Well, now they are…

David Frear (Executive VP and CFO) today talked at the Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. Strategic Decisions Conference about Sirius’ radios and their complaince with FCC guidelines. Frear stated that the FCC sent letters to their manufacturers several weeks ago asking for test results of the radios FM transmitter range. The manufacturers sent the results to the FCC and it turns out that some Sirius radios (he did not name specifics) did not comply with FM transmitter guidelines. These radios have now been fixed however.

Today SIRIUS unveiled a new capability that allows multiple-receiver subscribers to have multiple online streaming accounts. Subscribers can enable multiple streaming access by visiting the Manage Your Account section on the SIRIUS homepage. The option will only be available to subs with more than one active radio.

The username you have used in the past to Manage your Account online should be your Master account. Each additional radio in your account should have the option to add an Internet Radio username. These additional accounts will be labeled as Service accounts and only be used to access the Internet Radio service. The Master account should be the only account able to view account information in the Manage Your Account section of SIRIUS’ website.

The upgrade comes as SIRIUS prepares to launch Howard Stern programming online.

The authentication for some of the external players (SIRIUS Yahoo! Widget, etc.) may be broken in prepararation for a more secure streaming environment to broadcast Stern’s show.

Comment here.

According to a new SEC filing, SIRIUS CEO Mel Karmazin purchased 1 million shares of SIRIUS stock Tuesday, valued at nearly $4.5 million.

This isn’t the first vote of confidence by Karmazin. In January he put his own money on the line, buying a million shares for $6.21 each.

Today Sirius released an 8-K detailing their settlement in the CBS/Stern case. From the 8-K…

The lawsuit brought by CBS Radio Inc. against us along with Howard Stern and others referenced in Item 3 of our 2005 Annual Report on Form 10-K has been settled. As part of the settlement, CBS Radio is conveying its rights in the recordings of the Howard Stern Show that aired on CBS Radio from 1985 through 2005. We will have the right to use those recordings as part of our Howard Stern channels through December 2010. We are making a total payment of $2 million to CBS Radio. This is the only payment we will make under the settlement agreement.
Complete 8-K

There are no details on what Stern will pay himself, but Sirius got out very very well.

EXCLUSIVELY ON SIRIUS SATELLITE RADIO

“Stars on Smash” will feature major artists on Sparks’ show during June

NEW YORK - May 25, 2006 - Award-winning radio and mixtape DJ Clinton Sparks will welcome some of the biggest names in hip-hop to his SIRIUS Satellite Radio program in June.

Sparks hosts and DJs the weekly program Smashtime Radio, a live mix show broadcast Thursdays from 8 pm to midnight ET on Shade 45, the uncensored hip-hop channel created by Eminem and SIRIUS.

During the month of June, Sparks will welcome some of the biggest names in hip-hop to hang out with him in the Shade 45 studio. Stars on Smash will be broadcast each Thursday at 9 pm ET, and will feature this knockout lineup:

June 1: Multiple GRAMMY® award winner and triple-platinum Rocafella and G.O.O.D. Music artist Kanye West

June 8: The mighty Busta Rhymes, whose new album The Big Bang will be released June 13 on Dr. Dre’s Aftermath label

June 15: The one and only Curtis “Interscope” Jackson, otherwise known as multi-platinum artist and actor 50 Cent. 50 Cent also oversees Saturday programming on Shade 45, which features G-Unit Radio programs hosted by DJ Whoo Kid, Tony Yayo and more.

June 22: Major new artist and platinum-plus R&B sensation Ne-Yo

June 29: Cash Money Records’ recording artist and youngest in charge ‘Lil Wayne

Sparks was recently named by USA TODAY as one of the seven top DJs in the mixtape world, and has been named “Mixshow DJ of the Year” and “Power Player of the Year” by the annual Justo Mixtape Awards. Of his guest lineup for June, Sparks said, “You will hear celebrities uncensored at their finest during this eventful extravaganza, only on SIRIUS - and yes, we will be discussing unclothed groupies. Get familiar!”

For more information, visit www.sirius.com.

This Sunday Sirius will launch a new $100 rebate, called From Rockstars to Allstars, which will bring the price of the S50 down to $199. The rebate will also bring the price of other receivers down as much as $50. You can get more details here.

This $100 price drop makes me believe they’re trying to get these puppies out to make room for the new live portable.

Andrew Kantor published a great article in USA TODAY about the looming battle between the RIAA and the satellite radio industry. At risk is the ability to record the programming that you pay for and the future of innovative radio devices.

Kantor writes:

“The entertainment industry has been pushing hard - using the tired mantra of “stopping piracy” - to have technologies implemented that will strip you of these rights. It’s working to cripple the devices you use to watch videos and listen to music so you can only use the content you buy the way they say you can, legal rights be damned.”

If you have a friend who is a state representative, or in a position of authority, please update them on the importance of this issue. We must all be aware of the impending fight to protect our rights as a consumer and satellite radio listener.

Please take a few minutes and read the article.

CBS Says Sirius To Pay $2M As Part Of Stern Settlement.

In a statement, CBS said the payment is related to the transfer of rights to recordings of “The Howard Stern Show.”

CBS said other terms and conditions of the settlement were confidential.

More details as they develop.

We are proud to unveil a completely new SIRIUS Backstage website.

The SIRIUS Backstage community has experienced explosive growth since we founded it in 2002. To give our members the best online experience, we have upgraded to the leading online community solution available - vBulletin. vB powers many of the largest and most popular Internet communities.

In addition to the new features that come with vBulletin, we have introduced a new site design. The mission of SIRIUS Backstage is to offer a place for fans to interact with other SIRIUS listeners, and to get an Inside experience on what’s going on with the service, like a V.I.P. at a music concert.

To honor our ‘SIRIUS Insider’ member experience, we are incorporating a new music theme, while still keeping the easy to use, easy to read forum layout that everyone has grown to love. Not only does the site sport a new look, but there are also a whole host of new features that will make using the forums easier, more reliable and fun.

We would now like to extend thanks to our members who have made our site the most popular place to talk about SIRIUS Satellite Radio. Our Top Dogs deserve special recognition for their feedback and help in testing the new site, along with our moderator team and the designers at LMNtal Design. Our faithful Site Admin RyanM deserves a special thanks for making the transition smooth, and ensuring that our post history has been preserved. Kudos to Ryan for his tireless work to make this upgrade a success.

If you’d like to learn about all of vB’s new features, you can view the forum FAQ here.

Now grab a seat and ‘Let’s talk SIRIUS’.

All Access is reporting that Howard Stern and CBS Corp. have settled the suit against the talk show host. The announcement comes from the Court Clerk where the case was to be tried.

According to All Access “the settlement was reportedly disclosed to Judicial Hearing Officer IRA GAMMERMAN’s office by attorneys for the parties this afternoon, but details of the settlement terms were not disclosed, and attorneys for both sides will only say that the agreement has not yet been signed.”

Update: A Sirius spokesman told Forbes.com that, “The settlement agreement is not signed. We will release a statement when it is.”