Sirius Satellite Radio


Sirius Satellite Radio was a satellite radio service that operated in the United States and Canada. Sirius launched in 2002, and primarily competed with XM Satellite Radio, until the two services merged in 2008 to form Sirius XM.
Like XM, Sirius offered pay-for-service radio for a monthly subscription fee, analogous to the business model of cable television. Its music channels were presented without commercial advertising, while its talk channels carried commercials. Its content was not subject to the same FCC content regulation as terrestrial radio, which allowed both music and talk broadcasts to include explicit content. Sirius channels were identified by Nielsen Audio with the label "SR".
Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. was headquartered in New York City, and operated smaller studios in Los Angeles and Memphis.

History

Founding and development

Sirius was founded by Martine Rothblatt, who served as the new company's Chairman of the Board. Co-founder David Margolese served as Chief Executive Officer and Robert Briskman served as President and Chief Operating Officer. In 1990, Rothblatt founded Satellite CD Radio, Inc. in Washington, D.C. The company was the first to petition the FCC to assign unused frequencies for satellite radio broadcast, which "provoked a furor among owners of both large and small radio stations." Rothblatt had previously helped create the PanAmSat international satellite television system, and helped launch and served as CEO of the Geostar satellite navigation system. In April 1992, she resigned as chairman and CEO of Sirius in order to start a medical research foundation, focused on finding a cure for her daughter's illness. Former NASA engineer Robert Briskman, who designed the company's satellite technology, was then appointed chairman and CEO.
Six months later, in November 1992, Rogers Wireless co-founder David Margolese, who had provided financial backing for the venture, acquired control of the company and succeeded Briskman. Margolese renamed the company CD Radio, and spent the next five years lobbying the FCC to allow satellite radio to be deployed, and the following five years raising $1.6 billion, which was used to build and launch three satellites into elliptical orbit from Kazakhstan in July 2000. The company successfully bid $83.3 million to purchase their satellite radio license. In 1997, after Margolese had obtained regulatory clearance and "effectively created the industry," the FCC also sold a license to XM Satellite Radio, which followed Sirius's example.
In November 1999, Marketing chief Ira Bahr convinced Margolese to again change the name of the company, this time to Sirius Satellite Radio, in order to avoid association with the soon-to-be-outdated CD technology. By July 2000, Sirius had negotiated deals with BMW, DaimlerChrysler, and Ford to offer Sirius receivers in their vehicles. The first confirmed music transmission from a Sirius satellite was received at the company's New York City headquarters on September 1, 2000.
Margolese stepped down as CEO in August 2001, remaining as chairman until November 2004. Joe Clayton, former CEO of Global Crossing, succeeded Margolese.

Launch

Sirius Satellite Radio launched on February 14, 2002, in the Denver, Houston, Jackson, and Phoenix markets. The first Sirius receiver was reportedly sold at Cowboy Maloney's Electric City in Jackson. Service expanded to the rest of the contiguous United States on July 1, 2002.
Clayton resigned as CEO in November 2004, remaining as chairman until July 2008. Mel Karmazin, former president of Viacom, succeeded Clayton, and remained in the position until the merger
On October 16, 2006, Sirius announced the launch of Sirius Internet Radio, with 78 of its 135 channels being available worldwide on the internet to any of its subscribers with a valid user name and password.

Merger with XM

On February 19, 2007, Sirius announced plans to merge with its primary competitor, XM Satellite Radio. Since the merger would eliminate competition in the U.S. satellite radio market, the plan was controversial, and required the approval of the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Communications Commission. The Department of Justice approved the merger on March 24, 2008, and the FCC followed on July 25 of that year.
The merger closed on July 29, 2008. The two services initially continued to operate under their original, separate brands, though each assumed the other's channel lineup on November 12, 2008. The original Sirius and XM brands were retired by February 4, 2011, when the combined Sirius XM brand and website launched.
Sirius's dog icon was later reintroduced in 2023 as Sirius XM's corporate mascot, named Stella.

Services

Sirius radio was offered for a monthly subscription fee. Subscriptions ranged in price from US$14.99 monthly to US$699.99 for lifetime. There is a US$15 activation fee for every radio activated.
A subset of Sirius music channels was included as part of the Dish Network satellite television service.

