Hoping every-one’s holiday season is rolling along well as mine is.

I gave everyone some food for thought for this coming week surrounding pop music. Most of us have a subscription to Sirius or XM in order to get away from the drudgery of popular music that exists on Terrestrial Radio. In order for Sirius to capture that market share it makes sense to have a Top 40 Station which is easily accessible and located well on the dial.

I make no secret that I loathe most of the popular music that gets spun on this station, let alone Terrestrial Radio. For those that still need to have access to this format, Sirius has everything covered here. Including a somewhat cheesy yet entertaining to some morning show for the week.

Popular music still makes a ton of money. We have today an industry where there is less value placed on music. Fact is though that to the average listener, a catchy cook written by a slick producer who knows how to get things done can create something memorable.

Terrestrial Radio is a horrendous ground for spinning the stuff on a horrendous programming format every few hours. Where I have to salute SiriusXM on their version of the format is that they will bring in a mix of tracks that were Top 40 hits over the course of the last 2-3 years. They ultimately end up doing the record industry a major favour by keeping a few memories of some one-hit wonders alive, or alternatively they might play an earlier song from say, Taylor Swift, then within a same block play something newer to remind listeners she has new material that is catching ears.

If Top 40 Radio is not for you, as it really ain’t for me, Sirius 1 is not worth the time. At least it is covered for those who would actually use it.

Due to the extended holiday week, and my being on the road for the majority of this coming week, I will return to these pages in one week for the first column of the New Year. The best again to all readers, and thank you.

Canadian content on our Sirius Radios is not limited to Sirius 85 Iceberg. Fortunately a ton of great Canadian content is all over the dial.

Many of you probably have noticed that on Terrestrial Radio at roughly quarter to every hour you hear every Terrestrial Radio station play Canadian content in order to meet their requirements of playing Canadian content under CRTC regulations. So many minutes of music per 24 hour period representing a percentage of roughly 30% needs to be spun on air in order to meet those targets.

Problem Terrestrial Radio has here is that the content they play tends to get very repetitive and fast. Programmers might have a slate of a few easily favoured songs handy like Bryan Adams “Summer of 69″, or any Guess Who song that people are familiar with. Country Stations will keep Shania Twain songs right on deck if they need to suddenly bring the numbers up.

Sirius 85 Iceberg does a great job of playing a huge variety of constant Canadian Content. I was able to recently hear more of Kathleen Edwards great talent through this station. She also turned up on Sirius 63 Outlaw Country. Her music does have that quirky edge to it where she should be on there anyway as far as I am concerned!

Sirius provides something that Terrestrial Radio provides little of. That being variety. The CRTC may appear to force the hand of SiriusXM into operating as two entities in Canada, but they are not controlling all of the content completely. Lots of great Canadian content out on this dial. We live in a talented country!

I am looking at ways to contact the CRTC and SiriusXM directly to see if the best of XM and best of Sirius packages will be offered in Canada sometime soon.

XM customers recently saw the addition of a Fantasy Sports Radio Channel. I have absolutely no idea why the company felt this kind of programming was necessary, because frankly it is a waste of air space. Even with all of the on-air talent it is bringing, to me it is still useless.

I renew my protest on how both Sirius and XM Canada customers are not permitted to get the best of both worlds like in the States. I am sure this is due to some ignorant minded regulators.

In other news, well-known Sirius personality Martha Stewart is now endorsing a line of pet products through American-based Petsmart Pet Stores.

My dogs, along with my wife and I, suffered a very disturbing experience at the Thunder Bay location and its grooming shop which was never resolved. I will not get into details but will tell you all that our dogs are ok, and ask you all to trust me when I tell you to NEVER give this company any of your business.

While I respect Martha as a business person and acknowledge she has an audience with Sirius, I am really dissapointed she is now associating herself with this corporation.  Petsmart does a poor job in screening the people who work in their stores and grooming shops. Do not leave your animals in unqualified hands.

Coming up on this site for the middle of August and for the month of September, I will begin profiling some personal favourite artists you hear on Sirius. Just some nice short bits about the people and their music.

