Sirius XM Radio today announced that it will be added to the NASDAQ-100 Index effective July 15, 2011. SiriusXM’s common shares will also be included in the PowerShares QQQ exchange traded fund.

“We are pleased to be included in the NASDAQ-100 Index,” said Mel Karmazin, Chief Executive Officer, SiriusXM.  ”Inclusion in the index highlights the growth of our business and the substantial improvements in revenue, cash flow, and market value we have seen over the past two and a half years,” added Karmazin.

The NASDAQ-100 Index is composed of the 100 largest non-financial stocks listed on The NASDAQ Stock Market® and dates to January 1985.  The index acts as a benchmark for financial products such as options, futures, and funds, and reflects companies across major industry groups including computer hardware and software, telecommunications, retail/wholesale trade and biotechnology. It does not contain securities of financial companies including investment companies.

PowerShares QQQ is an Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) that seeks to replicate the NASDAQ-100 Index. It is used by investment professionals, private investors and financial advisors.

Rand Worldwide, a global provider of technology solutions to organizations with engineering design and information technology requirements, announced today that it will provide data archiving capabilities via Rand Secure Archive for 3000 users at SiriusXM, America’s satellite radio company. The agreement is to supply, install and support SiriusXM with data archiving capabilities enabling it to better understand, format and govern their electronic data.

“Rand Secure Archive is proud to be playing a key part in helping an innovative leader like SiriusXM execute on their strategy for data archiving,” stated Chris Grossman, Vice President, Enterprise Applications at Rand Worldwide. “We are pleased to provide them with a solution that is robust, reduces their data storage costs, enforces their internal governance policies and enables compliance with FRCP, SOX and other SEC regulations, while providing easy access to archived data,” continued Grossman.

“Our electronic data is of critical importance to our operations. As our organization continues to evolve, managing data is paramount,” commented William Pratt, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer of SiriusXM. “The Rand Secure Archive platform offered us a scalable solution that could accommodate future growth and new capabilities that we may require down the road.”

Rand Secure Archive offers data archiving and management solutions based on world-class technology. Companies can simplify the process to store, manage and search data and electronic communications enabling internal compliance with regulatory and corporate governance. Rand Secure Archive is a fully-hosted, on-demand solution that allows for rapid eDiscovery searches, governance, legal hold and data recovery. Data is hosted on secure servers with direct data access available at all times. For more information, visit: www.randsa.com.

The late George Carlin’s comedy will come alive again this weekend on Sirius Xm Radio.

Sirius XM Radio Inc. announced today that it will air a special channel devoted to Carlin’s comedy this weekend. Carlin died three years ago, on June 22, 2008, at age 71. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the making of his album “FM & AM.”

The channel will air several of Carlin’s routines, including the classic “Seven Words You Can Never Say on TV.” Because it is a subscription-based satellite radio channel, Sirius Xm has no problem playing the unedited routine.

“George Carlin Radio” will also include interviews with the comic’s daughter, brother and business partner.

Sirius XM Radio today announced that customers will automatically receive a 3-month subscription to SiriusXM when they purchase a pre-owned vehicle factory installed with satellite radio, regardless of manufacturer, from over 1,000 participating GM dealerships across the United States.

For the first time, participating GM dealers will provide customers purchasing non-GM pre-owned vehicles a 3-month subscription to SiriusXM. Customers purchasing Sirius or XM satellite radio-equipped pre-owned vehicles will have access to commercial-free music, and premier sports, news, talk, comedy and a selection of premium programming.

“Providing our pre-owned vehicle customers the very best value and buying experience is something we strive for everyday,” said Jason Brickl, CEO, Ballweg Family of Dealerships, and Co-Chair, General Motors National Dealer Council.  “My dealerships have enrolled in the SiriusXM program and I encourage all GM dealers to sign up and take advantage of this opportunity to add value to their inventories and pass along this 3-month introductory subscription of satellite radio to their customers.”

“For the first time ever, participating GM dealers are able to give their pre-owned vehicle customers a 3-month subscription to SiriusXM regardless of vehicle brand,” saidJoe Verbrugge, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Automotive Remarketing Division, SiriusXM.  “GM dealers across the country are responding enthusiastically to this opportunity to give SiriusXM to their customers who won’t need to sacrifice innovative technologies or entertainment when buying a pre-owned vehicle.”

General Motors will continue to offer customers a 3-month subscription to SiriusXM with the purchase of new and Certified Pre-Owned Cadillac/Chevrolet/Buick/GMC vehicles that are factory equipped with SiriusXM.

