it.

XM has donated 2,000 books to meet this challenge, and is encouraging local residents and businesses, along with XM employees and subscribers, to help contribute to the effort and donate copies of the book.

You can visit a special section of XM's website to make a donation towards the purchase of a book to be delivered to children locally.

XM has also enlisted on-air talent, including Dr. Maya Angelou, Danica Patrick and Bob Edwards to read the campaign book, The Story of Ferdinand. Mandy Moore also read the book when she was at XM recently (pictured above). You can hear a reading the official campaign book here.

In addition, XM is working with Jumpstart for its "Read for the Record" campaign, which will take place nationwide on September 20th when hundreds of thousands of children and adults will all read the same book on the same day. The D.C. event will take place at the Smithsonian's Discovery Theater and feature an appearance from U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), among others.

"Read for the Record" is a national compaign to raise awareness of early literacy and the importance of reading to children of all ages.

Joe Madison, on-air host of XM's The Power (ch 169), will read The Story of Ferdinand to children in attendance.

The effort is coordinated by Jumpstart and XM Empowers (XM's corporate giving and community outreach program).

For more programming dedicated to early education, check out some of the broadcast highlights after the jump...

Sirius Satellite Radio is debuting "Bungalow 8 Radio," a new weekly show broadcast live from the famed New York City celebrity hang-out, Bungalow 8.

The show will launch on September 14th at 12am ET on Area 33 (ch 33) with an exclusive New York fashion week wrap-up party with DJ Coleman Feltes. Tune in to the new weekly show to gain VIP access to the hottest tracks from the most exclusive club in NYC.

Thought to be a modern-day Studio 54, Bungalow 8 was founded just over 5 years ago and quickly became a hotspot due to its strong celebrity clientele. Most notably as a place to see trashed celebs (or see them getting denied access, and subsequently reduced to tears).

XM Satellite Radio will be kicking off a tribute to Hispanic Heritage Month with a special celebration across XM's Latin channels from September 15th to October 15th.

Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated from 9/15 - 10/15 because Sept. 15th is the anniversary of independence of five Latin American countries: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua, plus Mexico and Chile celebrate their independence days on September 16th and 18th.

XM will actually be kicking off the celebration a day early on September 14th with a live concert performance by rapper Pitbull at 8pm ET. Other exclusive performances by Gloria Estefan, Daddy Yankee and more will air throughout the Month on XM channels Fuego (ch 90), Viva (ch 91), Aguila (ch 92), and Caliente (ch 94).

Check out a partial broadcast schedule of XM's Hispanic Heritage programming after the jump...

Mel Karmazin is scheduled to speak at the Merrill Lynch Media and Entertainment Global Investor Conference in Marina Del Rey, California.

A live audio webcast of Karmazin's presentation will available online, on Monday September 17th at around 11am EDT/8am PDT.

The season premiere of XM's original music series "Artist Confidential" will debut tomorrow, September 13th, with a performance and interview with the Smashing Pumpkins.

"Artist Confidential: Smashing Pumpkins" will air at 10pm ET on XM's Ethel (ch 47) with encore broadcasts available all day every Monday on XMX (ch 2). Check out photos of the Smashing Pumpkins taping (as well as a short video).

Future episodes of "Artist Confidential" will include Gloria Estefan, Marty Stuart, Mandy Moore, Lyle Lovett, Daddy Yankee, Perry Farrell, Kool & The Gang, Korn, KT Tunstall, Megadeth, The Moody Blues and Blue Man Group, among others.

[Artist Confidential]

Investment analysts and the Street are increasingly optimistic over the probability of the Sirius-XM merger going through. The latest comes from Tom Watts of Cowen & Company who issued a client note this morning stating that approval could come as early as October.

Watts also placed the likelihood of approval is being the "best ever."

Citing a strong precedent from the Whole Foods merger, along with the FCC’s rebuttal period being closed, Cowen & Co said that they "expect FCC approval before Dec. 4." In fact, Cowen & Co expects approval of the deal in October is possible.

Watts noted that the arb spread has narrowed to 11.8% from over 20% in only a few weeks, adding that it could be even lower.

XMSR and SIRI are both up in early market trading.

Brian France, Chairman and CEO of NASCAR, is scheduled to appear as a guest today on Sirius NASCAR Radio (ch 128).

France will be heard on "The Driver's Seat," hosted by John Kernan and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver Terry Cooke, from 11:15 am - 12-noon EDT. "The Driver's Seat" airs every weekday from 11am - 1pm ET on NASCAR Radio.

France, Kernan and Cooke will preview the 2007 Chase for the NEXTEL Cup and take calls from Sirius listeners around the country.

While speaking to reporters today, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said that the Commission plans to vote on the pending Sirius-XM merger in the fourth quarter of this year. Martin said the FCC is trying to meet its goal of deciding on pending mergers within 180 days.

"That's our target," said Martin.

The FCC began the XM-Sirius merger proceeding on June 8th, which would put the agency on schedule to make a ruling by December 6th. Last week, we reached the half-way point of the FCC's informal timeline.

In mid-July, Bank of America analyst Jonathan Jacoby wrote in a client note that procedural hurdles to regulatory approval needed to be overcome by the September 10th date. Jacoby added that "the chance of approval increases to above 50% if the clock doesn’t stop by that date, according to our contacts."

