DirecTV to deliver XM Radio!

[Chris Blount]

Satellite Entertainment Pioneers DIRECTV and XM Satellite Radio Join Forces to Deliver 72 Channels of XM's Acclaimed Programming to DIRECTV Customers Nationwide

Number of Audio Channels Available on DIRECTV Will Nearly Double at No Additional Cost

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. and WASHINGTON, Sept. 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- An agreement between DIRECTV and XM Satellite Radio, the nation's leading providers of digital satellite entertainment programming, will be much more than just music to the ears of more than 14.6 million DIRECTV customers nationwide.

As part of DIRECTV's dedication to offering the best in entertainment to its customers, beginning Nov. 15, 2005, 72 channels of XM's quality music, children's, and talk programming will be available via DIRECTV, nearly doubling its current audio programming lineup at no additional cost. In addition to music channels and children's programming, XM will provide XM's Major League Baseball "Home Plate" talk radio channel, and its High Voltage channel, featuring talk radio stars Opie and Anthony.

"DIRECTV is making a major commitment in the world of music, and this alliance with XM Satellite Radio will leave a lasting imprint on not only our more than 14.6 million customers nationwide, but on the pay television industry as a whole," said Dan Fawcett, executive vice president, Programming Acquisitions, DIRECTV, Inc. "By partnering with fellow satellite innovator XM to deliver an unrivaled lineup of quality audio channels, we will continue to provide our customers with more entertainment choices, more value and the best service available."

"This marks the beginning of a natural partnership between the nation's leading satellite radio company and the leading satellite television company," said Patricia Kesling, senior vice president, Marketing and Operations, XM Satellite Radio. "DIRECTV offers a fantastic platform for people to experience some of the amazing content we offer on XM. We know from experience that when people get to sample XM, they want to become XM subscribers. Part of XM's appeal is that we have an extraordinary group of music experts who handpick the songs from XM's enormous music library, and they work directly with artists to create original music specials and live performances. Our talk radio programmers share that same spirit of creativity and freedom. It's what separates XM Satellite Radio from everyone else."

Customers subscribing to the DIRECTV TOTAL CHOICE(R) programming package will have access to 50 XM Satellite Radio music channels and customers subscribing to the DIRECTV TOTAL CHOICE(R) Plus programming package and above will have access to more than 65 channels. DIRECTV PARA TODOS(R) customers will also have access to the same XM channels, as well as five additional Latin music channels.

Source (http://phoenix.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=127160&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=762344&highlight=)

[BobMurdoch]

This is good news for E* subscribers as well. After Mel Karmazin took the reins of Sirius, he publically bemoaned the actions of his predecessor in "giving" away his service for free to E* subscribers.

Now with this deal Sirius should feel pressure to keep the deal going to not be at a competitive disadvantage with XM due to the D* deal.

To the D* subscribers, congrats! I have XM in my car and like the channels they have better than Sirius.

[ilovedbs]

This is good news for E* subscribers as well. After Mel Karmazin took the reins of Sirius, he publically bemoaned the actions of his predecessor in "giving" away his service for free to E* subscribers.

Now with this deal Sirius should feel pressure to keep the deal going to not be at a competitive disadvantage with XM due to the D* deal.

To the D* subscribers, congrats! I have XM in my car and like the channels they have better than Sirius.

I agree, hopefully E* will add the remaining channels of Sirius.

[Phil T]

This is great! :)

I also have XM and DirecTV.

[moonman]

The programming tier that you have with D*, determines what/how many channels you
will get...Musicchoice is going away for this, It remains to be seen if it is better or not.
BTW, the line-up and other info is ch. 800 on D*.

[wipeout]

Bummer, I enjoyed MusicChoice.

[Digital Madman]

I like it! I like it!

[Jacob S]

DirecTv may not have had the Satellite radio channels for a while but they are going to be making up for it by adding the talk and other additional channels that Sirius would not give to Dish subscribers. I also hope that Sirius feels the heat and adds the remaining stations to Dish.

[n8dagr8]

This only makes sense.....D* had to relay the music choice channels using their own sats, no?....maybe the new receivers will be able to use the signal from the XM sats saving D* a little space. Either way I was wondering why D* wasn't doing this a while back. I sounds good to me!

[ChrisPC]

Whew... This was not easy.

*: Denotes TC Plus
**: Denotes Para Todos

Decades:
801 40s
802 50s
803 60s
804 70s
805 80s
806 90s

Country:
808 America
809 Nashville
810 X Country
811 Hank's Place
812 Bluegrass Junction
813 The Village*
814 Highway 16

Hits:
816 Top 20
817 Kiss
818 Mix
819 Heart
820 Sunny
821 Blend
822 Cinemagic
823 On Broadway*
824 U-Pop*
825 Eye*

Christian:
826 Fish
827 Spirit
828 Enlighten*

Rock:
829 Deep Tracks
830 Boneyard*
831 XMU*
832 XM Cafe
833 Top Tracks
834 Ethel
835 Squizz
836 The Loft
837 XM Music Lab*
838 Lucy
839 Fred*

Urban:
841 Soul Street
842 Flow
843 Suite 62
844 The Groove*
845 The Rhyme
846 Raw
847 The City

Novelty:
848 Special X

Jazz/Blues:
850 Real Jazz
851 Watercolors
852 Beyond Jazz
853 Frank's Place
854 Bluesville

Lifestyle:
855 Fine Tuning*
856 Audio Visions

Dance:
858 The Move
859 BPM
860 The System
861 Chrome

World:
862 World Zone
863 The Joint

Classical:
864 XM Classics
865 Vox
866 XM Pops

Kids:
867 Radio Disney*
868 XM Kids*

Latin:
870 Alegria*/**
871 Aguila**
872 Caliente*/**
873 Luna**

3 more Latin channels to come...

Event/Talk:
878 MLB Home Plate*
879 High Voltage* (Opie & Anthony)

[Bill R]

This only makes sense.....D* had to relay the music choice channels using their own sats, no?....maybe the new receivers will be able to use the signal from the XM sats saving D* a little space.

Current and future receivers will not work that way (you would also need to replace the LNB and dish to receive the XM satellites). DirecTV will need to transmit the XM channels just as they do now with the Music Choice channels.

[n8dagr8]

Current and future receivers will not work that way (you would also need to replace the LNB and dish to receive the XM satellites). DirecTV will need to transmit the XM channels just as they do now with the Music Choice channels.


that kinda what I figured but it makes more sense to fix the equipment to receive the XM signal directly (even though I can't imagine the music channels take up much bandwidth - and with the new sats and all that space (not the dark void)).

You wouldn't have to change the LNB, would you? Couldn't you have an indoor antenna that plugs into the receiver or sits on top/next to the dish. These things are directional.

[pez2002]

my workplace uses music choice i cant stand it

i wonder if comcast is gonna drop music choice for xm or sirius streams ???

[stuart628]

Whew... This was not easy to copy down.

Where did you copy down this information from? I have not found this posted yet.

[NVBlue]

Great news!! I love my XM. I have several units.

[Spruceman]

Bad, bad news that MC is leaving. XM is OK -- but has announcers and is missing an all instrumental easy listening channel. Also MC's standards channel is better than XM's Franks Place. I hate hearing blathering announcers. This leaves no access to MC for folk in areas not served by cable -- most of USA's land area. As I already pay for XM for my vehicles, I will be paying same to XM and to D* and be minus MusicChoice. Will I have to "start a business" [akin to "moving" for distant locals] to get MC and pay commercial rates? Am willing to buy receiver & dish for MC alone. Hope MC will offer residential subscriptions as DMX does.

[Kerry High]

I made a couple of minor corrections to your list. 868 is named XM Kids, and 848 Special X is definately NOT in the Urban catagory. At the moment, it's playing Pat Boone's version of Paradise City.

