Sirius XM

From TWC Archive
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Sirius XM is a satellite radio provider in the United States and Canada.

The Weather Channel formerly programmed satellite radio stations on the then-separate Sirius and XM satellite radio services from 2001 to 2005 and continued providing national forecast content until 2010. TWC also provided weather forecasts for Sirius XM's local traffic and weather channels from 2004 until 2023. Currently, The Weather Channel's programming on Sirius XM is limited to simulcasts of TWC audio during major weather events.

History of The Weather Channel on satellite radio

A partnership between The Weather Channel and XM Satellite Radio existed from 1999.[1] From 2001, the Weather Channel programmed a national radio service for the XM satellite radio service; it began providing programming to the Sirius service the next year.[2][3][4] On February 3, 2003, Sirius added 3 regional weather channels, one each for the eastern, central, and western United States. Sirius described the East channel as covering "Maine to Mississippi", the Central channel as covering "Kansas to Texas", and the West channel as covering the area "west of the Rockies"; Sirius would later drop the national Weather Channel Radio service later in 2003.[5][6][7]

When Sirius and XM added local traffic channels in 2004, the Weather Channel provided weather information for both services.[8][9]

On September 29, 2005, Sirius would drop the three Weather Channel radio services in favor of Sirius Weather and Emergency. The service would incorporate TWC-provided national weather forecasts and emergency programming, including AMBER Alerts.[10][11][12] XM had launched a similar service in 2004 titled XM Emergency Alert; it is not clear if TWC forecasts were used during routine programming.[13]

Sirius and XM announced their merger in 2007. In 2009, Sirius Weather and Emergency and XM Emergency Alert merged into the Sirius XM Weather and Emergency; the merged channel retained TWC forecasts (XM dropped its feed of the Weather Channel Radio in 2008, presumably in preparation for the merged service; by this time, the XM Emergency Alert channel carried TWC forecasts).[14][15][16] The Sirius XM Weather and Emergency channel was dropped in 2010.[17][18] Local traffic and weather channels continued to provide TWC produced weather forecasts; in 2017, Sirius XM removed half of its traffic and weather channels, discontinuing service for 14 markets.[19] On March 1, 2023, Sirius XM discontinued its remaining 4 Traffic and Weather channels, which carried its last 8 markets; as a result of the drop, TWC forecasts are no longer available as part of regular programming on any Sirius XM station.[20]

Since the removal of the dedicated Weather Channel Radio channels, Sirius XM simulcasts The Weather Channel's TV feed during severe weather events. Such instances include landfalling hurricanes and major winter storms.[21][22][23] After The Weather Channel announced a partnership with Audacy, any future simulcasts on Sirius XM are in doubt.[24]

Programming

In 2003, XM's Weather Channel Radio service ran in a 20-minute clock format, in which regional forecasts were given for nine regions, with a National Report :01 past the hour, a "LifeStyle" report :30 past the hour, and a "StormWatch" report :50 past the hour. The United States was divided into Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, Midwest, Plains, South Central, Mountain, Southwest, and Pacific regions; each region received two and a half minutes of forecast discussion.[25]

By 2005, XM had reformatted its Weather Channel radio service to a 30-minute clock, with each period beginning with national reports and Interstate forecasts, continuing with regional forecast discussions for the eastern, central, and western US, and ending with StormWatch and LifeStyle reports. The Eastern US segment started at :05 and :35 past the hour, the Central US segment at :12 and :42 past the hour, and the Western US segment at :19 and :49 past the hour.[26] Each regional segment consisted of the following:

  • Weather headlines
  • Current conditions
  • "Weather Center" (regional weather discussion)
  • City-by-city roundups
  • Weekly planner, or Weekend outlook
  • An almanac report
  • "Weather and Your Health"[26]

SiriusXM's Traffic and Weather channels were formatted in a loop of traffic updates and weather forecasts for several major markets, with interspersed advertising; on channels that served multiple markets, the reports would rotate from market to market.

Sirius XM local Traffic and Weather availability

Market Availability on Sirius Availability on XM
Atlanta 2004-2017 2004-2017
Baltimore 2004-2017 2004-2017
Boston 2004-2023 2004-2023
Chicago 2004-2023 2004-2023
Dallas-Fort Worth 2004-2023 2004-2023
Detroit 2004-2023 2004-2023
Houston 2004-2017 2004-2017
Las Vegas 2006-2017 2009-2017
Los Angeles 2004-2023 2004-2023
Miami-Fort Lauderdale 2004-2017 2004-2017
Minneapolis-St. Paul 2011-2017 2004-2017
New York City 2004-2023 2004-2023
Orlando 2004-2017 2004-2017
Philadelphia 2004-2023 2004-2023
Phoenix 2004-2017 2004-2017
Pittsburgh 2004-2006, 2011-2017 2004-2017
San Diego 2004-2017 2004-2017
San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose 2004-2017 2004-2017
Seattle 2004-2017 2004-2017
St. Louis 2004-2017 2004-2017
Tampa-St. Petersburg 2004-2017 2004-2017
Washington, DC 2004-2023 2004-2023

[8][9][19][27][28][29][30][31]

References

  1. ↑ "XM Satellite Radio Announces Third Quarter 1999 Results". Sirius XM. 1999-11-15.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. ↑ "Programming-Category-news (from xmradio.com 2001)". Archived from the original on August 8, 2001.
  3. ↑ Archived Sirius channel lineup from 2002
  4. ↑ Archived XM channel lineup from 2002
  5. ↑ "SIRIUS ANNOUNCES NEW PROGRAMMING LINEUP". Sirius XM. 2001-01-08.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  6. ↑ Archived Sirius channel lineup from 2003
  7. ↑ Sirius channel guide from 2003
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Sirius page introducing local traffic and weather channels
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 XM page introducing local traffic and weather channels
  10. ↑ "SIRIUS Satellite Radio to Launch New Programming Lineup on September 29". Sirius XM. 2005-09-08.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  11. ↑ Sirius channel guide from 2005
  12. ↑ Sirius Weather and Emergency page from 2006
  13. ↑ XM Emergency Alert page from 2004
  14. ↑ Sirius channel lineup from 2009
  15. ↑ XM channel lineup from 2008
  16. ↑ XM Emergency Alert page from 2008
  17. ↑ Sirius channel lineup from May 2010
  18. ↑ Sirius channel lineup from December 2010
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 "SiriusXM Cuts Traffic/Weather Channel Count in Half". Inside Radio. 2017-01-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  20. ↑ Venta, Lance (March 3, 2023). "SiriusXM Drops Traffic/Weather Channels". RadioInsight.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  21. ↑ "The Weather Channel Coverage of Hurricane Irene Aims to Keep Consumers Safe". PRNewswire. 2011-08-25.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  22. ↑ "SiriusXM Offers Listeners Hurricane Sandy Coverage from The Weather Channel". Sirius XM. 2012-10-26.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  23. ↑ Search for "Weather Channel" on the Sirius XM blog
  24. ↑ "Audacy Adds The Weather Channel Networks To Streaming Platform". RadioInsight. May 23, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  25. ↑ XM The Weather Channel radio schedule from 2003
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 Weather Channel schedule from 2005
  27. ↑ Sirius channel guide from December 2006
  28. ↑ XM channel guide from 2010
  29. ↑ Sirius XM channel guide from 2011 (for Sirius radios)
  30. ↑ Sirius XM channel guide from Novermber 2016
  31. ↑ Sirius XM channel guide from March 2017

See also

External links

Retrieved from "https://www.twcarchive.com/w/index.php?title=Sirius_XM&oldid=19954"