XM and Sirius channels merge at long last

It's been a long, long time coming but the once separate XM and Sirius universes are now finally, officially intermingling, resulting in some new channels, some renamed channels, some moved channels, and no doubt quite a bit of confusion for satellite radio listeners. The short of it is that XM users can expect to find 22 new channels, while Sirius listeners get 11 (mostly music channels), with a whole slew of other channels either moved, renamed, or both. Dig into the links below for the complete details, and expect to wait two to five minutes to receive the update if you haven't already turned on your radio today.

Read - XM Satellite Radio New Channel Lineup
Read - Sirius Satellite Radio New Channel Lineup

[Apreche @ Nov 12th 2008 1:18PM]

XM isn't getting the NFL?

[miko34 @ Nov 12th 2008 1:28PM]

For $4 extra you can get NFL, NASCAR, Howard Stern, Playboy and Martha. Ooh... Martha.

[ZaxCG2 @ Nov 12th 2008 2:22PM]

Wow. I'd put down 4$ for that! Listening to Howard Stern, Playboy, & Martha going at it in some NASCAR-NFL sport hybrid action would be sick.

[Skillz @ Nov 12th 2008 10:43PM]

I have SiriusXM and let me tell you something. THEY ARE MESSING UP!

They took the two BEST channels off and replaced them with channels that were originally on Sirius that SUCKKKKKKK

This isn't a good thing guys, i am seriously considering canceling my subscription if i don't hear what i was hearing yesterday.

They are really messing up, and if they continue to do so. Believe me, i wont be the only one canceling my subscription. Watchhh

[THH @ Nov 14th 2008 12:16PM]

I'm tired of hearing this Kayla chick promote some Christian rock station. If I wanted to listen to it I wouldn't be on channel 48 and if I wanted to listen to her I would have bought Sirius. I'm not impressed with some of the things Covino is talking about either, as I said, I said, I paid for XM not Sirius. BRING BACK SQUIZZ!!!

[walkingsnake @ Nov 12th 2008 1:18PM]

Any word on when the sports channels will merge? I'd love to get MLB on my Sirius...

[Lowest Ranked @ Nov 12th 2008 1:24PM]

Major League Boredom?

[Jon @ Nov 12th 2008 1:37PM]

Agreed! The only thing I ever wanted from XM is the MLB package. If I can get that on my current sirius radio, I'll be happy.

[Frankfurter @ Nov 12th 2008 1:59PM]

Wow - the only thing worse than watching baseball.....listening to it.

[phanbouy @ Nov 12th 2008 2:06PM]

it'd be more entertaining if they were literal:

"here comes Johnny Rollsincash up to the plate. You'll notice he's adjusting his jock strap."

"yeah Bob, he's looking a little uncomfortable with that new carbon fiber scrotum protector; sure it's got a high strength to weight ratio, but it causes Jock Itch like the molten fires of hell"

"and now you'll see him wipe some tobacco dribble off his cheek -- if you look closely you can advanced tooth decay"

[lowdef @ Nov 12th 2008 1:18PM]

WIN

[Justin Ried @ Nov 12th 2008 2:19PM]

You XM guys get to listen to Jason Ellis on Faction now. Channel 28 on Sirius / Channel 52 on XM.

Epic Win!

[Taylor @ Nov 12th 2008 4:50PM]

On that Squizz point... Crap! I hate the squizz DJ's, they're a bunch of douchebags! I Had Sirius for years and i just bought a car with XM. I've been listening to squizz for 3 months because it's all the hard rock i can get, but it sucks! The DJ's and the content and just everything about OCTANE is WAY better than Squizz!
-Taylor

[Andir3.0 @ Nov 12th 2008 5:35PM]

I can hardly stand to listen to Jason Ellis on Octane in the mornings... I want to call him up, ask him to shut up and just play the music.

[alk @ Nov 12th 2008 6:32PM]

Couldnt agree more. Similar situation, new car with XM. Octane >>>> Squiz.

[lowdef @ Nov 12th 2008 10:01PM]

i always was jealous of my friend for having sirius...their rock line up was superior to xm's. Top Tracks was getting kinda old, Classic Vinyl has a little more variety. I am thankful that they kept Deep Tracks though, thats a great channel. Haven't listened to Lithium, Octane seems like an improvement over Squizz...Kinda wished they would give you some kind of option to keep what channels you liked...any word on the a la carte stuff? It would be sweet if you could get a few of the stations back/kill some of the new ones (Margaritaville im looking at you...)

