DirecTV / XM Rumor

[john262]

I am not happy about this change because they are dropping MC. The good thing about MC is that there are no interruptions to the music. Personally, I prefer that. I don't want to hear any announcers, even if it's only an occasional interruption.

If they had added XM but kept MC then I would applaud this move, but I guess they chose not to take that route. Perhaps there were bandwidth constraints.

I tired to call to complain and the customer services rep couldn't understand what I don't want to hear announcers. I told her that if I want to know the name of the song that's playing I can leave my TV on and click the info button on my remote to get that info. I don't need an announcer to tell me that. It's enough to make me seriously consider dropping D* for cable. My local cable system carries MC I believe.

 

[jed]

DirecTV has not ever given much thought to the business music segment - red headed stepchildren - and now they have added commercials to that lineup.. I love XM myself but DirecTV has to work the best deal they can moneywise. MC was more expensive than XM is going to be, and for the residential customer XM will prolly work great - they are hoping we all run out to buy roadies. As for me - life just handed me a lemon!!

 

[airforcevet123]

XM Service to Directv

Its official on Directv website,

 

[tomnc]

I think this is backwards for sure. While I have SIRIUS in my car==I prefer the DJ free MC at home. I dumped XM last year due to the one DJ they had on one of the oldies channels...Terrry the LOUDMOUTH, OBNOXIOUS MOUTH.....

*sigh* oh well.

 

[RLuyster]

It's unfortunate that XM doesn't have the BBC World Service and World Radio Network channels like Sirius does. These would have been great additions and I wouldn't have to listen to them via the computer as I do now. Music Choice carried them several years back but dropped them saying they wanted to be "all music". How is the situation with standards/big band music on XM as compared to Music Choice?

 

[M Sparks]

XM is commercial free however they do play "classic" commercials for "atmosphere" and they do a hell of alot of promotion for the "xm family plan" both of which are missing from sirius

I have never heard a "Classic commercial". What channels are you listening to?

I also don't think I've ever heard the "XM Family Plan" or other such promos on music channels. The talk channels have TONS, because they have to cover the commercial space on external stations. (Or in the case of High Voltage, they have to give the hosts bathroom breaks.) Maybe my brain just skates over them because I'm used to hearing them so often on High Voltage and Extreme XM.

In any case, I think the inturruptions on the music channels are minimal at worst. I guess I can understand how some people feel since DirecTV is actually REMOVING MC. When DISH added Sirius, it was just a bonus...they left the other channels alone

It's funny, I've seen both arguments- always from people who have never listened to XM. Some say "I'm not paying to listen to DJ Chit Chat!". Others say "I'm not paying to listen to someone elses I-Pod...I like a station to have personality!"

XM actually hits a nice medium- most channels have a definate personality, without actually wasting time on talk. For example, "Lucy" and "Fred" are both "classic alternative" channels. They focus on slightly different time periods, but they still overlap about 10-15 years. Yet I can tell you which one is playing within two songs, even without a station ID.

As I write this, I have "Lucy" on. I have heard exactly ONE 10 second ID in the last 20 minutes. No Announcers, no XM Promos. I'm going to leave it on for a while and check back later.

 

[M Sparks]

This ROCKS!

Does XM have anything like Sirius' "Hair Nation?" Miss that from my E* days

You're looking for "The Boneyard", my friend.

 

[M Sparks]

How is the situation with standards/big band music on XM as compared to Music Choice?

XM has "Frank's Place", which is an excellent Standards channel. It does seem more repetetive than other XM channels- the announcer is prerecorded and if you listen long enough, you'll hear the same segment you heard a few weeks ago. However, it only seems to affect the songs directly surrounding the announement. For example "That was Sinatra with My Way, here's Tony Bennett with I Left My Heart...". You'll hear the same sequence later. But the song AFTER Bennett might be something different.

There is no specific Big Band channel, although I'm sure the 40's channel has plenty.

