Rumor True! XM Is Coming To Directv!

[Scott Greczkowski]

Satellite Entertainment Pioneers DIRECTV and XM Satellite Radio
Join Forces to Deliver 72 Channels of XM's Acclaimed Programming
to DIRECTV Customers Nationwide

Number of Audio Channels Available on DIRECTV Will Nearly Double
at No Additional Cost

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. and WASHINGTON, Sept. 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- An
agreement between DIRECTV and XM Satellite Radio, the nation's leading
providers of digital satellite entertainment programming, will be much more
than just music to the ears of more than 14.6 million DIRECTV customers
nationwide.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000724/XMSATLOGO )
As part of DIRECTV's dedication to offering the best in entertainment to
its customers, beginning Nov. 15, 2005, 72 channels of XM's quality music,
children's, and talk programming will be available via DIRECTV, nearly
doubling its current audio programming lineup at no additional cost. In
addition to music channels and children's programming, XM will provide XM's
Major League Baseball "Home Plate" talk radio channel, and its High Voltage
channel, featuring talk radio stars Opie and Anthony.
"DIRECTV is making a major commitment in the world of music, and this
alliance with XM Satellite Radio will leave a lasting imprint on not only our
more than 14.6 million customers nationwide, but on the pay television
industry as a whole," said Dan Fawcett, executive vice president, Programming
Acquisitions, DIRECTV, Inc. "By partnering with fellow satellite innovator XM
to deliver an unrivaled lineup of quality audio channels, we will continue to
provide our customers with more entertainment choices, more value and the best
service available."
"This marks the beginning of a natural partnership between the nation's
leading satellite radio company and the leading satellite television company,"
said Patricia Kesling, senior vice president, Marketing and Operations, XM
Satellite Radio. "DIRECTV offers a fantastic platform for people to
experience some of the amazing content we offer on XM. We know from
experience that when people get to sample XM, they want to become XM
subscribers. Part of XM's appeal is that we have an extraordinary group of
music experts who handpick the songs from XM's enormous music library, and
they work directly with artists to create original music specials and live
performances. Our talk radio programmers share that same spirit of creativity
and freedom. It's what separates XM Satellite Radio from everyone else."
Customers subscribing to the DIRECTV TOTAL CHOICE(R) programming package
will have access to 50 XM Satellite Radio music channels and customers
subscribing to the DIRECTV TOTAL CHOICE(R) Plus programming package and above
will have access to more than 65 channels. DIRECTV PARA TODOS(R) customers
will also have access to the same XM channels, as well as five additional
Latin music channels.

About DIRECTV, Inc.
DIRECTV is the nation's leading digital multichannel television service
provider with more than 14.6 million customers. DIRECTV and the Cyclone Design
logo are registered trademarks of DIRECTV, Inc. (NYSE: DTV). DIRECTV is a
world-leading provider of digital multichannel television entertainment.
DIRECTV is approximately 34 percent owned by News Corporation. For more
information visit http://www.directv.com .

About XM Satellite Radio
XM (Nasdaq: XMSR) is America's number one satellite radio service with
more than 5 million subscribers. Broadcasting live daily from studios in
Washington, DC, New York City and Nashville at the Country Music Hall of Fame,
XM's 2005 lineup includes more than 150 digital channels of choice from coast
to coast: the most commercial-free music channels, plus premier sports, talk,
comedy, children's and entertainment programming; and 21 channels of the most
advanced traffic and weather information. XM was named Best Radio Service at
the 2004 Billboard Digital Entertainment Awards.
XM, the leader in satellite-delivered entertainment and data services for
the automobile market through partnerships with General Motors, Honda, Toyota,
Hyundai, Nissan, Porsche, and Volkswagen/Audi, is available in more than 120
different vehicle models for 2005. XM's industry-leading products are
available at consumer electronics retailers nationwide. For more information
about XM hardware, programming and partnerships, please visit
http://www.xmradio.com .

 

[Thunder7]

Pretty cool. Looking forward to this......wish they would let us have the online listening too.....

