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96-554: XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. ( XM ) was one of the three satellite radio ( SDARS ) and online radio services in the United States and Canada, operated by Sirius XM Holdings . It provided pay-for-service radio, analogous to subscription cable television. Its service included 73 different music channels, 39 news, sports, talk and entertainment channels, 21 regional traffic and weather channels, and 23 play-by-play sports channels. XM channels were identified by Arbitron with

192-583: A "Consolidated Application for Authority to Transfer Control" at the FCC. On July 24, XM announced that CEO Hugh Panero would leave the company in August, and that then-current President and COO Nate Davis would step in to serve as president and interim CEO. On March 24, 2008, the United States Department of Justice approved the merger of XM and Sirius Satellite Radio. On July 26, the FCC approved

288-794: A back-up station would be available. The TCR stations for AfriStar were located in Bangalore, India and Port Louis, Mauritius , and the ones for AsiaStar in Melbourne, Australia and Port Louis, Mauritius. In addition to the TCR stations, a communications system monitoring station (CSM) was associated with each satellite to monitor continuously the quality of the downlink services. The CSM facilities were located in Libreville, Gabon and Johannesburg, South Africa for AfriStar and Melbourne, Australia for AsiaStar. Users purchased receivers compatible with

384-669: A combination of satellite and terrestrial broadcasts in late 2009. It had signed an agreement with Fiat , an Italian automobile manufacturer, to make radios capable of receiving the signals available to car owners. Fiat had planned to make such radios available as a bookable option made prior to purchasing a car. If the service had been launched and had been a commercial success in Italy, it was then planned to make similar services available in Germany and Switzerland. 1worldspace would have used ETSI Satellite Digital Radio (SDR) open standard in

480-519: A computer with a very simple adapter cable. Some people have dubbed the entire kit, with receiver, cable, and software, the Direct PCR. While the original PCR software does not control the XM Direct receiver, several community developers have continued to develop PCR replacement software. On February 19, 2007, XM announced a merger deal with competitor Sirius Satellite Radio . The merger combined

576-488: A contract for XM-5. XM-5 was to feature two large, unfurlable antennas. Sirius' Radiosat 5, also to be built by Loral, was slated to have a similar single large antenna. In American and Canadian metropolitan areas, XM and its Canadian licensee "Canadian Satellite Radio" (CSR) and operating as Sirius XM Canada , owned and operated a network of approximately 900 terrestrial repeater stations, meant to compensate for satellite signal blockage by buildings, tunnels, and bridges. In

672-570: A convertible bond to GM, issuing a warrant for shares to GM, and establishing a revolving credit facility with GM. The plan also included new funding coming from a placement of over US$ 300 million in 10% convertible bonds to a group of private investors. In 2004, General Motors sold Hughes Electronics to Rupert Murdoch 's News Corp. , and sold DirecTV's interest in XM Satellite Radio. On March 1, XM Radio launched Instant Traffic and Weather Channels for major metropolitan markets in

768-525: A factor in the company’s steady growth. As of 2013 , the main competition to satellite radio is streaming Internet services, such as Pandora and Spotify , as well as FM and AM Radio. Satellite radio differs from AM, FM radio, and digital television radio (DTR) in the following ways (the table applies primarily to the United States): WorldSpace 1worldspace , known for most of its existence simply as WorldSpace ,

864-1151: A new radio frequency spectrum band dedicated to Broadcast Satellite Services (BSS) in the L-band – 1,452 MHz – 1,492 MHz. After WARC-92 Samara went on to build WorldSpace and van der Heyden to build IndoVison and the Indostar S-band Direct Broadcast Satellite satellite program for Indonesia. WorldSpace first began broadcasting satellite radio on 1 October 1999, in Africa. In a last-ditch but ultimately completely unsuccessful effort to avoid commercial insolvency in July 2008, WorldSpace changed its brand and corporate identity to 1worldspace. Before filing for bankruptcy in October 2008, 1worldspace employed two satellites and broadcast 62 channels – 38 of which were content provided by international, national and regional third parties and 24 1worldspace-branded stations produced by or for 1worldspace. Most of

960-405: A prolonged series of financial crises. In the first quarter of 2008 the company lost a net total of 2,676 subscribers and reported that it would scale back its marketing activities around the world. WorldSpace recorded a $ 36.0 million net loss in the second quarter of 2008, as compared to a net loss of $ 51.2 million in the second quarter of 2007. Throughout 2008 and 2009 company was in deep debt and