Whew... This was not easy to copy down.

*: Denotes TC Plus
**: Denotes Para Todos

Decades:
801 40s
802 50s
803 60s
804 70s
805 80s
806 90s

Country:
808 America
809 Nashville
810 X Country
811 Hank's Place
812 Bluegrass Junction
813 The Village*
814 Highway 16

Hits:
816 Top 20
817 Kiss
818 Mix
819 Heart
820 Sunny
821 Blend
822 Cinemagic

823 On Broadway*
824 U-Pop*
825 Eye*

Christian:
826 Fish
827 Spirit
828 Enlighten*

Rock:
829 Deep Tracks
830 Boneyard*
831 XMU*
832 XM Cafe
833 Top Tracks
834 Ethel
835 Squizz
836 The Loft
837 XM Music Lab*
838 Lucy
839 Fred*

Urban:
841 Soul Street
842 Flow
843 Suite 62
844 The Groove*
845 The Rhyme
846 Raw
847 The City

Novelty:
848 Special-X

Jazz/Blues:
850 Real Jazz
851 Watercolors
852 Beyond Jazz
853 Frank's Place
854 Bluesville

Lifestyle:
855 Fine Tuning*
856 Audio Visions

Dance/World:
858 The Move
859 BPM
860 The System
861 Chrome
862 World Zone
863 The Joint

Classical:
864 XM Classics
865 Vox
866 XM Pops

Kids:
867 Radio Disney*
868 XM Kids*

Latin:
870 Alegria*/**
871 Aguila**
872 Caliente*/**
873 Luna**

3 more Latin channels to come...

878 MLB Home Plate*
879 High Voltage*

[DCSholtis]

Where did you copy down this information from? I have not found this posted yet.

If I had a guess maybe he has a Tivo, switched to Channel 800 (Where D* now has an XM Radio info channel) and copied them down. Tedious job at the very least. Thanks to the poster for posting that info !!!

[ChrisPC]

If I had a guess maybe he has a Tivo, switched to Channel 800 (Where D* now has an XM Radio info channel) and copied them down. Tedious job at the very least. Thanks to the poster for posting that info !!!

No problem. I actually used my digital camera. It only took about 30 minutes to copy all the channels down and sort them out. :lol:
BTW, I just updated my list again. I fixed some mistakes, and reorganized some channels.

[Marvin]

It just sucks I can't just tivo O&A..darn it..that would be too easy.

XM might lose some customers who are subbing multiple recievers to have XM in their house as well as their car. I've got a ski-fi 2 that I move back and forth between the house and car, I might not do that anymore until baseball starts back up. But they might also gain some customers who want it in their car as well..so it might even out..

[wipeout]

I'm not familiar with XM. With MC there are no announcers, are you saying with XM I can't just enjoy a non-stop stream of music? I have to listen to announcers. That will suck.

[borg5575]

I'm against this change. I tune in to hear music, not announcers and MC doesn't have announcers, just pure music. Why does XM have to have announcers?

[Steve Mehs]

It just sucks I can't just tivo O&A..darn it..that would be too easy.

Sure you can. Set it up as a Wish List.

The subject of DJs amazingly enough is controversial. I subscribe to both XM and Sirius (and have DirecTV) and they are both satellite radio services, not digital jukeboxes like Music Choice, DMX or Muzak. First off, not every channel on XM has DJs and some of the ones that do, don't have them all the time. I like having jocks since the DJ gives the station personality and most of them don't talk for very long, they're not your typical FM DJs. On the other hand, some of the jocks on Sirius like to babbelon and on. It’s satellite radio, not satellite jukebox.

I'm mixed on this. While I have completely swore off commercial radio I do like Music Choice as well as XM and Sirius all three have their positives and I will take any one of them over FM radio or Muzak any day.

On the topic of talk channels, the ones that are coming to DirecTV are the ones produced in house by XM. You will not see Radio Classics or Ask or anything of the like for the same reason they’re not Online. Because of licensing and agreements with the third party programming providers. Sirius falls under the same restrictions.

[Chris Blount]

Thanks for posting the channel list guys! Great work!

I noticed Cinemagic is on the list. That's all I need. :)

I already have 3 XM radios. Might get rid of the home unit now. :)

[Smthkd]

..

I already have 3 XM radios. Might get rid of the home unit now. :)
You said it! I was just about to buy Polk Audio's XM Radio Receiver for my Home Theater but now I don't need it! Just saved myself about $300. Thanks DAVE! :D

[ki4cgs]

Why is XM channel Ch 31 "The Torch" not included?

[SPECIES11703]

Did you get this from channel 800?


Whew... This was not easy.

*: Denotes TC Plus
**: Denotes Para Todos

Decades:
801 40s
802 50s
803 60s
804 70s
805 80s
806 90s

Country:
808 America
809 Nashville
810 X Country
811 Hank's Place
812 Bluegrass Junction
813 The Village*
814 Highway 16

Hits:
816 Top 20
817 Kiss
818 Mix
819 Heart
820 Sunny
821 Blend
822 Cinemagic
823 On Broadway*
824 U-Pop*
825 Eye*

Christian:
826 Fish
827 Spirit
828 Enlighten*

Rock:
829 Deep Tracks
830 Boneyard*
831 XMU*
832 XM Cafe
833 Top Tracks
834 Ethel
835 Squizz
836 The Loft
837 XM Music Lab*
838 Lucy
839 Fred*

Urban:
841 Soul Street
842 Flow
843 Suite 62
844 The Groove*
845 The Rhyme
846 Raw
847 The City

Novelty:
848 Special X

Jazz/Blues:
850 Real Jazz
851 Watercolors
852 Beyond Jazz
853 Frank's Place
854 Bluesville

Lifestyle:
855 Fine Tuning*
856 Audio Visions

Dance:
858 The Move
859 BPM
860 The System
861 Chrome

World:
862 World Zone
863 The Joint

Classical:
864 XM Classics
865 Vox
866 XM Pops

Kids:
867 Radio Disney*
868 XM Kids*

Latin:
870 Alegria*/**
871 Aguila**
872 Caliente*/**
873 Luna**

3 more Latin channels to come...

Event/Talk:
878 MLB Home Plate*
879 High Voltage* (Opie & Anthony)

[djlong]

Those of you complaining about 'announcers'.. I can speak from experience.

We're NOT talking about your blab-fest talk-over-the-music idiots that you find on FM.

With the exception of "60s on 6" you don't get much 'dj chatter' at all - and what you DO get is brief and usually has something to do with the song that just played or the song coming up (like announcing a concert tour).

I've subscribed to XM for about 3 years now. I'll *never* go back to FM.

[Spruceman]

Does anyone know how the bitrate of XM will compare with MusicChoice's? Will it be higher than that currently used by XM to squeeze all three streams (from satellite Rock, satellite Roll, and terrestrial repeaters) and authorizations, etc. into 12.5 MHz of bandwidth for ALL their music & talk channels?

Since MusicChoice is leaving D* I wonder if there's anyway that SkyAngel might pick up some of the MC channels without explicit lyrics and make it part of their package. Ever since Angel dropped WMUU, they are lacking anything in the easy listening / beautiful instrumentals genre.

[jpurkey]

Those of you complaining about 'announcers'.. I can speak from experience.

We're NOT talking about your blab-fest talk-over-the-music idiots that you find on FM.

With the exception of "60s on 6" you don't get much 'dj chatter' at all - and what you DO get is brief and usually has something to do with the song that just played or the song coming up (like announcing a concert tour).

Well, I've sampled XM on their website and found the announcers in the samples (which are meant to promote the service) to be very annoying. Guess I've just been spoiled by Music Choice which has none, other than on the Disney channel.