With the Sept. 10th date having been overcome, and Martin essentially confirming publicly that the FCC does not foresee any clock-stopping events, this serves as good news for merger hopefuls.

[via Bloomberg]

While the RIAA scrambles to discover new revenue streams to turn around sliding profits, they go and create a product that demonstrates exactly how out of touch they are with consumer trends...

...the "Ringle."

Yes, the "ringle" - it's the unholy union of the nearly defunct CD Single with ringtones. Each "Ringle" will feature one popular track, one (possible) remix, and an older track from the same artist - oh and the ringtone.

And the distribution medium of choice? Well, the CD of course! Complete with a slip-cover!

The geniuses at Sony BMG Music Entertainment (who came up with the ringle concept), and Universal Music Group will release around 50 and 20 titles, respectively, in the coming months. And Wal-Mart, Target, Best Buy and Amazon will be the choice retail outlets selling ringles to the unsuspecting masses (which will amount to nobody).

But it doesn't stop there. Because the price for the "ringle" is expected to be come in at a whopping... strap in folks... $6 to $7 per Ringle. That would give the music industry a 31% to 42% gross profit margin. And profit margins are what really matter (not compelling products obviously).

[Reuters via TechCrunch]
(image courtesy of toothpaste for dinner)

XM Canada has said that they've more than doubled their subscriber base since 2006 for their fiscal fourth quarter ending August 31st

XM Canada ended their fiscal year with 306,000 subscribers. Note that back in March, XM Canada changed how they are reporting subscribers in an effort to align subscriber numbers "more closely with industry norms." XM Canada's subscriber numbers now include vehicles factory-activated when automakers have agreed to pay for a portion or all of the trial period service.

Sirius Canada announced they broke 300,000 subscribers over seven months ago.

[Press Release]

In response to the recent Sirius, XM survey on a la carte programming, the NAB has issued a statement calling the survey "loaded" and provided its own set of survey questions.

NAB Executive VP of Media Relations Dennis Wharton, said

"Sirius and XM conveniently did not ask poll participants the following:

• Do you like monopolies?
• Does competition restrain a monopolist's price-gouging?
• Should government reward two companies that routinely violate FCC rules with a monopoly?
• Did you know you will have to buy a new radio that costs $200 or more to get the alleged benefits of a la carte programming?
• Did you know that Howard Stern and other 'talent' will cost consumers more – not less – under a la carte?
• Did you know that under a la carte, the per-channel price of a merged XM-Sirius will rise by 40 percent to 188 percent?"

Thank goodness we have the NAB to be champions of unbiased public opinion surveys.

[via Radio Online]

Sirius Satellite Radio will be launching a new show, "Barbara Live," hosted by Barbara Walters which will air Mondays from 6-7pm ET on Sirius Stars (ch 102).

Barbara Walters will be joined on the air each week by Bill Geddie, the longtime executive producer of The View. Sirus is the only place Walters has ever done live, call-in shows.

"I look forward to being on Sirius radio. I especially love taking phone calls from listeners," said Barbara Walters. "This is a whole new experience for me, and very exciting."

Sirius also airs a weekly radio one-hour show with Walters called Barbara Walters' "Best of the Very Best." The show takes the best from the archives of diverse interviews with Walters, and includes dynamic interviews with famous people ranging from Hillary Clinton to Muhammad Ali to Tom Hanks to Lance Armstrong.

Sirius negotiated the agreement for the new series with Allen Grubman, Lawrence Shire and Karen Gottlieb of Grubman Indursky & Shire, P.C., who represent Ms. Walters and her production company Barwall Productions, Inc.

Sirius has launched a promotion offering two of its top selling satellite radio receivers for free, but only for current subscribers.

The Sportster 4 and Starmate 4 - two of Sirius' best selling units - are available to current subscribers for free if you order by September 15th (and activate the new sub by September 30th).

Not a bad deal if you're looking to give someone else your old clunky unit and upgrade. The Sportster 4 if offered on Sirius' store for $149 before rebate, and the Starmate 4 runs for $119 before rebate.

[Sirius]

XM Satellite Radio will be making various changes to their News and Talk offerings, including dropping brand-name talent like Ellen DeGeneres and Tyra Banks, within the next two weeks.

In addition, several shows will be moving channels, and ReachMD will be changing channel location.

Set to take effect on September 24th, XM will drop ABC News & Talk from its channel lineup. Not all the programming will be lost though, as Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, and Bob Brinker will shift to America Right (ch 166) instead. Hannity will air weekdays from 3-6pm ET, Levin from 6-8pm ET, and Brinker will air weekends from 5-8pm ET.

As a result, Dr. Laura will make the move from America Right to Take Five (ch 155). Take 5 will lose "Satellite Sisters," "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," and "The Tyra Banks Show" - while "Broadminded" moves to a new timeslot on weekdays at noon-3pm ET.

As for channel dancing, Reach MD will move from channel 233 to its new home on channel 157.

Ellen DeGeneres and Tyra Banks, both of whom were signed on when Take 5 was formed nearly two years ago, served as prominent images in XM's marketing. My assumption is they likely didn't get much listenership as Ellen and Tyra were simply rebroadcasts of the TV shows.

Ellen's image is still used on XM's "What's On XM" page representing the Talk & Entertainment genre.

[XM via Orbitcast Forums]

Amazing, Apple just announced that they've sold 1 million iPhones.

