Classic Vinyl is a Sirius XM Radio channel focusing on classic rock music mostly from the late-1960s to the mid-1970s, with the channel's name meant to indicate that it consists of music that first appeared on vinyl records . This encompasses music from as far back as the early 1960s at times. It broadcasts on Sirius XM Radio channel 26 and Dish Network channel 6026.
110-739: Classic Vinyl was launched with the rest of the Sirius Satellite Radio lineup in 2002 as the classic rock channel for the station. From the beginning, the station has broadcast live 24/7 from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland , in conjunction with a deal between Sirius and the Hall. Several other Sirius legacy channels have also had tie-ins with the Hall of Fame. Initially, the channel broadcast on Sirius channel 14. Like other Sirius legacy channels, Classic Vinyl had live DJs in between some songs except on
220-568: A "Consolidated Application for Authority to Transfer Control" at the FCC. On July 24, XM announced that CEO Hugh Panero would leave the company in August, and that then-current President and COO Nate Davis would step in to serve as president and interim CEO. On March 24, 2008, the United States Department of Justice approved the merger of XM and Sirius Satellite Radio. On July 26, the FCC approved
330-413: A 16MB SDRAM memory to buffer four seconds of one of the satellite signals in order to bring it into time coincidence with the other for Maximal-ratio combining . On newer receivers with a "pause" feature, a dual-port PSRAM is employed to store up to 60 minutes of the selected channel. The baseband processor outputs digital audio over a Serial Peripheral Interface, which is fed to a D/A converter to produce
440-438: A Spring 2007 Arbitron report, the five channels most listened to on Sirius based on their average quarterly hour (AQH) share were Howard 100, Howard 101, The Highway (56), Sirius Hits 1, and Octane (37). On October 6, 2004, Sirius announced that it had signed a five-year, US$ 100 million per year agreement with Howard Stern to move his radio show, The Howard Stern Show, to Sirius starting on January 9, 2006. Stern said his move
550-592: A classic radio call-in show from the UK discussing all of the days top matches. On September 15, 2008, Chris Russo launched his own show called Mad Dog Unleashed . After the merger between Sirius and XM was completed, Major League Baseball games remained exclusive to XM Radio as a result of an arrangement dispute between MLB and Sirius XM, which prevented Sirius subscribers from listening to games. However, on August 19, 2013, Sirius XM reached an agreement with MLB allowing all customers with both Sirius and XM receivers to hear
660-414: A codec for rack mounting in satellite earth stations. The Sirius signal uses more robust error correction on control channels than on the audio content, trading off error correction and bandwidth differently for separate categories of bits in the signal waveform. The terrestrial carrier is an OFDM QPSK signal, and cousin to WiMax and LTE, with the particular feature that more than one transmitter operates on
770-508: A computer with a very simple adapter cable. Some people have dubbed the entire kit, with receiver, cable, and software, the Direct PCR. While the original PCR software does not control the XM Direct receiver, several community developers have continued to develop PCR replacement software. On February 19, 2007, XM announced a merger deal with competitor Sirius Satellite Radio . The merger combined
880-490: A contract for XM-5. XM-5 was to feature two large, unfurlable antennas. Sirius' Radiosat 5, also to be built by Loral, was slated to have a similar single large antenna. In American and Canadian metropolitan areas, XM and its Canadian licensee "Canadian Satellite Radio" (CSR) and operating as Sirius XM Canada , owned and operated a network of approximately 900 terrestrial repeater stations, meant to compensate for satellite signal blockage by buildings, tunnels, and bridges. In
990-563: A convertible bond to GM, issuing a warrant for shares to GM, and establishing a revolving credit facility with GM. The plan also included new funding coming from a placement of over US$ 300 million in 10% convertible bonds to a group of private investors. In 2004, General Motors sold Hughes Electronics to Rupert Murdoch 's News Corp. , and sold DirecTV's interest in XM Satellite Radio. On March 1, XM Radio launched Instant Traffic and Weather Channels for major metropolitan markets in
1100-512: A deal to add UEFA Champions League soccer to their lineup. Sirius had exclusive radio rights to broadcast the ESPN television feed of the Euro 2008 championships. Sirius also aired a soccer talk show called "The Football Show" with former Metrostars GM Charlie Stillitano and former International Italian star Giorgio Chinaglia . On Saturdays and Sundays during premier league season, Sirius aired Radio 606 ,
1210-474: A medical research foundation, focused on finding a cure for her daughter's illness. Former NASA engineer Robert Briskman, who designed the company's satellite technology, was then appointed Chairman and CEO. Six months later, in November 1992, Rogers Wireless co-founder David Margolese, who had provided financial backing for the venture, acquired control of the company and succeeded Briskman. Margolese renamed
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#17330845567001320-604: A number of additional channels exclusive to Canada; the other four come from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation . After a delay and outcry from Canadian subscribers, Sirius Canada added Howard Stern's Channel 100 to their lineup in early 2006. Channel 101 , Stern's other channel (featuring Bubba the Love Sponge , Scott Ferrall , and other personalities), were made available in late June 2006. Talk radio content recently added onto Sirius Satellite Radio include
1430-581: A report obtained in March 2011, The Better Business Bureau reported receiving over 4,500 complaints against Sirius XM in the preceding 36 months, around half of which regarded the company's billing and collection practices. In Missouri, some people registered on the state's do-not-call list had complained about receiving repeated calls from Sirius XM workers or agents after canceling their subscriptions. Some Florida customers had reported being billed for automatic renewals of accounts they had canceled. Further, Sirius XM
