Orbitcast: June 2009 Archives

June 2009 Archives

Sirius FM-5 Satellite scheduled for July 1st launch

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Sirius FM-5 Satellite
The Sirius FM-5 Satellite, Sirius XM's latest addition to their satellite constellation, is scheduled to launch at 1:10am local time (3:10pm ET) on July 1st from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.

The launch was originally targeted for a June 30th launch, but "minor anomaly" occurred which caused a slight delay in plans.
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Sirius XM launches tribute channel dedicated to Michael Jackson

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Michael Jackson TributeSirius XM Radio will launch The Michael Jackson Tribute Channel to commemorate the life and music of Michael Jackson.

The limited-run channel launched on Saturday, June 27th at 12:01am ET and will air through Monday, June 29th at 11:59pm ET on Heart & Soul (Sirius channel 51 and XM channel 62).
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Michael Jackson tributes to air across Sirius XM music channels

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Michael JacksonMichael Jackson's life and career will be celebrated across the satellite radio dial, as numerous Sirius XM channels will devote special features to the "King of Pop" with tributes, personal memories, favorite songs and more.

Jackson died on Thursday, June 25, 2009 at the age of 50.
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Jon Zellner leaves Sirius XM to join Clear Channel

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Jon ZellnerJon Zellner, currently senior vice president of music programming at Sirius XM Radio Inc. will be jumping ship to rival Clear Channel Communications Inc. on July 20th, according to Clear Channel.

He will be replaced by Steve Blatter, according to Sirius XM. Blatter will also continue to be responsible for the Sirius XM Talent and Industry Relations Department, as well as the Virus Channel featuring The Opie & Anthony Show.
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Volkswagen and Sirius offers 3-month trial on Certified Pre-Owned vehicles

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VolkswagenCustomers who purchase a Sirius-equipped "Certified Pre-Loved" Volkswagen vehicle will now be getting a 3-month trial offer of the "Sirius Everything" package.

It's all part of a continuing effort to access potential subscribers purchasing pre-owned vehicles. XM currently has a deal with Acura, Honda and GM. Now this efforts has been extended to Volkswagen - the biggest European car maker.
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Why isn't Howard Stern on the iPhone App? (UPDATED: "Gary" Twitter page is fake)

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Howard Stern"It was a rights thing, a contractual rights thing."

That's what Howard Stern told his audience on Monday morning about why he's not on the iPhone App. Of course, that's what we all expected the reason to be from the beginning.

"It was a rights issue and a whole entanglement thing," added Stern on his show. "So, we're not on it. Maybe one day we will be."

Stern show cohort Gary Dell'Abate (aka Baba Booey) added a bit more color to the situation though.

UPDATE: The Twitter page quoted in this article is a fake and is not Gary Dell'Abate. I've confirmed this with Gary himself. I have removed the quoted text so as not to add to the confusion.
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Sirius XM iPhone App gets over 500,000 downloads in four days

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Sirius XM iPhone App
The Sirius XM iPhone App has been downloaded more than a half-million times as of Sunday night, according to an internal company memo obtained by Orbitcast.

"That is one of the fastest download rates by any App," writes Scott Greenstein, President and Chief Content Officer of Sirius XM Radio Inc. in the email to employees today.
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6 things we want on the Sirius XM iPhone App

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Sirius XM iPhone AppAfter what feels like decades, we finally have an iPhone App for satellite radio. But there's obviously a few missing features that leave us hanging. Hell, there's a lot of missing features (didn't uSirius StarPlayr do all of this already? Oh right, that got killed).
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Sirius XM iPhone App downloads continue to grow

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Sirius XM iPhone App top free apps
But will it last?

As of this morning, the Sirius XM iPhone App remains as the #1 free music App, and now has leap-frogged its way to the #3 top free App overall. It's good to see, especially since the iPhone 3G S is now on sale and folks are flocking to the iTunes store after buying their shiny new toys.

First the first time in a long time, Sirius XM Radio Inc. is being exposed to a highly relevant and engaged audience.

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Sirius XM iPhone App #1 in free music apps, despite no Stern

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Sirius XM iPhone App #1Despite not having Howard Stern in the lineup, the Sirius XM iPhone App still managed to beat out other apps to become the #1 most downloaded free music App.

What's more, it reached that point mid-day today - only 12 hours after its debut.
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Video: Demo of Sirius XM iPhone App

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Check out a video demo of the Sirius XM iPhone App below:

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Sirius XM iPhone App now available... with no Howard Stern?

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Sirius XM iPhone App

The official Sirius XM iPhone App went live at midnight Eastern time today, but it's missing one of the top reasons why people have signed up to satellite radio - Howard Stern.

