Sirius Talk

Sirius Satellite Radio announced today that they are launching a groundbreaking Doctor Radio Channel. The full time channel will be dedicated to all things health. Now Sirius listeners can listen to the pulse on channel 9, or talk about their pulse on Doctor Radio.

Doctor Radio, created exclusively in collaboration with NYU Medical Center, will air on SIRIUS channel 119, with an expected launch in early 2008. Doctor Radio will feature more than two dozen respected doctors as regular weekly hosts, many of whom are “teaching” doctors at the NYU School of Medicine, plus physicians and medical experts from around the world as special hosts and guests.

To serve Americans’ hunger for health, medical and wellness information, SIRIUS’ Doctor Radio will cover the human condition and the complexities of the bodies we inhabit, as well as entertain a little bit along the way. Doctor Radio will give listeners direct access to the best doctors in every field, breaking down barriers between the medical world and the everyday world, and giving listeners information to make important decisions about their health and well-being. NYU Medical Center doctors will take new medical research and findings and translate them into easy-to-understand advice and knowledge in an innovative and new way to better peoples’ lives.

Among the diverse array of subjects covered are how to know if you are at risk for a heart attack and high blood pressure; the psychology of everyone from serial killers to college students; what really goes on inside the emergency room and how it compares to television shows like ER and House; what parents can do to cope with children suffering from ADD; stories from the operating room, and why it might be better to hold off on getting that long- awaited nose job; and important things to know before reaching for that Viagra pill on your way to the bedroom. Speaking candidly to address real-life medical matters and scenarios, doctors on the channel will even dissect sports injuries from the past weekend’s big games.

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While driving this afternoon I was tuned into Sirius’ Jay Thomas show, which as usual was quite entertaining. At one point during the show, Sirius ran an advertisement for the Catholic Channel, and I found the ad to be informative, as well as quite well done. The ad expressed that the Catholic Channel was more than Hallelujah’s and Amens. The ad stated that the while Catholic Channel does carry Mass from St. Patrick’s Cathedral, they also have family programming, sports programming such as Notre Dame Football, and are even sponsoring a contest involving the NFL’s Saints vs. Cardinals game (dubbed the Holy Bowl), where a fan can win a trip to New Orleans to catch the game!

Now, admittedly, I have never listened to the Catholic Channel, and in point of fact am not even Catholic, but the advertisement compelled me to take a few minutes to look up what the channel was all about, and frankly I was quite surprised. The channel has featured comedian Bobby Collins, and Johhny Carson sidekick Ed McMahon. The channel seems to be a blend of tradition and modernism. A mix of heavy talk and lighter talk. A place where people can learn about religion in a non threatening and inviting manner.

This type of programming is one of the staples that makes satellite radio so special. Cross promotion of channels allows listeners to catch a glimpse of something that otherwise would remain unfamiliar, and I feel this is great. For some, religion is a taboo topic. For others, it is a passionate topic. However you feel, having access to such programming is something that we can all be thankful for, and with a merger, the opportunities for additional programming of this type increase.

The point of this piece is not to promote the Catholic Channel, but to show you that no matter which satellite radio service you have, that there is plenty of exploring that a consumer can do, and that as consumers we should consider ourselves lucky to have an audio entertainment medium willing and able to air diverse and fringe content.

As satellite radio fans we should step back and take a moment to celebrate the content that Sirius and XM offer, and further we should consider all of the potential that a merger will bring.

Position - Long Sirius, XM

Sirius Satellite Radio already heralded for their in depth NFL coverage, is taking football to an entirely new level thanks to Martha Stewart with Taste of The NFL. The charitable event is held annually on the night before the Super Bowl, and pairs team chefs with present and past NFL players to prepare dishes. Since 1992, the event has raised more than $6.8 million for hunger related charities. This year, the event will gain new exposure as the NFL teams with Martha Stewart Living Radio to broadcast a new team and recipe each Monday and Friday between now and the Super Bowl. The series will culminate with a live broadcast of Taste of the NFL on February 2nd.

• Chefs and Teams participating in the unique series include:
• Chef Susan Gross of West Town Tavern, Chicago, IL; Chicago Bears
• Chef Kent Rathbun of Abacus, Dallas, TX; Dallas Cowboys
• Chef Allen Susser of Chef Allen’s, Miami, FL; Miami Dolphins
• Chef Paul O’Connell of Chez Henri, Boston, MA; New England Patriots
• Chef Stephen Lewandowski of Tribeca Grill, New York, NY; New York Giants
• Chef Jack McDavid of Jack’s Firehouse, Philadelphia, PA; Philadelphia Eagles
• Chef Shin Tsujimura of NOBU, New York, NY; New York Jets

Listeners can participate by calling 866-675-6675 and talking turkey about the food, the teams, or even the players. So join in, participate, help tackle hunger, and help raise dollars for the hunger related charities.

Position - Long Sirius

Recently I have become concerned that the very reason I originally signed up for Sirius has already begun to slip away. The beauty of Sirius Satellite Radio was that paying subscribers were finally able to get truly uncensored talk radio, a product that until recently was not available anywhere else. Just like XM, it now seems that Sirius is changing their stance on what they tout as “uncensored radio.”

While listening to the Bubba The Love Sponge Show this week I began to notice there were long breaks, extra commercials, and tons of old bits being played. It was clear that something was going on, but what could it be? After returning from some of these extended breaks the hosts of the show made some comments that were pretty clear. Not only were they running bits by the guys at corporate for permission, the over thinkers were actually preventing them from running their bits. They weren’t bleeping them or hitting the dump button, it was even worse, they were killing their bits before they even hit the air.

