Sirius Satellite Radio's music/action-sport lifestyle channel, Faction (ch 28) will be live from the Summer X Games all this week with exclusive shows hosted by Tony Hawk and Jason Ellis.

BMX pro Mike 'Rooftop' Escamilla will also host a special X Games edition of "Hostile Takeover" (that's Faction's weekly guest DJ show). 'Team Faction' will be backstage and behind-the-scenes throughout the week with complete coverage and special guest interviews.

Check out the full schedule after the jump...

Oh sure, there's a merger going on so everyone's one big happy family right? Not exactly. Everyone still wants to see how Sirius' and XM's satellite radio subscribers are stacking up against each other.

So here's some charts and numbers using the latest subscriber information to break it all down for you.

Total Satellite Radio Subscribers:

Sirius Satellite Radio: 7,142,538
XM Satellite Radio: 8,250,000

The above chart shows the total cumulative subscribers starting from the fourth quarter of 2001 and how both Sirius and XM subscribers have grown comparative to each other.

Quarterly Net Subscribers

Sirius Satellite Radio: 561,493
XM Satellite Radio: 338,000

Here you can see how Sirius and XM have added NET subscribers on a quarterly basis, going back to 2005. For the seventh consecutive quarter, Sirius has beaten out XM in net satellite radio subscriber additions.

Quarterly Gross Subscribers:

Sirius Satellite Radio: 1,002,145
XM Satellite Radio: 942,000

This chart shows the quarterly GROSS subscriber additions between XM and Sirius. I find that gross subscribers are a very important metric to track, because it eliminates variables (like churn) and shows the true market penetration. For the third consecutive quarter, Sirius has outpaced XM in gross subscriber additions. This even beats out the "Stern Effect" from last year.

Sirius Satellite Radio (SIRI) announced their 2Q06 earnings results, showing a 51% increase in revenue year-over-year to $226.4 million, and strong subscriber growth of 561,493 new subscribers during the quarter.

Sirius ended the quarter with over 7,142,538 subscribers.

During 2Q07, Sirius added 561,493 net subscribers, comprised of 129,843 net additions from retail/aftermarket channels and 431,650 from the OEM channel. Sirius captured 62% of satellite radio segment share, marking the seventh consecutive quarter of leading subscriber growth in satellite radio.

Total revenue increased to a record $226.4 million, up 51% from $150.1 million YoY. Advertising revenue was $9.2 million. ARPU was $10.71. SAC was $108 for the quarter compared to $131 for the same period last year.

Sirius' net loss improved by 44% to ($134.1) million for the, from ($237.8) million for the same period last year. The adjusted net loss for second quarter 2007 (adjusted to exclude stock-based compensation) improved to ($117.1) million down from ($159.6) million for Q2 2006.

2007 Guidance:

• Total revenue approaching $1 billion
• Over 8 million subs
• Avg churn to 2.2% - 2.4%
• SAC approaching $100

The Parents Television Council (PTC) has once again publicly praised XM and Sirius satellite radio for the proposed A La Carte pricing as well as their "family-friendly" packages offered as a benefit of the two companies merging.

"This announcement by XM and Sirius constitutes the best set of parental controls we’ve ever seen to not only prevent children’s access to adult-themed programming, but to enable the marketplace to decide what it wishes to purchase and pay for," said PTC President Tim Winter.

"If the merger is approved and satellite radio gives its customers real choice in programming, it will be a groundbreaking moment for the future of subscription-based entertainment," Mr. Winter continued.  "There is no question that greater control of graphic content, combined with giving consumers the ability to have some control over packages and pricing is in the public interest and certainly in the interest of parents and families."

These are some hefty words, considering that the PTC is arguably the single biggest influence on indecency regulation in America. The PTC regularly launches massive campaigns to file complaints with the FCC over content they deem to be 'indecent' broadcasts.

"We call upon the cable and satellite television industries to follow the lead of XM and Sirius and give real choices to their own customers who are deeply offended by many of the channels families are forced to buy just to get access to the quality family programming available on cable," said Mr. Winter.

This isn't the first time the PTC has come out in favor of the merger thanks to the "block and rebate" programs. But the repeated strong show of support must have some weight with regulators. I'm not sure which group is more annoying to the folks over at the FCC: the NAB or the PTC?

From a personal standpoint, and as a parent myself, the best 'regulation' can also be called 'parenting.' (Crazy thought right?) But regardless, I really do agree with this final statement by Mr. Winter.

"Only a meaningful solution like this one will allow the marketplace to decide for itself what it wants and what it is willing to pay for."

And that's the truth.

Applied Media Technologies Corporation (AMTC) has signed on with Dunkin' Brands to provide Sirius Satellite Radio background music to Baskin-Robbins stores nationwide.

Baskin-Robbins currently operates more than 5,600 units in 40 countries.

AMTC, which provides of Sirius services to businesses, normally charges only $24.95/month for the commercial-free service (no contract required).

Baskin-Robbins was given special discounted pricing in their arrangement with AMTC. I'm sure tapping into the sheer volume of stores justified the price cut (not to mention Dunkin' Brands other endeavors... namely Dunkin' Donuts).