It's been almost 6 years since the iPod was launched, and it took Apple two years to reach the one-million-mark. With the iPhone, they've reached that milestone in 74 days.

That's either an amazing figure, or a disgusting one. It depends on who you work for.

Remember that a majority of those iPhones sold were at the $599 pricetag. People said that a $600 phone would never change the mobile audio industry, obviously they were wrong. Note to Sirius, XM: remember this moment when you're shaking your head in disbelief the next time you look to cut costs in the design department. For consumer electronics, design is everything.

[Apple]

XM and Sirius Satellite Radio commissioned a survey among eight hundred registered voters from August 7-9, and found that a majority support the a la carte programming packages offered as a result of the merger.

According to the voter survey:

• 77 percent said that the $6.99 priced "a la carte" offering, where listeners choose the individual channels they want to receive, would be good for consumers. Voters were told that these a la carte offerings would be available on newly equipped radios.
• 72 percent found that a $14.99 a la carte offering, where consumers would select channels from a pool that includes the channels on one service plus popular selections from other, would be good for consumers.
• 70 percent indicated that the fixed "best of both" package, featuring channels on one service plus the most popular channels on the other for $16.99 per month, would be good for consumers.
• 62 percent of voters said the mostly music and separate mostly news, sport and talk packages at $9.99 per month would be good for consumers --almost three times as many who said these packages would be bad for consumers.
• 56 percent of voters said that the family friendly packages at $11.99 and $14.99 that exclude adult-themed programming would be good for consumers.
• 57 percent of voters agreed that the new programming plans demonstrate why this merger is good for consumers and in the public interest.

"These numbers are even more impressive when you consider that recent public opinion studies have shown the American public to be skeptical about the impact mergers will have on consumers and the country," said Robert Autry, partner of Public Opinion Strategies, LLC, the Virginia based research firm that conducted the survey.

One area where you did find skepticism was with the NAB's effort to try to block the satellite radio merger. Nearly six out of ten voters in the survey (58% agree, 31% disagree) agree that AM/FM radio stations are opposing the merger because the combined satellite company will be a stronger competitor to traditional radio.

The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.46 percent.

[View Survey Summary (PDF)]

The National Journal Group has partnered up with XM Satellite Radio to provide content and guests for their upcoming all-politics-all-the-time channel: POTUS ’08.

National Journal will host the aptly named one-hour weekly show "National Journal On Air," providing a recap of political news and events from the week, as well as a preview of the week ahead.

Hosted by Contributing Editor Linda Douglass, the show will emphasize news and analysis on the 2008 presidential campaigns and will feature other National Journal Group talent including Charlie Cook (National Journal Political Analyst and Editor of The Cook Political Report), Amy Walter (Hotline Editor-in-Chief), and Jim Barnes (National Journal Political Correspondent). Other National Journal Group journalists and field reporters will also be featured on-air on other XM shows.

POTUS ’08 is scheduled to go live, and will be available for free (for both subscribers and non-subscribers), in late September.

Sirius Satellite Radio is starting a new all-sports channel, Sirius Sports Central (ch 123), which will combine exclusive talk programing with Sporting News Radio programming and live game broadcasts.

Sirius already has sports-specific channels like Sirius NFL Radio, Sirius NASCAR Radio, and Sirius NBA Radio - but this channel brings together all the other pro and college sports into a single location.

There's the Tony Bruno Show which airs weekdays from 9am - 1pm ET on Sirius Sports Central. And other Sporting News radio programs including The Arnie Spanier Show (weekdays, 7 - 10pm ET), Todd Wright Tonight (weekdays, 10pm - 2am ET) and The David Stein Show (weekdays, 2 - 6am ET) also air on Sirius.

Sirius has also added several new exclusive sports talk shows to its weekday lineup on Sirius Sports Central such as Sirius Fight Club; The Sirius College Football Coaches Show; Sirius Presents the ABCs of Sports; and The Fantoo Girls.

The new programming joins existing programming on Sirius Sports Central that includes: The Mike & Murray Show; Rivals Radio; and Steiner Sports on Sirius.

Sirius also airs weekend programming from Sporting News Radio including: Golf World On Air with Mark Wood; Sports Saturday and Sports Sunday; and the motorsports talk show SNR's Inside Track

Additionally, every Thursday night throughout the NFL season, Sirius Sports Central will carry The Troy Aikman Show, hosted by the three-time Super Bowl Champion and Hall of Fame quarterback.

Check out show details and the time schedule after the jump...

Sirius Satellite Radio will be launching the radio version "Hockey Night in Canada," set to air on weekdays from 4pm to 6pm ET starting on October 1st on Sirius Sports Play-by-Play 1 (ch 122).

Hockey Night in Canada (HNIC) started off as a radio show over 74 years ago. During the era that HNIC was on radio, it was broadcast over several powerful CBC stations whose nighttime signals reached much of the northern U.S. As a result, the games had a following throughout the northern U.S., and especially so in Boston, Chicago, Detroit, and New York, the four U.S. cities that had NHL teams at the time.

With the CBC's announcement the launching of HNIC Radio on Sirius, sports broadcaster Jeff Marek will join HNIC Radio as the host, and will work alongside rotating co-hosts Kelly Hrudey, Elliotte Friedman and Scott Morrison. Marek will be leaving Toronto radio station AM 640 to Hockey Night in Canada.

