Shibuya Airwaves, an hour-long show featuring Japanese pop and rock music leading the Oricon music charts, is coming to WorldSpace and XM satellite radio on UPop (ch 29).

Shibuya Airwaves will also include regular commentary on the latest trends in Japanese pop culture and other topics. The show will highlight bands touring the U.S., interview special guests, as well as interact with listeners on-line and over the phone.

The weekly music show created by eigoMANGA "Shibuya Airwaves" has already grown in popularity for terrestrial radio listeners in San Francisco. Currently airing on KYCY in San Francisco as part of KYOU Radio (podcasts on terrestrial), Shibuya Airwaves has become one of KYOU Radio's top programs. Shibuya Airways has extended it brand into producing live concert events and television programming aimed at promoting Japanese music. These events and programs will now promote Shibuya Airwaves program and WorldSpace/XM's UPop channel.

The show will debut mid-August, and will broadcast live on Saturday nights beginning at 12am ET (9pm PT).

[Shibuya Airwaves] 

 

WorldSpace Satellite Radio (WSRP) announced that they've inked an OEM partnership with Fiat Group Automobiles, bringing satellite radio to Italy and marking the first steps for satellite radio in Europe.

Starting in late 2008, WorldSpace will begin broadcasting about 40-50 channels to Italy. Then in late 2009, Fiat Group will introduce WorldSpace as a factory-installed option in select Fiat, Alfa Romeo and Lancia models. On top of that, Fiat Group will have the ability to offer portable satellite radios through its aftermarket channel.

In May of last year, WorldSpace received approval from the Italian Ministry of Communications to launch satellite radio services in Italy. WorldSpace delivers audio in the MPEG-4 aacPLUS v.2 codec, utilizing 12.5 MHz of the L-band frequency spectrum which is the only frequency band harmonized for satellite radio over Europe. In January of this year, WorldSpace signed an agreement with Telecom Italia to design and deploy a terrestrial repeater network throughout Italy.

WorldSpace's European strategy is to roll out its service on a country-by-country basis. The next target markets include France, Germany, Spain, the UK, Turkey and Poland.

 

 

All three satellite radio companies - Sirius, XM and WorldSpace - will be broadcasting complete coverage of the historic "Live Earth: The Concerts for a Climate in Crisis" concert series, starting on Friday, July 6th at 9pm.

Live Earth is a 24-hour, 7-continent series of 8 concerts taking place on 7.7.07 that bring together over 100 artists and 2 billion people meant to trigger a global movement to solve the climate crisis.

Special Live Earth Channels

Both Sirius and XM will have a single channel encompassing the worldwide event, as well as featuring each concert live across multiple Sirius and XM channels.

• Sirius will broadcast "The Best of Live Earth" on Super Shuffle (ch 12), highlighting the most memorable moments of Live Earth.
• XM will broadcast "Live Earth All Access" (ch 40) featuring highlights of the most memorable performances, backstage interviews and more.
• WorldSpace Channel 29 will provide highlights of the day's best performances from all event locations.

Eco-Friendly Channels
Sirius and XM will also dedicate special channels devoted to the spirit of an eco-friendly lifestyle.

• Sirius Green (ch 119), launched on July 4th is a four-day broadcast channel dedicated to informing the audience about the realities of the climate crisis. Features include environmental tips and myths, stories and interviews with celebrities, political commentary, listener comments and the Live Earth concert calendar.
• XM's microchannel - Earthsounds (ch 39) - will feature a variety of nature sounds and recordings captured from around the world. Earthsounds can be heard starting Friday, July 6th at 10pm ET through Monday, July 9th at 3am ET, set to coincide with Live Earth.
• Sirius will also exclusively broadcast the "Stop Global Warming Concert" on Friday, July 6th at 8pm ET on The Spectrum (ch 18). Recorded on Earth Day (April 22, 2007) this concert features performances by Sheryl Crow and Carole King as well as a speech by the producer of An Inconvenient Truth.
  

Mobile Access
XM has added an interactive text messaging for Live Earth: Text "Live Earth" (or "LiveEarth") to GOTXM, or 4-6-8-9-6. The text you'll get back will include a link to the Live Earth splash page for web-enabled phones; along with the ability to reply to that text message with the name of 1 of 4 Live Earth cities - London, New York, Sydney, and Tokyo - which would send you another text for the corresponding Channel #, start time, and basic artist lineup.

Sirius is allowing users to search by artist and get lineup information over the phone. Call Sirius Satellite Radio at 877-33-SIRIUS, then press "4" from the main menu to access the Sirius Live Earth hotline.

Full Concert Schedule
Sydney
Live Earth Sydney, Australia at Aussie Stadium
9pm ET / 6pm PT  (airs Friday, July 6th)
XM: Boneyard (ch 41)
Sirius: The Spectrum (ch 18)
WorldSpace: Channel 11, 29

Tokyo
Live Earth Tokyo, Japan at Makuhari Messe
11pm ET/ 8pm PT  (airs Friday, July 6th)
XM: XMLM (ch 42)
Sirius: Boombox (ch 34)
WorldSpace: Channel 204, 29

Shanghai
Live Earth Shanghai, China at the Oriental Pearl Tower
6:30am ET/ 3:30am PT
XM: XMU (ch 43)
Sirius: Sirius Disorder (ch 32)
WorldSpace: TBD

Hamburg
Live Earth Hamburg, Germany at the HSH Nordbank Arena
8am ET/ 5am PT
XM: XM Cafe (ch 45)
Sirius: The Spectrum (ch 18)
WorldSpace: Channels 11, 204, 29

London
Live Earth London, UK at Wembley Stadium
8:30am ET/ 5:30am PT
XM: Top Tracks (ch 46)
Sirius: Alt Nation (ch 21)
WorldSpace: Channel 11, 29

Johannesburg
Live Earth Johannesburg, South Africa at the Cradle of Humankind
12 noon ET/ 9am PT (11am ET on Sirius)
XM: Fred (ch 44)
Sirius: Reggae Rhythms (ch 97)
WorldSpace: Channel 204, 29

New York (Giants Stadium)
Live Earth New York, USA at Giants Stadium
2pm ET/ 11am PT (2:30pm ET on Sirius)
XM: XMLM (ch 42)
Sirius: Sirius Hits 1 (ch 1)
WorldSpace: Channel 204, 29

Rio de Janeiro
Live Earth Rio De Janeiro, Brazil on Copacabana Beach
3pm ET/ 12am PT (2:30pm ET on Sirius)
XM: Boneyard (ch 41)
Sirius: Boombox (ch 34)
WorldSpace: Channel 11, 29

In addition to the 8 official Live Earth concerts, special broadcast events will take place from the To-ji Temple in Kyoto, Japan, and the Rothera Research Station in Antarctica. (I only have the broadcast schedule for Sirius for these special events at this time.)

Antarctica
Live Earth at the Rothera Research Station
9am ET
Sirius: Super Shuffle (ch 12)

Kyoto, Japan
Live Earth at the To-ji Temple
9am ET
Sirius: The Vault (ch 16)

Read more about the airing of these historic concerts on each satcaster's pages below:

[Live Earth on Sirius]
[Live Earth on XM]
[WorldSpace Live Earth Blog]

Note: I tried my best to assemble all the Live Earth coverage for each of the satellite radio providers in one place here. Some of the schedules have changed (sometimes several times) at the last minute and I've tried to reflect that here. If you find different info or that I missed something, please let me know either by email or in the comments. Thanks!