[redbellyman @ Nov 12th 2008 1:20PM]

The reason sirius side only gets 8 is simply cause xms music lineup blows! they have 2 good channels and all crap(for rockers) I am not commenting on other types of music since I dont have authority on them, but xm had a squiggle channel or squid or something uch god awful.... I am happy to see sirius rock is staying!

[AlphaGeek @ Nov 12th 2008 1:46PM]

Guess what: I just confirmed that the Squizz guys (who are awesome, BTW) are taking over DJ duties for Octane. Guess you're getting a big wad of Squizz whether you like it or not -- it'll just have an 'Octane' label on it.

[Lowest Ranked @ Nov 12th 2008 2:03PM]

A big wad of Squizz. Does it come with a free facial?

[redbellyman @ Nov 12th 2008 2:04PM]

NOOOOOOOO! lol my life is over! haha thank goodness for my 80gb mp3 player...

[phanbouy @ Nov 12th 2008 4:12PM]

i vote the existence of something called "Squizz" as a sign of the Apocalypse

[Blair @ Nov 13th 2008 12:14PM]

Squizz DJs make the channel. So happy to see they came over. I'll miss the hilarious Squizz channel IDs. "We're about to unload a big wad of Squizz!"

[chris @ Nov 12th 2008 1:22PM]

Great!
Does that mean the stations play lists can merge too?

Cause only 100 songs a week can get a little repetitive.

[Ghen @ Nov 12th 2008 2:51PM]

Damn straight, that's my problem with EVERY radio station terrestrial or satellite. Not enough selection in their current week's playlist.

[TVGenius @ Nov 12th 2008 3:34PM]

Sirius' playlists aren't much deeper than that, and that's why most XM subscribers are mad about this (not to mention the fact that XM didn't announce this officially until yesterday at about noon, and Sirius subscribers apparently didn't find anything out until it all changed at midnight... though rumors had been rampant for weeks.)

A lot of people are mad, especially since it was said during the merger talks that this WOULD NOT happen.

[ZaxCG2 @ Nov 12th 2008 10:37PM]

Quit your griping...
At least its not as bad as listening to the 5 song playlist everyday from FM Rock stations.

[kjb434 @ Nov 12th 2008 1:24PM]

Either way it will go out of business in about 2 years. Maybe earlier!

It was failed business model. They still have not made any money.

[David @ Nov 12th 2008 1:24PM]

The new line up is awful. I doubt I'll renew my subscription. XM was amazing when it first started, it started getting worse the more the tweaked it and they finally finished ruining it today.

[Landon @ Jan 8th 2009 11:29AM]

Yeah I lost some great stations like Boombox on Sirius, but I realize what my local options are and well...they are absolutely horrible. lol I'll stick to Sirius because I can still get Lithium, Area and BPM(when it actually plays something good) and I can't get that kind of music locally.

[GregH @ Nov 12th 2008 1:25PM]

Sirius got rid of Backspin? But hey, I guess at least now I've got the '40's station :-S

[New Englander @ Nov 12th 2008 1:28PM]

I get the changes in the lineup, but I'm especially upset that Sirius chose to ditch the Disorder channel. I could listen all day at work, hardly ever hear the same song twice, and become aware of songs and artists new and old that I wouldn't otherwise be exposed to. I emailed Sirius but don't have any hope of satisfaction. If you know what I'm ranting about and feel the same way, I urge you to reach out to Sirius as well.

[faustuscm @ Nov 12th 2008 1:33PM]

Frankly all I want from Sirius is their Chill channel and I see its not moved yet. Much better then the XM one. Keep O&A and give us their chill channel and I'm a happy camper.

Also... what happened to the alacart promise? No news on interoperable radios? The only option for more sirius stuff cost more money. Its not what we were promised.

[Scott @ Nov 12th 2008 1:49PM]

The Starmate 5 model is available on the Sirius website and it shows that it is capable of supporting a la carte subscriptions. Here's the link to the Starmate 5:

http://shop.sirius.com/edealinv/servlet/ExecMacro?nurl=control/StoreItem.vm&ctl_nbr=2640&siId=3577190&catParentID=7875&scId=7875&oldParentID=

Also, here's a link to the a la carte info (WARNING: PDF):

http://www.siriusretail.com/ALaCarte_Insert_052208.pdf

[faustuscm @ Nov 12th 2008 2:20PM]

Interesting info thanks. Also for the record the Chill channel DID change. Its not Sirius XM Chill and from the few mins I heard its clearly the Sirius Chill channel that adopted the new name.

Good news in my opinion.

[chris @ Nov 12th 2008 3:36PM]

Chill is what i listen to as well and it desperately needs more music, or like you say, a second Chill station.

I'll have to listen again for a bit see if anything has changed...