Anyway, I'll give it another try when XM gets added to DirecTV, but I have a feeling I'll be going back to playing CDs. I'd at least want to be able to hear 3 or 4 songs in a row without any interruption.

BTW, Does anyone know if DirecTV will be sending the song titles and artists like they do with MC? Normally I clear the screen when listening to MC, but it's nice being able to hit info when I hear a song or artist I don't know.

[alv]

I hear many songs in a row on XM without ineruption.

[Paul Secic]

Whew... This was not easy.

*: Denotes TC Plus
**: Denotes Para Todos

Decades:
801 40s
802 50s
803 60s
804 70s
805 80s
806 90s

Country:
808 America
809 Nashville
810 X Country
811 Hank's Place
812 Bluegrass Junction
813 The Village*
814 Highway 16

Hits:
816 Top 20
817 Kiss
818 Mix
819 Heart
820 Sunny
821 Blend
822 Cinemagic
823 On Broadway*
824 U-Pop*
825 Eye*

Christian:
826 Fish
827 Spirit
828 Enlighten*

Rock:
829 Deep Tracks
830 Boneyard*
831 XMU*
832 XM Cafe
833 Top Tracks
834 Ethel
835 Squizz
836 The Loft
837 XM Music Lab*
838 Lucy
839 Fred*

Urban:
841 Soul Street
842 Flow
843 Suite 62
844 The Groove*
845 The Rhyme
846 Raw
847 The City

Novelty:
848 Special X

Jazz/Blues:
850 Real Jazz
851 Watercolors
852 Beyond Jazz
853 Frank's Place
854 Bluesville

Lifestyle:
855 Fine Tuning*
856 Audio Visions

Dance:
858 The Move
859 BPM
860 The System
861 Chrome

World:
862 World Zone
863 The Joint

Classical:
864 XM Classics
865 Vox
866 XM Pops

Kids:
867 Radio Disney*
868 XM Kids*

Latin:
870 Alegria*/**
871 Aguila**
872 Caliente*/**
873 Luna**

3 more Latin channels to come...

Event/Talk:
878 MLB Home Plate*
879 High Voltage* (Opie & Anthony)

Why won't Sirus give Dishnetwork's customers talk? You would think they wouldn't have to pay for it. Does XM or Sirus block ads?

[dnsc_installer]

here's the million dollar question......... I have dish network, and I have sirius, if I wanted to, I could subscribe to the sirius channels for my car unit through dishand get it at a discounted rate, like around 5 dollars or so, yes i subsribe directly to sirius so i can get all the channels, but will XM do something similar for those just wanted the music and let DTV add just the music channels for the car unit and only add a small fee to the DTV actual bill.


if this post is unclear, just let me know, and I will retype it later tonight when I get home as i am driving down the road right now.

[Steve Mehs]

Why won't Sirus give Dishnetwork's customers talk? You would think they wouldn't have to pay for it. Does XM or Sirus block ads?

Why is everyone acting like this is a big deal. When it's not really. XM is only including 2 talk stations that they produce. Sirius could let Dish have the NFL Radio and whatever other channels there are where 100% of the channel is produced by Sirius, they’re isn’t that many. The political talk channels, Fox Sports Radio, and the rest of the outsourced talk on XM and Sirius have WILL NEVER be on DBS.

[clcoyle]

this is great....but hopefully they will add all the channels soon....i really like the sports talk, etc.

[Richard]

I made a chart of all the XM channels that will be in Total Choice/Total Choice Plus/Total Choice Premium. Don't have the Spanish Packages included yet though:

http://www.dbsinfo.us/DirecTV_XM.xml

[Steve Mehs]

Very nice Richard!

[ChrisPC]

Did you get this from channel 800?

Yes.

[Richard]

Screenshots from Channel 800 Slideshow

[Richard]

Last 4 slides. Don't have my tuner card in my PC anymore so I recorded the slideshow to a DVD and then made screenshots from the DVD. They came out better than I expected.

[pinkertonfloyd]

I'm not familiar with XM. With MC there are no announcers, are you saying with XM I can't just enjoy a non-stop stream of music? I have to listen to announcers. That will suck.


Nah, it's not as bad as you think, most of the channels are still "DJ Free", and the ones that do usually stick to the point... in fact I find Sirius's DJ's to be more yakky than XM.

Some channels like Deep Tracks will have "behind the music" like mini-interview now and then.

The Decade Channels rarely have any DJ (if any).

Trust ME, XM's content is first rate... you'll hear great songs played that nobody else does, they also seem to get access to live events and stuff like the BBC Concert Series that nobody else has.

[DaveTinNY]

I think it's great. My wife and I love XM and Music Choice didn't have some of the variety that XM does... Beyond Jazz being one of the channels we love. The announcers - I sort of like the human touch to it. As long as there are NO commercials, I'll take it.

[jpurkey]

I made a chart of all the XM channels that will be in Total Choice/Total Choice Plus/Total Choice Premium. Don't have the Spanish Packages included yet though:

http://www.dbsinfo.us/DirecTV_XM.xml

Thanks for the list! The links to XM are helpful too since some of the names don't really describe the channel very well.

Hopefully the samples I listened to a few months back were bad examples of the DJ chatter. Now it looks like you have to create an account to hear samples.

Currently I mainly listen to MC channels 825 (Solid Gold Oldies) and 829 (Classic Country). The XM alternatives appear to be the 50's and 60's decades and Hank's Place.

[moonman]

Thanks for the list! The links to XM are helpful too since some of the names don't really describe the channel very well.

Hopefully the samples I listened to a few months back were bad examples of the DJ chatter. Now it looks like you have to create an account to hear samples.

Currently I mainly listen to MC channels 825 (Solid Gold Oldies) and 829 (Classic Country). The XM alternatives appear to be the 50's and 60's decades and Hank's Place.
---------
Yes thanks for the link, may I suggest that if you use this list, you should note
the following channel nbrs, may contain* Explicit Language(you may want to block
them if you have kids..)

* 830 Boneyard
* 835 Squizz
* 845 The Rhyme
* 846 Raw
* 879 High Voltage

[Steve Mehs]

Currently I mainly listen to MC channels 825 (Solid Gold Oldies) and 829 (Classic Country). The XM alternatives appear to be the 50's and 60's decades and Hank's Place.

Also for classic country, America, which I find to be closer to Music Choice's Classic Country.

[bjflynn04]

I am very happy that XM is finally going to replace that crappy Music Choice. XM is much much better. Even though I have a home/car radio (MyFi) that I take out of my car and listen to in my bedroom, I am still going to use the MyFi instead of the D* in my bedroom because it has all of the XM channels and Tune Select. But for the rest of the house I will listen to xm on D*.

[Sea bass]

I am looking forward to this! I have Sirius in my truck, and have always wanted to sample XM. I never would buy XM, not enough sports coverage for me. Kinda why I would never by E*. Can't wait to sample XM!

[Steve Mehs]

XM has MLB, NHL, NASCAR until '07, IRL and PAC10, ACC and BIG10 NCAA Football and Basketball, plus Sporting News Radio and Fox Sports Radio. That's not enough enough? :)

[jpurkey]

Also for classic country, America, which I find to be closer to Music Choice's Classic Country.

Thanks. I missed that one. When I saw the name I just thought of the Americana(sp?) channel that that used to be on MC.

[Sea bass]

XM has MLB, NHL, NASCAR until '07, IRL and PAC10, ACC and BIG10 NCAA Football and Basketball, plus Sporting News Radio and Fox Sports Radio. That's not enough enough? :)

I don't see NBA, NFL, or EPL in that list... So no, definitely not enough!

[Dan9]

Since they are adding the MLB channel with these new XM channels, I was wondering if they would be adding the new NHL channel with these stations also??
Thanks for your responses.