 

[colofan]

Since satellite bandwith is already tight how are they getting all the channels in? Is XM going to be providing the downlink?

 

[BFG]

Audio channels take very little bandwidth. And the majority of channels will take the place of the MC channels, so not much hadded bandwidth

 

[colofan]

I was really hoping that they would add some audiophile channels (SACD or 5.1) but no go. Audio HD I guess is just not an option.

 

[Tonedeaf]

So the number of channels that Para Todos will get was vague, is it the same as TC+ or as TC plus the latin channels?
Edit:
Found my answer in the other thread. Para Todos Ultra Especial package gets 72 channels total 5 being Latin.

 

[mikedz4]

why are they taking away the music choice channels? I could have swore the press release said in addition to the music choice channels. Will these channels be designed to be interactive with album art,et al? Where will these channels be put? Will they include the nhl channel xm is launching?

 

[CRendall]

http://directv.com/see/landing/xm.html

It says right on the website that Music Choice is being replaced by XM Radio.

 

[damaged]

Cool , also, the announcment is showing up on channel 800. It lists the channels/genres we'll have.

Oh, and thanks Scott for the early info.

 

[Stargazer]

At least Dish Network kept all of the music channels that they previously had.

 

[Jimbo]

Unless I missed it, I did not see anything such as the ESPN radio ect, type stuff on any of the 800's, I suppose it will be ONLY music, I guess I would have to sub to XM to get the majority of the XM channels.

NFL, NHL, Nascar ect.

Anyone know about these ???

 

[Alvarez]

Yea I was told about this and told not to tell anyone... Guess I don't have to worry about spilling the beans now hehehe

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Yea I was told about this and told not to tell anyone... Guess I don't have to worry about spilling the beans now hehehe

I actually head about this three weeks ago but decredited it because of the Interview I did with XM CEO Hugh Penero at CES (CLICK HERE TO LISTEN)

Guess I should have listened to the tip I was given. I was happy to break the news last night though, I did get the rumr out before any others site so I guess in that alone I am happy.

 

[BFG]

Hehe Scott I brought that up in the 2nd post of the other thread

 

[video62]

Unless I missed it, I did not see anything such as the ESPN radio ect, type stuff on any of the 800's, I suppose it will be ONLY music, I guess I would have to sub to XM to get the majority of the XM channels.

NFL, NHL, Nascar ect.

Anyone know about these ???

Based on the list posted in another topic, only two talk channels: "High Voltage" (gets you Stern clones Opie & Anthony) and "MLB" which has baseball talk and some games (mostly old ones).

The page at http://www.directv.com/see/landing/xm.html should be re-written: Great Tunes. Wimpy Talk.

 

[Jeff003]

I wonder if dish will pick up the music choice channels I would love to be able to hear Phil Stout's b/ez channel that is on music choice.I'm an Xm subscriber and to those of you that don't have it you will enjoy it on directtv also for b/ez fans Sunny is a great channel it's on 24.Also Xm has 4 channels of different kinds of Christmas Music channels from Thanksgiving till Dec 27th they have B/EZ holiday,Traditional holiday,Country holiday and Special X holiday which is like Weird Al Yankovic.Once you hear xm on direct tv you will probebly want to subscribe.I enjoy it in my home as well as in my car.

 

[Spruceman]

Going to miss the all-instrumentals easy listening channel and the singers and standards channel on Music Choice. Although I like XM's Sunny 24, it's contaminated with vocals. And Frank's place is no replacement for MC's standards. When it comes any kind of music, I don't want announcers cluttering up the channel. XM has a great '50s channel musicwise, but there's too much of the extraneous crap between the songs, i.e., I want '50s music -- not cutesy wootsy crap trying to make it sound like a '50s radio station. MusicChoice doesn't do that. For city folk, MC is usually on digital cable; but rural folk beyond cable's reach will lose out, since MC (like Muzak) will not sell directly to consumers as DMX Music will.

 

[Jamey K]

Very nice job Scott! I read about it here before I saw in any the daily on line radio trades.