1540-401: A series of show swaps, most non-Clear Channel content was removed and programming control returned to XM Radio. Plans to introduce new regional based talk channels, which would have featured a regional 5 minute newscast for each area of the country, were canceled. Instead, Clear Channel chose to introduce other music and talk channels. Newer channels including ReachMD , America's Talk remain on
1650-523: A service known as AcuraLink . XM NavTraffic, an optional service, transmitted coded traffic information directly to vehicle navigation systems using TMC technology. Audio channels on XM were digitally compressed using the CT-aacPlus (HE-AAC) codec from Coding Technologies for most channels. That said, some channels rely on the AMBE codec from Digital Voice Systems (e.g., for voice channels), including all of
1760-481: A steady signal ); however, XM is not yet licensed for reception by paid subscribers living in these areas. The original satellites, XM-1 ("Rock") and XM-2 ("Roll") suffered from a generic design fault on the Boeing 702 series satellite (fogging of the solar panels), which meant that their lifetimes were shortened to approximately six years instead of the design goal of 15 years. To compensate for this flaw, XM-3 ("Rhythm")
1870-739: A three-year partnership with the United States Tennis Association to broadcast the US Open tournament through 2007, as well as weekly reports from other US Open Series events. On September 12, XM announced a 10-year, US$ 100 million deal to carry National Hockey League broadcasts beginning with the 2005–06 season, initially sharing the coverage with SIRIUS but gaining satellite-radio exclusivity from 2007 onward. On November 29, XM launched service in Canada. In January 2006, XM began broadcasting Fox News Talk . On January 9, XM won top honors at
1980-546: A total of $ 83.1 million, which was the value of Clear Channel's stake in XM. The accreted value of the debt was $ 92.9 million, and the fair value of the collar was an asset of $ 6.0 million, which resulted in a net gain of $ 3.8 million for Clear Channel. At the heart of the TimeTrax controversy was the XM PCR : a computer-controlled XM Receiver. Unlike the other receivers, which could be used in
2090-638: A videotape. XM's portable devices allowed the consumer to record a portion of their broadcast similar to a VCR , DVR , or cassette player and play it back later. On January 19, 2007, a district judge ruled that the RIAA could proceed with the lawsuit, rejecting XM's defense that the conduct alleged in the complaint—if proved by the RIAA—would be immune under the Audio Home Recording Act of 1991. On July 24, 2006, Nate Davis, formerly of XO Communications ,
2200-573: Is US$ 470 and the aftermarket unit has an MSRP of US$ 299.99. Both were made available in the fourth quarter of 2007. As of 1 January 2016 the service has been discontinued. In June 2005, Sirius signed an agreement with BBC Radio 1 in the UK to rebroadcast the station to an American audience. In August 2011, Sirius dropped BBC Radio 1 , but a week later they announced that the channel would return online. Sirius also had exclusive satellite radio rights to National Public Radio , carrying two separate streams. The Sirius NPR NOW programming did not include
2310-458: Is a single screen (or a dual screen option in the Chrysler Town and Country and Dodge Grand Caravan ) for back seat passengers to watch while front seat passengers have the option of simultaneously listening to any normal Sirius radio channel. The service is reported to cost an additional US$ 6.99 per month on top of the standard Sirius subscription price. The MSRP of the factory installed units
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#17330845567002420-433: Is an intentional four-second delay between the two satellite carrier signals. This enables the receiver to maintain a large buffer of the audio stream, which, along with forward error correction , helps keep the audio playing in the event that the signal is temporarily lost, such as when driving under an overpass or otherwise losing line-of-sight of any of the satellites or ground repeater stations. A third, separate signal
2530-449: Is designed to mitigate and retain signal quality in hostile signal conditions and the relatively weak signal levels from distant satellites. Because the satellites are not all geostationary they appear and disappear over the horizon. Terrestrial signals are present only in major cities to augment the satellite signals. Approximately five chipset versions were built by Agere and approximately 4 versions were built by STMicroelectronics after
2640-460: Is included with the receiver. Antenna placement is crucial to receiving a clear signal. In some locations users have experienced difficulty receiving the Sirius programming because the signal is not consistently strong. For the best reception, antennas should be placed such that they have an unobstructed view of the sky (preferably on rooftops without overhanging eaves or trees). If this is not an option,
2750-582: Is not known if the XM HD Surround technology is used on the service as of 2015. In 1998, Clear Channel Communications invested in XM. The companies entered into agreements which provided for certain programming and director designation arrangements as long as Clear Channel retained the full amount of its original investment in XM. One positive consequence of this was that XM had (and still has) exclusive programming rights to all Clear Channel content, including popular national shows like Coast to Coast AM , but
2860-425: Is separated into three carriers, one each for the two satellites, and the third for the terrestrial repeater network where available. Sirius receivers decode all three 4 MHz carrier signals at once to achieve signal diversity . This is in contrast to XM which uses six carriers and decodes three 2 MHz carriers to economize on receiver power consumption and complexity at the cost of channel-changing speed. There
2970-412: Is the result of a partnership between XM and Neural Audio Corporation which provides content with six discrete channels of digital audio. The former XM Live channel also broadcast in this format for certain concerts and studio performances. XM manufacturing partners such as Denon , Onkyo , Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc. , and Yamaha introduced home audio systems capable of playing XM HD Surround. It
3080-457: Is uplinked to the AMC-6 Ku-band satellite and received by 36-inch (910 mm) satellite dishes for the ground repeater network. This third signal is broadcast on a third segment of the signal. The technology for Sirius Satellite Radio receivers as well as some of the uplink equipment, and the studio encoder, originated at Bell Labs in the late 1990s and subsequent years. The studio encoder