1056-584: A report obtained in March 2011, The Better Business Bureau reported receiving over 4,500 complaints against Sirius XM in the preceding 36 months, around half of which regarded the company's billing and collection practices. In Missouri, some people registered on the state's do-not-call list had complained about receiving repeated calls from Sirius XM workers or agents after canceling their subscriptions. Some Florida customers had reported being billed for automatic renewals of accounts they had canceled. Further, Sirius XM

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1152-441: A satellite radio network, before being bought out by CD Radio in 1993 for $ 2 million. In November 1999, Margolese changed the name of CD Radio to Sirius Satellite Radio. In November 2001, Margolese stepped down as CEO, remaining as chairman until November 2003, with Sirius issuing a statement thanking him "for his great vision, leadership and dedication in creating both Sirius and the satellite radio industry." XM’s first satellite

1248-491: A satellite receiver plus an antenna that has to be placed in clear view of the relevant satellite, and properly oriented to the user's geographic azimuth and elevation. A new receiver manufactured by Delphi using open standard ETSI Satellite Digital Radio technology would have been used in Europe if the company had entered the car satellite radio receiver marketplace. 1worldspace finally became insolvent in 2009/2010 after

1344-401: A series of show swaps, most non-Clear Channel content was removed and programming control returned to XM Radio. Plans to introduce new regional based talk channels, which would have featured a regional 5 minute newscast for each area of the country, were canceled. Instead, Clear Channel chose to introduce other music and talk channels. Newer channels including ReachMD , America's Talk remain on

1440-533: A service known as AcuraLink . XM NavTraffic, an optional service, transmitted coded traffic information directly to vehicle navigation systems using TMC technology. Audio channels on XM were digitally compressed using the CT-aacPlus (HE-AAC) codec from Coding Technologies for most channels. That said, some channels rely on the AMBE codec from Digital Voice Systems (e.g., for voice channels), including all of

1536-482: A steady signal); however, XM is not yet licensed for reception by paid subscribers living in these areas. The original satellites, XM-1 ("Rock") and XM-2 ("Roll") suffered from a generic design fault on the Boeing 702 series satellite (fogging of the solar panels), which meant that their lifetimes were shortened to approximately six years instead of the design goal of 15 years. To compensate for this flaw, XM-3 ("Rhythm")

1632-516: A third satellite, AmeriStar (also known as CaribStar and later renamed AfriStar 2). This satellite was built but never launched. A fourth satellite, WorldStar 4 , was also considered and some components were acquired. However, the whole WorldStar 4 satellite was never built. The regional operations centers for the satellites were located in Silver Spring, Maryland for AfriStar and Melbourne, Australia for AsiaStar. These centers managed

1728-758: A three-year partnership with the United States Tennis Association to broadcast the US Open tournament through 2007, as well as weekly reports from other US Open Series events. On September 12, XM announced a 10-year, US$ 100 million deal to carry National Hockey League broadcasts beginning with the 2005–06 season, initially sharing the coverage with SIRIUS but gaining satellite-radio exclusivity from 2007 onward. On November 29, XM launched service in Canada. In January 2006, XM began broadcasting Fox News Talk . On January 9, XM won top honors at

1824-557: A total of $ 83.1 million, which was the value of Clear Channel's stake in XM. The accreted value of the debt was $ 92.9 million, and the fair value of the collar was an asset of $ 6.0 million, which resulted in a net gain of $ 3.8 million for Clear Channel. At the heart of the TimeTrax controversy was the XM PCR : a computer-controlled XM Receiver. Unlike the other receivers, which could be used in

1920-649: A videotape. XM's portable devices allowed the consumer to record a portion of their broadcast similar to a VCR , DVR , or cassette player and play it back later. On January 19, 2007, a district judge ruled that the RIAA could proceed with the lawsuit, rejecting XM's defense that the conduct alleged in the complaint—if proved by the RIAA—would be immune under the Audio Home Recording Act of 1991. On July 24, 2006, Nate Davis, formerly of XO Communications ,

2016-576: A while Liberty Media (a spin-off of TCI , an American cable-television group) sought to buy the assets, but in June 2010, a company called Yazmi USA owned by former WorldSpace founder, chairman, and CEO Noah Samara purchased the remains for US$ 5.5M. On 18 July 2011, Forbes India reported that Timbre Media was re-launching WorldSpace Radio in association with Sa Re Ga Ma in September 2011, although it would only be streamed through mobile phones,