Bubba was on fire right out of the box today making sure that everyone knew that he finally got a good night sleep because “Sirius corporate has me back on the rattler.” For those of you who don’t know, the rattler is Bubba’s cornucopia of pills which he uses for stress relief, being able to sleep, and a little pick me up every now and then. Continuing on he made sure to let the fans know that they should “bookmark the website because you never know when we might get fired” saying that as long as the fans can keep in contact via the web they can follow him wherever he might end up like “102.5 the bone in Tampa.”

I am sure a lot of this is Bubba posturing and trying to get some leverage when it comes time to negotiate his new contract the end of this year but I also think that, what some might call his creative license, is being revoked. I have no problem with some corporate entity laying down rules and regulations but when those rules prohibit the very thing that they say sets them apart from regular radio they are going to far. Go ahead and lay down a nice big set of rules for your “shock jocks” but don’t call yourself “uncensored” and don’t be surprised when subscribers stop renewing their subscription.

The powers that be over at Sirius need to wake up and realize that uncensored talk radio is what sets them apart from all the other competitive ear candy. Don’t get me wrong, Sirius has some exceptional music programming but uncensored music is something all of us can get by firing up a CD, Computer, or iPod. If they forget that they are going to wind up like every other failing radio station across the nation.

Starting tomorrow morning the Playboy Radio channel 198 will debut a new show staring Hugh Hefner’s girlfriend and co-star of the popular television show “The Girls Next Door,” Bridget Marquardt.

The show titled “The Bridget & Wednesday Friday Show” is set to air live every Friday morning and will feature “Bridget’s insider tales of life at the Playboy Mansion as well as her adventures with Hef, Holly and Kendra”…sounds juicy.

If you are wondering who “Wednesday” is, he is her Pekingese. You read that right, Bridget’s dog will be the co-host on the show. I’d love to just make a mockery of this whole idea but, the fact that Bridget has her Master’s degree in Communications gives her enough credibility that I will have to at least listen before I judge.

Sirius has recently snatched up what must be the last piece of talent available for Satellite Radio in Jamie Foxx. The Academy Award winning actor, American Music Award winning and Grammy nominated artist will be the executive producer, on-air host and contributor for the channel. The new channel is slated to be called “The Foxxhole” and will feature comedy, variety, music, radio theater and entertainment.

Foxx will be heard on the channel daily with a segment featuring dispatches from Jamie no matter where he is in the world, unlike Oprah on XM who hangs out for 30 minutes per month. Also, Foxx and his team of contributors will host a weekly show that will feature original comedy bits. Keep an eye out for the new 24/7 channel “The Foxxhole” this spring on SIRIUS channel 106.

SIRIUS Satellite Radio announced today that it will broadcast comprehensive live coverage of the 2006 mid-term elections on November 7th across multiple news and talk channels. Election-night coverage will feature reporting and analysis from SIRIUS hosts, reporters, stringers and bloggers, plus news coverage from news organizations. Coverage will continue post-election on November 8th.

With all of this election coverage you might actually be able to sniff out an ounce of truth and actually make educated decisions this coming election. Programming lineup after the jump…

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SIRIUS Satellite Radio personality Howard Stern has once again topped the annual list of the most searched talk radio personalities. There are a lot of naysayer out there (probably Clear Channel goons) that want you to think Howard is dead and no one cares anymore. The fact remains that this 2006 list marks the sixth consecutive year that Howard has been the #1 most searched talk radio personality on the web. For the record it wasn’t even close, Howard was 232% more searched than the next closest on air personality.

I was listening to the Bubba the Love Sponge show today, and to my dismay Bubba was not in the studio, a lot of the other characters were there but, where is Bubba? I did some digging around and it seems that the #2 shock jock in the world is being sued by an internet porn star.

Hope Miller, better known as Brooke Skye on her adult Web site, is asking for more than $15,000 in damages. Miller’s lawsuit states that Bubba flew in another internet porn star to have sex with her on the show using a sex toy, and that Bubba did not tell Miller that he was planning to do this when she agreed to be on the show. Miller says the toy was too big, but despite her repeated objections, Bubba forced the sex act to continue. Her lawsuit says that the radio host berated her when she tried to back out and threatened to stop promoting her Web site.

I listened to the show in question and at no point did it sound like anyone was being forced to do anything against their will. On top of that Brooke Skye was on the show twice before, and she knew damn well what she was getting herself in to. Lastly she claims that Bubba threatened to not plug her website if she did not participate in the act. Are you kidding me? That is your defense? You were forced to do it because of plugs for your website? What is more important your own safety or a few plugs for your website? People do the most ridiculous stuff I have ever heard on this radio show, and let me tell you, no one is forced to do a damn thing.

In an effort to bring you more of what you want Sirius is adding 10 new channels. There is so much unbelievable programming that I find myself torn about what to listen to at this point, and then here comes Sirius with 10 more. NASCAR isn’t really my thing personally but I see this being HUGE for new subscriber acquisitions.

85 || Metropolitan Opera Radio = Live and archival music from the Met.
128 || NASCAR = Coming to SIRIUS in January 2007
159 || The Catholic Channel = Modern talk, Catholic perspectives
182 || CNN En Español = Spanish-language news and talk
185 || Canada Weather = Canadian Weather Network
186 || Hardcore Sports = Hardcore Sports Radio
187 || Info Plus = All-news radio (French language)
188 || RCI Plus = International talk (French language)
192 || Rock Velours = Canadian Soft Rock
193 || Energie 2 = Pop, Rock & Urban Music