3190-510: The Underground Garage , dedicated to garage rock , and Outlaw Country with its focus on alternative country music . The majority of the company's programming was self-produced exclusively for Sirius. However, there were some shows—especially in the Talk genre—that were originally created for terrestrial radio, but then aired on conventional radio and on Sirius/XM simultaneously; one example
3300-581: The Baseband Integrated Circuit currently the STA240, which is produced by STMicroelectronics. The chip contains embedded ARM7TDMI and ARM946E-S microprocessors synthesized from IP cores . Every baseband has a unique Electronic Serial Number (or Sirius ID). Another major section of a Sirius receiver is the tuner. The tuner is also a custom ASIC , the STA210. The tuner connects to the antenna, and receives
3410-779: The Federal Communications Commission . In 1998, Hugh Panero President and CEO, joined XM Satellite Radio in the same role. In June 1999, Clear Channel Communications , DirecTV , General Motors , and a private investment group invested US$ 250 million in XM Satellite Radio convertible debt . On June 7, with GM's investment in XM, they entered into a 12-year "Distribution Agreement" between XM and GM subsidiary, OnStar Corporation. The agreement called for exclusive installation of XM Satellite Radio into GM vehicles from November 12, 2001, until November 2013. OnStar had to meet specific escalating installation rates each year, while XM needed to make extensive payments to OnStar for
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3520-702: The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament . In August 2004, Sirius launched Sirius NFL Radio , a 24-hour radio stream for covering the NFL. Sirius also had the only national Horse racing talk show, At the Races , hosted by noted racing handicapper, Steve Byk. The Hardcore Poker Show , hosted by Rob Pizzo and Chris Tessaro, was the only syndicated poker talk show in North America. Sirius also broadcast select Premier League matches. On September 27, 2006, Sirius announced
3630-427: The S band between 2320 and 2332.5 MHz. Audio channels are digitally compressed using a proprietary variant of Lucent 's Perceptual Audio Coder compression algorithm and encrypted with a proprietary conditional access system. Sirius has announced that they intend to implement hierarchical modulation technology to economize on bandwidth up to 25%. Each receiver must be connected to an external antenna, which
3740-618: The aacPlus codec, including spectral band replication (SBR). Audio was stored digitally in Dalet audio library systems using an industry-standard MPEG-1 Layer II at 384 kbit/s, sometimes known as MUSICAM . The audio is further processed by the Neural Audio processors on the way to broadcast. In the past, the Sirius XM Pops channel, which aired classical music, was broadcast in 5.1 surround sound . The technology, titled XM HD Surround ,
3850-461: The 115° WL location to complete the satellite replacement program. On December 15, 2006, XM-1 was finally powered down and then drifted back to its original location at 85° WL, where it remained as a backup to XM-3. XM-2 was similarly powered down and remained as a backup to XM-4. This makes the current active satellites as XM-3 "Rhythm" and XM-4 "Blues" with two in-orbit spares. On June 7, 2005, Space Systems/Loral announced that it had been awarded
3960-599: The 2005–2006 season, and in 2007 Sirius/XM gained exclusive rights to NHL games. Sirius also had full NASCAR coverage, including a weekly show hosted by now-retired driver Tony Stewart . In 2009, Sirius/XM was the first to carry live coverage of the 24-hour road race from Le Mans . Sirius/XM also had the rights to a number of major college sports teams, including teams in the Big East , Big Ten and Southeastern Conferences , as well as The University of Notre Dame . Beginning in 2005, Sirius also had exclusive radio rights to cover
4070-503: The 2006 Consumer Electronics Show . On February 9, XM announced a US$ 55 million, three-year deal with Oprah Winfrey 's Harpo Productions . In May 2006, XM Satellite Radio was sued by the RIAA over XM's new portable devices the Inno and Helix. The RIAA claimed these devices were equivalent to a downloading service, whereas XM contended the devices were protected because they recorded similarly to
4180-464: The ABC News and Talk channel 143 (since having ceased operations), including live feeds of Sean Hannity and Larry Elder's syndicated radio shows, Patriot Talk channel 125 (which includes Michael Reagan's syndicated radio show) and Fox News Talk channel 145 (which includes syndicated radio hosts such as Alan Colmes and John Gibson). On March 14, 2006, Sirius added Cosmo Radio , Playboy Radio , and returned
4290-660: The Operational Assistance Agreement would remain in effect, including Clear Channel's right to receive a revenue share of commercial advertising on programming it provides to XM, but declined to enforce the Director Designation Agreement, which forced the Mays family members off the board of directors. Per the original agreement, Clear Channel had the right to program 409.6 kbit/s (or 10%) of XM bandwidth, requiring XM to include commercial advertising on
4400-675: The SiriusXM mobile app . XM also provided data services such as weather information for pilots and weather spotters through its Sirius XM Weather & Emergency datacasting service. This information could be displayed in the cockpit of an aircraft equipped with a satellite weather receiver. In 2004, JetBlue announced that XM Satellite Radio service would be available in its Embraer regional jets beginning in 2005. Also in 2005, AirTran Airways began putting XM Satellite Radio on their aircraft. United Airlines started carrying XM programming in March 2006. Zipcar , an urban car-sharing service in
4510-535: The Traffic and Weather channels. The XM radio signal was broadcast on 6 separate radio carriers within the 12.5 MHz allocation. The entire content of the radio service, including both data and audio content, was represented by only two carriers. The other 4 carriers carried duplicates of the same content to achieve redundancy through signal diversity . The data on each carrier is encoded using time-delayed and error-correction schemes to enhance availability. Effectively,