Aside from Marek, HNIC analysts Craig Simpson and Greg Millen will also be regular contributors on the program, while Ron MacLean, Don Cherry, Jim Hughson and Bob Cole will appear throughout the season.

[CBC Sports]
Thanks to Ken and everyone else who sent this in!

"If the value of HD radio were primarily a music discovery service for iPods, HD is about to have a ton of competition it didn't count on."

[Hear 2.0]

XM Satellite Radio has kicked off a new contest called "Wild Ride" targeting new car buyers.

The sweepstakes offers users the chance to win a new car valued up to $30,000, of course equipped with XM, plus a one-year free subscription to the service.

XM's "Wild Ride" website is also a silly online game that you can forward to your friends. The goal is to put animals on the hood of one car and "launch" them into the other car (my favorite is the jellyfish). It's just pure ridiculousness, but adds a level of fun to what normally is just a sweepstakes entry page.

Timing for contest is from September 4th to December 31st. After entering in the contest, entrants are offered a 30-day free trial to XM. So everyone's a winner.

[XM Wild Ride]

Maxim Radio's afternoon duo, Steve Covino & Rich Davis, will broadcast live from Maxim magazine’s Oasis Party at Mandalay Bay’s Moorea Beach Club in Las Vegas, this Saturday starting at Midnight.

The live broadcast will feature interviews with celebrities and models from the red carpet including Sarah Silverman, Nelly, Omarion, Linkin Park, Mario Lopez, Chamillionare, Amber Valletta, Ryan Cabrera, Tera Patrick, Aubrey O’Day, Ashley Scott, Melissa Joan Hart, and Ne-Yo.

Maxim magazine kicks off VMA weekend in Las Vegas with Maxim Oasis — an ultra-exclusive celebration at Moorea Beach Club at The Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.

The live broadcast kicks off on Maxim Radio (ch 108) this Saturday, September 8th at Midnight to 4am ET. If you happen to be sleeping, or doing a little partying yourself, you can catch the encore broadcast all day Sunday, September 9th; and on Monday, September 10th at 3pm ET.

Yesterday's announcement of the Polk I-Sonic ES2 with iTunes Tagging support was promptly followed by a press release over the wires by iBiquity singing the praises of HD Radio.

And indeed, it's something that HD Radio can celebrate over for the time being. There's several marketing related benefits to the partnership - mostly bragging rights - which they will be doing in a 13-week multimillion dollar HD Radio ad campaign this October. The association with Apple also holds value, as it positions HD side-by-side with a "premium" brand. But the benefits really go to Apple, who gains another outlet for which people can tag and eventually purchase iTunes.

The implications of the iTunes Tagging technology itself is something deeper though. We don't know exactly how it works, but with the tagging functionality now available at select Starbucks over WiFi, and now over HD Radio, that means that Apple has built a tagging platform.

And I can guarantee that it's not going to stop at HD Radio.

With iTunes Tagging, Apple has built a platform that will read embedded metadata transmitted over various formats of digital encoded audio. So this very likely could spread to XM and Sirius. And as suggested by Wired, spread to Internet Radio outlets who embed the Apple metadata.

More than anything, it's a way for iTunes to be embedded in other devices that receive audio, and feed back into the Apple eco-system. Apple grows its tentacles, while manufacturers get the benefit being associated with the ubiquitous iPod.

Brilliant.

(See iBiquity's press release after the jump...)

Polk Audio has confirmed the rumors that they are releasing an HD Radio with integrated iPod dock that allows users to "tag" and purchase songs played over HD.

The Polk Audio I-Sonic Entertainment System 2 (available in October for $499) uses Apple's iTunes Tagging technology combined with a second generation HD Radio tuner with full multicasting capabilities. No where in the press release is XM mentioned except for the fact that XM was available in the first generation I-Sonic, so I can only assume that XM support was dropped.

The iTunes Tag button (located on the front of the I-Sonic ES2 and on the remote control) allows consumers to tag songs broadcast over properly encoded HD Radio broadcasts. The I-Sonic ES2 will store the information about the tagged songs to memory and transfer the data when the iPod is docked. Once the iPod is connected to iTunes, you get the option to preview and download the tagged songs.

For industry/merger watchers, the news serves as further proof of the intense competition between Satellite Radio, HD Radio and Digital Audio Players (iPods). Especially since XM was dropped in favor of the iPod: cementing Satellite Radio as competition against iPods even on the supply-side.

But while terrestrial radio is popping champaign over this announcement, you have to wonder who exactly benefits most from this move: Apple or Radio? Tagging songs so you can pay for them later isn't exactly a value add in the eyes of the consumer. And unlike the Starbucks/iTunes partnership, where Starbucks has the reputation as a music discovery outlet - Radio has the reputation for playing repetitive "hits" playlists. The consumers gets little that they can't already get from iTunes.

The consumer's experience doesn't matter though. In their desperate attempt to remain relevant, Radio is willing to lie down with lions... not realizing that they're lunch.

Yesterday's Apple event included the news that they would be dropping the price of the 8Gb iPhone by $200, and this enraged many early adopters who paid the original $599 pricetag.

But in a move that is pretty amazing for a technology company, Apple has announced that they will give iPhone owners a $100 in store credit (online or in meatspace). That's an incredibly decent move when they very well could have just ignored the complaints and moved on.

Apple, as a result, has not only appeased their most dedicated (and affluent) customers, but created a second round of buzz, excitement and undoubtedly massive press exposure - just 24 hours after the big unveiling of a new product line.