Radio channels and programming

Sirius carried a variety of music, news, talk, sports, and entertainment programming on its channels. The majority of its programming was produced in-house exclusively for Sirius, though some channels, particularly talk stations, were originally aired on terrestrial radio and simulcast on Sirius. Others, such as the Fox News Channel, were audio simulcasts of television programs. According to a Spring 2007 Arbitron report, the five channels most listened to on Sirius based on their average quarterly hour share were Howard 100, Howard 101, The Highway, Sirius Hits 1, and Octane.
Sirius had deals with entertainers and personalities for broadcast streams. Besides Stern, Sirius had deals with Martha Stewart, E Street Band member Steven Van Zandt, Jimmy Buffett, and Eminem to executive-produce streams or channels on Sirius. Van Zandt created two stations for Sirius: the Underground Garage, dedicated to garage rock, and Outlaw Country with its focus on alternative country music.

Talk

In April 2003, Sirius launched Sirius OutQ, the first-ever 24/7 talk channel targeted at an LGBT audience. On March 14, 2006, Sirius added Cosmo Radio, Playboy Radio, and returned the audio simulcast of the Fox News Channel TV feed, which was previously removed during a contract dispute. The service also added Fox's satellite talk radio channel, Fox News Talk.

Exclusive channels

Sirius held exclusive satellite radio rights to:
On October 6, 2004, Sirius announced that it had signed a five-year, US$100 million per year agreement with Howard Stern to broadcast his radio show, The Howard Stern Show, exclusively on Sirius starting on January 9, 2006. Stern cited intensifying enforcement of FCC broadcasting regulations, following the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show controversy, as reason for the move. In the wake of the announcement of his pending departure, Stern complained that Infinity Broadcasting was making his departure more acrimonious than was necessary.
The deal gave Stern the right to build three full-time programming channels on Sirius, of which two, Howard 100 and Howard 101, were ultimately created. Stern's audience had grown almost tenfold by the end of his second year on Sirius, from fewer than 700,000 subscribers to 6 million.
Canadian and British networks
Beginning in June 2005, Sirius began broadcasting BBC Radio 1. Later, in November 2005, Sirius launched CBC Radio One, CBC Radio Three, Première Plus, Énergie2, and Bande à part on their U.S. network.

Sports

Sirius broadcast a variety of live sports and sports talk programs. It held exclusive satellite radio rights to the NFL and CFL throughout its existence, and launched an NFL-specific channel, Sirius NFL Radio, in August 2004. Sirius also held exclusive rights to broadcast NBA games and programming from 2003 until November 2008, when those broadcasts moved to XM. Sirius and XM shared broadcasting rights to the NHL until the 2007–08 season, when broadcasts moved exclusively to XM. Sirius also broadcast coverage of NASCAR races, as well as a weekly show hosted by Tony Stewart.
Beginning in 2005, Sirius also had exclusive radio rights to cover the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. Sirius also had the rights to a number of major college sports teams, including teams in the Big East, Big Ten and Southeastern Conferences, as well as The University of Notre Dame.
Sirius also broadcast select Premier League matches. On September 27, 2006, Sirius announced a deal to add UEFA Champions League soccer to their lineup. Sirius had exclusive radio rights to broadcast the ESPN television feed of the Euro 2008 championships. Sirius also aired a soccer talk show called "The Football Show" with former Metrostars GM Charlie Stillitano and former International Italian star Giorgio Chinaglia. On Saturdays and Sundays during premier league season, Sirius aired Radio 606, a classic radio call-in show from the UK discussing all of the days top matches.
Sirius broadcast At the Races and The Hardcore Poker Show, respectively the only nationally broadcast talk shows discussing horse racing and professional poker.
After the merger between Sirius and XM was completed, Major League Baseball games remained exclusive to XM Radio as a result of an arrangement dispute between MLB and Sirius XM, which prevented Sirius subscribers from listening to games. However, on August 19, 2013, Sirius XM reached an agreement with MLB allowing all customers with both Sirius and XM receivers to hear the games with a premium subscription.