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4620-481: The United States, XM owned and operated approximately 800 repeater sites, covering 60 markets; in Canada, CSR was installing approximately 80 to 100 repeaters that were planned to be owned and operated by CSR in the 16 largest Canadian cities. The actual number of repeater sites varies as the signal is regularly tested and monitored for optimal performance. The actual number of sites in the United States has dropped from
4730-550: The United States, initially installed XM receivers in all of their vehicles, but later announced they would be removed from its fleet in the following months due to uncertainty in the market. In contrast to its high-quality broadcasts, Sirius/XM's customer service has drawn fire from some state governments. In October 2010, Richard Cordray, Ohio's Attorney General, began investigating complaints regarding Sirius XM's policies on billing, customer solicitation, and subscription renewals and cancellations. The company informed shareholders of
4840-475: The United States. Also in 2004, the company partnered with automakers General Motors , Honda , Isuzu , Nissan , Toyota , Volkswagen , and SAAB to offer in-dash XM receivers on an OEM basis. The Acura TL is the first luxury automobile to offer XM radio as "standard" in every vehicle. On October 4, 2004, "shock jocks" Opie and Anthony begin broadcasting on a premium XM Satellite Radio station. Also, former National Public Radio host Bob Edwards broadcast
4950-485: The XM-Sirius merger and on July 29, Sirius and XM officially merged as Sirius XM Radio . XM Canada and Sirius Canada, subsidiaries of the parent companies, remained separate until April 2011. In early 2009, Sirius XM prepared to file Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company had a $ 1 billion debt obligation in 2009 and $ 175 million immediate obligation due February 17, 2009. On November 12, Gary Parsons resigned as chairman and
5060-436: The air. The Pink Channel, National Lampoon Comedy Radio , WSIX-FM , WLW , and Rock@Random were launched and later removed, and replaced by channels like Bollywood & Beyond , The Music Summit, and Sixx Sense , all of which are on the air today. Seen as a blow to XM's 100% commercial-free music channel status, XM Executive Vice President of Programming Eric Logan released a programming announcement to XM subscribers on
5170-463: The analog audio signal. The front-end of a Sirius receiver is called the head unit , required to display descriptive text (such as the category, channel, artist, and song name) and provide controls to the user. This is implemented by the third-party designers of Sirius-ready receivers, using a microprocessor of their choice. Sirius offers car radios and home entertainment systems, as well as car and home kits for portable use. The Sirius receiver includes
5280-530: The antenna module and the receiver module. The antenna module picks up signals from the ground repeaters or the satellite, amplifies the signal and filters out any interference. The signal is then passed on to the receiver module. Inside the receiver module is a chipset consisting of eight chips. The chipset converts the signals from 2.3 gigahertz (GHz) to a lower intermediate frequency. Sirius also offers an adapter that allows conventional car radios to receive satellite signals. Sirius broadcasts using 12.5 MHz of
5390-565: The antenna should be placed on an exterior wall. When placing on an exterior wall, the antenna should be mounted to a wall which faces the southern continental United States in order to minimize the likelihood of the building itself blocking the signal. Sirius' satellites are named Radiosat because there is already a fleet of satellites named Sirius , launched by Sweden's NSAB (Nordiska Satellitaktiebolaget, or Nordic Satellite AB, and known today as SES Sirius ) and used for general telecommunications and satellite television throughout Sweden and
5500-601: The audio programming, the Sirius broadcast stream also carries a Data Services channel that is utilized by capable receivers and graphical display hardware. Some of the data services offered are traffic speed and flow, marine weather, and fuel prices to name just a few. Examples of capable hardware are the Raymarine SR100 Satellite Weather receiver and the Alpine NVE-N872A Satellite Traffic Ready navigation system. The Sirius signal
5610-559: The audio simulcast of the Fox News Channel TV feed, which was previously removed during a contract dispute. The service also added Fox's satellite talk radio channel, Fox News Talk . In April 2003, Sirius launched Sirius OutQ , the first-ever 24/7 talk channel designed for the LGBT audience. Personalities associated with the channel include Frank DeCaro , Michelangelo Signorile , Derek Hartley , and Romaine Patterson . In addition to
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#17330845567005720-529: The business model for premium cable television . Music channels are presented without advertising, while its talk channels, such as Howard Stern 's Howard 100 and Howard 101 and Jason Ellis ' Faction Talk , carry commercials. Because all channels are free from FCC content regulation, songs are played unedited for language; talk programs may also feature explicit content if they wish. Subscriptions are prepaid and range in price from US$ 14.99 monthly (US$ 9.99 for each additional receiver) to US$ 699.99 for lifetime (of
5830-573: The car or home stereo, the XM PCR required a computer to run. A software application on the computer acted as the radio's controls and display, which led to a flurry of third-party developers who wanted to make a PCR replacement. Many of them received Cease and Desist letters from the XM company . Once the PCR was discontinued, for the reasons listed above, people found that the XM Direct, a receiver intended to be used in satellite-ready car stereos, can be connected to
5940-699: The channel lineups to match both services as well as group them by genre, moving Classic Vinyl to its current position on channel 26 for both Sirius and XM radios. The internet player can be biased toward "earlier" (60s) or "later" (70s) artists and adjusted as to the amount of British artists which play. Sirius Satellite Radio Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. was a satellite radio ( SDARS ) and online radio service operating in North America, owned by Sirius XM Holdings . Headquartered in New York City, with smaller studios in Los Angeles and Memphis , Sirius