XM and Sirius should take note, because this is the perfect example of how to turn customer service complaints into a positive PR move.

[Open Letter to All iPhone Customers]
Thanks Tyler!

XM Satellite Radio's award-winning show - Bob Dylan's "Theme Time Radio Hour" - will debut its new season on Wednesday, September 19th.

The new season will premiere with a show dedicated to the theme “Hello,” featuring songs revolving around the theme such as “Hello, Mello Baby” by The Mardi Gras Loungers, “Hello Trouble” by Buck Owens, “Hello in There” by John Prine, "Hello Walls" by Willie Nelson and of course the classic "Hello, Goodbye" by The Beatles.

Future episodes this season include themes like “Young & Old,” “California,” “Dreams,” “Fruit,” “Something,” “Nothing,” “Streets,” “Parties,” and “Mail.”

From the “Young and Old” show Song List, you can expect to hear classics such as "Young Fashioned Ways" by Muddy Waters, "Old Man" by Neil Young With The Stray Gators, and "I Don't Wanna Grow Up" by The Ramones. (I actually got a behind-the-scenes glimpse at a couple of the song lists for "Hello" and "Young and Old," and as expected, Dylan is masterful in his music selections.)

"Theme Time Radio Hour" regularly airs on Wednesdays at 10am ET on XM’s Deep Tracks (ch 40). But as a welcome addition, new episodes of the show will also be available all day every Wednesday on XMX (ch 2).

Rolling Stone calls the show “revelatory…Dylan’s song choices are impressively varied,” and the Boston Herald says of Dylan as DJ, “he’s informative, funny…his taste is impeccable.” As one of the many accomplishments of the show, the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum added the “baseball” episode of “Theme Time Radio Hour” to its archives in June 2006.

[Theme Time Radio Hour]

According to Inside Radio, Polk Audio will announce the next generation of HD Radio tuners this afternoon that will establish a direct connection between HD Radio and the iPod. They're billing it as a "breakthrough for radio."

In what Inside Radio says is "an alliance with Apple," Polk Audio's new I-Sonic ES2 HD Radio will include an iPod docking station that features a "tagging button" - allowing users to buy songs they hear on HD Radio stations via iTunes.

The advancement requires HD stations to encode their signals and insiders say eight radio groups have committed to encoding.

TWICE has reported that Polk is unveiling the I-Sonic ES2 (Entertainment System 2) which they confirm includes an iPod dock. But there is no indication of the added iTunes tagging system. The I-Sonic ES2 with the integrated iPod dock is expected to be available for $499.

UPDATE: A source has confirmed this rumor to Orbitcast. More details shortly...

Congressman Rick Boucher (D-VA) sent a letter to FCC Chairman Kevin Martin this past Tuesday, announcing his support of the Sirius-XM merger.

In the letter, Congressman Boucher said that the satellite radio merger "should be considered in the context of a broad market definition" and would "lead to significant pro-consumer benefits."

"The relevant market clearly includes all of terrestrial radio, as evidenced by repeated statements by leading broadcast companies that they are in competition with satellite radio. The strong opposition of the NAB to the merger lends credence to the reality that terrestrial and satellite radio are in direct competition," wrote Boucher in his letter to the Commission.

(Many of these "repeated statements" include SEC filings where several terrestrial radio companies, many of which are NAB members, clearly define satellite radio as competition.)

"The relevant market also includes Internet radio and both Internet-based streams and Internet delivered downloads of music," added Boucher.

In regards to the consumer benefits, Boucher wrote that the merger "would extend to consumers larger choices from among [satellite radio's] program offerings." Adding that a combined Sirius-XM "will be able to expand diverse programs for underserved interests, such as for foreign language and religious programming."

Boucher originated, and is current the co-chairman of, the House Internet Caucus. He also currently sits on the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the Judiciary Committee.

Read the full letter after the jump...

The Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio could be nearing its final stages with in the next 30-60 days, with the probability of a favorable ruling being greater than 50%, according RBC Capital Markets analyst David Bank.

In a client note issued today, David Bank wrote that the Department of Justice ruling could come within the next 30-60 days. Generally, the DOJ starts a 30-day "shot clock" that ends in a final decision once parties have complied with the Second Request. Both Sirius and XM certified they are in compliance with the Second Request yesterday.

While it's possible for DOJ to stop the clock, RBC wrote that their sources "indicate odds don't favor DOJ pushing for prolonged extension."

RBC sources also indicated that the DOJ "has reasonable room to rule that XM/SIRI competes in a broader audio entertainment market."

The FCC will obviously still weigh in on the merger itself, but historically the FCC doesn't give a conflicting ruling against the DOJ. With the added public interest benefit of Sirius-XM's a la carte pricing, RBC puts the probability of favorable ruling at over 50%.

Not too long after XM drops its iREP affiliate program, Sirius sent out a mass email promoting a referral program of its own: "Sirius Friends."

The email, which was sent out mid-day yesterday, promotes to a $20 reward check for every friend you refer to Sirius Satellite Radio. You can provide up to 10 friends by submitting their name and email address, and in return your friends receive a 15% discount off of a Sirius radio or accessory. Friends you refer need to stay active subs for 60-days before you can get paid.