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2112-662: Is a defunct satellite radio network that in its heyday provided service to over 170,000 subscribers in eastern , southern and northern Africa , the Middle East , and much of Asia with 96% coming from India . It was profitable in India, with 450,000 subscribers. The two operational satellites that the company had, AfriStar and AsiaStar , are now being used by their new owner, the Yazmi USA, LLC run by WorldSpace's former CEO Noah A. Samara . The company claims to have built

2208-588: Is not known if the XM HD Surround technology is used on the service as of 2015. In 1998, Clear Channel Communications invested in XM. The companies entered into agreements which provided for certain programming and director designation arrangements as long as Clear Channel retained the full amount of its original investment in XM. One positive consequence of this was that XM had (and still has) exclusive programming rights to all Clear Channel content, including popular national shows like Coast to Coast AM , but

2304-412: Is the result of a partnership between XM and Neural Audio Corporation which provides content with six discrete channels of digital audio. The former XM Live channel also broadcast in this format for certain concerts and studio performances. XM manufacturing partners such as Denon , Onkyo , Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc. , and Yamaha introduced home audio systems capable of playing XM HD Surround. It

2400-790: The Federal Communications Commission . In 1998, Hugh Panero President and CEO, joined XM Satellite Radio in the same role. In June 1999, Clear Channel Communications , DirecTV , General Motors , and a private investment group invested US$ 250 million in XM Satellite Radio convertible debt . On June 7, with GM's investment in XM, they entered into a 12-year "Distribution Agreement" between XM and GM subsidiary, OnStar Corporation. The agreement called for exclusive installation of XM Satellite Radio into GM vehicles from November 12, 2001, until November 2013. OnStar had to meet specific escalating installation rates each year, while XM needed to make extensive payments to OnStar for

2496-499: The L-Band frequency in order to access the system. The radio receiver processed, decoded and descrambled the signals to allow users to receive programming content. The company's broadcast frequency and satellites required a special receiver design incorporating either a small patch antenna measuring approximately 6 to 8 cm (2.4 to 3.2 inches) which folded neatly into the receiver unit or a similarly sized omni-directional antenna mounted on

2592-635: The aacPlus codec, including spectral band replication (SBR). Audio was stored digitally in Dalet audio library systems using an industry-standard MPEG-1 Layer II at 384 kbit/s, sometimes known as MUSICAM . The audio is further processed by the Neural Audio processors on the way to broadcast. In the past, the Sirius XM Pops channel, which aired classical music, was broadcast in 5.1 surround sound . The technology, titled XM HD Surround ,

2688-459: The 115° WL location to complete the satellite replacement program. On December 15, 2006, XM-1 was finally powered down and then drifted back to its original location at 85° WL, where it remained as a backup to XM-3. XM-2 was similarly powered down and remained as a backup to XM-4. This makes the current active satellites as XM-3 "Rhythm" and XM-4 "Blues" with two in-orbit spares. On June 7, 2005, Space Systems/Loral announced that it had been awarded

2784-601: The 1990s in the United States. WorldSpace operated in the Africa and Asia region, whereas Sirius and XM competed in the North American (USA and Canada) market. Of the three companies, WorldSpace went bankrupt in 2009 and Sirius and XM merged in 2008 to form Sirius XM . The merger was done to avoid bankruptcy. The new company had financial problems and was within days of bankruptcy in 2009, but was able to find investors. The company did not go bankrupt and Sirius XM Satellite radio continues (as of 2024 ) to operate. WorldSpace

2880-474: The 2.3 GHz S band in North America for nationwide digital radio broadcasting. MobaHO! operated at 2.6 GHz. In other parts of the world, satellite radio uses part of the 1.4 GHz L band allocated for DAB . Satellite radio subscribers purchase a receiver and pay a monthly subscription fee to listen to programming. They can listen through built-in or portable receivers in automobiles; in

2976-508: The 2006 Consumer Electronics Show . On February 9, XM announced a US$ 55 million, three-year deal with Oprah Winfrey 's Harpo Productions . In May 2006, XM Satellite Radio was sued by the RIAA over XM's new portable devices the Inno and Helix. The RIAA claimed these devices were equivalent to a downloading service, whereas XM contended the devices were protected because they recorded similarly to