 

[hancox]

You're looking for "The Boneyard", my friend.

WOOHOO!

 

[M Sparks]

XM's channel names aren't as descriptive as Sirius'. Some more Sirius to XM translators...

1st Wave = Fred
Jam On = Music Lab (but adds Prog Rock to the mix.)
Left Of Center = XMU
Area 33 (used to be 63) = The Move
The Beat = BPM
The Strobe = Chrome
BackSpin = The Rhyme
Roadhouse = Hank's Place
Spa 73 = Audio Visions
Classical Voices = Vox
Jazz Cafe = Watercolors
Revolution = The Torch
Hip Hop Nation = Raw
Coffee House = The Loft
Disorder = Fine Tuning
Octane = Squizz (worst... channel name... ever)
The Vault = Deep Tracks
Spectrum = XM Cafe (sort of)
Alt Nation = Ethyl
Love = The Heart
Movin Easy = Sunny
StarLite = The Blend
Rumbon = Alegria
Hits 1 = Top 20 On 20

Here's a confusing one in the Christian catagory
Spirit = The Fish
Praise = Spirit

There are formats on Sirius that have no direct comparison to XM and vice versa, but you can still find the same songs elsewhere. For example, "Fungus" on XM is an all Punk channel (except for an Industrial show twice a week), but Sirius mixes Punk with HipHop on "Faction". I'm sure the kids like it, but I like my Ramones straight-up.

Sirius has "Hard Attack"- a metal channel. XM suprisingly has no dedicated metal. They used to have "Liquid Metal" (and still do online), but it was much heavier than "Hard Attack". Most of the more straight ahead music on "Hard Attack" gets mixed in with the hairbands on "The Boneyard", and more unusual bands go to "Squizz".

I can't think of any type of music on one service that can't be heard on the other somewhere. Although XM has an all movie score channel...that's original. Sirius has the most original format though- "Chill." Trance music mixed with light alternative. You can hear Frou Frou followed by REM. Weird, but nice.

 

[BFG]

you forgot

Buzzsaw = Top Tracks

 

[greatwhite000]

HUh? how does that work unless sirus has a fleet os sats which makes zero business and profit sense

they have three satellites

go here

cashflowbusiness.net/siri_orbit.htm

 

[mhking]

OK, here's the list as I'm transcribing off of Channel 800:

Total Choice:
801 - The 40s
802 - The 50s
803 - The 60s
804 - The 70s
805 - The 80s
806 - The 90s
808 - America (Classic Country)
809 - Nashville! (90s/Today's Country)
810 - X Country (Progressive Country)
811 - Hank's Place (Traditional Country)
812 - Bluegrass Junction (Bluegrass)
814 - Highway 16 (New Country Hits)
816 - Top 20 on 20 (Top 20 Hits)
817 - Kiss (Contemporary Hits)
818 - Mix (Modern Pop Hits)
819 - The Heart (All Love Songs 24/7)
820 - Sunny (Beautiful Music)
821 - The Blend (Lite Pop Hits)
822 - Cinemagic (Movie Soundtracks)
826 - The Fish (Christian Pop)
827 - Spirit (Gospel)
829 - Deep Tracks (Deep Album Rock)
832 - XM Cafe (Soft Alternative)
833 - Top Tracks (Classic Rock)
834 - Ethel (Modern Rock)
835 - Squizz XL (Hard Alternative)
836 - The Loft (Acoustic Rock)
839 - Lucy (Modern Rock Hits)
841 - Soul Street (Classic Soul)
842 - The Flow (Neo Soul)
843 - Suite 62 (Adult R&B Hits)
845 - The Rhyme XL (Classic Hip-Hop/Rap)
846 - Raw XL (New Uncut Hip-Hop)
847 - The City (Urban Contemporary)
848 - Special X (???)
850 - Real Jazz (Traditional Jazz)
851 - Watercolors (Smooth Jazz)
852 - Beyond Jazz (Modern Jazz)
853 - Frank's Place (American Standards)
854 - Bluesville (Blues)
856 - Audio Visions (New Age)
858 - The Move (Underground Dance)
859 - BPM (Dance Hits)
860 - The System (Electronica)
861 - Chrome (Disco)
862 - World Zone (World Music)
863 - The Joint (Reggae)
864 - XM Classics (Traditional Classical)
865 - Vox (Opera/Classical Vocals)
866 - XM Pops (Popular Classical)