Referral programs can never be considered a bad thing - there's little downside to giving it a shot - though I'm skeptical about the amount of traction they receive when executed like this. I'd like to see Sirius (and XM) create a richer product experience (like widgets, etc), and/or make the campaigns more targeted (specific NFL, NASCAR, Howard messages), and then combine those with incentives (like the $20 reward/15% off for your friend) to actually spur viral activity.

Simply asking you to spread the word isn't as effective as making it fun to spread the word.

[Sirius Friends]

Following the largest insider purchase ever by XM Director Jeffrey Zients, another XM Director has purchased nearly a half million dollars worth of XM Satellite Radio stock, according to a recent SEC filing.

XM Directer Jack Shaw purchased 40,000 shares XMSR stock for a price ranging between $12.30 and $12.60 a share (with an average price of $12.40) on August 31st, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

XM Director Jeffrey Zients purchased over $3 million worth of XMSR shares just over a week earlier.

While the purchase likely means nothing for the increased chances of the Sirius-XM merger being approved (though the media will probably spin it that way) it does say something about the level of confidence from the directors. And that's always a good thing.

Thanks Jerry!

NPD Group's July data shows satellite radio retail sales have risen slightly since June, but still fell 31% when compared year-over-year.

The Quick Glance:

• Sirius July 2007 Retail Sales:
  Down 30% YoY
• XM July 2007 Retail Sales:
  Down 32% YoY

Marketshare:

• Sirius July '07 Retail Marketshare: 62%
• XM July '07 Retail Marketshare: 38%

As is par for the course at this point, XM continues to be the marketshare underdog when compared to Sirius' retail sales. And while industry sales were a modest increase from June (which was down 34% YoY), the trend continues of a slump in retail.

Here's my take. There's three main obstacles that consumers need to overcome when purchasing satellite radio in retail: Installation (very difficult for most consumers), Perceived Complexity (150+ channels is a benefit, but also a curse), and Value Proposition (especially when compared to iPods and terrestrial radio).

Of course, these obstacles also exist in the OEM side of things - minus the Installation problem. But the way the OEM side of the biz handles the Complexity and Value Proposition issues is by offering free trial periods. People experience the product, and realize that it's not complex and there's more value in the service than they expected.

If Sirius/XM apply the OEM model to Retail, they eliminate two of the three problems.

Today, on the Opie & Anthony Show, the blond counterpart of the dynamic duo - Gregg "Opie" Hughes - announced that he has gotten engaged to longtime girlfriend Lindsay.

As what appears to be the de-facto standard with O&A, this announcement comes only months after Howard Stern announced his engagement to Beth "Beth O" Ostrosky. So Opie, once again, is following in the footsteps of Howard Stern. (Yes, that's a joke.)

Congrats to both Opie and Lindsay!

At today's "The Beat Goes On" event, Apple announced that they will be refreshing the entire iPod lineup for the 2007 Holiday Season.

The iPod Shuffle will get an update of colors, including the new iPod Shuffle (RED) edition which will help aid in the prevention of disease in Africa (roughly speaking). Featuring the same 1Gb of storage, MSRP for $79, the new device is shipping today.

Also introduced today was the new iPod Nano, which also will be available in various colors. The big feature added to the Nano is (as rumored) video capabilities. Sporting a larger 2-inch screen, it has the same QVGA resolution as the traditional iPod Video creating a screen with the highest pixel density Apple has ever shipped. The new Nano also features a new UI including "Cover Flow" from the iPhone, as well as a suite of games.

The new iPod Nano has incredible battery life (how do they do that?!) with 24 hours of audio playback and 5 hours video playback. Two versions will be available, a 4Gb ($149) and 8Gb ($199) version - 4GB version comes in silver, the 8GB will come in all the colors.

The new nanos will be in stores by this weekend. Apple is using the slogan "A little video for everyone" to promote the nano.

Apple also announced a new iPod. Renamed to the "iPod Classic" it features a full metal design and is even thinner than before. It too will come in two versions: an 80Gb ($250) and 160Gb ($350) version. Yes, 160Gb - or 40,000 songs - in your pocket. Battery life also continues to amaze: 40 hours audio playback, and 7 hours video playback.

But Steve Jobs didn't stop there. Apple today also unveiled one additional iPod... the iPod Touch.

The iPod Touch uses the same multi-touch interface from the iPhone, and as a result, it (unsurprisingly) closely resembles the iPhone. Except, it's thinner. 8mm thick to be exact, using the same 3.5" screen from the iPhone.

And yes, it has WiFi.

The big difference between Apple's use of WiFi and other consumer electronics devices is that the new iPod Touch also has the Safari web browser built in (just like the iPhone). This allows you to log in to WiFi networks outside of the home.

The iPod Touch's battery life is at 22 hours of audio playback, and 5 hours video playback. Again, two versions will be available: a 8Gb version for $299 and a 16Gb for $399. As Engadget's Ryan Block puts it, "this really is the phone-less iPhone."

The iPod Touch will be shipping this month.

...but there's one more thing. The iTunes WiFi Music Store.

Using the iPod Touch - and now the iPhone - users can search, preview and purchase songs from iTunes in a completely seamless and wireless experience.

Included with the iTunes WiFi Music Store, Apple has also announced a partnership with Starbucks. Now this is pretty incredible (and probably annoys the heck out of XM)...