6050-488: The company CD Radio, and spent the next five years lobbying the FCC to allow satellite radio to be deployed, and the following five years raising $ 1.6 billion, which was used to build and launch three satellites into elliptical orbit from Kazakhstan in July 2000. The company successfully bid $ 83.3 million to purchase their satellite radio license. In 1997, after Margolese had obtained regulatory clearance and "effectively created
6160-461: The company's website that reiterated XM's commitment to commercial-free music while noting that XM still had the most commercial-free music and that more commercial-free music channels will be added in the near future to ensure that XM will still have more commercial-free music than competitor Sirius Satellite Radio . On April 17, 2006, XM launched US Country (XM17), Flight 26 (XM26), XM Hitlist (XM30) and Escape (XM78) to provide commercial free music in
6270-669: The company. In 1992, the American Mobile Satellite Corporation created a new division known as American Mobile Radio Corp. Later that year, American Mobile brought in WorldSpace as an investor. On May 16, 1997, American Mobile Satellite and WorldSpace officially changed the name of American Mobile Radio to XM Satellite Radio. Later that month, Lon Levin became president, a position he would hold until 1998. In October 1997, XM Satellite Radio obtained one of only two satellite digital audio radio service licenses offered by
6380-402: The core audio content. This architecture has worked remarkably well in avoiding drop out of audio signal when driving under highway overpasses, and when scintillating (very deep and frequent losses in signal strength caused by radio fading from trees) conditions exist. Since Sirius and XM separately entered the market with incompatible waveforms on the satellite, one would logically conclude that
6490-501: The deal, XM created a 24/7 MLB channel called " Home Plate ". The deal started with the 2005 baseball season and ran through 2012, including a 3-year option that MLB could have picked up. On May 28, 2005, The Wall Street Journal reported that XM had awarded the contract for the XM 5 spacecraft to Space Systems/Loral . On June 7, XM partnered with Audible.com to offer downloadable audio show archives of The Opie and Anthony Show, as well as The Bob Edwards Show. On August 1, XM announced
6600-617: The end of his second year on Sirius, from fewer than 700,000 subscribers to 6 million (see graph on the right). Stern now has two channels operating on Sirius, but still retains the right to a third. Sirius/XM's channels carried an array of programming that covered Music, News/Talk, Sports, and Entertainment. Sirius had deals with entertainers and personalities for broadcast streams. Besides Stern, Sirius had deals with Martha Stewart , E Street Band member Steven Van Zandt , Jimmy Buffett , and Eminem to executive-produce streams or channels on Sirius. Van Zandt created two stations for Sirius:
6710-559: The equator: XM Rhythm at 85° west longitude and XM Blues at 115° west longitude in addition to a network of ground-based repeaters. The combination of two satellites and a ground-based repeater network was designed to provide gap-free coverage anywhere within the contiguous U.S., the southern tip of Alaska, and in the southern part of Canada. The signal could also be received in the Caribbean Islands and most of Mexico (reports have stated that areas north of Acapulco were able to receive
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#17330845567006820-584: The existing Nashville! , KISS , Mix , and Sunny (now The Music Summit). The amount of advertising on the music channels amounts up to 4 minutes per hour, similar to the amount of advertising XM included before going commercial free. Exceptions include syndicated music shows which carry network spots. Clear Channel advertising on XM is handled by its subsidiary, Premiere Radio Networks . Clear Channel also provided existing talk channel programming ( Fox Sports Radio , Extreme XM , Talk Radio ). Clear Channel also controlled America Right (formerly Buzz XM), but through
6930-518: The first Bob Edwards Show on XM Public Radio on channel 133. On October 20, XM announced an 11-year, US$ 650 million deal with Major League Baseball to broadcast games live nationwide and to become the Official Satellite Radio provider of Major League Baseball. The agreement granted XM the rights to use the MLB silhouetted batter logo and the collective marks of all major league clubs. As part of
7040-627: The formats of the Clear Channel programmed music channels which were going to begin airing commercials. In response, Sirius has advertised that they are the only satellite radio provider that has 100% commercial-free music channels. Both XM and Sirius air commercials on their news, talk, and sports channels. The Clear Channel forward sales agreement with Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc was terminated on August 2, 2006. The termination resulted in Clear Channel Investments, Inc. paying Bear Stearns
7150-545: The games with a premium subscription. In August 2003, Sirius partnered with Clearwater, Florida -based Applied Media Technologies Corporation , a provider of telephone "on hold" messaging. AMTC provides Sirius service in a package branded as Sirius Music for Business . For US$ 29.95 per month, AMTC provides all of Sirius' streams of commercial-free music, and pays all performance royalties to ASCAP , Broadcast Music Incorporated , and SESAC , so that business owners may legally play Sirius' music in their establishments. Unlike
7260-413: The incoming satellite and terrestrial signals at 2.315 GHz and downconverts them to intermediate frequency signals at around 75 MHz. The strength of the signals is approximately −50dBm in clear-sky conditions. The IF signals are fed to the STA240, which are digitized, demodulated, error-corrected, de-interleaved, and decrypted using specialized circuits on the chip. The baseband processor utilizes
7370-424: The industry," the FCC also sold a license to XM Satellite Radio, which followed Sirius's example. In November 1999, Marketing chief Ira Bahr convinced Margolese to again change the name of the company, this time to Sirius Satellite Radio, in order to avoid association with the soon-to-be-outdated CD technology. It had secured installation deals with automakers including Chrysler , Ford and BMW . Sirius launched
7480-464: The initial phase of its service in four cities, with the first receiver sold at Cowboy Maloney's in Jackson, MS on February 14, 2002, expanding to the rest of the contiguous United States on July 1, 2002. In 2001 Margolese stepped down as CEO, remaining as chairman until November 2003, with Sirius issuing a statement thanking him "for his great vision, leadership and dedication in creating both Sirius and
