With local television stations carrying only 23% of MLB games now - with a total of seven major-legue teams being exclusive on cable - some feel that the same result is inevitable for radio. Edison Media Research's President Larry Rosin said to the WSJ, "it is probably inevitable that baseball radio broadcasts will go to a 100% subscription model... It will happen because there's too much money in it not to do it."

That could spell real good news for XM Satellite Radio as they will hold the exclusive rights to all major-league baseball games for over-the-air broadcasts. The MLB's own online subsription Internet radio, MLB Radio, will undoubtedly benefit as well.

And since revenue between XM Radio and MLB Radio is split evenly among the 30 teams, there's an added financial driver to make this happen. With already 23% of XM subscribers signing on primarily to hear the MLB, the revenue driven (and shared) due to exclusivity would make dropping terrestrial radio the inevitable future.

[Wall Street Journal (subscription req'd) via Inside Radio] 

The US Open will air live on XM Satellite Radio's PGA TOUR Network (channel 146) from Thursday, June 15th through Sunday, June 18th - meanwhile spectators at the championship can pick up complimentary XM radios to hear the broadcast at the event. This XM broadcast marks the first time the championship will be carried on satellite radio.

Expect to hear complete play-by-play coverage of the US Open, with pre and post-round commentary, call-in shows, interviews with leading players, and on-site press conferences. XM's on-air team is currently broadcasting pre-event coverage from the Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, NY (the site of the U.S. Open).

Each day at the US Open event, XM will be doing one of my favorite promotions - providing 1,000 portable XM radios for spectators to listen to the broadcast for the day, at no charge. The XM booth will be located at the US Open merchandise pavilion Thursday through Sunday.

From the very first match to the final, XM Satellite Radio will capture all of the action of the 2006 FIFA World Cup as it happens from Munich, Germany. XM - who is the exclusive English radio broadcaster (terrestrial or satellite) - will broadcast live 24/7 coverage, play-by-play on dedicated English and Spanish-language channels, game analysis and daily recaps.

It all kicks off June 9th, with 32 countries going head-to-head for 31 days, ending on the World Cup Final in Berlin on July 9th. This only happens once every four years kids, so be sure to join Andres Cantor, Jeff Agoos, Phil Schoen, Dave Johnson, Christopher Sullivan and others as the action unfolds.

XM is currently broadcasting pre-match coverage, including call-in shows, interviews, and specials, 24 hours a day on XM Deportivo 147 (Spanish) and on XM Channel 148.  For the full schedule of World cup matches visit http://worldcup.xmradio.com.