TC Plus/Premier adds these:
813 - The Village (Country/Folk)
823 - On Broadway (Show Tunes)
824 - U-Pop (Global Chart Hits)
825 - Eye (???)
828 - Enlighten (???)
830 - Boneyard XL (Hard Rock/Hairbands)
831 - XMU (Indie/College Rock)
837 - XM Music Lab (Progressive/Jam Bands)
839 - Fred (Classic Alternative)
844 - The Groove (Old School R&B)
855 - Fine Tuning (Eclectic)
867 - Radio Disney
868 - XM Kids
870 - Alegria (Reggaeton/Latin Hits)
872 - Caliente (Tropical)
878 - MLB Home Plate (24/7 Baseball Channel)
879 - High Voltage XL (Opie & Anthony)


ParaTodos gets 870-Alegria, 871-Aguila, 872 Caliente, 873-Luna and three more Latin channels to be announced.

The channels marked "XL" are ones that could have potentially offensive content -- i.e., parents might want to put locks on those channels.

 

[riggscm]

Ramone, bring me my Roadie

Ramone... change the display color of the roadie to something pretty, like pink


Now all of D* can learn about Monster Rain!

 

[mhking]

For those who are complaining about announcers (and for everyone else for that matter), you can preview 20 XM channels on AOL's radio service ( http://aolradio.com/ ); if you've got an AOL account (I pity you if you do), you can get most (if not all) the XM channels that will be on D* from the same place.

 

[Purogamer]

Wow some of you guys are nutty, it's music, and you've had DJ's all your life. There's a reason why FM radio is suddenly styling itself after satellite with shorter commercials and less chit chat, because satellite is awesome. Doesn't matter which one, although I'm a sirius guy, they both are good.

I look at the XM channel titles and have NO idea what music to expect without a description, which bothers me a bit. So while D* did only get 2 talk channels (so it seems), they got the 2 that most people actually care about so it's a wash.

Is it dumb for XM to just hand the O&A-specific subscribers away? Yeah, just like it would shoot sirius in the foot if they allowed E* to broadcast stern (which they won't).

While I think it's a bad move for XM, DirecTV didn't really have a choice considering how people seem to like Sirius on E*, they had to get the most comparable thing and that's XM. MC vs. Sirius just doesn't cut it...

 

[LMckin]

you can also preview other xmlradio channels that will be coming to
directv on xmradio website


for a 3 days free trial

 

[moqz1001]

Xm Lite

why you all saying xm is coming to directv... nope xm lite is what it is more like, half the channels, the uppity ups will cry bandwidth restrictions couldnt put them all up, well if theyd stop having 6 of same ppv channels multiple feeds od sports schedule etc, theyd have the badwidth,


the real reason we are not getting it all. is to get directv subs enticed to buy it in car and home, and maybe / most likely next year xm and directv will offer full xm and as an add on.....

this is classic bait and switch marketing 101. get the suckers hooked with samples and reel them in

AND if they dont make full xm a add on extra cost, watch the next raise in cost be to cover full xm

 

[shugo77]

moqz1001,
I guess you would rather keep the current music choice channels?

 

[Purogamer]

It's not an issue of XM not wanting to give them everything, it's that who's going to pay directv to sit and listen to someone talk to them via a black screen? It's pointless and a waste of space. You only got baseball and High Voltage because they need something to trump E* with. People will sit around getting drunk listening to baseball and O&A, they won't to some of the normal talk radio stuff...