"The business of ice cream is nothing but fun, and our goal is to make sure customers of all ages smile," said Baskin-Robbins franchisee Jack Handy. "We are enjoying the freedom of being able to decide what kind of music we want at any given time, and we know our customers appreciate the difference a little music can make."

Baskin-Robbins will celebrate 62 years of business this year.

[Press Release] 

Sirius Satellite Radio will be given deadheads a sneak peek at their upcoming Grateful Dead channel from August 1st through August 9th.

Jam_On (ch 17), which normally is Sirius' home for jam bands, will be taken over by the Dead for this special preview (no worries, Jam_On's regular programming will return on August 10th).

The Grateful Dead Channel will officially launch sometime later this summer (which isn't too far away). The channel will feature music spanning the band's entire career with unreleased concert recordings, and special commentary from remaining members (Bob Weir, Mickey Hart, Phil Lesh and Bob Kreutzmann).

Other features will include memories and music from members of The Grateful Dead's tight-knit musical family tree, as well as rare archival interviews with Jerry Garcia himself.

[Grateful Dead Channel]

When Sirius and XM submitted their plans for A La Carte pricing tiers earlier this week, they undoubtedly raised their chances of having the merger approved by the FCC. Chairman Kevin Martin has always had A La Carte on the top of his agenda, and the proposed Sirius-XM plans sets a precedence for the rest of the media industry. Moreover, it supports the thought that the merger is in the public interest, which is the main guiding factor the FCC considers in approving deals like this.

But what about the DOJ?

The Department of Justice has a less transparent process, but their decision to define the relevant market is the keystone to this whole deal.

Luckily. a recent report by Washington Analysis, a firm that conducts economic and political legislative and regulatory analysis, has provided some updates on the review process over at the DOJ. They are optimistic that the merger will be approved by the DOJ, actually going against the current consensus. Here's some key takeaways:

Document Gathering
The DOJ is still in the document gathering stage. Washington Analysis said they "have reason to believe that there are no smoking guns" as was the case in the Wild Oats-Whole Foods review. No news is good news.

Customer Support
The support of OEM auto manufacturers and retailers like Circuit City weighs heavily on the process. These partners have the most to lose if the merger wasn't going to move more units, and the A La Carte pricing should do just that.

Chief Economist
Last September, Professor Dennis Carlton was appointed Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Economic Analysis. According to Washington Analysts, Carlton is from the "dynamic market" school of thought and is likely to have a more expansive view of the audio entertainment sector. The relevant market in turn wouldn't be confined to two satellite radio companies.

Efficiencies
The merger was reviewed by an independent third party which concluded that there would be hundreds of millions in annual savings. Washington Analysis feels this is important in the DOJ review, because it supports the argument that rates would come down after the merger.

The DOJ is generally hard to gauge during interviews because they like to play devil's advocate for each party they talk to. If they think you're in favor of the merger, they'll ask questions that argue in opposition. If they think you oppose it, they'll ask favoring questions. I've talked to several who were interviewed by the DOJ, and they weren't able to determine which way the DOJ was leaning.

From a timing standpoint, you can expect the DOJ to make the first move, followed by the FCC. They didn't in the DirecTV-EchoStar deal, but they acted pretty close to each other (and both rejected the deal so it didn't matter anyway). We can probably expect the DOJ to make their move sometime in late-Fall.

Nothing's changed obviously, it's still a discretionary matter. But this report definitely has some interesting insight behind the process. And in the end, it's only a few more months before this madness is over.

For those who aren't into reading FCC filings, here's the proposed post-merger A La Carte package line-up for Sirius Satellite Radio.

It's pretty much self-explanatory, so g'head check it out here and after the jump...

The Chrysler Group has announced that they're looking to install Sirius Satellite Radio in over 70% of their vehicles for the 2008 model year. This is up from about 40% for the previous model year.

Sirius will be included as a standard feature in the premium and mid-level price classes on most Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep 2008 models year vehicles.

Sirius will also be a 100% standard feature - a huge plus - on the Chrysler Sebring and Aspen, the all-new Dodge Challenger (pictured) and Nitro, and the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Commander. Chrysler includes one year of Sirius service with each new vehicle, and Sirius comes pre-activated, so you can listen to Sirius immediately upon delivery of the vehicle.

In 2006, Chrysler Group had sales totaling 2,390,585 units according to Automotive News (note: this figure includes Mercedes-Benz). So as a rough guestimate, we're looking at a potential of over 1.6 million Sirius installs as a result of this announcement. This is definitely good news for Sirius.

Aston Martin and Sirius Satellite Radio have hooked up to offer Sirius as a factory-installed option, with a lifetime subscription included, on select Aston Martin vehicles.

The new models of the Aston Martin V8 Vantage and DB9 vehicle lines - available in the U.S. in August - will be the first models to reap the benefits of this deal.

Up until 2007, Aston Martin was part of the Premier Automotive Group, a division of the Ford Motor Company. On March of this year, the luxury automaker was purchased by a British consortium led by David Richards of Prodrive.

Aston Martin eventually plans to offer Sirius on all models in the near future. Presumably future Sirius offerings from Aston will also include a complimentary lifetime subscription. The lifetime subscription has become a more frequent promotion from Sirius, most recently they announced that the Mini Cooper and Cooper S will be offered with a lifetime subscription.