Sirius XM holiday music lineup released: Holly returns

SiriusFm is for dummies !

No Bing Crosby radio? Bummer. Maybe an announcement later?

I love these!
Now for the inevitable grinches and scrooges who will slam Christmas music channels as "cheap programming," etc. If you don't like it, don't listen!

These are good-- but I will miss Special X Christmas (or whatever it was called).

Ya I'm happy as well for these to start. I wish it was this coming up week personally. But Nov 16th is in reality soon enough.

I love this music this time of year puts me in an awesome mood for the rest of year.

Why are they putting them all over the dial? Group them together like they should be. People with OEM installs don't have the luxury of direct tune. They either have to scroll all around or use their presets.

I guess Special XMas is gone for good. Careful, don't go outside the lines of whats normal and acceptable to soccer mom and Lexus driving exec dad.

Yep. Another year of no Speciial X-mas channel , that used to be on XM . Way to go Mel .

What they need to do is announce Cinemagic for Sirius, put it on 81, then immediately put Holly on it and say Cinemagic will "return" after the holidays, and then on that day replace Cinemagic with a disco dance channel and leave it in the Standards section. And then say Cinemagic is available on Sirius...on SIR which is $2.99 extra a month. Oh wait, they already did that last year.

NO BING RADIO!

THAT SINKS!

Sorry for yelling

Is it just me or there are 5 different types of holiday selections within the SIR|XM universe?

That seems like an awful lot to me compared to my garbage testicular radio selections. Blah! And they don't come on nearly as early.

This is a good thing.

I want Bing!

not looking forward to Christmas music again this year on channel 77. I'll have withdrawel pains again by missing classical pop for 30+ days. How about honoring the Christmas overload on some other music channel? Already getting in the mood by shopping in every store and it's only early November. Thank you.

I have SIRIUS on my DISH Network, will I get these Christmas stations?

I dropped my subscription effective October 1 and dismantled the home adapter kit from my home theater system three days ago and packed it away in the box it came in.

Five holiday stations may be fine to some, but you receive thirteen holiday channels on AOL radio.

http://music.aol.com/radioguide/christmas-music

There is also a Hanukkah Radio station (it's not listed on any of the webpages for AOL radio, but can be accessed through the player window in the Theme music category. Or you can click on the player link.

http://radio.aol.com/player/aolPlayer.html?v=4.9.24x&ur=1&us=1&id=4154

For those who miss Special X-Mas, besides Comedy Holiday on AOL radio, Slacker has Dysfunctional Holiday.

http://www.slacker.com/?sid=prog:874

For those who want to narrow their holiday music further, there is Live 365's Christmas station page.

http://www.live365.com/cgi-bin/directory.cgi?genre=christmas

Special XMAS was the BEST programming XM had. When they had the lousy merger, it went away, seemingly forever.

Then Sirius canned Wolfman Jack for the inferior and pandering Cousin Brucie show. Embarrassing, and a bad move.

Too bad, I'm canceling XM Sirius now, because the merger gave us XM lovers LESS choice.

Where is Holly on XM Radio Online? I can only find Holiday Traditions on Channel 4. Channel 23 in my car is Holly, but online it's the love songs channel.

Ok so those asking Holly is NOT canceled. It is alive.

Those who cant find it online locate the Special Engagements channel in the POP section of the online player. This is where Holly is on for some reason.

I sent the following to Holly@siriusxm.com this morning:

As I was listening to Holly this morning, Mrs. Claus asked me to send in any comments I have regarding Holly. Thank you Mrs. Claus, you inspired me.

Holly has always been one of the most important parts of the Holiday season. Countless businesses tune in to Holly for their in-store Christmas music. Holly has certainly been a requirement of all Christmas parties. Personally, I tune into Holly the 1st day it becomes available and listen non-stop until it is removed after the 1st of the year. Christmas morning at my house will find Holly tuned in on Directv even before coffee is plugged in and the kids are awakened.

Holly has been my jingle-bell-get-me-in-the-Christmas-Spirit inspiration for years. I even wrote a story once that said the Christmas was not Christmas without eggnog, mistletoe, chocolate covered cherries and Holly.

But, Holly has changed. I have listened to Holly all week, for about 9 hours now (yes, I have a long commute to work). All I have heard has been hip, hop, pop, and rock (HHPR) music that has some reference to Christmas. I have heard Harry Connick Jr three times, N Sync three times, 98 Degrees twice, and other names and groups that I don't even know. I have never heard much of the music, unless it is a HHPR remake of a classical song. I have not heard Burl Ives, Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole or any of the other traditional Christmas artists.

I don't know why someone would change Holly. I don't know what audience Holly is now trying to reach. But I do know the audience Holly is losing. Yes, I visited the SiriusXM website this morning, hoping I would find out what has happened. And, based upon how Christmas music has now been segmented, if a person likes to hear Bing Crosby sing "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas", Josh Groban sing "Oh, Holy Night", Burl Ives sing "Frosty The Snowman", John Lennon sing "So This is Christmas", Newsong sing, "Christmas Shoes", or Trans-Siberian Orchestra sing "Christmas Canon Rock", then that person is going to have to change channels frequently.