Link: http://www.xmradio.com/nhl/index.jsp

[Richard]

---------
Yes thanks for the link, may I suggest that if you use this list, you should note
the following channel nbrs, may contain* Explicit Language(you may want to block
them if you have kids..)

* 830 Boneyard
* 835 Squizz
* 845 The Rhyme
* 846 Raw
* 879 High Voltage
I updated the list with the above notations and provided a link to DirecTV's site that explains how to setup Locks & Limits.

[Mark Holtz]

If DirecTV (or Dish for that matter) wants to broadcast Old Time Radio, I suggest that they check out Yesterday USA Radio (http://www.yesterdayusa.com/). According to their Cable TV Page (http://www.yesterdayusa.com/Listen/Cable.htm), it's a free feed.

[technoarch]

The one and only thing I like about MC is the Sounds of the Seasons channel. According to the XM list there is not an eqivilent to this channel. Will there be an alternative coming to the XM lineup soon?

[bscott]

My parents have XM. I don't believe they have a direct equivelant but they did preempt 4 channels last Christmas for Christmas music. They had 4 different types I believe.

[Combow]

I screamed when I herd the news... I just had to come here to make sure it was true... Radio@AOL with XM and now DirecTV with XM & Music Choice... pure Awesome. :rolleyes:

[ChrisPC]

I screamed when I herd the news... I just had to come here to make sure it was true... Radio@AOL with XM and now DirecTV with XM & Music Choice... pure Awesome. :rolleyes:

DirecTV is dropping Music Choice for XM.

[Combow]

DirecTV is dropping Music Choice for XM.

AWWWWW I just read that. That's So Sad... Directv and Music Choice have been partners since Directv Started. I always knew Directv and XM would join because they are both property of GM. But I thought they would keep MC but I guess not. But Well Things Change for the better.

And they are right about one thing... XM Music library is bigger then Music Choice. :)

[Steve Mehs]

The one and only thing I like about MC is the Sounds of the Seasons channel. According to the XM list there is not an eqivilent to this channel. Will there be an alternative coming to the XM lineup soon?

Special X would be the most equivelent. It was on the satellites, then removed, there's a canned version of it online, which will also be on DirecTV. Don't worry about Christmas music on XM, there's plenty. As Bscott said, last year XM had four 24/7 Christmas channels.

Sunny- Traditional Christmas Music
Nashville- Christmas from the country
Special XMas- non traditional odd ball stuff (Grandma Got Ran Over By a Reindeer, Mistress For Christmas, and the like)
Holly- Christmas Carols and tunes remade by pop sensations

[technoarch]

Special X would be the most equivelent. It was on the satellites, then removed, there's a canned version of it online, which will also be on DirecTV. Don't worry about Christmas music on XM, there's plenty. As Bscott said, last year XM had four 24/7 Christmas channels.

Sunny- Traditional Christmas Music
Nashville- Christmas from the country
Special XMas- non traditional odd ball stuff (Grandma Got Ran Over By a Reindeer, Mistress For Christmas, and the like)
Holly- Christmas Carols and tunes remade by pop sensations


great news!!

[junyoure]

I've been too busy to keep up, but when I heard the news today I almost soiled myself. I've been an XM subscriber for over a year and DirectTV for about two and I gotta tell ya, I NEVER listened to Music Choice bacause I had a SkyFI I moved between my car and my house. Now I can put a better quality deck in my car and attach my D* reciever in my home office to a small stereo and.....and.....

I've listened to about 10 music channels for a year and finally started branching out to the more eclectic channels and the ones with DJ's. Everybody in this thread has been right, the DJ's are NOT annoying at all and add to the experience with song trivia, concert notes, etc.

A few comments about other stuff in this thread.

I didn't know GM owned part of XM and D* is this true?

The talk channels will probably never show up on either E*Sirius or D*XM due to rebroadcast rights. When XM finally went online last year, I wasn't too happy about the omission of the talk channels, but realized that most of the content was available (for a fee) online at the talk show hosts website (ESPN, Glen Beck, Air America, etc) If you'll notice the only talk XM is gonna offer is the stuff they originate, like O&A

I'm excited. It opens tons-o-possibilities for my home entertainment setup.

Here's an idea.....sell a package through D* available only to XM subscribers to get the talk stations. This may be able to circumvent the rebroadcast rights issues.

Jr.

[Steve Mehs]

I believe GM has a small stake in XM, as does Clear Channel and at one time DirecTV did too. DirecTV even had an XM demo channel a few years ago similar to the DirecWay one.

[Spruceman]

Unfortunate XM does not have a holiday channel. It means that those of us wanting easy listening and not wanting holiday music 24/7 will have to go without for late NOV and most of DEC. Still better off than with Sirius.

[kc1ih]

If I have the original (Sony) single-satellite dish, will I be able to get all the XM channels, or will I have to go to a multi-satellite dish?

[Steve Mehs]

Yes you should be fine. All of the main XM channels will be on 101, Spanish might be on 119.

[MrSnarkyPants]

Unfortunate XM does not have a holiday channel. It means that those of us wanting easy listening and not wanting holiday music 24/7 will have to go without for late NOV and most of DEC. Still better off than with Sirius.

If XM does as in the past, there will be several holiday music channels covering different genres in late November and most of December.

As for easy listening, that channel is called Sunny.

[MrSnarkyPants]

I believe GM has a small stake in XM, as does Clear Channel and at one time DirecTV did too. DirecTV even had an XM demo channel a few years ago similar to the DirecWay one.

Clear Channel is no longer an investor in XM.

GM is a major player (as is Honda). DirecTV's involvement went away when Hughes was sold.

[linger]

Does anyone have any idea how the sound quality will compare to the $300 Polk/XM home tuner? Polk's sales pitch is that it delivers the XM signal to your AV receiver 100% digitally....well now DTV boxes with digital audio out will be able to do the same thing...and sounds just as good...right?

[KyL416]

DirecTV has updated the XM Info Channel (800), they now say that Luna (873) will be replaced by Nashville Holiday from November 24 - December 25. The odds are that it will only be available to people with a Multi-satellite Dish that can recieve station from the 119 location, unless they put all of the Para Todos XM stations on 101.

[leww37334]

Is XM Dolby 5.1?

[brahuna]

Clear Channel is no longer an investor in XM.

GM is a major player (as is Honda). DirecTV's involvement went away when Hughes was sold.

GM owns around 3% of XM.

[syphix]

Is XM Dolby 5.1?No.

[rspetti]

Is XM Dolby 5.1?
Actually, at CES 2004 (I think) they demonstrated they could do it. Cinemagic was playing some stuff in 5.1. Granted there wasn't a whole lot, but there was some 5.1 stuff being played on that channel. That's likely the only place you might see it on D* since hardly any albums are made with 5.1 sound.

[EricG]

Will the record function be disabled on my DirecTiVo just like on the MC channels?
I guess I can wait and find out tomorrow!

[Kerry High]

Will the record function be disabled on my DirecTiVo just like on the MC channels?
I guess I can wait and find out tomorrow!

Almost certainly yes, it will be disabled. The DirecTiVos don't handle audio-only recordings very well.

[Steve Mehs]

I see you don't have any Series 1 DTiVos, but if you did or if you have any DTiVos still on s/w version 3xx, you can most certainly record the Music Channels, and probably XM as well. Just set up a Wishlist using the channels title. I used to use this loophole all the time, then for some reason or another I stopped, and I went to try it again with 6.2 and it doesn't work.

[crkeehn]

It looks like they flipped the switch this morning about 6 am EST. When I got up at 5, they still had the music choice stations, at 6 they had XM, most of the stations showing "No Information".

