Technical Bulletin
DST in 2007
March 8, 2007

At 2 a.m. Sunday, March 11, 2007, Daylight Saving Time (DST) starts three weeks earlier than usual in a federally mandated effort to save energy. At this time, the Stiletto 10 and 100 will not be able to automatically compensate for this recent change. If you live in a time zone which observes DST the time on your Stiletto will be one hour behind until April 1st, the previously observed beginning of DST. On April 1st, 2007, the time setting on the unit will be corrected.

In general, your device will continue to operate normally during the brief period the time setting is incorrect. There will be no impact to your ability to receive programming or use the LOVE function. However, if you intend to use timer recordings during this period, you will need to take steps to compensate for this offset.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s)

Q. What should you do if you use timer recordings?
A. Following the beginning of DST in your area, you will need to temporarily select the
next neighboring time zone to your east until the previously observed beginning of DST,
as follows:

Q. What happens in the fall when DST ends?
A. We anticipate having a software update in place well before then that will permanently address this problem.

For additional questions regarding your Stiletto or SIRIUS service, please refer to the product manuals. You can also reach the dedicated Stiletto Technical Support Team at 1-800-869-5364 from 10 AM to 10 PM Eastern Time Monday through Saturday, or by
email at customercare@sirius-radio.com.

Thanks to Sirius Backstage member JimboXLax for doing and putting together this interview write-up. Here is part 1 of his 3-part interview.

Larry Kirwan hosts “Celtic Crush” on Sirius Disorder (ch. 32) which airs:
Saturdays 10 am - 1 pm ET
Rebroadcast Tuesdays 10 pm - 1 am ET

I have been a fan of Larry Kirwan since the early 90’s when I heard “Funky Ceili” on the radio for the first time and found an Irish song that I wasn’t sick of hearing… Growing up in the Fordham Rd - Bedford Park area of the Bronx with Irish Catholic parents in the 70’s meant listening to the same old traditional Irish music over and over.

When I first heard Black 47’s “Funky Ceili” and bought the Fire of Freedom album, I was amazed — Not only was the music excellent and had great stories in the songs, but they actually sung about living & playing in my neighborhood of Bainbridge Ave & Fordham Road! I became a huge fan immediately and bought every CD they put out over the years. And they just kept getting better — My dad who had given up hope that I would ever like Irish music, was now a fan and listening to Black 47 with me…

In the late 90’s, I found out about the www.Black47.com website, I had to email Larry and tell him how Black 47 was the missing link in bridging the musical gap between my parent’s and my taste in Irish music… He emailed me back quickly and was extremely nice and we became pretty friendly over the years…

When I found out about his Sirius show Celtic Crush, I was happy - I figured it would be a great place to hear Black 47 songs on the radio. His broadcast times did not work well with my schedule, so I missed quite a lot of his early shows - But in late 2006 with the arrival of the Sirius Stiletto radio, I was able to timer-record his shows and I haven’t missed one yet! Not only did Larry bring me back to liking Irish music with Black 47, but now his Celtic Crush show was introducing me to great Irish songs and artists that I had never heard before… My Dad has passed, but I can bet he’s surprised at my newfound love of Irish music — Altho he still wouldn’t understand my new fascination with “PaddyPunks” (my favorite new term) like the Dropkick Murphy’s, Flogging Molly & the Sharky Doyles…

I was happy to get this opportunity to interview Larry in late February 2006 - As always, Larry was great and typed in the answers to a LOT of questions in less than half-a-day… He is quite the busy man around this time of year, but found the time to really give me a detailed interview — He’s a great guy, and deserves all his success! Thank you Larry!

—-James Hannon (JimboXLax of SiriusBackstage.com) — March, 2007 —

The Interview: Larry Kirwan and Black 47: The Story So Far…

This is the first installment of a three part interview with Larry Kirwan of Black 47 who is also the host of the Sirius Disorder show Celtic Crush - This installment tells of Larry’s origins and how he got to where he is now, along with some background into Black 47 and the behind-the-scenes stuff

“Who is Larry Kirwan” and how did he go from being a boy in Wexford to an accomplished musician, playwright, author, and now disc jockey on Sirius?

Well, it’s a long story dealt with in greater detail in my “memoir” Green Suede Shoes. Basically, I grew up in Wexford, a small town in the Southeast corner of Ireland. It was a singular place – almost seems like a different universe, looking back. I had great roots there but I had an insatiable curiosity and a longing for adventure. I came to New York City and found it a very fertile ground in which to experiment. I always left myself open to chance and, in the course of some decades, was able to try my hand at various types of artistic endeavor. I feel very fortunate to host a show on Sirius, Celtic Crush, where I’m given a free hand to indulge in new forms of creativity.

How did Black 47 start? Who’s in the band?