7590-406: The initial prototypes, although all of the early receivers included an Agere chipset known as Northstar. This platform enjoyed the highest volume of chipsets to date, representing the bulk of total production from 2002 to 2010. As of 2010, most of the chipsets are produced by STMicroelectronics. At the heart of a Sirius receiver is a custom application-specific integrated circuit ( ASIC ) chip called
7700-468: The installation and sale of XM in their vehicles, while sharing revenue earned from these radios with OnStar, as well as payments on the exclusivity agreement. At the same time as the investment, American Mobile Satellite, still XM's parent company, reacquired the stake WorldSpace held in the company. In October 1999, XM Satellite Radio issued 10,241,000 shares of Class A common stock at an IPO price of US$ 12.00 per share. American Mobile Satellite remained
7810-478: The interest already held by their subsidiary, DirecTV. On November 12, 2001, XM Satellite Radio officially launched its nationwide service. In January 2003, the company underwent a re-capitalization plan, involving XM exchanging US$ 300 million in old debt for new debt, while deferring interest for 3-years on the notes. They also restructured payment obligations on the General Motors installation agreement, issuing
7920-401: The internet to any of its subscribers with a valid user name and password. On July 29, 2008, Sirius formally completed its merger with former competitor XM Satellite Radio . The combined company began operating under the name Sirius XM Satellite Radio . On November 12, 2008, Sirius and XM began broadcasting with their new, combined channel lineups. On January 13, 2011, Sirius Satellite Radio
8030-519: The island of Puerto Rico by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). In March 2007, Sirius announced the availability of its first video service called "Backseat TV". In August 2007, the company revealed details of the first receiver, the SCV1, was originally offered exclusively through Chrysler OEM factory units. The service includes streaming video from three "family" television channels: Nickelodeon , Disney Channel and Cartoon Network Mobile. There
8140-584: The label "XM" (e.g., "XM32" for " The Bridge "). The company had its origins in the 1988 formation of the American Mobile Satellite Corporation (AMSC), a consortium of several organizations originally dedicated to satellite broadcasting of telephone, fax, and data signals. In 1992, AMSC established a unit called the American Mobile Radio Corporation dedicated to developing a satellite-based digital radio service; this
8250-586: The majority holder of the public company. In April 2000, American Mobile Satellite Corp. changed its name to Motient. In July, American Honda joined several private investors in a US$ 235 million preferred stock investment in the company. On September 25, 2001, XM Satellite Radio launched in San Diego and Dallas–Fort Worth , with nationwide expansion plans set for November. The initial lineup included 100 channels consisting of sports, talk, children's programming, entertainment and news. In October 2001, Motient
8360-489: The merged company will eventually evolve the signal format again to take advantage of their size, but this is a speculative statement. The use of a satellite and terrestrial combined service has been adopted by the DVB-SH standard, and companies such as ICO communications who cooperated with Alcatel-Lucent on system design and field trials. ONDAS, a Madrid-based company, also adopted this pioneering system architecture. The receiver
8470-476: The merger in December 2012. On February 19, 2007, Sirius announced a merger deal with competitor XM Satellite Radio . If the pending merger received government approval, which was required because of antitrust considerations, it would combine the two services into a single satellite radio network in the United States and would be named Sirius/XM Radio. On March 24, 2008, the U.S. Department of Justice approved
8580-515: The merger of Sirius and XM. Approval from the FCC cleared on July 25, 2008. Conditions of the merger included allowing any third-party company to make satellite radio devices; producing new radios that can receive both XM and Sirius channels within one year; allowing consumers to choose which channels they would like to have; freezing subscription rates for three years; setting aside 8% of its channels for noncommercial programmers; and paying $ 19.7 million in fines for past rule violations. According to
8690-425: The music services Muzak / DMX Music or Music Choice , the SiriusXM for Business service uses the same channels and SDARS delivery platform as the consumer Sirius service. The SDARS delivery platform, on the other hand, is more reliable than any of the other services in that it is not subject to satellite dish rain fade . The highly elliptical orbit of the Sirius satellite constellation can pose difficulties for
8800-516: The on-air format is largely that of Top Tracks, with the DJs from Classic Vinyl making on-air appearances. Most of the Top Tracks songs from about 1977 on were moved to Classic Rewind, which merged with Big Tracks. Classic Vinyl initially continued to broadcast from the legacy Sirius and XM channels of 14 and 46, respectively, after the merger of Classic Vinyl with Top Tracks. In 2011, Sirius XM largely realigned
8910-495: The original 1,000 installed when the service first launched in 2001. The repeaters transmit in the same frequency band as the satellites. A typical city contains 20 or more terrestrial stations. Typically, the receiver owner is unaware when a terrestrial station is being used, unless he or she checks antenna information from the receiver being used. Due to a FCC filing in October 2006, the latest list of XM's US terrestrial repeater network
9020-424: The overnight hours. Meanwhile, then-rival XM Satellite Radio broadcast a similar Classic rock channel called Top Tracks that aired much of the same programming as well as some overlapping programming from Classic Rewind , which airs the "later era" of classic rock. Top Tracks largely cut off at the start of the 1980s where Big Tracks would pick up, although it did air songs from Pink Floyd 's The Wall (which
9130-399: The popular programs All Things Considered and Morning Edition . With the launch of Sirius Canada in December 2005, American listeners gained five Canadian-produced stations including CBC Radio One , CBC Radio Three and Iceberg Radio , and Première Plus , Énergie2 , and Bande à part for French listeners. Iceberg Radio is programmed by Standard Broadcasting , which also provides