[jimmy @ Nov 12th 2008 9:19PM]

does chill play buttery beats?

lingalig!

[DirtyVegas @ Nov 12th 2008 1:39PM]

Any word of a la carte programming? That will be the best thing to happen to any kind of subscription service.

[inteller @ Nov 12th 2008 3:15PM]

not with your current radio. everyone with the radio built into their car is screwed.

[strider_mt2k @ Nov 12th 2008 1:40PM]

Just keep Les Davis on Pure Jazz, or Real Jazz, or whatever you want to call it, please?

He's a cool dude in a loose mood, and he knows his Classic Jazz.

[eddy @ Nov 12th 2008 1:44PM]

I got paranoid today when I didn't hear The Verge on XM 52...then, thankfully, I got a message from their Facebook group that they've moved to XM 87. That station has introduced me to so much great, new music that I don't know what I'd do without it.

[larrylevine @ Nov 12th 2008 1:49PM]

I don't understand those who thought this merger was good. As an XM subscriber I HATE this new programming change. ALL of my favorite channels have changed to the sirius ones. If I had wanted Sirius programming, I would have bought it to begin with. Isn't this a violation of their agreement with the feds? I thought they had to keep both and offer choice? Reduction in consumer choice is not a win for anyone Donald, or would you support rules saying only one site of a kind was allowed - what if that turned out to be gizmodo? In nearly every area there has been consolidation and it has not been good for the consumer. The only thing that can only ever be good is choice and variety in services.

[Bryan @ Nov 12th 2008 4:38PM]

agreed.

[Trevor @ Nov 12th 2008 5:38PM]

I am not liking the changes either. Looking at what Siruis is offering on XM now...NFL, NASCAR, Howard Stern...yeah, that's why I did not subscribe to Sirius to begin with. Anyone else notice there seems to be a lot more talking on the music stations? I am paying for the music, not some banal commentary on the musician's sex life. And I don't know what Tony Hawk is selling...and I don't care. Each time that spot starts, I change the channel.

[IanL @ Nov 13th 2008 5:56AM]

Agreed, give me back my Squizz and Boneyard (yeah I know it's "on hiatus"). Hair Nation so far isn't too bad but I've heard like 6 Queensryche songs in less than 24 hours. And these DJ's need to SHUT THE F--- UP! I don't care what you think, if I want mindless DJ babble I'll listen to terrestrial radio.

[miko34 @ Nov 12th 2008 1:55PM]

Wait, they no longer have the "On the Rocks" Channel...
I thought it was a mistake that that was an "Online Only" channel and now it's gone?

Good luck getting this customer back.


You want to compete with iPod and Zune (especially with their new music service), you better get better channels with less repeats and stop making it so difficult to cancel the subscription. Having to call an XM rep to cancel is a pain in the ass since they keep trying to make us stay. Other services you can just make with the clicking. That alone makes me NOT want to come back.

I like XM more than regular radio, but you need to do something more than just merge channels with Sirius. Come on, do we really need 24 hours of Bruce Springsteen? I like him, but it just seems like wasted time and space.

[miko34 @ Nov 12th 2008 2:08PM]

After doing some research, the jazz/lounge music station "On the Rocks" has been supposedly gone off the online service since July of this year. I've been gone from XM since Spring.

I was thinking about coming back when Sirius came on-board, but after looking at the "new" channels, I gotta say ... what's going on over there in their research department? Are they not viewing the blogosphere?

[abhisheksuman @ Nov 12th 2008 1:58PM]

Change is good! Hell.. I dont get to listen to them in India..

[Dave @ Nov 12th 2008 2:02PM]

Fred, Lucy, Ethel, XMX and many other rock stations on XM are gone. XM now has all those lame artist-dedicated stations like Springsteen, Grateful Dead and Margaritaville. Blecch.

This makes me a sad panda. Very sad. I guess I'll have to spend my evening sorting through the "new" stations I want to bookmark and seeing what else got screwed up, including channel numbers, and deciding if I'm going to keep my subscription after all this garbage.

I don't think XM "gained" much; they mostly killed off others in exchange for existing SIRIUS stations.

[a ham sandwich @ Nov 12th 2008 2:11PM]

no! they're just renaming them! phew! you scared me there. i thought i was gonna lose my ethel! but now its "alt nation". as long as they still have the content, the name's not so important to me. :)

[Dave @ Nov 12th 2008 2:16PM]

@ a ham sandwich (which is, coincidentally, what I brought for lunch today):

Oh, ok. Thanks for the clarification. I haven't had a lot of time to sort through things yet so apologies to all for my jumping the gun. I do know one thing: XM now has 1st Wave, and that's cool with me.