SIRIUS XM SATELLITE RADIO NEWS

We have all heard of Slacker at this point, but how many have actually given it a try? If you haven’t, you are missing out plain and simple. Slacker makes radio listening easy, and better yet, lets you customize stations or simply build your own. No organizing play lists, no going crazy trying to do download after download. Simply pick a station and listen. There are dozens upon dozens of stations to choose from, and they can get pretty specific. Want to win a Slacker portable? Keep reading.

Are you a Rush fan? I am. Check out Rush Radio on Slacker. Rush Radio plays the best music from Queen, Styx, Queensrÿche, Asia, Kansas, Boston, Jethro Tull, Blue Öyster Cult, Meat Loaf, Heart and more. Oh, and yes, it plays all of the tunes from Rush as well. A fan of another band? There is likely a customized Slacker station that has a channel dedicated to them.

Slacker is filling a niche that satellite radio has left out. Highly selectable and easy to use tunes at your fingertips. Satellite could take this step, but at this point neither Sirius or XM have chosen to do so. Why is satellite not making more of an online presence?

Slacker is interactive. Album Art is displayed. You can rate songs as favorites, ban songs, and even download a song instantly if you are a premium service member. Even without the premium service the highly selective nature of radio stations is a service that bests most anything out there. If you are hearing a song, you can learn what album it is from, and even see a write-up about the artist. If you get to a song that you don’t like, you can ban it from the station (this does not ban the song from everyone, just you). If banning seems harsh, simply click the fast forward button and the next great tune will play.

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Sirius satellite radio appears to be serious about the latest S50 update. Last weekend I got an automated phone call from Sirius telling me that I needed to do the update, and this week I got a large card in the mail once again stating the importance of the update.

The communications stress that is important to do this update in order to avoid disruption of service. Knowing that the S50 is in my wife’s car, I guess it really would be prudent to get the update completed.

A Sirius web page explains the steps of the update in detail.

You must download and install this new S50 update to maintain uninterrupted service.

SIRIUS Satellite Radio is making improvements to our broadcast systems. In order to maintain uninterrupted service, you must download and install the latest update to your S50. Installing the updates will not affect your loved songs or recorded talk programs. Follow the instructions below to download and install the updates. You must have a PC operating under either Windows 2000 or Windows XP to update your S50 using My SIRIUS Studio™.

If you have a Windows operating system that is not compatible with My SIRIUS Studio™, such as Vista, please refer to our alternative updating instructions located here. SIRIUS S50 is not compatible with Mac operating systems.

Important!

Before You Begin make sure the battery is installed in the S50 and it is fully charged. If the battery is not installed, or is only partially charged, the software updates may not install properly.

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Sirius Buzz Radio airs each Thursday night at 10:30 PM Eastern time. Shows are live and we invite callers to participate. If you miss the live show, you can always catch up with the events by logging onto our archived shows at www.blogtalkradio.com/sirius-buzz-radio. You can simply listen or download the shows.

Because we are seeing positive response to the shows, we are increasing the time on air from 45 minutes to 1 hour. If you have not listened yet, please visit the site and listen to the shows. Sirius Buzz radio gives topical information, and takes questions from callers.

If you like the show, pass the word, mark Sirius Buzz Radio as a favorite, rate the shows, and leave your comments. If you have a suggestion for a show topic please forward it to tyler@siriusbuzz.com. Lastly, we would like to appeal to you the reader and listener for some help.

If you have the ability to create cool bumpers to open and close the show please feel free to submit them. If they are good they will be put on the air. Simply drop me an email.

The next show is Thursday May 1, 2008 at 10:30 PM Eastern.

Position – Long Sirius, XM

Slacker is stepping up in their efforts to attract new subscribers. Their latest effort is a free shipping offer on any Slacker portable device. The Slacker service lets consumers choose between a 15 channel, 25 channel, or 40 channel device. The portables are customizable, and listeners can build their own radio stations that play songs that the user enjoys. The portable device then allows you to take your music with you on the go.