9240-469: The probe shortly thereafter. According to news reports, Arizona, Connecticut, Tennessee, Vermont, and the District of Columbia had expressed interest in participating in the inquiry. According to Reuters , "The investigations come as Sirius XM , home to programs by Howard Stern and Oprah Winfrey, has found its footing and distanced itself from years of huge losses and questions about its business model." In
9350-455: The receiver before being decoded. Heavy error correction is applied to the signals. All three signals contain the same audio content on all the channels that the receiver can receive, with the exception of one audio program waveform being transmitted ahead of the other two by approximately four seconds. With this time skew, the signals, once realigned, need to see an 8-second obstruction of overpass fade in order to lose audio content. This increases
9460-487: The receiver equipment ). There is a US$ 15 activation fee for every radio activated. Sirius announced it had achieved its first positive cash flow quarter for the period ending December 2006. Sirius launched its radio service in four states on February 14, 2002, expanding service to the rest of the contiguous U.S. by July of that year. On October 16, 2006, Sirius announced that it would be launching Sirius Internet Radio, with 78 of its 135 channels being available worldwide on
9570-631: The reliable delivery of the signal to stationary antennas in certain parts of the country. To eliminate this potential problem, Sirius launched a new geostationary satellite , FM-5, to improve service to non-mobile customers such as those of SiriusXM for Business. The service can also be accessed online using Sirius' online streaming technology, allowing any business with a broadband Internet connection to overcome any potential reception issues. Additionally, Sirius applied for repeaters in Hawaii and Alaska and has already been granted authority for 20 repeaters covering
9680-669: The rest of Scandinavia . The current primary uplink facility for Sirius, which was formerly used as the uplink site for Western Union 's Westar fleet of communication satellites from the early 1970s to the late 1980s, is located in Glenwood, New Jersey . The original facility was located on the roof of the building housing the Sirius studios in Rockefeller Center in New York City but has since been decommissioned. XM Satellite Radio XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. ( XM )
9790-514: The robustness of the signal delivery in most driving conditions. In order to recover meaningful signal and error-free audio from a signal impaired by interference and fading, the receiver uses concatenated Reed-Solomon block coding and Forward Error Correction encoding and decoding (codec). This technique was proven in the early days of satellite modems in the late 1970s. Linkabit, then run by Irwin Jacobs prior to his involvement with Qualcomm, offered such
9900-427: The same frequency, forming a single frequency network. A number of transmitters can be placed around a city to create coverage that is less subject to fading than if a single transmitter were used. The satellite signal is QPSK. Both satellite and terrestrial signals have hierarchical modulation superposed on the original signal, a measure created to add bandwidth at a small expense in the satellite link budget for decoding
10010-767: The satellite radio industry." The first confirmed music transmission from satellite to radio receiver for Sirius was September 1, 2000, in NYC at the current HQ of SiriusXM. Ten employees were present during the first music transmission. One being Lawrence J. Simon, current VP Business and Ground Ops (Former B2B board member for NASCAR, Director of labs for Lockheed Martin and Grumman), Paul De Lia, current Senior Advisor for BCG (Former CTO for L3-Harris). Joe Clayton, former CEO of Global Crossing , followed as CEO from November 2001 until November 2004. He remained chairman until July 2008. Mel Karmazin , former president of Viacom , became CEO in November 2004 and remained in that position through
10120-545: The shows could only be broadcast inside the bandwidth controlled by Clear Channel. In June 2003, Clear Channel entered into a forward sales agreement relating to its ownership of XM. During the third quarter of 2005, Clear Channel and XM arbitrated the impact of this agreement on the Operational Assistance Agreement and the Director Designation Agreement . The Arbitration Panel decided that
10230-520: The time a spinoff of AT&T. Early prototypes were followed by a number of generations of ASIC custom designed chipsets, supplied at first by Agere Systems and later supplied by Agere Systems and their competitor STMicroelectronics. Three signals from three different sources (satellite, satellite, and terrestrial) are therefore combined in the receiver as radio signals, (not as audio signals). The three signals need to be combined constructively (avoiding situations where bad signals pollute good signals) in
10340-578: The total radio spectrum used for content is a little over 4 MHz. Each two-carrier group broadcast 100 8-kilobit-per-second streams in approximately 4 MHz of radio spectrum. These streams were combined using a patented process to form a variable number of channels using a variety of bitrates. Bandwidth is separated into segments of 4-kilobit-per-second virtual "streams" which are combined to form audio and data "channels" of varying bitrates from 4 to 64 kilobits-per-second. XM preprocessed audio content using Neural Audio processors that are optimized for
10450-447: Was a result of Bell Labs' efforts in statistical multiplexing of perceptual audio coded signals, a cousin of the MP3 standards. The waveform design for the terrestrial and satellite signals, as well as the early prototype receivers, were implemented in an FPGA logic and tested in the field to verify the performance of the receivers. This work was contracted by Sirius to Lucent Technologies , at
10560-500: Was dissolved as a separate entity and merged into Sirius XM Radio, Inc. Sirius was founded by Martine Rothblatt , who served as the new company's Chairman of the Board. Co-founder David Margolese served as Chief Executive Officer and Robert Briskman served as President and Chief Operating Officer. In 1990, Rothblatt founded Satellite CD Radio, Inc. in Washington, D.C. The company