Holly used to be a mixture of contemporary and traditional Christmas music, without the HHPR influences. Holly used to be the best. So sad.

*****
If others write in, maybe they will change the format. As it is now, I will not tune in.

And, Merry Christmas to all of you.
Gary

I just discovered your Traditional Christmas channel and really enjoy it as I get into the Christmas spirit while I sing along. I'd like to hear Andy Williams' "Some Children See Him" played--and often enough that an occasional listener could hear it. Thanks.

Anybody on this thread have the XM RC Express? Don't know how to reach out to about the artwork in the backround. Last year the Xmas channels had a tree branch with an ornament hanging off it this year it's that stupid generic guitar. The used to have jukeboxes on the decade channels now it's replaced with the stupid guitar again. Any answers??!

Can't find any of the holiday music on line. What the deal?

love hearing the Christmas music, but I can do without the Adam Sandler "Thanksgiving Song". We have a 10 year old, 7 year old and 5 year old. I have to run over and cut the volume every time it comes on. If you don't know what I am talking about just google the lyrics and you will see! The "Holly" station is advertised for FAMILIES...HELLO!!!

On the XM Online player, I have channel 4 as "Holiday Traditions" and channel 39 as "Holly".

What happened to Special X. There was several of us in our family that emailed last year. And we recieved no response! I would think with all the out cries you would do something!

Why no Holiday pops before December 7??? Disappointing. I'm ready for it now.

I agree that the music on Holly this year is definitely lacking. It's all pop songs that barely have anything to do with Christmas. I want to hear some classics like Feliz Navidad, Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, etc. I'm hoping it gets better if more people write in.

Listening every night on dish network, love the different xmas stations, what a great mix, especially on "Holly"

Where is holly on XMRO?

I write to XM, but of course they don't reply with an answer.

I really miss the old "Special X" that we used to get from XM before the merger. They could bring it back and call it Holiday Funnies or something like that, but I really miss having a total nonsense holiday songs channel in the line up. Maybe we could drop a comedy channel for something like that during the season.

What happened to Bing Crosby Christmas Radio?? That was my favorite program last holiday season....so sad it is not being listed for this year!

I am so bummed Bing Crosby Christmas Radio isn't back! That was my favorite last year!

WHAT HAPPENED TO HOLLY! Oh my goodness. Its terrible this year. Obscure songs that make your ears bleed. Autotuned crap! I wrote to XM this am about it. I hope others do as well.

BTW... You can find it online under 39 "Limited Engagements" but don't bother. ITS TERRIBLE!

This is one more reason to get rid of my XM account and just use the FREE Pandora radio! This XM/Sirius merger was the WORST thing to happen to my satellite radio.

The change in Holly, the limited run of Pops, are all further symptoms of the decline in quality on XM since the merger. So sad. It took a lot longer for FM radio to decline into garbage. Satellite radio has taken -- what? - 3 years to do so?

I agree, the music is hard to find. Channel 3 isn't channel 3 online, you have to scroll down to find it or come to this forum - thanks other users!

I also appreciate people letting us know of other good online radio. Also helpful.

Sirius has to get busy and get better. Their online stuff hasn't changed in years, and their radio selection still eats. They should also stop running Sirius and XM separate, and find a way to merge the stations. This dual personality is annoying now.

I just emailed this to XM Sirirus... hopefully enough of us are doing this and they'll change it before the season is over!

I have been an XM subscriber for almost 4 years, and up until this point, have been pleased with the service. One favored feature is the holiday music in November and December. Holly has always been great, with a balanced mix of classics (Bing Crosby, Andy Williams), "newer" classics (John Lenon, Dan Fogleberg), and new music ("Christmas Shoes", Trans-Siberian Orchestra).

Unfortunately, somebody tinkered with the formula in a completely reckless manner.

Holly is absolutely atrocious this year, and the Traditional channel is just terrible. Evidently, Traditional now means produced before 1950 with no commercial success. It would be a great channel for all the 90+ year olds out there reliving their youth, but I bet that the contingent of senior citizens even knowing what sat radio was far outnumbers the number actually subscribing. When I think of traditional I think of songs that were made years back that continue to remain popular. How about Bing singing "Do You Hear What I Hear" more often than random big bands playing random holiday tunes that haven't been piped through a radio in half a century?

Back to Holly, it has no direction, except away from Christmas music that people from age 25 to 65 have been listening to and enjoying their entire lives. It seems now to be marketed to teenagers who listen to Ashanti and Destiny's Child. That's great for all the 16 year olds out there, but let them listen to the other 50 channels that feature that kind of music. Why ignore those of us actually paying your bills tuning into a Christmas station to listen to what the working world calls Christmas music? My God, does Holly suck for 2009. It is like I am living in an alternate dimension where the last 50 years of Christmas movies, TV shows, and music have been erased from everybody's memory. Listen up: Christmas music is not created when you say "Christmas" or "Holiday" in the middle of a rap. If XM Sirius wants to be in the business of creating new genres of Christmas music, then call it for what it is and name the station "XM Sirius Presents a Hip-Hop Christmas." And if you do that, at least be kind enough to put last year's Holly lineup out there as the Traditional channel.

Please--for the sake of being able to recommend XM to your future customers--undo whatever whoever did and bring back the Holly from years past.
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