One thing puzzles me. While I was flipping about, a slide popped up briefly saying something about XM being monaural. Is it being broadcast as a stereo or monaural signal?

[Chris Blount]

Yes, XM is definitely up. Looks and sounds good so far. Song titles are there. I checked a few of the stations and they are in stereo.

[PirateJim]

Is anyone receiving Channel 853 (Frank's Place) or 854 (Bluesville) ?
Those two channels seem to be missing this morning ...

[ChrisPC]

Some channels are still not there yet, but I'm getting 853 and 854.

[bjflynn04]

I am receiving both channels, My D10 Receiver when I turned it on this morning was getting all the XM Channels fine but on my Hughes HAH-SA and RCA DRD430RG Receivers I had to reset them because when I turn them on at 8:00 this morning they were still listing the music choice channels.

[zorro99]

Very disappointed this am when I listened to Directv XM service on my home theater speakers. Directv has lost the lows and highs of the music and my $11,000 system sounds no better than my car stereo. I have been an XM listener for years and have 3 subscriptions, but DirecTV dropped the ball on the dynamic range of the music. Had hoped they would have kept the same quality they had with Music Choice as they had the equipment to do it. Guess the blame may lie with XM. Too bad Directv could not have offered both. Guess I will have to see what's avail on Dish or cable as far as dynamic range of music. :(

[KyL416]

It seems like they had some minor glitches with the info display earlier today as there was a stray "Á" popping up after the song description on every channel but that has since been fixed.

Now hopefully Zap2it will hurry up and add the channels to their Data Direct service. I'm not gonna hold my breath for Gemstar or Titan TV as TitanTV has an annoying glitch that doesn't provide any listings for channels that debuted after the start 2005.

[crkeehn]

Yes, XM is definitely up. Looks and sounds good so far. Song titles are there. I checked a few of the stations and they are in stereo.

Thank you for checking with me. I was checking XM out on our second TV, a monaural 13". I knew I wouldn't be able to play with XM on my main unit until the Boys go to bed tonight, otherwise the TV seems to show only the Dukes of Hazzard or Power Rangers SPD.

[ansky]

Directv has lost the lows and highs of the music and my $11,000 system sounds no better than my car stereo. I have been an XM listener for years and have 3 subscriptions, but DirecTV dropped the ball on the dynamic range of the music.
Everything sounds fine on my $300 stereo :)

[pez2002]

i have xm on now as i type this 90s on 9 love it
i will check out the rest too :)

too bad we are moving to a condominium i cant get directv there :( they have a deal with comcast :(

[jpurkey]

Very disappointed this am when I listened to Directv XM service on my home theater speakers. Directv has lost the lows and highs of the music and my $11,000 system sounds no better than my car stereo. (

I can even tell a difference listening through the TV speaker. But with twice the number of channels as MC I wasn't expecting the audio quality to improve. And the MC channels sounded a bit flat when listened side by side to the CD.

I also noticed there is a big difference in the audio level between channels. Not a biggy once I learn which channels I like, but when sampling the channels to learn what music they play it is rather annoying having to keep adjusting the volume.

Overall I like the XM channels and I'll eventaully get used to the DJs I suppose. Though I also have several 6 hour DVDs (recorded overnights) of my two favorite MC channels (Solid Gold Oldies and Classic Country) which I can always go back to. The only flaw in that plan I now realize is that if I have to get a DVD to listen then I might as well just grab a CD and get better sound quality. :)

I did do a check and found that all 67 XM channels which I can receiver on 101 can be recorded to DVD. I assumed some like the talk channels would be protected, but I guess not.

[luvdtv04]

My D11's were showing the correct XM channel names this morning, but would not show any info about the current song on the screen. When I would press INFO, it seemed to pull up data from what MC would have been playing on the same channel because they didn't match at all what was currently playing (different artists, genres, etc.)

[unsub]

Wheres the talk radio stations I heard about, other than one XM sports channel, its all music, just like Music Choice. so far, disappointing.. I listen to Air America on AM radio. As far as music, I buy brand new vinyl record LPs over the internet, they are making them again you know. CD quality sucks, as Music Choice advertised, XM seems about the same ..

[midnight75]

This XM radio is great! They're playing songs on there I have not heard for years. :grin:

[midnight75]

I am receiving both channels, My D10 Receiver when I turned it on this morning was getting all the XM Channels fine but on my Hughes HAH-SA and RCA DRD430RG Receivers I had to reset them because when I turn them on at 8:00 this morning they were still listing the music choice channels.

Mine was doing the same thing. Resetting it took care of that. I was getting two channel 802s, 804s etc.

[crkeehn]

Wheres the talk radio stations I heard about, other than one XM sports channel, its all music, just like Music Choice. so far, disappointing.. I listen to Air America on AM radio. As far as music, I buy brand new vinyl record LPs over the internet, they are making them again you know. CD quality sucks, as Music Choice advertised, XM seems about the same ..

There are only two talk channels that Directv is carrying right now, both of them are at the end of the list, channels 878 and 879. 878 is MLB Home Plate and 879 is High Voltage XL. Both require that you subscribe to at least Total Choice Plus.

[IndyMichael]

It would be nice if subscribers of both XM and DirecTV would get all the XM stations. As is I like it though, come in from listenting to XM in our van and hear the rest of the song inside, without moving my Roady2.

[syphix]

XM can NOT provide all the channels as they are simply an "affiliate" of many of their channels/shows. They don't own the rights to re-broadcast it outside of their satellite stream. My guess is the rights to do so would be cost prohibitive for them providing their streams to DirecTV subs free of charge.

Why no comedy channels, though, is beyond me...

BTW, I just called DirecTV, and the CSR confirmed that they just got information today saying that YES: all five XM holiday channels will be available on DirecTV come Thanksgiving Day. I didn't ask for a channel lineup, but I believe DirecTV channel 800 will provide it any day now.

[KyL416]

BTW, I just called DirecTV, and the CSR confirmed that they just got information today saying that YES: all five XM holiday channels will be available on DirecTV come Thanksgiving Day. I didn't ask for a channel lineup, but I believe DirecTV channel 800 will provide it any day now.
Check the holiday lineup thread in the XM Section, I posted the lineup that Channel 800 showed earlier today.

[pez2002]

This XM radio is great! They're playing songs on there I have not heard for years. :grin:


im having that same feeling have not turned on fm all day :)

i cant take dtv to my condo as i have stated in another post whats a good starter xm system to buy ????

[Marvin]

I wanted to tivo O & A and figured that it wouldnt be possible and this was a response a while back..

Sure you can. Set it up as a Wish List.



The way High Voltage is set up, it goes in 4 hour incremements which don't even match the show's schedule. And if I set it up as a wish list, wont it pretty much default to recording the channel 24/7 because each 4 hour segment is the same title? Theres no info about the show being live or a replay to filter out the airings..

Im going to end up getting a dvd recorder and setting it up on a timer to record it on to DVD RWs.

[KyL416]

Yeah, it would be great if they would provide specific programming listings for the Talk Radio stations and any of the other XM Stations that have a scheduled format.

[Marvin]

Yeah, it would be great if they would provide specific programming listings for the Talk Radio stations and any of the other XM Stations that have a scheduled format.

MLB Home Plate has that..High Voltage is just a blank screen..

[KyL416]

I don't mean that little Info Display, I mean in the on screen programming guide.

[Chris Walker]

Nice to see Directv trying to catch up with E* in the music department, D* has been way behind for a couple of years

[durl]

I listened to several channels last night after work. I heard DJs chattering and my heart sank. It's just WRONG. Does XM have any "DJ-less" channels?

On the plus side, there IS a wider variety which I think is nice. I just wish they had a Christian channel that played things that rock a little (or a lot) more.

