XM

Those of you who are XM radio subscribers may or may not be aware that, as part of the merger with/takeover by Sirius, the music offerings of Sirius and XM are to be merged…and that merger is quietly happening tonight.

Orbitcast has posted a leaked copy of XM’s new lineup, effective tonight.

It seems that more Sirius channels are surviving, rather than XM, although it remains to be seen whether Sirius-style programming (shallower playlists, more common appearance of hits) or XM-style programming (deeper playlists, less recurrence) survives on which channels.

I have to admit that I am a little bummed.  I listened to the original POTUS ’08 channel for the last time today, and got to witness the sign-offs of the major personalities of the channel, who have apparently been laid off due to the merger.   A new POTUS channel is supposed to start up tomorrow, however.  I’m pleased to see that style of channel survive the election, but it won’t be the same.

I’ll reserve judgment on some of the channels which are supposed to be almost 1:1 swaps (e.g. Ethel, Fred, and Lucy being replaced with 1st Wave, Alt Nation, and Lithium).  However, I am sad to see more artist-centric channels appear on XMs lineup.  I mean, do we need a 24/7 Elvis channel?

It looks like the Hip-Hop/R&B and Dance sections of the dial will see some attrition, while a few new comedy channels are being introduced – changes I’m also uncertain about.

However, there are some changes that do seem promising.  The line-up drops WorldSpace’s U-POP in favor of BBC Radio 1, which I enjoy streaming online every now and then.  I know that some folks will be disappointed with replacing the BBC World Service with BBC World News…but for car-based listening, I don’t actually mind that change.  And, unless my eyes deceive me, it looks like we’ll get the NPR channel that, for a while, had me wondering if I should’ve subscribed to Sirius.

Oh, and I do like the opportunity to listen to selected Premiership (English Football) games via “Best of Sirius”….but I already get the games I want via TiVo-to-iPhone transfer, and I wouldn’t want to seem like a Howard Stern fan by signing up.

My subscription runs through March…so I’ll give the merged service a shot.  However, since I joined the iPod/iPhone cult a few months ago…well, I do occasionally opt for listening to my iPod in the car (or stream online audio) in lieu of radio.

We’ll see.

Seen at Access Atlanta’s Radio & TV Talk blog:

The U.S. Justice Department has approved the long-awaited $5 billion merger of XM and Sirius satellite radio companies. Now they must await the Federal Communications Commission to give its thumbs up.[...]

It appears Sirius has the upper hand in this situation so that name may outlast XM. And how they merge channels is up in the air, too. There is talk that subscribers may be able to pick and choose stations in an a la carte situation. I’m not sure how easy that would be technically.

I’ve been a happy subscriber to XM for 5 years now. I subscribed after plug-and-play radios came onto the market (read: one subscription which works in car, at the office, and at home), and after my personal circumstances changed to justify it (read: I started driving longer distances to various sites for work, rather than commuting downtown daily on the bus). Given my eclectic tastes, the blandness of the local radio market up here near Hartford, and my wife’s personal boycott of Clear Channel, XM has been great.

Assuming the FCC approves the merger (which might still be a big assumption), I’ll be sorry to see the XM name fade away, and I’ll be very interested to see how the two sets of offerings are merged. I personally have preferred XM to Sirius, because XM’s stations tend to have deeper playlists (the flip side of that, of course, is how many people prefer Sirius to XM because they “hardly ever hear my favorite songs” on XM), and I’d hate to see that change.

Of course, if I could start receiving BBC Radio 1 without having to get a new receiver, I would be a very happy camper. Bonus points will be awarded if I that can be achieved without Howard Stern appearing on XM-legacy hardware.