Black 47’s birth is pretty well documented – just google the name - but Chris Byrne and I began the band in the working class Irish bars of the North Bronx in October ’89. Chris left around seven years ago to concentrate on his own band, Seanchai and the Unity Squad – whose music you can frequently hear on Celtic Crush. Other “foundation” members are Fred Parcells (trombone); Geoffrey Blythe (saxophones), Thomas Hamlin (drums). Joseph Mulvanerty stepped in when Chris left on uilleann pipes and Joseph Burcaw (Bearclaw) joined recently when Andrew Goodsight departed to pursue a solo career.

(more…)

Here’s some of the special guests who will be at Sirius next week. Note that all times are subject to change.

KELLY ROWLAND, guest DJ (Hot Jamz, channel 50, Mar. 12 @ 12am ET)

MELANIE BLOOM, discusses deep-vein thrombosis (DVT) and how to prevent it on Morning Living (Martha Stewart Living Radio, channel 112, Mar. 12 @ 8:30 am ET)

GEORGE JONES, Charlie Monk will share moments from his recent interview with George Jones (The Roadhouse, channel 62, Mar. 12 - Mar. 16 @ 8am - 11pm ET)

ROB DERHAK, moe. bassist, DJs on moe. Mondays in March (Jam_ON, channel 17, Mar. 12 @ 12 pm ET)

THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE QUEEN, World Café performance and interview (SIRIUS Disorder, channel 32, Mar. 12 @ 6pm ET)

THE WHO in concert, recorded Mar. 11, 2007 in Uniondale, NY @ the Nassau Coliseum (The Who Channel, channel 29, Mar. 12 @ 9pm ET)

CARRIE UNDERWOOD, interview on Branson Coast To Coast (Prime Country, channel 61, Mar. 13 @ 12am ET)

(more…)

Mel Karmazin is back in Washington again today to testify about the proposed Sirius-XM merger. The House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet will be hearing testimony from Karmazin and others today at 2:30pm. The “The Digital Future of the United States: Part II– The Future of Radio” hearing also includes testimony from Peter Smyth of Greater Media and Robert Kimball of RealNetworks.

You can watch a live video webcast of this hearing (Windows Media Player is required).

Watch this post for highlights from the hearing as it happens.

The topics that this committee will address may seem broad or boring, but the outcome of this and other House committee hearings will play a key role in the future of the merger between Sirius and XM. Maybe by the time this is all over, the committee members will be able to correctly pronounce Sirius and Karmazin.

Highlights

3:30pm: Opening statements by committee members are still being made. It seems there will be quite a few topics addressed by this committee. Some of the topics addressed include: increasing the cap on the number of stations owned by a licensee in large markets, broadcaster licensees should better reflect the population by including more women and minorities, the sampling of music to create mash-ups should not be held to the same copyright standards as a song-writer that duplicates another artist’s bass line, local radio provides to the markets they serve local content which satellite does not, technology is out pacing pacing laws that are currently in place and has changed they way consumers gain access to information, will the merger of Sirius and XM result in increased costs, less innovation, and other drawbacks found if there is only one player in the satellite radio market?

(more…)

Legendary Entertainer Bill Cosby Sits Down for an In-Depth Conversation With Comedian and SIRIUS Host Jim Breuer Exclusively on SIRIUS Satellite Radio

NEW YORK, March 6, 2007 — SIRIUS Satellite Radio today announced that it will broadcast an exclusive, hour-long conversation between legendary entertainer Bill Cosby and comedian and SIRIUS host Jim Breuer on Raw Dog Comedy Uncensored, SIRIUS channel 104.

One of the most admired entertainers in the United States, Bill Cosby sits down with Jim Breuer for a rare, in-depth conversation to discuss significant moments from his life and career, including insight into his creation of the beloved character Fat Albert, bigotry he witnessed as a child, and the importance of storytelling in comedy. Cosby also discusses some of the comedians he admires most such as Redd Foxx, Lenny Bruce, and Jonathan Winters.

“For me, as a comedian, talking with a legend like Bill Cosby was fascinating,” said Breuer. “I feel like I touched a god of comedy, it was phenomenal.”

Breuer, a stand-up comedian and Saturday Night Live alum, hosts a daily afternoon comedy show, Breuer Unleashed, every Monday through Friday from 4pm ET to 6pm ET on Raw Dog Comedy Uncensored. Breuer’s show - where he hangs out with friends and talks to callers about the funny side of family, work, and life-has been heralded by the Village Voice as the “Best Reason to Get SIRIUS (Besides Stern).”

“SIRIUS pioneered uncensored comedy on the radio-putting no limits on comedians, our hosts, our guests, or their creativity-and we are happy to be a home for comedy geniuses such as Bill Cosby, who has been a leader in free speech throughout his storied career,” said Scott Greenstein, President of Entertainment and Sports at SIRIUS. “Jim’s show is Raw Dog’s flagship, and it was a pleasure to hear a conversation between these two comedians.”