[syphix]

Does XM have any "DJ-less" channels?Yes:
The 40's (for the most part)
Nashville! (for the most part...some specials at times)
KISS
Mix
Sunny
The Eye
The Blend
Cinemagic
On Broadway (for the most part)
Special X
Top Tracks
Audio Visions
XM Pops (for the most part)

There may be others, but I'm not sure. And I might be wrong on some of these.

[moonman]

a usefull armchair channel listing, with "hot-links" back to XM pages, with channel
descriptions etc....http://www.dbsinfo.us/DirecTV_XM.xml

[TD2]

syphix, I was listening to Sunny, the closest thing they had to easy listening on MC, but its not pure instrumental. I'd guess every 15 minutes or so a character comes on there and makes sure I know exactly what I'm listening to and who's providing it. I never appreciated MC I guess. They kept their mouth shut. I've discovered that Cox cable carries MC in my area. Never thought I'd ever consider moving to cable!

[jpurkey]

The DJs are not as bad as I thought they were going to be. But what annoys me is the special programming. Seems almost every time I've tuned to the America/Classic Country channel they are having some type of special countdown program with artist bio junk given between each song. Then there are the XM ads for different programs. XM is certainly better than FM radio with several minutes of paid advertising per hour, but it is definitely not clutter free like Music Choice was.

BTW, Does anyone know why DirecTV didn't use the XM channel #s in the channel names? They should have XM01, XM02, etc. instead of every channel being named XM. The MC channels were numbered that way even though the numbers were never used.

[KyL416]

The funny thing is that the numbers that DirecTV assigned the music choice channels didn't even match any of the official numbers that Music Choice uses when sending their service out.

i.e. Showcase is officially channel 1 for music choice, but DirecTV labeled it like MC30 or something.

[bjflynn04]

I listened to several channels last night after work. I heard DJs chattering and my heart sank. It's just WRONG. Does XM have any "DJ-less" channels?



The DJs are not that bad at least they are not like DJs on FM, FM DJs Talk WAY TOO MUCH. In my opinion, DJs give the station personality. Without them the stations would be like the VERY BORING Music Choice channels. Another good thing about XM is that on a lot of the channels like the ones with DJs you can call, email, or even text message song requests.

[jpurkey]

The DJs are not that bad at least they are not like DJs on FM, FM DJs Talk WAY TOO MUCH. In my opinion, DJs give the station personality. Without them the stations would be like the VERY BORING Music Choice channels. Another good thing about XM is that on a lot of the channels like the ones with DJs you can call, email, or even text message song requests.

BORING was good. :)

However, the DJ chatter does seem to be balanced well for those who want it and for those (like me) who don't.

And it is nice to hear some different songs. The one thing I didn't like about Music Choice was that there were some songs that got played way too often.

[ansky]

I don't mind the DJ's, I'm just glad they don't have listeners calling in. "OH MY GOD, am I caller 21????"

Now that is what annoys me.

[quickfire]

Hey ...if I were to e-mail the Xm web site would they take request for songs?????

[bjflynn04]

I don't mind the DJ's, I'm just glad they don't have listeners calling in. "OH MY GOD, am I caller 21????"

Now that is what annoys me.


Exactly

[bjflynn04]

Hey ...if I were to e-mail the Xm web site would they take request for songs?????

http://www.dbsinfo.us/DirecTV_XM.xml This will give you the links on XM website for each of the XM channels on Directv and the contact info to request songs.

[Kerry High]

Hey ...if I were to e-mail the Xm web site would they take request for songs?????

http://channels.xmradio.com
There's a link to request a song on each channel's web page.

[quickfire]

Thanks...i like the Cinemagic channel.....there are some Great soundtracks for alot of movies.............looking for the soundtrack for Empire of the Sun..........maybe they have it

[Bill R]

I don't mind the DJ's, I'm just glad they don't have listeners calling in.

Well, actually some channels do have call ins. I was listening to the 60s channel (DirecTV ch. 803) this morning and they had some guy call in who sounded like he was stoned (or drunk). The 60s channel, at times, displays a toll free number that listeners can call in and request a song.

[bidger]

I can say that there does seem to be an effort to play more varied and eclectic titles with X-M. I head a Buckingham-Nicks track on the Loft last night. But, I have to say that at this point on the few channels I have visited, the DJs, while not obnoxious, are not an improvement, IMO. I realize that X-M is satellite radio, but I wasn't listening to radio before with MC, just uninterrupted music. I can see an upside to X-M, but you will have to give those us who had no problem with MC time to get adjusted.

[Phil T]

Come on Directv, fix the XM bugs!!

I really like the addition of XM to DirecTV but this morning none of the titles are correct. They seem to be frozen on all channels. Also the audio levels seem to vary from channel to channel and honestly don't sound very good.

I am sure nobody is working to fix this on a Sunday, but your subscribers deserve better. :(

[Steve Mehs]

The song titles are annoying as hell. This makes three songs so far I've heard for the first time that I liked and went to download it, but it's the wrong song :(

[mr_mark_taylor]

Well, actually some channels do have call ins. I was listening to the 60s channel (DirecTV ch. 803) this morning and they had some guy call in who sounded like he was stoned (or drunk). The 60s channel, at times, displays a toll free number that listeners can call in and request a song.


the 60s channel has a few reuquest hours during the day, probably the most of any XM channel...the 80s and 90s used to have really interactive DJs but they all moved on or XM restructured the channel

[Steve Mehs]

The 60s Channel is probably one of the best programmed channels on XM. Being born in the mid '80s, I have no idea what radio was like back then, but thanks to Terry Motormouth now I do. Besides Clever, he is my favorite DJ on XM and really gives the station personality.

[Wolffpack]

Come on Directv, fix the XM bugs!!

I really like the addition of XM to DirecTV but this morning none of the titles are correct. They seem to be frozen on all channels. Also the audio levels seem to vary from channel to channel and honestly don't sound very good.

I am sure nobody is working to fix this on a Sunday, but your subscribers deserve better. :(
Ok, hold on you all. DTV added XM at no additional charge and folks like you want to bitch and complain about everything not being perfect? Not just you Phil, I just picked your post to reply to....but to everyone. Give DTV a chance. It's been up for 5 days and it's freeeeeee.

BTW, audio levels vary on XM too, just as they do on DTV.

[Steve Mehs]

I've never had to turn my home theater recover up to volume level 25 to be able to hear he music then get blasted away 10 seconds later while being on the same channel with my SkyFi & Home Kit.

[art_z]

no Fungus ... grrrrr

[Wolffpack]

I've never had to turn my home theater recover up to volume level 25 to be able to hear he music then get blasted away 10 seconds later while being on the same channel with my SkyFi & Home Kit.
Like I said, give them a chance to fix stuff. Don't like it, don't listen. Not like you're paying any more for XM.

[Steve Mehs]

But I'm still paying for them. But that’s not the point, the point is as a DirecTV customer I am not satisfied at the moment and I do have the right to bitch and moan all I want, just like how I use to whine about Dish Networks DVRs. I'm not going to pretend things are all rosy when their not. DirecTV had over a month to prepare for this and they have not acknowledged the problem. What good are all these channels when they're volume is a roller coaster. I was expecting to get higher sound quality out of the DirecTV rebroadcasts then my SkyFi, which is better when the volume stays consistent.

If Dish Network got their uplink with Sirius right on the first attempt how hard can it really be.

[Phil T]

I really enjoy XM and have it in my car and I appreciate the fact that DirecTV added XM at no additional cost.

I am just frustrated that it is not ready for prime time on DirecTV. It seems that they had over a month to work the bugs out but didn't get it done.

I am a huge DirecTV supporter and really appreciate the quality of their products such as the DirecTivo and the HR10-250. I just expected DirecTv to have it right from the get go.