Justin is a Sirius fanatic. He spends much of his 65 hour work week 12,000 feet up or more grooming the ski trails in the South Cascade Mountains of Washington state. He has a Stiletto 2 and car kit rigged up in the Snowcat he operates. For the most part the reception on the mountain is good so long as the trees aren’t in the way too much or the Snowcat isn’t on too steep of an angle.

Justin got Sirius originally when Howard Stern came over. Since then he’s spent countless hours listening to Howard, Bubba, and Nascar. Listening to those shows is also where Justin found out about TSS-Radio and began purchasing his parts/kits from us.

When he’s not combing the trails on the mountains he’s listening at home at his shop which is an hour or so away from the ski hill. There is no question without Satellite Radio in his snowcat Justin would be missing out on some serious radio entertainment.

According to Reuters.com Howard Stern and his agent are suing Sirius XM Radio for refusing to provide performance based stock options as promised.

Stern’s lawyers say Sirius XM Radio offered Stern a series of escalating stock awards in 2004 that hinged beating subscriber estimates by 2 million or more in any year of Stern’s contract. According to the filing Stern helped the company surpass the target by more than 2 million subscribers in 2006 and 2007. After the merger with XM in 2008, Sirius XM again beat its targets, as well as in 2009 and 2010.

“Now that Sirius has conquered its chief competitor and acquired more than 20 million subscribers, it has reneged on its commitment to Stern, unilaterally deciding that it has paid him enough,” the complaint said.

In response, Sirius XM said it had “met all of our obligations under the terms of our 2004 agreement with Howard, his agent and production company.” It added it was “surprised and disappointed” by the legal action.

Stern’s production company, One Twelve, was paid stock awards in the first year of Stern’s contract. Sirius XM  was also supposed to pay Stern’s agent, Don Buchwald, a consulting fee of 10 percent, the court documents showed.

Updated: You can read the 23 page summons here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/51320553/Stern-v-SiriusComplaint

(Via: Reuters.com)

SIRIUS XM announced that it plans to release second quarter 2010 financial and operating results on Wednesday, August 4, 2010.

SIRIUS XM will hold a conference call at 8:00 am ET on Wednesday, August 4, 2010 to discuss these results. Investors and the press can listen to the conference call via the company’s website, www.sirius.com, and on its satellite radio service by tuning to SIRIUS channel 126 or XM channel 90.

A replay of the call will be available on www.sirius.com.

A few years ago, I bought dad an iPod and then also loaded his favorites on it: Ozzy, Alice in Chains, The Moody Blues, The Who, The Rolling Stones, Linkin Park… Dad’s an interesting guy. Mom’s been dragging him to the gym lately so he really only has the opportunity to listen to his iPod when being forced into walking on the treadmill. That was, until I decided to get him the Jensen Docking Station and Clock Radio for iPod or iPhone.

The Jensen allows him to rock out to his Ozzy Osbourne (or whatever mood he’s in), and torture my Carly-Simon-loving Mom, when their alarm goes off first thing in the morning because, in addition to being a speaker docking station for his iPod, it’s also an alarm clock!

What really sold me on the Jensen iPod dock was the fact that, with one of these guys, Dad can connect to his Stiletto 2 and listen through it too!

Times are tough and Chicago rent isn’t cheap. This year, I figured that, for Father’s Day, I’d buy something for my Dad that he’d actually love and use — and didn’t make him smell like a total hippie. I’ll have to come up with something  awesome for Mom’s birthday this year to make up for all of the Mick Jagger she’s been waking up to lately.

karen [at] tss-radio.com

Although Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Radio are now one company there are still a few differences between the two services. For many people new to Satellite Radio the choice can be confusing and most would assume the same content is available on both services. This may come true in the future but right now you still have an important decision to make on which service to sign up for.

I will go through some of the many options you have with both services from Station choices to hardware.

The First thing to note is that no matter what service you choose you will be paying the same price per month which after all of the fees usually comes out to around $15.00. Both Sirius and XM offer their customers the option to pay for service up front for a longer term which saves money. They both also offer a Lifetime subscription. Since both services have identical pricing I will not bore you with all of the different package details I will just let you know that both Sirius and XM offer a plethora of different options to get you Satellite Radio fix.

So the big question is what’s the difference in programming between these two services?

I will start with the Sports Channels since this is often a hot topic among listeners and a main reason why a customer may choose one service over the other. This is also one of the last things that really set Sirius and XM apart programming wise.

