SIRIUS Backstage

NEW YORK – August 13, 2008 – SIRIUS XM Radio will broadcast a special tribute on SIRIUS’ Totally ‘70s channel commemorating Isaac Hayes, who died Sunday, August 10 at age 65. A Final Visit from Isaac Hayes will be broadcast on SIRIUS channel 7 on August 14 starting at 7 am ET, and will be rebroadcast at 11 am ET and 7 pm ET. 

SIRIUS will air an encore broadcast hosted by “Magic” Matt Alan of a guest visit from Isaac Hayes in August 2006.  During his visit,  Hayes discussed how he originally passed on the lead role in the original Shaft film and the inspiration behind the film’s Academy Award®-winning theme song—making Hayes only the third African-American to take home the Oscar®.  The legendary singer-songwriter of several classic soul and funk favorites also told stories about his early life, dropping out of school and winning a talent contest that lead to being a singer and his later induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.  Hayes also discussed his expanding fan base as a result of his role as Chef in the South Park series.  SIRIUS listeners will also hear select classic hit songs by Isaac Hayes during the broadcast.

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Along with all the touted changes on the 24th, one that Sirius isn’t talking about also got made.

In this thread some members are speculating about the absence of NBA radio and the associated absence of any mention of the NBA on Sirius.  It is clear that the Sirius website has been cleaned of any mentions of the professional basketball league.  What is not clear (since Sirius hasn’t said anything) is what the future of that relationship will be.

BTW, before anyone gets upset, or rashly cancels…this has happened before. This thread from 2004 was about the NBA name and logo disappearing from the website at almost the same time of the year. Long timers may remember that right before the season started, Sirius and the NBA announced a renewal.

Anybody at Sirius want to comment about the future of the NBA and Sirius?

We wanted to remind everyone of the channel change that is occurring tomorrow (June 24th).  Here are some tips to ensure the update goes as smoothly as possible.

• When you turn your radio on the morning of June 24, it may need 2 - 5 minutes to receive the update from our satellites. During this time, the audio you hear may not match what is shown on your display and you may see messages such as “updating channels” on your radio’s display.
• While the changes are being updated to your radio, please do not change channels as this will delay the update from completing.
• This upgrade will affect some existing channel numbers, so you may need to update your presets on June 24.

More information can be found at Sirius.com or in our discussion thread.

Sirius and Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A announced today that Sirius will be their “exclusive satellite radio provider in Lamborghini vehicles.”  The 2009 Lamborghini Murcielago will include, as standard equipment, a lifetime subscription to Sirius.

“We are very pleased to have Automobili Lamborghini as a partner.” said Mel Karmazin, CEO SIRIUS. “We look forward to working closely with Automobili Lamborghini to offer its customers the best in audio entertainment available for its prestigious vehicles.”

“SIRIUS was the natural choice for Automobili Lamborghini’s exclusive supercars,” stated Stephan Winkelmann, President and CEO of Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. “Satellite radio gives our customers easy access to endless music options, therefore enhancing their ability to enjoy their vehicle on the road or track.”

Amy Clark with AMTC sent us this note yesterday.

Over the past couple of years, it seems that just about every car manufacturer has jumped at the opportunity to install satellite radio in the latest vehicle models. Those very same executives are noticing the effect such an inclusion has on buyers’ choices, not just during a test drive, but on the showroom floor as well.

Madza Motor of America, Inc. has announced an agreement with AMTC to install satellite radio receivers in its U.S. dealerships. The idea behind this is to have satellite radio playing in the showrooms and on the car lots in order to increase sales of vehicles with SIRIUS installed, as well as sales overall. Tests have been conducted suggesting the presence of music in a retail environment increases customers’ positive moods and the likelihood to purchase.

The press release can be viewed after the jump.

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We finally have some channel updates coming our way. Some are excited about the changes, you Bridge fans know who you are, and others are not.

On Tuesday morning when you turn on your radio, it is very important that you let it complete the process. Do not turn the channel or adjust any settings. Let it alone! If you interrupt the process, it could take much longer for it to complete the update.

Super Shuffle is going into “retirement.” It will only be available online for now.

The new Sports block will not work with the SL100 or SL10, this could change.