After all my years with DishNetwork and being a Dishplayer owner, I have higher expectations for DirecTV.

[Phil T]

Steve, it looks like you and I were typing almost the same response at the same time. :D

[Wolffpack]

Steve/Phil,

Have you expressed this to DTV?

[TJL]

Like I said, give them a chance to fix stuff. Don't like it, don't listen. Not like you're paying any more for XM.
I have to agree with this point of view. For most people (including myself), XM is a huge upgrade to DirecTV service. I'm totally hooked on it--since it came on on November 15, I've been listening to it more than I watch the regular TV channels. And now I want a MyFi! Gee, I wonder why? Be happy you got a free upgrade! I know there are some people who liked Music Choice better (Not me!), but the majority of us got what we consider to be a substantial upgrade to our service. Give DirecTV a chance to fix the bugs, and fine tune it. This was quite a large change, and it wasn't an easy for DirecTV to do, so just because it's not perfect immediately, don't be so quick to beat it up such a good thing.

[bjflynn04]

I have to agree with this point of view. For most people (including myself), XM is a huge upgrade to DirecTV service. I'm totally hooked on it--since it came on on November 15, I've been listening to it more than I watch the regular TV channels. And now I want a MyFi! Gee, I wonder why? Be happy you got a free upgrade! I know there are some people who liked Music Choice better (Not me!), but the majority of us got what we consider to be a substantial upgrade to our service. Give DirecTV a chance to fix the bugs, and fine tune it. This was quite a large change, and it wasn't an easy for DirecTV to do, so just because it's not perfect immediately, don't be so quick to beat it up such a good thing.


You can get a MyFi for $99 by going to www.xmradio.com/directv

[Wolffpack]

For anyone interested, today channel 150 on XM had a lag of about 30 seconds between the audio and the receiver display. Yet channel 45 and 46 were fine. I doubt the lag is a DTV problem.

[pez2002]

XM is way better then Music Choice.



right on

[Phil T]

You can get a MyFi for $99 by going to www.xmradio.com/directv


It looks to me that it is for new subscribers only! :(

[Steve Mehs]

Steve, it looks like you and I were typing almost the same response at the same time. :D

Great minds think alike :D

Steve/Phil,

Have you expressed this to DTV?

Yep, I did. I called customer service later last night. Did the typical reboot the receiver and the CSR said that this was the first time she’s ever heard of this problem and she’ll report it to her supervisor.

For anyone interested, today channel 150 on XM had a lag of about 30 seconds between the audio and the receiver display. Yet channel 45 and 46 were fine. I doubt the lag is a DTV problem.

I've noticed a lag with some of the talk and entertainment channels, but never noticed this with music channels, except for when the track info is displayed for the previous or upcoming song when a DJ is talking. I gave the 80s channel a listen for the first time in a while yesterday. The songs I thought I was downloading where not what was played prior to or after the tunes I wanted.

It looks to me that it is for new subscribers only!

I don't anywhere where it states new subs only Phil. I ordered a SkiFi2 with home kit on a similar deal yesterday. The receiver and home kit was free but I had to pay 3 months up front. Once I get it next week, my SkiFi subscription will be canceled. And I will add the SkyFi2 to my family plan with the Roady2 after the first 3 months

[pez2002]

mix sounds canned right now i noticed this last night at 11pm

[Phil T]

Sound quality and titles seemed to be better last night on the channels I was listening to.

I have not reported it, but will if I am still seeing the issues this weekend.

I have my XM on an annual subscription. Can I just add 3 months and get the $99.00 MYFI?

[bscott]

Good luck getting the MiFi. The offer said "while supplies last" and they were "out of stock" the 2nd or 3rd day of the offer. The Roady is still available, but it's not what I want. If you go to XM's site, you can still get a MiFi for around $150 and they have those in stock. (What a shock!)

[TJL]

mix sounds canned right now i noticed this last night at 11pm
Yes, the sound quality on Mix on D* (Channel 818) now sounds worse than AM radio. This degradation in audio quality seems to only affect this channel, and happened sometime yesterday evening (11/21 before 11 PM). From 11/15 until sometime on 11/21, the quality on this channel, like all others I've listened to, sounded perfect to me. Unfortunately, it is my favorite channel. Oh well, I'm not going to complain, but I very much hope that they fix the problem soon.

[pez2002]

Yes, the sound quality on Mix on D* (Channel 818) now sounds worse than AM radio. This degradation in audio quality seems to only affect this channel, and happened sometime yesterday evening (11/21 before 11 PM). From 11/15 until sometime on 11/21, the quality on this channel, like all others I've listened to, sounded perfect to me. Unfortunately, it is my favorite channel. Oh well, I'm not going to complain, but I very much hope that they fix the problem soon.


i like mix too

[ki4cgs]

mix sounds canned right nowI was hoping it wasn't just me. This was my favorite channel but I can't stand to listen to it the way it sounds now and KISS isn't a good backup. :lol:

[ki4cgs]

For those wondering about Christmas music from XM I just got this back from Directv...

Thanks for your interest in listening to Holiday music on our new XM Satellite Radio service. I understand how important the right music is to you and your family during the Holidays, and we've got good news: With our new XM Radio service, you get not one, but up to four channels of continuous Holiday music starting Thanksgiving Day (November 24) at midnight through Christmas Day at midnight. The four channels available are:

- “Holly” (ch. 819) plays just the biggest Holiday hits from the 40s through today. Classics from the Carpenters and Bobby Helms to more contemporary hits by Elton John and Bruce Springsteen.
- “Special X-Mas” (ch. 860) celebrates the wacky side of the Holidays. Novelty music and beyond that brings you a warped and often humorous perspective of the season. This is where you'll find Cheech and Chong, the Chipmunks, Elmo and Patsy and plenty of others.
- “A Classical Christmas” (ch. 866) showcases a powerful array of classical performances with a holiday theme. The best classical holiday performances from around the world are here on one channel that delivers the grandeur of the season.
- “A Nashville Christmas” (ch. 873) presents the Holidays with a twang by bringing a unique old fashioned family flavor to December with the biggest country stars of all time coming together for a music city holiday.

[KyL416]

Yeah, the lineup was posted a while back in the Holiday music thread in the XM Section. Unfortunately it doesn't look like DirecTV will be carrying "Holiday Traditions" since they don't carry it's counterpart "The Torch" though.

[Marvin]

Nashville Christmas is being blocked because its on a Para Todos XM channel (Luna) and all I get is "call customer service X721" on both of my recievers. That doesn't make any sense.

[ki4cgs]

I'm not getting Nashville Christmas either.

[N2Tronics]

The brain surgeon I spoke with at D* said they weren't going to offer "A Nashville Christmas" to anyone who doesn't have the PARA TODOS package. :mad:
I hope they change their minds.
It's kind of like getting an empty box on Christmas morning if you like Country Christmas music.:crying_sa

[TJL]

Who else has noticed the pattern of incorrect song info on Holly (Channel 819)? Some other channels have (or have had) this same problem. The song info works perfectly, until the next XM ad for the Holly channel or a HollyGram. Then when the next song is played, the erroneous song info "THE HEART" is displayed midway through that song, and the correct song info for the following song is extracted midway through the following song. This pattern isn't always consistent, but I noticed it already a few times today. Hopefully they will get bugs like this fixed soon.