With The Sirius Everything package, which is their basic service you will receive Sirius NFL Radio and NASCAR Radio. Although Sirius only has two professional sports there are a plethora of sports channels to choose from including ESPN Radio and Mad Dog Radio.

With XM Radio Everything your choices include MLB, NHL, NBA and College Football games. As with Sirius you will also have access to many other channels devoted to sports programming.

As you can see this can be a tough decision to choose a service for any sports fan, luckily both Sirius and XM can make the decision a little easier with their new Sirius/XM Everything Plus Services. With the Sirius Everything Plus XM plan you get the ability to listen to NHL, NBA and PGA channels. And if you are an XM Subscriber you can get the XM Everything Plus Sirius package which includes NFL and NASCAR. I would just like to add that the Everything Plus plan’s will cost an additional $4.00 a month but if you you can not choose between both services $4.00 is much cheaper then adding a second $12.95 a month subscription and having an additional radio. Besides the sports channels you will also get additional programming that I will discuss a little later in this article.

Now that Sports programing is out of the way what else is different about each service?

To be honest both Sirius and XM radio offer more than enough channels to keep anyone busy and entertained. I have been a subscriber to Sirius for the past 6 years and I’m still discovering new channels all the time. From Music to Comedy, Talk Radio to Children’s programming you will never have a reason to listen to “Free” Radio again. And if you ask anyone who is a true fan of satellite radio if they listen to terrestrial radio 98% of the time you will get a no. I also find myself having a hard time when I’m a passenger in a car that does not have Satellite Radio. That may sound weird to some but any true fan will tell you that is normal.

Now that we got that out of the way lets talk about music choices. Both Sirius and XM Radio offer so an extremely large amount of choices when it comes to music programming. Before Sirius and XM radio merged the differences in channels was more apparent then it is now. With the merger came the dropping and merging of most music channels so choosing a service based on Music Programming is not a big deal as it used to be.

Both Sirius and XM offer music channels dedicated to different eras from the 40’s all the way to the 90’s. They both also offer specific genres including Country, Pop, Hip-Hop, Dance, Christian, Rock, Jazz, Blues, Musicals, and International. As you can see there is a wide variety of choices to choose from, the list actually goes on and on since every genre has an average of 4 stations and I’m sure there is something I missed!

In all honesty now that the merger has occurred if you are only interested in music you cant go wrong with either service. Sirius and XM also have dedicated channels for some of the most popular artists past and present. A few examples are Elvis Radio, Radio Margaritaville, E Street Radio and Shade 45.

Talk Radio, Shock Jocks and Other Specialty Programming.

Both Sirius and XM have spent a good amount of money hiring big names to become part of Satellite Radio. Unless you have been hiding out on a deserted Island for the past 5 years you have no doubt heard that Sirius signed the largest voice on radio…The King of All Media, Howard Stern. For some this may be a deal breaker on deciding on which service to sign up for. The good news is that with the XM Best of Sirius Package you have the ability to add Stern to your service although at an additional cost. I would also like to mention that another favorite and controversial DJ featured on one of Howard Sterns channels is Bubba The Love Sponge.

The good news for XM Subscribers is that Opie and Anthony have their own station on XM called The Virus. The Virus also features Jim Norton and the popular Ron and Fez. I know that talking about Stern and Opie and Anthony in the same sentence can turn out to be quite the “Flame War” but this article is not about that debate. The great thing about Sirius and XM is that as a fan you can choose who you listen to and which service you decide to sign up for, something Terrestrial Radio really can’t match.

While we are on the subject of Shock Jocks there is one more show that I would like to point out. If you have not heard The Jason Ellis show on Sirius Faction (28) (52 on XM) I would recommend you give it a try. It may not be for everyone but if you are a fan of Stern or Opie and Anthony you may be surprised at what you hear.

So what are some other high profile names Sirius and XM have to offer?

Sirius Subscribers get Martha Stewart Living Radio (Also available on Best of XM channel 157). XM Subscribers receive Oprah Radio (Also available with Sirius Best of XM). I could go on and on for day’s about the content on these two services but I recommend everyone who is not a subscriber to take some time to check out Sirius or XM’s website to see all that is offered. If you are interested both Sirius and XM are now offering a free 30 Day Trial, you have nothing to lose and can cancel at any time. I can almost guarantee that before the 30 Days are expired you will be hooked to the service. It’s well worth the $12.00 per month.

A few more Features that Sirius and XM offer subscribers.

Not everyone is sitting in their Automobile’s 24/7 so what are the options for listening outside of your car?