The hour-long interview airs Thursday, March 15 @ 6pm ET on Raw Dog Comedy Uncensored, channel 104.

Bill Cosby is one of the United States’ most popular and admired entertainers. A veteran stand-up performer with a number of successful albums, including Bill Cosby Is a Very Funny Fellow, Right! and To Russell, My Brother, Whom I Slept With, Cosby moved on to television shows such as I Spy, The Bill Cosby Show, and The Electric Company. He also created the humorous educational cartoon series Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids and, from 1984 to 1992, produced and starred in The Cosby Show, which is considered one of the defining cultural sitcoms of the decade.

Sirius has started a campaign today as a guarantee to customers that current radios will not be obsolete post-merger. The “SIRIUS Guarantee” campaign is “a national print and retail advertising” that should be seen across the country. The wording of the guarantee is worded clearly, “no SIRIUS radios will become obsolete as a result of a merger with XM.” Customers concerns about increased subscription rates were also addressed by stating that your current subscription rates will be honored after the merger.

Following a merger, SIRIUS will be able to offer the best of both services in a mix of programming that can be accessed by existing radios, including such critically acclaimed SIRIUS programming as:

* 100% commercial-free music

* The best sports line-up including the NFL, NASCAR, NBA and college
sports

* Top personalities, such as Howard Stern, with two dedicated full-time
channels, Martha Stewart Living Radio, CosmoRadio, Playboy Radio, and
Blue Collar Comedy channel, among many others

This campaign is similiar to XM’s Customer Promise that was announced this morning. XM’s campaign including a signed open-letter in today’s USA Today. Here are a few key lines from the XM open-letter.

As long as you are an XM subscriber, your XM radio will continue to eceive XM’s great programming. Following the merger, XM expects that theexistingradios will be able to receive a mix of programming from both ervices.

XM’s programming, including Major League aseball, Oprah & Friends, Bob Dylan, Opie & Anthony and commercial-free usicchannelswill not be interrupted by the merger. In the future, we will be able to offer the best of both companies’ programming.

Earlier this afternoon, Sirius Satellite Radio filed its annual report with the SEC. Here are some interesting tidbits that we pulled from it:

-When talking about SIR: “We plan to add additional content to our internet offerings in the future.” It looks like we could see either some exclusive content to the internet, or more satellite stations move over to the internet, such as how CNN was added to SIR earlier this year.

-”We also maintain earth stations in Panama and Ecuador to control and communicate with our satellites.” One of those random pieces of trivia.

-’We cannot predict with certainty when Sirius Backseat TV will be introduced.’ Sirius unveiled the first hardware for Sirius Backseat TV in January at CES, but it looks like the rollout may be delayed, again.

-On royalty rates: “In October 2006, we and XM Radio filed our direct case in this proceeding with the Copyright Royalty Board and proposed a royalty rate for our satellite radio subscription revenue. SoundExchange also submitted its direct case in this proceeding and proposed a substantially higher royalty rate than we proposed.”. The agreement expired at the end of 2006, although Sirius will continue to pay the current agreed amount to SoundExchange until the new contract is signed. It looks like SoundExchange and Sirius are still deadlocked in the current price though.

-If Mel is fired, he gets paid for the remainder of the contract and his stock options become available immediately

-If Scott Greenstein is fired, he receives his salary($800k/year) in a lump sum, plus 60% of the expected bonuses he would have received. Other execs are mentioned, and looking at the salaries and strings attached, it must be good to be a top level exec.

-Sirius spent almost $7.2 million in office rent in 2006

-One of the biggest items: programming costs increased almost five-fold, to $551 million in 2006, from $118 million in 2005, accounting for the biggest reason Sirius had such a large loss. Most of it was due to Stern’s large payout of stock.

Just coming in over the wire:

-Sirius: Radio Maker Alleges Pact Breach, Seeks $48M Damages

-Radio Maker Alleges Sirius Withheld Info On FCC Inquiry

Sirius Satellite Radio hardware manufacturer US Electronics, publicly known as Xact, has sued Sirius for $48 million, saying that Sirius has not paid monies due, interfered with US Electronics establishing relations with other companies, and also that Sirius withheld information about last year’s FCC inquiry into the FM transmitters in radios.

Sirius, is claiming that its contract bars them from paying $41 million of the lawsuit to US Electronics due to limitation of liability provisions in the contract that was signed, and that they will fight this. The case will go to arbitration.

It looks like this could be the reason that US Electronics stopped producing radios last year, and also why a company called “Advanced Global Technology” started producing the Sportcaster for XM last year that looked similar to many of the other Xact radios, including the ReGo prototype that they designed for Sirius. While we have never confirmed it, Advanced Global Technology is similar to Xact, in that both websites never reference their parent company, and the radios are strikingly similar.