[pez2002]

i seen a nashville christmas in the lineup then it when poof

[TJL]

Who else has noticed the pattern of incorrect song info on Holly (Channel 819)? Some other channels have (or have had) this same problem. The song info works perfectly, until the next XM ad for the Holly channel or a HollyGram. Then when the next song is played, the erroneous song info "THE HEART" is displayed midway through that song, and the correct song info for the following song is extracted midway through the following song. This pattern isn't always consistent, but I noticed it already a few times today. Hopefully they will get bugs like this fixed soon.
I now have the answer as to why after 9 days of XM on D*, song info sometimes still displays the name of the channel, instead of the name of the current song. I now have a 3-day trial to XM radio online--and I can compare the song info provided by D* and XM radio online. Everytime the song name is not provided (but instead the channel name is provided) on D*, it is also not provided on XM radio online. I used primarily Holly (D* channel 819) to verify this, but this is not the only XM channel to have this problem. That means the song info problem can't possibly be with D*, because D* has nothing to do with the song info provided to XM radio online. So, the problems lies with XM! Since I currently do not have an XM subscription, I do not know if the same song info problem exists on the XM satellite feed. I primarily took out the 3-day trial to listen to the Holiday Traditions channel not provided by D*, but now I will probably use it also to listen to Mix (Channel 818, XM 22) since that channel currently has badly warped audio quality on D*, and thus sounds much better on XM radio online!

[Steve Mehs]

I have my XM on an annual subscription. Can I just add 3 months and get the $99.00 MYFI?

I'm really unsure of how all of this works. The other day I received a Welcome To XM email, I used the same credit card that my existing SkyFi and Roady 2 are on. I'm being treated as a new subscriber and as of now I guess I have 2 full XM accounts. This is a little confusing, but If I can get the SkyFi2 for under $40, it will be worth it.

[pez2002]

whats the xm radio limit ?

[alv]

two accounts means you can't use the family plan

[jpurkey]

I was hoping it wasn't just me. This was my favorite channel but I can't stand to listen to it the way it sounds now and KISS isn't a good backup. :lol:

Hank's Place had the canned sound for several days. Sounds better today or maybe I'm just geting used to it. :)

I've been enjoying the novelty Christmas music on 860. I have a lot of novelty Christmas Music CDs, but have heard many songs on there I haven't heard before.

[TJL]

Yes, the sound quality on Mix on D* (Channel 818) now sounds worse than AM radio. This degradation in audio quality seems to only affect this channel, and happened sometime yesterday evening (11/21 before 11 PM). From 11/15 until sometime on 11/21, the quality on this channel, like all others I've listened to, sounded perfect to me. Unfortunately, it is my favorite channel. Oh well, I'm not going to complain, but I very much hope that they fix the problem soon.
Sometime this morning (11/29), D* fixed the audio problems on Channel 818 (Mix). Channel 818 (Mix) now sounds like all the other XM channels. Also, all the XM channels I watched today on D* (including Channel 818) now update their song info instantly immediately after the new song starts. So, since this morning, D* seems to have made significant improvements to the XM channels! I knew it would just be a matter of time before the problems were fixed. Let's just hope the problems *stay* fixed!

[TJL]

Sometime this morning (11/29), D* fixed the audio problems on Channel 818 (Mix). Channel 818 (Mix) now sounds like all the other XM channels. Also, all the XM channels I watched today on D* (including Channel 818) now update their song info instantly immediately after the new song starts. So, since this morning, D* seems to have made significant improvements to the XM channels! I knew it would just be a matter of time before the problems were fixed. Let's just hope the problems *stay* fixed!
I spoke too soon about the song info issue--the song info just became broken on Channel 818 again. Oh well, at least the audio issue is still fixed, for the moment!

[KyL416]

Radio Disney is still missing their info bar as well.

[ki4cgs]

Also, all the XM channels I watched today on D* (including Channel 818) now update their song info instantly immediately after the new song starts.

Now if the song info would just stay on for more than a few songs! :lol:

[Wolffpack]

I spoke too soon about the song info issue--the song info just became broken on Channel 818 again. Oh well, at least the audio issue is still fixed, for the moment!
Being a XM customer I see this on different channels on different days directly on XM. Seeing it on DTV could be due the XM having the same problem on their broadcasts.

[Steve Mehs]

two accounts means you can't use the family plan

Yes, I know. After my three months is up, my SkyFi 2 account will be canceled and the receiver will be added to my original account and thus I'll be back to a family plan.

[N2Tronics]

Nashville Christmas is being blocked because its on a Para Todos XM channel (Luna) and all I get is "call customer service X721" on both of my recievers. That doesn't make any sense.


Channel 873 is now working on my receivers and I am enjoying "A Nashville Christmas" without subing to PARA TODOS. :D

[TJL]

Channel 873 is now working on my receivers and I am enjoying "A Nashville Christmas" without subing to PARA TODOS. :D
That's great--so D* made Channel 873 temporarily Total Choice, so it is available to all D* subscribers, with one big restriction. You still need the triple LNB (or better) multi-satellite dish, since that channel is not on the 101 (if I recall correctly, it's on the 119). Those of us with single LNB dishes (like myself) who want to hear this channel will still need to use AOL radio, XM radio online, or a real XM subscription.

[ki4cgs]

Now if they would just move it to 101 so all subs could recieve it.

[TJL]

Now if they would just move it to 101 so all subs could recieve it.
It's possible they'll move it to 101, but not likely. You must consider the trouble that would probably involve to move it the 101, then move it back to the 119 on December 26. D* simply won't do something like that, to satisfy the single LNB dish customers who wish to watch the channel. I think their switching of the channel to Total Choice must have been the result of numerous customer complaints! After all, Channel 800 was advertising the channel, without indicating that it would only be available to their latin/business customers. I think D* learned that you can't advertise a channel that the vast majority (probably 90+%) of your customers can't get without telling those customers that they must have the latin package or be a business customer (and have a triple or better LNB dish) to get it. Remember: Channel 800 made no indication that Nashville Christmas would only be available to PARA TODOS and business customers--so their advertising of the channel without mentioning that restriction was false advertising. So they gave in and made the channel Total Choice (until December 26), rather than tick off a number of their customers--but this solution won't please everyone, because many of those who want it still can't get it, because it is not on the 101. But, I think this solution is the best you will see from D*.

[Wolffpack]

Now if they would just move it to 101 so all subs could recieve it.
Jeez-oh-petes. Some folks can never be satisified.

[ki4cgs]

Jeez-oh-petes. Some folks can never be satisified.It's not that I wasn't satisified with the move to the Total Choice, but that move still does their average sub. no good unless they already subscribe to something that requires them to have a dish pointed at the 119 location. So really they only went halfway in fixing the problem.

[Wolffpack]

It's not that I wasn't satisified with the move to the Total Choice, but that move still does their average sub. no good unless they already subscribe to something that requires them to have a dish pointed at the 119 location. So really they only went halfway in fixing the problem.
Keep in mind that to get local channels everywhere exept major cities, you much have access to 119. Unless you're in maybe the top 15-20 DMA's I believe you would already have a triple LNB dish for local channels. Gand Rapids MI needed one. Phoenix doesn't, but since I also get HD I got the larger dish.

[ki4cgs]

I am in Chattanooga and do not need the 119 dish for my locals.

[TJL]

I am in Chattanooga and do not need the 119 dish for my locals.
Yeah, my locals are also on the 101, and I do not currently care about HD or the PARA TODOS package, hence I have only a single LNB dish. I would say that in the large metro areas where the locals are on the 101, most subscribers still have the single LNB dishes. I would bet this is not the case in DMAs where the locals require a triple LNB dish.

[ansky]

Sorry if this has already been discussed, but what is the deal with the audio levels on the XM channels? Last night and early this morning I was listening to Suite 62 (ch 843) and with each song the audio level had drastic increases and decreases in volume. It was unbearable to listen to and I had to shut it off. This is the first time I have listened to the channel so I don't know if it's just a temporary problem or not.

[KyL416]

It seems they got the info banner problem fixed, at least for all the stations I listen to. Except for one, Radio Disney is still missing their banner.