Both Sirius and XM offer a good portion of their channels online at an additional cost. Although this service used to be free you can add Premium Internet Streaming for only $2.99 per month. If your like me and work around computers a good portion of your day the additional money is a no brainier. I would like to mention that some channels are not available online so it’s a good idea to check first before you sign up for the service.

In addition to online streaming Sirius XM Radio have also released an App for the iPhone and iPod Touch. You will need to be a Premium Internet Subscriber and additional channels are currently missing from the application.

Finally both Sirius and XM offer some great choices when it comes to Portable, Home, and Dock and Play products. A very popular option for Sirius Subscribers is the Stiletto 2. XM Subscribers have a few more options with the Inno, newly released SkyDock and the XMP3. In my opinion if you are looking for more options in receivers and radios XM has always had superior choices, which may be a determining factor in choosing a service provider.

Now on to Sirius Backseat TV. This is one product that I have no experience with but I do know that this is exclusive to Sirius. Basically you are getting 3 channels (Nick, Disney and Cartoon Network) to keep your children occupied while riding in the back seat. If someone reading this article has any experience with this product I would love to hear your thoughts. You can click the link to read more or watch the video below to get a good idea of this service.

Both Sirius and XM offer services for small businesses, you can check out the links Here and Here. Even though Sirius and XM offer dedicated channels for Traffic which come with a regular subscription, Sirius offers a product called Sirius Traffic and XM offers XM NavTraffic. There are a few more services that both companies offer but most consumers are mainly interested in their regular Entertainment Packages. If you would like to see additional services you can check out the individual sites.

Is that all? Is there more?

I could actually go on and on about both Sirius and XM and all of the Products and services they offer but I could be writing for weeks. If you are having a tough time deciding between Sirius or XM I would recommend you take the time to visit each site and do some more research. Before the merger Sirius and XM used to be totally different services but as you can see each service has almost melted into each other allowing subscribers of both services the Best of Both (Pun Intended!)

In closing if you found this article helpful please sign up at Digital Radio Central to leave some feedback. If you would like to add anything that you think would help out anyone contemplating Subscribing to Sirius or XM please do so. And finally if you decided to finally sign up for service, Congratulations and welcome to the future of radio!

Week-long “Best of” Special To Air November 2-6

Its five year mission – to explore strange, new nussies, to seek out new life experiences and new sexual situations, to boldly go where no dudebro has gone before!

They may not be as well known as the characters in Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek, but “Captain” Covino, “Doctor” Davis, and “Chief Engineer” Spotty are ready to reflect on their first five years of broadcasting from “The Final Radio Frontier” all next week from 12 – 3 PM ET (replayed at 6 – 9 PM ET) on Sirius/XM Stars Too Sirius 108 / XM 139.

From its humble beginnings on Maxim Radio Sirius 145, “The Covino & Rich Show” has become one of the most listened to shows in Sirius/XM’s entertainment lineup. In fact, “The Show” (as referred to by the hosts) is one of the longest running home grown shows on Sirius/XM. Steve Covino of Union, NJ, now 33 years old, was about to hang up his dreams of a radio career to be a fireman. Rich Davis, 30, had been working with a New York terrestrial radio station and was looking to advance his career. They both came to Sirius looking to do a new radio show for guys. After a few test sessions at Sirius with different co-hosts, Covino & Rich were finally paired together – and the results were extraordinary.

Over the past five years, The Covino & Rich Show has seen the hosts in and out of relationships, changes in producers, drunken live broadcasts from Spring Break and Super Bowl parties, and even bouts with erectile dysfunction! Add in some interviews with well-known musicians, comedians, actors, athletes, and, of course, beautiful women, and you have a show created for men, by men. The Covino & Rich Show deals with the stuff that guys talk about – women, sex, sports, television, movies, music, gadgets, and more.

Every weekday during the next week, Covino & Rich will guide listeners through a different year of the show’s history. The shows will highlight the funniest and most revealing clips from interviews with celebrities, classic arguments among the hosts, reflection on the show from past interns, guests, and in-show talent, popular music that was once heard on Maxim Radio, special messages and comments from the “dudebros” who listen to the show, and Covino & Rich’s own music parodies with their band “Ticklesack.”

If you’ve recently started listening to The Covino & Rich Show, or if you’ve never heard the show before, next week is your chance to catch up and do some reminiscing (like The Little River Band) with Covino & Rich as they look back on five years of “rompous radio!”

For more info on the show, log onto covinoandrich.com.

Story by Greg Mercer.