Slacker makes radio listening and customization easy. Lean more at SlackerActive

In a filing with the FCC that can only make Georgetown Partners’ Chester Davenport and entities such as Primosphere smile, the Attorney Generals for Maryland, Connecticut, Ohio, and Washington have proposed concessions to the FCC that would have the company giving up spectrum in a manner similar to that which Davenport and Primosphere have proposed.

The filing states:

“Should the FCC approve the proposed merger, the only way it can preserve valuable competition is to introduce a new competitor to the SDARS arena. Thus, we urge the FCC to require XM and Sirius to lease a portion of their satellite capacity, and the means to broadcast from the Sirius and XM satellites, as a precondition to approving their request to transfer licenses.”

“The leasing solution we advocate is preferable to a simple divestiture of spectrum by Sirius and XM. Construction and launch of satellites to carry a competing SDARS service will require several years. On the other hand, a SDARS service created through leasing spectrum can be made available much more quickly, and the resulting public benefit felt much sooner.”

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In a twist that shows how at least one shareholder feels about Georgetown Partners and Chester Davenport’s requests surrounding the merger, a filing has been made to the FCC in the name of Chester Davenport. Having followed the comments on this merger from the beginning, I thought it ironic that Davenport himself would send a comment to the federal regulator. Upon opening the comment, all I could do was chuckle.

The comment includes statements such as, “Please hand myself and Georgetown Partners 20% of Sirius and XM’s spectrum once you approve this merger. We, unfortunately, do not have the ability or skills to accomplish anything on our own and desperately need a handout.”

Now, I did get a good laugh out of this comment, but do not encourage readers to do something similar. In my opinion, comments to the FCC need to be serious in nature and address the real concerns of consumers whichever way they feel about the merger.

The Davenport Spoof Comment

UPDATE Looks like the spoof comment has been taken down from the FCC website. perhaps Chester made a phone call. He seems to have enough power to get over 30 meetings with the FCC…..It goes without saying that he may well have used his influence to get the comment removed. It is just as well, the comment, while humorous served no real purpose. Notice that Chester is not disavowing any of the Sirius Buzz questions placed before him.

Position – Long Sirius/XM

In recent weeks there has been speculation as to what would happen with Scott Ferrall, who has been comfortably enjoying his 8 o’clock slot on Howard 101 for the last couple of years. Sirius announced today that the edgy sports commentator would be renewing his contract, and will remain on the Howard Stern channel.

“Scott Ferrall thunders through the world of sports at a hundred miles an hour every weeknight on SIRIUS, telling it like it is and letting his fans do the same,” said Scott Greenstein, SIRIUS’ President, Entertainment and Sports. “He remains the perfect fit for the Howard Stern channels.”

“I work for Howard Stern, ‘The King of all Media,’ and SIRIUS Satellite Radio,” said Scott Ferrall. “I couldn’t walk away from the revolution — it’s too much fun.”

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Zoinks!!! Like we have a mystery on our hands, the representation is missing!!!

C3SR is a self proclaimed advocate group for satellite radio consumers. The organization formed shortly before the merger was announced, and received backing by the National Association of Broadcasters. C3SR has made many filings with FCC taking a position against the merger between Sirius and XM.

Setting all of that aside, an considering that the DOJ has already approved the merger, where is C3SR, a satellite radio advocacy group on certain issues that carry great importance to the group of people they claim to represent… namely, SUBSCRIBERS.

Primosphere is seeking half of the current SDARS spectrum. Such a move would make an entire set of current hardware (be it Sirius hardware or XM hardware) useless. One would think that a group claiming to advocate on behalf of subscribers would have an opinion on the loss consumers will face if all of that hardware becomes useless. C3SR, Where Are You? Why have you not taken a position on such a proposal? Why are you not advocating on behalf of existing subscribers?

Clear Channel is seeking that half of the spectrum be stripped away. C3SR, where are you?

Georgetown Partners is seeking 20% of the spectrum. Even at this reduced level, the services would likely have to offer less until full interoperable devices are available. This will still impact subscribers. C3SR, Where are you?

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