Here are the channels that will be moving to new places early that Tuesday morning:

SIR-2 The Bridge Moves to SIRIUS 12 Ch. 12
12 Super Shuffle Moves to SIR-2 (Internet Only)
33 Area 33 Moves to Area 38 Ch. 38
34 Boombox Moves to Ch. 39
70 SIRIUS Disorder Moves to Ch. 33
85 Met Opera Moves to Ch. 78
86 SIRIUS Pops Moves to Ch. 79
90 Universo Latino Moves to Ch. 82
92 Rumbon Moves to Ch. 83
97 Reggae Rhythms Moves to Ch. 84
95 Iceberg Moves to Ch. 85
94 CBC Radio 3 Moves to Ch. 86
93 bande a part Moves to Ch. 87
192 Rock Velours Moves to Ch. 88
193 Energie 2 Moves to Ch. 89
183 Korean Channel/JBC Moves to Ch. 90
181 ESPN Deportes Moves to Ch. 91
182 CNN En Espanol Moves to Ch. 92
138 Premiere Plus Moves to Ch. 94
188 RCI Plus Moves to Ch. 95
187 Sports Extra Moves to Ch. 96
186 Hardcore Sports Moves to Ch. 98
185 CDN Weather Moves to Ch. 138
122 Sports Play-by-Play 1 Moves to Ch. 119
125 Sports Play-by-Play 2 Moves to Ch. 122
126 Sports Play-by-Play 3 Moves to Ch. 125
119 Sports Play-by-Play 4 Moves to Ch. 126

Some channels that you might be aware of or not are relatively new. They are:

Channel 10, E-Street Radio
Channel 110, Indie Talk
Channel 114, Dr. Radio

Some more info is here, http://www.sirius.com/channelchange.

Let’s hope that they take some time to update the logos for the Stiletto users.

Merger now requires approval of 2 of the remaining 4 commissioners to pass.

“As early as this week, Martin is expected to issue an order that the commission vote to approve the merger, which at least two of the remaining four commissioners must also agree to, the aides said.” […]

“As I have indicated before, this is an unusual situation,” Martin said in a statement. “I am recommending that with the voluntary commitments [Sirius and XM] have offered, on balance, this transaction would be in the public interest.” […]

Martin came to the decision after the companies agreed last week to several commitments intended to prevent the monopoly from raising programming prices and from stifling competition among radio makers, aides to the chairman said in an interview yesterday.

According to the Washington Post, Sirius/XM have conceded on many of the expected hot merger issues:

• A-la-carte capable radios for sale within 3 months of merger
• Interoperable XM/Sirius radios sold within a year
• 12 channels for “educational and public safety programming”
• 12 channels for minority groups

[via Washington Post]

SIRIUS’ Grateful Dead channel to launch a new feature celebrating music that inspired The Grateful Dead as well as the songs that were influenced by the iconic band. Each day this special feature, Roots & Branches of the Grateful Dead, will feature the artists who inspired the band and artists they influenced with exclusive commentary by The Grateful Dead channel’s resident experts David Gans and Gary Lambert.

To launch the new feature, The Grateful Dead channel will devote an entire weekend to Roots and Branches. SIRIUS listeners will hear music from artists the Dead influenced, including Jimmy Buffett, Patti Smith, Burning Spear and the Persuasions. Listeners will also hear music from bands that inspired The Grateful Dead, including Chuck Berry, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles and many others.

Tune in to The Grateful Dead channel 32 on Friday, June 13 at 6:00 pm ET through Sunday, June 15 at midnight ET.

Major Nelson, part of the Xbox Team and the Maxim Radio show Level-Up, blogged about his car install and his presets yesterday. He tells of a unique mounting location for his antenna.

I decided to do something a little more interesting: I mounted the antenna INSIDE the rear fin of the Prius. Since the fin is fiberglass and hollow I was able to mount it inside which, in addition to protecting it from the elements or theft, also relieves me from having am unsightly wart on the top of my car.

Thanks to jon01 for this tip.

The new iPhone 3G has been a hot topic recently; this is somewhat related. Millard Software announced yesterday uSIRIUS - iPhone Edition. It’s still in BETA and the author is aware of some current bugs:

This version is a beta release. It has several bugs and may even cause your iPhone/iPod Touch to reboot. It is just to show that Sirius Satellite Radio is possible on the iPhone.

I’m hoping one of our members with an iPhone or iPod Touch with at least v1.1.4 firmware can give this a try and post a review.