10670-648: Was dissolved as a separate entity and merged into Sirius XM Radio, Inc. While the satellite receiver radio service was its primary product, XM also operated audio, data and advertising services. XM's primary business was satellite radio entertainment. XM carried music, news (both simulcast and syndicated programming), sports, talk radio, comedy (both stand-up and radio shows), and radio drama. In addition, XM broadcast local weather and traffic conditions in its larger markets. XM Radio Online (XMRO), XM's Internet radio product, offered many of XM's music stations and could be accessed from any Internet connected computer, or via
10780-552: Was forced by the stringent regulations of the FCC whose enforcement was intensified following the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show controversy . In the wake of the announcement of his pending departure, Stern complained that Infinity Broadcasting was making his departure more acrimonious than was necessary. The deal, which gave Sirius exclusive rights to Stern's radio show, also gave Stern the right to build three full-time programming channels. His audience had grown almost tenfold by
10890-535: Was heading into bankruptcy and spun off their non-XM satellite division into a joint operation with TMI Communications and Company, L.P., a wholly owned subsidiary of BCE Inc. of Canada. The new venture was known as the Mobile Satellite Ventures. In November, Motient was in bankruptcy, and sold off their controlling interest in XM to Hughes Electronics , SingTel and Baron Capital Partners. Hughes Electronics would go on to combine this new interest in with
11000-469: Was launched ahead of its planned schedule on February 28, 2005, and moved into XM-1's previous location of 85° WL. XM-1 was then moved to be co-located with XM-2 at 115° WL, where each satellite operated only one transponder (thus broadcasting half the bandwidth each) to conserve energy and cut the power consumption in half while XM-4 ("Blues") was readied for launch. Subsequently, XM launched ground-spare XM-4 ("Blues") ahead of schedule on October 30, 2006, into
11110-403: Was made available to the public. The XM signal used 12.5 MHz of the S band : 2332.5 to 2345.0 MHz. XM provided 128 kilobits per second of its bandwidth to OnStar Corporation for use with XM-enabled GM vehicles, regardless of whether their owners are XM subscribers. American Honda also retained the right to some of the company's bandwidth to transmit messages to Acura vehicles via
11220-491: Was made the president and chief operating officer. In October, the XM-4 " Blues " satellite was launched atop a Zenit 3SL rocket. On January 18, 2007, the Federal Communications Commission ruled that licensing regulations would prohibit a possible merger of XM and Sirius Satellite Radio . On February 19, XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. and Sirius Satellite Radio announced they would merge . On March 20, 2007, XM and Sirius filed
11330-493: Was officially launched on July 1, 2002. It now provides 69 streams (channels) of music and 65 streams of sports, news, and entertainment to its subscribers. A subset of Sirius music channels is included as part of the Dish Network satellite television service. Sirius channels are identified by Nielsen Audio with the label "SR" (e.g. "SR120", "SR9", "SR17"). Its business model is to provide pay-for-service radio, analogous to
11440-450: Was one of the three satellite radio ( SDARS ) and online radio services in the United States and Canada, operated by Sirius XM Holdings . It provided pay-for-service radio, analogous to subscription cable television. Its service included 73 different music channels, 39 news, sports, talk and entertainment channels, 21 regional traffic and weather channels, and 23 play-by-play sports channels. XM channels were identified by Arbitron with
11550-523: Was released in November 1979 but is generally viewed as a 1980s album) as well as John Lennon 's songs from the 1980 album Double Fantasy just before his murder . Top Tracks aired on XM channel 46 and unlike Classic Vinyl, Top Tracks was completely automated . As a result of the Sirius-XM merger, Classic Vinyl and Top Tracks merged on November 12, 2008. Although the Classic Vinyl name was carried over,
11660-551: Was replaced by Eddy W. Hartenstein, as the new non-executive chairman. On November 24, 2010, XM Canada and Sirius Canada announced plans to merge. On April 11, 2011, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission approved the merger of the Canadian companies, Sirius and XM, into Sirius XM Canada . XM provided digital programming directly from two high-powered satellites in geostationary orbit above
11770-517: Was spun off as XM Satellite Radio Holdings, Inc. in 1999. The satellite service officially launched on September 25, 2001. On July 29, 2008, XM and former competitor Sirius Satellite Radio formally completed their merger, following U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approval, forming Sirius XM Radio, Inc. with XM Satellite Radio, Inc. as its subsidiary. On November 12, 2008, Sirius and XM began broadcasting with their new, combined channel lineups. On January 13, 2011, XM Satellite Radio, Inc.
11880-401: Was sued in federal court by a customer accusing it of deceptively raising prices. The report also stated that "Sirius, in a statement, said it was cooperating with the investigations and that it believed its 'consumer-related practices comply with all applicable federal and state laws and regulations.'" The American Mobile Satellite Corporation was founded in 1988. In 1991, Lon Levin joined
11990-637: Was the Eternal Word Television Network . Among the hosts with Sirius/XM shows were: Sirius also broadcast sports content. It had exclusive satellite radio broadcasting rights to all NFL , CFL and NBA games. In December 2005, Sirius announced a multi-year deal with the NBA. The agreement also created a 24-hour NBA Radio Channel. Sirius aired Full Court Press, an all-NBA show. On November 12, 2008, NBA games switched to XM and were replaced by Sporting News Radio . NHL games were shared with XM for
12100-589: Was the first to petition the FCC to assign unused frequencies for satellite radio broadcast, which "provoked a furor among owners of both large and small [terrestrial] radio stations." Rothblatt had previously helped create the PanAmSat international satellite television system, and helped launch and served as CEO of the Geostar satellite navigation system. In April 1992, she resigned as chairman and CEO of Sirius in order to start
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