Im going to spend this week discussing two of the more underrated music channels that we as subscribers are very fortunate to have. Today I am reflecting on Sirius 16 Deep Tracks.

I never paid much attention to Deep Tracks until after the merger and a chance listen to Bob Dylan’s Theme Time Radio Hour. This show originated on XM and came over with the merged channel.  Dylan talks and spins music for an hour based around a central theme. That theme could be an object of nature, a time, place or feeling. Whatever the theme, it makes for amazing radio that is interesting to hear. Dylan can be heard on the Deep Tracks Mondays at 8 pm, Wednesdays at 11 am, Thursdays at 12 am and Sundays at 8 am, all times eastern.

One of my all time favourite songwriters of all time also has a home on Deep Tracks. Tom Petty and his Buried Treasure show plays a great set of forgotten tracks and eclectic styles. Tom also shares his own personal insights into music and life. Truly a radio trip worth taking.  Tom is heard on Mondays at 11 am, Thurdays at 8 pm, Saturdays at 4 am and Sundays at 2 pm, all times again eastern.

The greatest benefit from listening to Deep Tracks is hearing all of these great classic songs that Terrestrial Radio tends to never play. Not too many singles of the B-sides, but the other songs which may never have received the airplay they deserved. Best example I could give is from a few weeks ago where I heard a Steely Dan track from my favourite Dan record, the first one “Can’t Buy A Thrill”. The particular track was not a single but is a great mellow tune on the second side as it spins to the end of the record.  ”Brooklyn Owes The Charmer Under Me”, is just a kick ass track with great melodies and musicianship. The lyrics paint a story about ones love for New York and its occasional insanity.

Spend a few hours with the Deep Tracks and you might hear that great song catching you by surprise. Enjoy! 

I have long thought that XM signing Oprah for as much money as they did at the time was an error in judgement given the financial position of the previous stand alone entity. XM subscriptions did not increase in the levels that were expected upon her signing. It is a fact when both companies merged, Sirius brought over the significantly larger customer base. 

I now see a golden opportunity for SiriusXM to have her remain on with her station in a new deal. If Sirius Canada subscribers are able to get her channel down the road, there will be an instant spike in subscription sales. Since Oprah’s channel only relaunched in March 2009 under the new name of Oprah Radio, I am led to believe she is intending to stay for the long run. 

When Oprah leaves television, SiriusXM as a company should continue to provide a great vehicle for her to remain connected with her loyal fan base. Those who are loyal to her but are not yet sattelite radio subscribers will want to keep that connection to her show. 

Sirius subscribers loyal to the Howard Stern Show know the power one individual can have in bringing aboard customers. Howard can successfully claim to having brought well over a million subscribers to SiriusXM in the United States alone.

When the company merger was completed and the best of packages were made available, there was a tremendous increase in revenue from both sets of customer bases with XM fans wanting Howard Stern, and the largely female base of Oprah Winfrey fans who subscribed to Sirius signing up for best of XM based on Oprah Radio alone. I also acknowledge that many male Sirius subscribers in the States bought the best of XM package solely for the increased sports coverage, and used Oprah Radio as a convincing deal breaker to their spouses in order to justify the addional expense. Well done guys!

Once Canadian subscribers are able to have that fair exchange of channels, additional package revenues should increase, and the overall subscription rate should increase even more. Love her or loathe her, Oprah Winfrey will play a tremendous role in increasing the audience of this great medium.

Another negative example of the merger not being completely permissable for Canadian subscribers. Since both Canadian companies are not permitted to operate as one, and neither sets of customers can benefit from the respective “Best Of” packages, Sirius customers are left out of NHL and Major League Baseball Games, while XM customers are left without NASCAR, NFL and CFL coverage. Those are just some examples.

Many XM subscribers in Canada subscribed to their respective units just for the extensive NHL coverage. Sirius has Hockey Night in Canada Radio and some informative shows about hockey, but no broadcasts of games. Eventually and hopefully, the CRTC will allow both companies to conduct business as one entity like the US company and all channels will be available for each user. That would be true radio freedom! Having one unit where not only all the music could be dialed in, but all the sports a fan could want!