When you approach a Starbucks a fifth button will display, allowing you to locate - and purchase - a song you've just heard at any Starbucks location. If you missed the song, you can still find it. And if you're curious about the need to pay for WiFi while at a Starbucks, this partnership allows for free access to the music store while at Starbucks locations. And yes, that's an exclusive partnership with iTunes.

[Engadget]

Former FCC Chairman, Mark Fowler, has publicly declared his support for the Sirius-XM merger in an opinion piece published in the New York Sun. Mark S. Fowler served as Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission under President Reagan from 1981 to 1987.

Gary Parsons, Chairman of XM, and Mel Karmazin, CEO of Sirius, issued a joint statement regarding Fowler's support:

"We are extremely pleased to receive support from one of the most highly regarded thought leaders in the communications industry.

"As the longest serving Chairman of the FCC in our nation's history, Mr. Fowler has had a lasting impact on global communications. His backing of this merger further illustrates the benefits a combined SIRIUS and XM will bring to audio entertainment consumers."

To date, more than 4,300 individuals, along with over 30 organizations and businesses, have filed with the FCC in support of the satellite radio merger.

Read the full text of Fowler's piece after the jump...

First Lady Laura Bush will appear on the premiere episode of the new XM series "The Big Read" on Sonic Theater (ch 163) on September 10th.

Sonic Theater host Jo Reed recently taped an interview with the Mrs. Bush in the China Room of the White House (pictured). The First Lady is not only a book lover, but the honorary chair of the NEA reading initiative The Big Read, which is of course the namesake for the XM show.

"Reading has been so inspirational and influential in my life that I can't imagine a life without reading, and I want other people who may not spend that much time reading to know how beneficial reading can be, in an emotional and spiritual way," Mrs. Bush told XM. "When it comes to the whole idea of how we let the next generations know what our values are, and how we teach the next generation what's important to us, and how we learn from previous generations, literature really is the best way to teach it, and to share it."

Fun fact: The White House is a mere 2.4 miles from XM's headquarters.

Photo caption: Laura Bush (left) interviewed by XM's Josephine Reed in the China Room of the White House, Washington, DC, on August 31, 2007.

In addition, Audible now has a page devoted to XM's "The Big Read" show up at audible.com/thebigread.

Today, both Sirius Satellite Radio (SIRI) and XM Satellite Radio (XMSR) certified with the DOJ that they are substantially compliant with its Second Request, it was revealed in a recent SEC filing.

The certification was made to the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice that they are in substantial compliance with its Request for Additional Information. Last we heard, both XM and Sirius were in the midst of the document productions for the DOJ in response to the second request.

"I think we paid a little bit over $1 million just for photocopying the material that we had to send them, and that doesn't include any of the electronic [filiings]," said CEO Mel Karmazin during Sirius' 2Q07 earnings call.

"Generally in a relatively short period after [certifying], you then get some indications from the DOJ how that is going," said XM Chairman Gary Parsons during XM's 2Q07 earnings call.

[SEC Filing]

An exclusive sneak-peek at the upcoming Microsoft zunePhone...

Tomorrow is the big Apple announcement, let's see if they can compete.

While terrestrial radio reaches over 90% of the U.S. public weekly, the generation gap is painfully apparent in this recent data compiled by eMarketer.

A survey conducted by Fabrizio, McLaughlin & Associates found that Baby Boomers (42-62) still dominate as the generation that follows radio the most. Further down, but not too far behind, are the Gen-Xers (32-41) who listen to 1.88 mean hours of radio a day according to the study. And at the bottom of the pack are the Echo Boomers (18-31) who listen to a paltry 1.79 mean hours.

As advertisers look to target younger demographics, this explains one of the reasons why radio's revenues have been flat over the past six years.

But what does this mean for Sirius or XM? Should they target the older generations who've grown up with radio and are more accustomed to the medium? Or is it a sign that there's an opportunity to pick up the pieces that terrestrial radio has left behind?

[eMarketer]

XM Canada announced today that XM will be a factory-installed option on Nissan's entire 2008 vehicle line-up. Previously it was planned to have XM equipped "in thousands of Nissan vehicles" for the Canadian market.

In addition, and perhaps more importantly, Nissan's Armada SUV and 350Z sports coupe will feature XM Satellite Radio as standard equipment. XM is also a standard factory-installed feature on all 2008 Infiniti models.

Ian Forsyth, Director, Corporate & Product Planning at Nissan Canada called the expansion to the Nissan platform "a natural progression" thanks to the service's growing popularity among Infiniti owners.

I call it a "necessary progression" - and a welcome one at that.

[Press Release]

That's at least what music guru Rick Rubin says at least. Rubin has been contracted by Sony to essentially save the music industry.

Save it from who? From itself of course.

Gone, seemingly overnight, are the days that the music industry can just muscle through poor music to the masses. Radio is losing listenership. Retailers are losing customers. And MTV... well, MTV stopped being about "music' a long time ago.

The problem, which was reaffirmed by a focus group of digital-savvy college students, is all explained in a nutshell here:

"The kids [from the focus group] all said that a) no one listens to the radio anymore, b) they mostly steal music, but they don't consider it stealing, and c) they get most of their music from iTunes on their iPod. They told us that MySpace is over, it's just not cool anymore; Facebook is still cool, but that might not last much longer; and the biggest thing in their life is word of mouth. That's how they hear about music, bands, everything."

