We’ve Got Your Channel
SiriusXM satellite subscription radio has rearranged a few of its numerous channels and added some new formats as well. New to the service are:
The 10s Spot, available on Channel 11 — a decision obviously made by the same genius thinking that put Hits One on Channel 2 — playing pop hits from the 2010s, give or take a year or two. This is the place to find Drake, Fall Out Boy, Lada Gaga, Coldplay, and Lukas Graham
Mosaic, on Channel 15, plays pop hits of the 1990s and 2000s. Think Nickelback, Matchbox 20, Kelly Clarkson, Hootie and the Blowfish, Mariah Carey, Janet Jackson, and Cheryl Crow.
The changes include:
The Pulse, which when it first launched played the ‘90s and 2000s but now is one of the best adult contemporary formats anywhere, has moved to Channel 5 from its former home on Channel 15.
The Coffee House — acoustical versions of current and past hits — is now on Channel 6. My wife loves this station. I can’t stand it.
Fifties on 5 is now ‘50s Gold, and is on Channel 72. Early Rock and Roll with a few Doo-Wop hits mixed in.
Sixties on 6 has been renamed to ‘60s Gold and is now on Channel 73. This is the place to find Shotgun Tom Kelly playing the oldie hits every afternoon … well worth tuning in even if the new channel number is the equivalent of being in Siberia.
Seriously Sinatra, which plays, well, Sinatra, along with Dean Martin, Tony Bennett and other crooners has moved to Channel 70 from its old home at 71.
Broadway-themed On Broadway — all show tunes — has moved to Channel 72 from its former spot at 77, pushing Kids Bop to Channel 79.
The moves made a couple stations go bye-bye: Now available only as a streaming station via the SiriusXM app is Love. This is too bad as it was a decent channel when you wanted soft hits a la Love Songs on the KOST (103.5 FM) or the former Pillow Talk program as once heard on KFI (640 AM). 40s Junction is also app-only for now, though it will return to Channel 71 once the holiday channels are packed up in January.
Did I say holiday channels? Yes I did. More channels than you can shake a stick at, from traditional favorites to contemporary holiday hits, country Christmas to Holiday Soul, Contemporary Christian to Holiday Pops, and more. I count 17 different holiday music channels including Rockin’ Xmas, a channel playing Christmas rock, live tracks, and novelty hits.
They obviously stole that last idea from me, as I still have “The Best Christmas Tape” I made to play over the PA system when I worked at the old Sears Surplus Store in San Pedro … it included the same type of rock, novelty and comedy-themed songs. Though come to think of it, I also included traditional favorites, so it was even more all-encompassing.
More information on all the various holiday music channels at SiriusXM.com.
Internet Radio
My wife and I took a road trip recently, up to the San Luis Obispo area to, among other things, do the obvious: wine taste. Usually I tend to play the songs on my iPhone or something on SiriusXM on trips such as this. But I need to update my playlist and I was afraid I’d have to listen to the Coffee House, so when she wasn’t paying attention, I used the myTunerRadio app on my phone to listen to WION, a station that broadcasts out of Ionia, Michigan.
It’s an AM station that plays a mix of oldies and what might be called adult hits, with a difference … the playlist includes songs you haven’t heard in a long time and you forgot you liked.
They also broadcast to the local audience in AM stereo, an analog system that sounds fabulous. In fact, it sounds so good, the stream you hear from them online and through apps like myTunerRadio are taken not from the studio as are most station streams. Instead, they use an AM stereo tuner to pick up the station over the air, and use that to feed the stream.
It’s an intriguing idea for multiple reasons … the obvious that it’s a successful AM station playing music, something I think would bring listeners back to AM. But it also highlights once again what I think truly could be the future of radio: online listening. We heard the station the entire distance from just North of Ventura all the way to San Luis Obispo. In good fidelity, with no interference from power lines and no signal loss due to hills or mountains.
Regardless of the possible future of radio, the songs WION played made for a very enjoyable drive. Give it a listen and see what you think. See the station website at i1430.com.
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