SIRIUS Canada and Canadian Music Week, together with Standard Radio Inc, will be hosting a live concert in Toronto on March 3rd, 2006 in celebration of Canadian Music Week.

The SIRIUS Live concert will be broadcast live throughout North America from Toronto's Phoenix Concert Theatre and feature emerging Canadian artists Stabilo, Matt Mays & el Torpedo, Pilate and Mobile.

The concert will be broadcast live on Iceberg Radio (SIRIUS channel 95) Friday, starting at 7pm. Replays of the concert will be on Radio 3 (SIRIUS Channel 94), Bande a part (SIRIUS Channel 93) and Energie2 (SIRIUS Channel 193).

[Press Release] 

SIRIUS Canada will be the title sponsor of the Entertainer of the Year Award at the 2006 East Coast Music Awards being held on February 27 in Charlottetown, P.E.I.

The SIRIUS Satellite Radio ECMA Entertainer of the Year Award is among the most sought after awards because it's the only award chosen by the fans. East Coast music fans from across Canada can vote for their top pick by calling 1-900-870-ECMA (3262), text message or online at: www.ecma.com.

Voting is open until 4 a.m. ET on Monday, February 27.

[Press Release] 

SIRIUS Canada will be offered as a factory option on most 2007 Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep model year vehicles available in Canada.

Customers who purchase Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep vehicles equipped with a SIRIUS-ready audio system will receive a free one-year pre-paid subscription to SIRIUS Canada satellite radio service. More information about this deal will be provided later this year.

SIRIUS Canada will also be an exhibitor at the Canadian International Auto Show February 17-26, 2006. SIRIUS Canada's booth number is N6 and is located in the North building of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

[Press Release]

I was reading through a recent press release by Sirius Canada (found via Get Sirius Info) and an interesting bit jumped out at me:

SIRIUS Canada began broadcasting in December 2005, delivering Canadians an unrivaled radio experience with the most channels, the best variety and the highest quality of coverage among satellite radio providers in Canada. Since its launch, SIRIUS has experienced tremendous growth and is now the fastest growing satellite radio provider in North America.

While SIRIUS Canada is not required to release subscriber numbers, though studies have shown they've gained more marketshare than XM Canada; still using that statement in a press release definitely caught me by surprise. Are we talking SIRIUS + SIRIUS Canada? That might be more believable seeing the incredible growth SIRIUS experienced from Q405. Calculating the rate of growth since launch-time in December could be easily misconstrued as something more than it really is.

Anyway, I'm just being an inquisitive little monkey and found that interesting. 

SIRIUS Canada folks get to finally hear Howard Stern (legally) in Canada since he was cancelled in 2001 from Q107 Toronto. But now as a result the CBC finds themselves in a bit of a PR conondrum. The CBC, who owns a 40-percent stake in SIRIUS Canada, has a lot to lose should they piss off the CRTC - directly or indirectly. So while they own a lot in the business side of things, they need to ensure everyone understand they have little to do from the broadcast side of things.

"It's no secret that Howard Stern's program is not consistent with the kind of programming that you find on our [the CBC's] airways. But Sirius Canada made a business decision that was right for it, a decision that was based on the market's demand," said CBC spokesman Jason MacDonald. "We've expressed concerns about some aspects of the content. But Sirius Canada has in place significant safeguards to make sure that the people who are going to hear Howard Stern are the people that want to hear Howard Stern."

[globeandmail.com] 

Start celebrating Canada! Starting this Monday, subscribers to the Sirius Canada satellite radio will begin hearing Howard Stern on his Howard 100 channel. Stern was not originally included in Sirius Canada's initial lineup announcement, so a grassroots movement of Canadian fans started purchasing American receivers and using US addresses (ie, the Canadian "grey market") to access Stern's new satellite channel. It was also the source of some product confusion as some Sirius Canada subscribers assumed they were getting Stern as part of the deal and we're truly pissed when they learned otherwise.

Well, now everyone can breath a sigh of relief because Stern is coming to Canada on Monday February 6th. Woohoo!

[Press Release]