XM Satellite Radio's SVP/Regulatory & Government Affairs Bill Bailey said that next week XM plans to debut a feature allowing customers to block channels via a link on its website.

XM currently displays an "XL" onscreen which clues parents in about potential racy content (ie, the good stuff). Should anyone want to have these channels blocked, they could call in to XM Radio and request it. Now, they'll be able to do just that through the click of a button.

[Radio and Records] 

Finally, the ridiculousness is over as the damn "arch enemy" of O&A was finally revealed today. Former WXRK-FM/New York Program Director (and Operations Manager at WNEW when it turned gaygirlie as "Blink" for a brief stint) Steve Kingston has jumped to satellite radio as XM Satellite Radio's new Senior Director/Label Relations. 

Steve will be working directly with record labels to help break new artists, create special XM promotional opportunities and secure artists for exclusive XM performances. 

[FoundryMusic] 

This is awesome! The latest version of AOL Instant Messenger, Triton, improves upon a bunch of neato services like its current voice and video chat services, but also adds new awesome features like Internet calling (going after Skype) and access to 20 XM Satellite Radio channels.

The VoIP phone calls will be at a cost, but the XM Satellite Radio channels will free (ad supported). With 43 million AIM users in the U.S., this is some huge exposure.

[via The Miami Herald] 

Pocket PC peeps can get excited now, because with the release of Pocket XM Radio Pro, you can listen to all your XM Radio Online content anywhere you want.

Yeah sure, it's $19.95, but if you're a cheapass, you can get only the XMRO subscription for $7.99/month and justify the whopping $20 it cost you to download the software. And you can listen to Liquid Metal anywhere.

There's also some additional info on this here. 

Thanks G-Spin! 

New York Yankees' All-Star shortstop Derek Jeter has joined forces with XM Satellite Radio to promote XM's MLB programming. The deal also includes a partnership with the Turn 2 Foundation, Jeter's non-profit organization meant to promote healthy, drug-free lifestyles and academic achievement for young people.

Jeter will also make regular guest appearances throughout the year on MLB Home Plate including "MLB This Morning" and "The Show." Jeter will be featured throughout XM's MLB marketing activities, including television, print and online media, as well as retail promotions. We first spotted Jeter in XM's Listen Large holiday marketing campaign.

XM + Napster Beta has been released! You can try out the 14-day free trial, but note that you must be an XM Radio Subscriber to use the service.

The XM + Napster full service costs $9.95/month, while the XM + Napster Light follows the iTunes model of $0.99/song. Both options give you access to the full 1.5 million songs.

UPDATE: From the press release, XM + Napster allows XM subscribers to listen to more than 70 XM music channels on XM Radio Online and access Napster's catalog for on-demand listening, purchasing, and downloading. The service seamlessly links XM subscribers to Napster to instantly find songs played live on XM by its world-class DJs, get in-depth information about artists, and discover new music and old favorites through customized music recommendations provided by Napster's professional music programmers.

Neat.

Missed last night's The Apprentice featuring XM Satellite Radio? Well, if you have BitTorrent just go ahead and download the torrent file of the whole show. It's about 357Mb, but is really a high resolution and good audio.

It was great to see so much exposure for XM Satellite Radio on tonight's Apprentice. Great job on the product placement (logo was in pretty much every shot), lots of XM commercials throughout the show, E-Lo's hair was spectacular and the Apprentice special offer was a smart touch.

Howard Stern on Letterman tonight (11:35pm ET) - going to be doing an "informercial" for Sirius. Should be interesting, stay tuned. :) 

The Canadian channels were added to the XM Satellite Radio line up today:

XM Channel 52: Unsigned
XM Channel 100: Air Musique  (Broadcast in French)
XM Channel 102: Sur La Route
XM Channel 153: Laugh Attack
XM Channel 172: Franc Parler (Broadcast in French)
XM Channel 204: Home Ice
XM Channel 244: Canada 360
XM Channel 245: Quoi de Neuf (Broadcast in French)

Thanks to everyone who sent this in! 

We now have confirmation that Lex and Terry will in fact be on XM Extreme Channel 152, so the FMQB article was true.

But are they the 'arch enemy' everyone is wondering about? Nope. Let the speculation continue!

Thanks again Alan!