Football fans will be pleased to read the news today that long-time football commentator, John Madden, will be returning to Sirius XM Radio for his sixth season as a contributor to Sirius NFL Radio.

Madden will broadcast live, every Friday at 11.30am EST with Adam Schein on The Sirius Blitz, discussing every NFL game and providing his expert opinions on teams, specific players, the games themselves and prospects or developments in the 2009 NFL season.

Sirius NFL Radio is a station entirely devoted to the NFL season, detailing every aspect of each game and playing on Sirius channel 124.

[Via Sirius Press]

In another plus for Sirius Canada subscribers, a recent New York Times article has praised the satellite company’s response to the theft of satellite receivers.

While looking at corporate responses to the theft of Amazon Kindle electronic book readers the New York Times questioned the practices employed by Amazon in cracking down on stolen units.

Mentioned in the article however are the policies outlined by Sirius Radio Canada. The Canadian side of the company has maintained a policy since 2005 that allows subscribers to cancel service on stolen units by simply signing a statement, a move that is much better than XM Canada or the American Sirius XM Radio.

[Via New York Times]

The Sirius Stratus 6 offers every channel package currently available from Sirius XM Radio without any extra bells-and-whistles, even including options such as the popular The Best of XM selection.

To maintain a low price the Sirius Stratus 6 offers few frills and has no colours included on the display. It does host a blue backlit screen, up to ten favourite channel savings, One-Touch Jump traffic/weather and an universal docking feature (for use in automobiles, etc.).

[Via Orbitcast]

Sirius XM CEO Mel Karmazin has made news as his decision to voluntarily forfeit a large number of SIRI stock has reached the public domain and the attention of curious industry observers.

Karmazin relinquished personal stock as part of a Sirius XM business plan dating back to 2003. He and the satellite radio company plan to use the newly released shares in a larger move that seeks to “attract, motivate and retain key employees”.

The total number of SIRI shares let go of by Karmazin number at 30 million with 24 million having already been vested while 6 million more remain unclaimed.

[Via Orbitcast]

iPhone owners have been anxiously awaiting further news regarding the release of the official Sirius XM iPhone App and now an ever-closer deadline has been set by the developers; the end of June/beginning of July this year.

The company appears to be putting a lot of faith in the ability of the Sirius XM App to aid in drumming up new business and keeping current subscribers happy but some appear to be more skeptical regarding the miracle iPhone release.

In any case, the end of June should at least clear up a lot of the confusion (and mounting anticipation) surrounding the long-awaited Sirius XM iPhone App.

[Via Orbitcast]

The automotive industry has always been tightly linked to the financial success of satellite radio sales and subscriptions and, now that Chrysler has filed for bankruptcy, troubled times may be set to continue for Sirius Radio.

American officials are now enacting plans to completely re-configure the failing auto giant, forcing a partnership between Chrysler and Fiat as terms of the government aid being provided.

The previously lucrative deal between Sirius XM and Chrysler is in question now as the automotive corporation enters into a reorganization process set to last for at least one to two months.

We’ll have further details as they surface.

[Via Orbitcast]

Sirius XM has confirmed plans to cover every race of the 2009 American Le Mans Series starting with last Sunday’s season opener at the Sebring International Speedway.

Both Sirius and XM subscribers were able to tune in to hear live on the track, pre- and post-race coverage of the 57th Annual Twelve Hours of Sebring.

The series will continue to air for the entiriety of the season, providing racing fans with exhaustive coverage of each day of the famous autosport event.

Tune in to Sirius channel 126 or XM channel 242 on the day of any American Le Mans race to listen.

[Via Orbitcast]

Just in time for their induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Sirius has reintroduced the Mandatory Metallica channel after its intial appearance during last summer.

The massively popular group will host  24/7 channel content, discussing their storied career and body of work alongside cuts from their discography and recordings of rare, live performances. Metallica will also conduct interviews with bands inspired by their music, including Mastodon, Dragonforce and many more.

Mandatory Metallica will run for approximately one month as a limited series on Liquid Metal (Sirius channel 27/XM channel 42) beginning this Saturday (March 14th) at 6pm EST.

[Via Orbitcast]

Rising satellite radio personality, Jason Ellis, is set to receive even further exposure with his recent addition to The Virus’ line-up of programming.

Ellis rose to fame from the Australian skateboarding scene before delving into the world of mixed martial arts and finally radio. His broadcast, The Jason Ellis Show, gained Ellis even more noteriety for his uncensored, often irrevent candid talk.

Now, Ellis is being added to The Virus where he could grow his fanbase even further with a wider reach and the continued, high-energy style he’s famous for. The show will air on Saturdays from 7-9pm EST on The Virus (Sirius channel 197, XM channel 202).

[Via Orbitcast]

Satellite radio fans have been waiting nearly a year for promising informaiton on the App and now sources have revealed that the wait may nearly be over.

The program would allow iPhone and iPod Touch users a free download and access of the same service broadcast online from the radio giant. Subscribers would not incur any extra fee (beyond the boosted online rates) for using the App.

[Via Orbitcast]