The solution, in Rubin's mind, for saving the music industry - is a subscription service:

"To combat the devastating impact of file sharing, [Rick Rubin], like others in the music business (Doug Morris and Jimmy Iovine at Universal, for instance), says that the future of the industry is a subscription model, much like paid cable on a television set. 'You would subscribe to music,' Rubin explained, as he settled on the velvet couch in his library. 'You'd pay, say, $19.95 a month, and the music will come anywhere you'd like. In this new world, there will be a virtual library that will be accessible from your car, from your cellphone, from your computer, from your television. Anywhere.'"

But... that it already exists: in satellite radio. Unfortunately, the music industry is still stuck in trying to salvage the previous model, and too busy fighting innovators rather than working with them.

It's not that I disagree with Rubin. I believe he's right, and satellite radio is well on its way to become the "anywhere" solution people need (there's some critical missing gaps, but that's a whole separate article). But by the time the music industry realizes it... it could be too late.

[New York Times]
(A long read, but well worth it.)

As we gear up for the special Apple announcement tomorrow, which is expected to unveil the latest generation of iPods, a new rumor has emerged stating that the device will be sporting digital radio as one of its features.

A "reliable industry insider" told vnunet.com that Apple plans to bring digital radio to the iPod. The new device is also rumored to feature a "buy now" button that will allow the user to purchase tracks offered on the iTunes music service.

While it's not clear from the vnunet.com report whether the "digital radio" will be limited to Internet Radio over WiFi, that seems like the most likely scenario. Rumors of a Satellite Radio equipped iPod have been circulating for nearly 3-years now, and all have been unfounded, so I wouldn't even give that a second thought.

But iTunes has had Internet Radio functionality since I can remember, so feeding that via WiFi to the iPod isn't too far of a stretch.

And then again... these are iPod rumors... so who the heck knows anyway. Thankfully, we have one more day before we find out for sure.

[vnunet.com via Engadget]

XM Satellite Radio and Ocenture have parted ways and terminated the XMiREP program effective September 12, 2007, according to an email sent out to XMiREP participants this morning.

The move isn't much of shocker as the iREP program had the basis of a good idea, but lacked in execution. Conceptually, affiliate programs are always a winner - they provide a "natural" viral initiative and empower the masses to sell your products. iREP takes it a step further by allowing you to make money off of those who you've referred to the program, and in turn making money off of those that they refer.

But it's a whole lot of work for a whole lot of nothing. Using the iREP commission calculator, if I sell 1 radio per month, have 5 Level 1 affiliates and 10 Level 2 affiliates, I would make a whoppin' $85 a month.

In addition, a large part of the problem was that the prices offered through the XMiREP program were higher than what most resellers were offering. Much higher. So those who would be using iREP (i.e., savvy online users) are generally also keenly aware of the price differences. In other words, iREP is asking you to knowingly shaft your friends and family. Never a recipe for success.

So alas, come September 12th, all XMiREPs will cease functioning. Oh well.
Thanks Nathan!

Read the iREP letter after the jump...

The proposed merger between Sirius Satellite Radio (SIRI) and XM Satellite Radio (XMSRS) may have lost momentum in receiving its necessary regulatory approval, according Bank of America analyst Jonathan Jacoby.

The problem, according to Bank of America's D.C. contacts, lies in Sirius-XM's joint reply comments on changing the "rule" that prevents either satellite radio provider from merging (also known as the regulatory "Achillies heel"). Jacoby wrote in the client note that the D.C. contacts felt Sirius and XM's joint arguments "were somewhat weak," while the NAB's comments argued the merger could "set a precedent that would encourage a wave of media consolidation."

Sirius and XM filed their reply comments for the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to the FCC late last week. You can read the filing here (PDF).

Bank of America's contacts in D.C. saw Sirius/XM's filing as simply a request to repeal the decade-old rule, and "lacked the substance" that the Federal Communications Commission likely would require.

Meanwhile, the NAB's filing told a different story. They argued that if satellite radio is considered part of a great audio entertainment market, then this would set a precedent, and the FCC should abolish media ownership restrictions as well. If the FCC simply waives the rule, they risk losing - again - on ownership issues at the courts.

You can read the NAB's filing here (PDF).

The potential precedent this merger would set - for both the FCC and the DOJ - could very well be the biggest obstacle for Sirius and XM in trying to get this deal to pass. It's also by far the NAB's best argument yet (and a break away from the consistent "merger to monopoly" line), but playing this card also puts their goals for further media consolidation at risk.

Here we go folks! Today is the official launch of the Orbitcast Forums.

I've always considered your comments and feedback to be an integral and important part of this blog (and so does the NAB), but the conversation has been limited to the posts. As a result, I've always felt like something was missing: the ability for the conversation to extend beyond the blog. For you to take control of the discussion.

That's what the Orbitcast Forums are for. There you can share, debate and - of course - spread rumors with the rest of the satellite radio community. And a place where both Sirius and XM fans, investors, and industry watchers have a voice. No egos. No power trips. No censorship. It's a place meant for open, free and (nearly) intelligent conversation.

As interesting discussions come up, they will be linked to directly from the main Orbitcast blog.

We quietly opened up the Orbitcast Forums last week as a "private beta" to gather some initial feedback from the community. Because again, I feel very strongly that a message board is nothing without its members and I want it to be the best it can be. So the forums have, and will continue to evolve over time.

There's a permanent link to the forums in the navigation bar up top, or you can access them directly at orbitcast.com/forums. See you there!