XM Satellite Radio will begin broadcasting select XM music channels in 5.1 Surround Sound, marking the first time that a radio company has broadcast in 5.1 Surround Sound twenty-four hours a day. The announcement was made today by XM and Neural Audio Corporation, a leading provider of digital signal processing and surround sound technology for the broadcast industry. The new offering of 5.1 Surround on XM is called XM HD Surround and provides content with six discrete channels of digital full fidelity audio powered by Neural Audio technology. Beginning in March 2006, XM will broadcast the free-form music channel Fine Tuning (XM Channel 76) and the classical pops music channel XM Pops (XM Channel 113) in XM HD Surround. XM will also broadcast a variety of special shows and live music performances at the XM studios in XM HD Surround. XM manufacturing partners such as Denon, Onkyo, Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc., and Yamaha will introduce home ...

The more I listen to satellite radio, the more it sounds like terrestrial radio. I have personally owned both XM and Sirius for years now. Ultimately, I prefer Sirius for superior programming despite XM’s more powerful signal, but I have become concerned with a noticeable slip in Sirius’ programming style. In the early days of satellite radio, the media had vast amounts of channels that allowed a listener to get much more specific with what he or she wanted to jam to. While there are still many times more programming choices on both XM and Sirius compared to terrestrial radio, there is also now the same kind of mindless chatter, blabbering, goofy anecdotes and even commercials on a growing number of satellite radio stations.

Sirius Canada, an affiliate of Sirius Satellite Radio has been approved by Canada’s Federal Cabinet to offer service in the country. This supported the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission’s ruling from earlier this year.

Sirius Satellite Radio has announced an agreement with BBC Radio to broadcast their influential Radio 1 channel. The move comes as XM and Sirius both make creative moves to add niche programming designed to add value to their subscription based radio business models.

SIRIUS Satellite Radio and Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia announced this week an exclusive four-year agreement to create and launch a Martha Stewart-branded satellite radio channel. The channel, the first of its kind, will provide original programming specifically designed for women listeners and their families, 24-hours-a-day, seven days-a-week.