Opie & Anthony's The Virus channel is available, as is many of Sirius XM's music, talk, entertainment channels. Live sports are limited to a handful of channels, but there is sportstalk channels like MLB Home Plate, NFL Radio and NHL Home Ice.

But... no Howard Stern.
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Sirius XM iPhone App - coming tomorrow

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Sirius XM iPhone AppYesterday, news broke that the Sirius XM iPhone App will be going live on June 18th, based off of a customer service email. The news first hit SatWaves, then made its way to TUAW and then Engadget. I had waited to post about the news because I wanted to confirm with Sirius XM Radio Inc. whether or not the customer service emails were real.

My requests were met with no response.
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"Rumor" has it: Howard Stern to return to broadcast radio in 2010

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Howard SternThat "rumor" comes from Bay Area media commentator Rich Lieberman, who writes about it on SFGate. Lieberman says that there's a "very real possibility" that Howard Stern will make a return back to terrestrial radio in 2010, according to his media tipsters out of New York.

Lieberman goes on to cite the struggling economy as one of the reasons why Stern will make the jump back to FCC-regulated airwaves.

But where would Howard Stern go?
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The Loft celebrates the life of singer/songwriter Kenny Rankin

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Kenny Rankin
Sirius XM Radio's The Loft channel will air a special tribute in honor of the life and musical career of singer/songwriter Kenny Rankin, who passed away on Sunday, June 7, 2009 at the age of 69 after a battle with lung cancer.

Sirius XM Radio will rebroadcast Rankin's "Loft Session" on The Loft (Sirius channel 29 and XM channel 50). During the session, Sirius XM listeners will hear Rankin's many reinterpretations of classic songs, featuring outstanding versions of classics by The Beatles including, "Penny Lane" and "Blackbird."

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The Jonas Brothers to spend their weekend with Sirius XM

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The Jonas BrothersThe Jonas Brothers will spend this weekend on Sirius XM Radio's Hits 1 channel, offering listeners a chance to enjoy a close-up look of the popular group.

The band will kick-off the weekend on June 12th with a revealing interview with The Morning Mash Up crew (pictured above, with The Jonas Brothers) on Sirius XM Hits 1 and XM's 20 on 20. The Jonas Brothers will discuss their new album, Lines, Vines and Trying Times, plus listeners will get a glimpse into their personal lives.
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Planned Obsolesence: Apple wrote the book on it

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iPhone 3G S
...and Sirius XM should read a chapter.

The new iPhone 3G S, unveiled yesterday at Apple's WWDC conference, is the latest version of the continued line of iPhones. There wasn't much revealed that could be deemed a "surprise" - well, minus a new voice-controlled interface - but most features were already speculated on by industry watchers.

All in all, the new iPhone 3G S isn't a breakthrough revolutionary device - it's an evolutionary device.

The new features are just enough to get fanatics to buy it, while at the same time, the 8Gb iPhone 3G now will be available for a mere $99 - opening it up to a whole new market of consumers. If price was a barrier for some folks to convert to the iPhone, it's not anymore.

Meanwhile, let's take a look at Sirius XM Radio's line of products.

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Fall Out Boy performance on Artist Confidential

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Fall Out BoyFall Out Boy will be performing and sharing stories and answering questions about their most recent album, Folie รก Deux, tonight on Sirius XM's exclusive music series Artist Confidential.
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Derek Jeter to interview Cal Jr. and Billy Ripken on Sirius XM

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Derek JeterNew York Yankees captain and star shortstop Derek Jeter will sit down for a one-on-one interview on a special edition of Sirius XM's Ripken Baseball this Monday, June 8th.

The interview will air live starting at noon ET from Sirius XM's Midtown Manhattan studios on MLB Home Plate (XM channel 175 and Sirius channel 210) with the "Best of XM" programming package.
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Ed Rollins to host show on Sirius XM's POTUS channel

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Ed RollinsEd Rollins, former White House political director, veteran political strategist and campaign consultant and advisor, will host a series of limited engagement shows on Sirius XM Radio, starting June 7th.

Rollins and his guests will talk through today's issues and political strategies adding his unique insight from inside the history-making campaigns and administrations he has worked on throughout his many years in Washington.
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Price Increase: Sirius XM to pass Music Royalty Fees to consumers

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Sirius XM RadioSatellite radio subscribers will be seeing their subscription price grow by nearly $2 a month thanks to increased music royalty rates, according to leaked internal company document.

Orbitcast has confirmed the U.S. music royalty rates will be passed along to subscribers with multiple sources familiar with the matter.

According to the leaked information, the royalty cost increase will take effect on July 29, 2009. Sirius XM Radio Inc. does not appear to be characterizing this as a rate increase, as the subscription rates "officially" charged by the company will remain the same - but subscribers will end up paying more, nonetheless.

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