Sirius subscribers have been fortunate enough to also enjoy extensive CFL coverage. This should continue for some time. I am pleased to be able to catch some broadcasts while driving. Since Western Canada, particularly Saskatchewan and Alberta, contain large concentrations of the CFL’s fan base, many subscribers who are not able to make it to the team games have the option of select Sirius coverage.

At the end of the day, most sport fans prefer to turn to their tv sets or head down to the local pub to see the game on the big screens. There are many who enjoy the coverage on radio since it adds a flavour of nostalgia to a broadcast. Either way it is great to hear some great sports on our dials!

The merger of SiriusXM is long complete. The CRTC has managed to somehow keep Sirius and XM to running two separate organizations in Canada, confirming regrettably that the Federal Government still has a minor chokehold on this great product. Even with this in consideration, all Sirius subscribers hear and see on their receivers what everyone else across North America sees as far as formatting.

Unfortunately, Sirius customers in Canada are not able to obtain the best of XM packages, which would have included NHL coverage, Oprah Winfrey’s channel and much more. Alternatively, XM customers cannot receive the best of Sirius and benefit from extensive football coverage, and the Howard Stern Channels.

It is safe and logical to believe that channels that featured identical programming were both examined from the points of content, ratings and deliverance from the on-air talent. Even the names of the channels appear to have been taken into consideration. Sirius clearly had the upper hand in the merger with a larger subscriber base, taking almost every single music disc jockey into the merger.

I will give you a great example of one of these channels after they emerged from the merge.

Buzzsaw was the Sirius based Classic Hard Rock/Heavy Metal channel, while The Boneyard was an XM product. The ratings on both stations were excellent. Both have quality programming and a combined large listening base who will list it as the first station on their receiver pre-sets. In November of 2008, both stations went back to the drawing board, took talent from both companies into the absorbed station now called The Boneyard after a 3 month break for the re-tooling, replaced with specialty programming (AC/DC Radio, which went into January of this year). The merged station came into the regular programming line-up a sure fire winner. They gave it the more popular XM name to top it off. Recently the station was named one of the best classic rock stations in America. With Terrestrial Radio Classic Rock slowly dying out, The Boneyard is fast becoming more popular with Canadian subscribers through word of mouth!

There are many other great examples and theories of what happened behind the doors after the merger. Programming wise, the company wanted to take the best of what it had and run hard with it!  Sirius subscribers in Canada have clearly come out the winner. The very best of XM formatting made its way into some of the Sirius channels, thereby making our subscriptions a great value for our hard earned dollar!

Although Sirius and XM Radio have merged in the United States for quite some time now the continued practice of separate broadcasts has confused many listeners expected a fully shared service. Luckily the companies have now released a statement to address this very issue.

The two corporate entities will maintain distinctive satellite radio service for the next fifteen years as described in a press release meant to clear up some of the confusion surrounding the partnership.

Probably the most surprising detail however was the announcement that a new satellite receiver will be released as early as next year which promises to provide support for both XM and Sirius broadcasts.

[Via Digital Home Forums]

The rumoured simulcast between the yet unmerged (in Canada) Sirius and XM Radio stations has been confirmed for air on Wednesday November 12th. Users will be able to tune in and check out the potential of what the formation of an actual Sirius XM Canada would be able to provide. 

We speculated on the abounding speculation regarding the move before but now that an actual confirmation exists it seems even more likely that Sirius and XM may be considering an actual Canadian merger.

The broadcast will likely function as something of a test for Sirius and XM management to gauge the potential rewards possible in a combination of services for a Canadian audience.

[Via Radio & Records]

Extremely good news has been circulating today with the possibility of a simultaneous broadcast between Sirius and XM in Canada on November 12th. The companies have still failed to merge satellite radio services in the North much to the dismay of Canadian subscribers but new hope might be on the way with prevalent rumours beginning to circulate.

Fan sites and some programs have hosted rumours of the combined, American Sirius XM simulcasting on both Canadian Sirius and XM stations on November 12th. This move could act as a precursor to a proper merger between the companies in the future.

For more information on the possible Sirius and XM simulataneous broadcast click here.