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3072-667: The American Mobile Satellite Corporation created a new division known as American Mobile Radio Corp. Later that year, American Mobile brought in WorldSpace as an investor. On May 16, 1997, American Mobile Satellite and WorldSpace officially changed the name of American Mobile Radio to XM Satellite Radio. Later that month, Lon Levin became president, a position he would hold until 1998. In October 1997, XM Satellite Radio obtained one of only two satellite digital audio radio service licenses offered by

3168-481: The Internet and direct-to-home television networks. Reportedly, old WorldSpace receivers would no longer work. The re-launch would start with 40 stations and eventually have as many as 120 stations, including sub-categories such as music for cardio-workouts. 1worldspace assembled a combination of news, sports, music, brand name content and educational programming which it delivered to its market in Africa, Asia, and

3264-1017: The Middle East. The 62 channels (38 of which were third-party content and 24 of which were produced by or for 1worldspace) represented popular international music formats including contemporary hits, country, classic rock and jazz with content specific to the local geographic region. Sports coverage included content from Fox Sports Radio and talkSPORT in addition to regional coverage. 1worldspace also broadcast news from well-renowned sources such as BBC , CNBC , CNN , NPR , RFI , and WRN . Additional content included channels that highlighted poetry and literature, comedy, talk shows, and inspirational and religious programming. 1worldspace's program directors and announcers operated from studios in Washington, D.C., Bangalore, and Nairobi, where 18 original music and lifestyle channels were created for distribution. Four of these stations were previously available in

3360-689: The Operational Assistance Agreement would remain in effect, including Clear Channel's right to receive a revenue share of commercial advertising on programming it provides to XM, but declined to enforce the Director Designation Agreement, which forced the Mays family members off the board of directors. Per the original agreement, Clear Channel had the right to program 409.6 kbit/s (or 10%) of XM bandwidth, requiring XM to include commercial advertising on

3456-585: The Republic of Korea and whose services began on October 20, 2004, and ended on March 31, 2009. XM satellite radio was launched in Canada on November 29, 2005. Sirius followed two days later on December 1, 2005. Sirius Canada and XM Radio Canada announced their merger into Sirius XM Canada on November 24, 2010. It was approved by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission on April 12, 2011. Satellite radio uses

3552-675: The SiriusXM mobile app . XM also provided data services such as weather information for pilots and weather spotters through its Sirius XM Weather & Emergency datacasting service. This information could be displayed in the cockpit of an aircraft equipped with a satellite weather receiver. In 2004, JetBlue announced that XM Satellite Radio service would be available in its Embraer regional jets beginning in 2005. Also in 2005, AirTran Airways began putting XM Satellite Radio on their aircraft. United Airlines started carrying XM programming in March 2006. Zipcar , an urban car-sharing service in

3648-540: The Traffic and Weather channels. The XM radio signal was broadcast on 6 separate radio carriers within the 12.5 MHz allocation. The entire content of the radio service, including both data and audio content, was represented by only two carriers. The other 4 carriers carried duplicates of the same content to achieve redundancy through signal diversity . The data on each carrier is encoded using time-delayed and error-correction schemes to enhance availability. Effectively,

3744-545: The United States began providing background music to hotels, retail chains, restaurants, airlines and other businesses. On April 30, 2013, SiriusXM CEO Jim Meyer stated that the company would be pursuing opportunities over the next few years to provide in-car services through their existing satellites, including telematics (automated security and safety, such as stolen vehicle tracking and roadside assistance) and entertainment (such as weather and gas prices). As of December 2020 , SiriusXM had 34.7 million subscribers. This

3840-505: The United States on the XM Satellite Radio network. This arrangement ended in 2008. The 1worldspace system had three major components: the space segment, the ground segment, and the user segment. The space segment referred to the company-owned satellites that broadcast the signals over a large percentage of the eastern hemisphere. The ground segment referred to the operating and broadcasting centers. The user segment referred to

3936-425: The United States, XM owned and operated approximately 800 repeater sites, covering 60 markets; in Canada, CSR was installing approximately 80 to 100 repeaters that were planned to be owned and operated by CSR in the 16 largest Canadian cities. The actual number of repeater sites varies as the signal is regularly tested and monitored for optimal performance. The actual number of sites in the United States has dropped from

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4032-549: The United States, initially installed XM receivers in all of their vehicles, but later announced they would be removed from its fleet in the following months due to uncertainty in the market. In contrast to its high-quality broadcasts, Sirius/XM's customer service has drawn fire from some state governments. In October 2010, Richard Cordray, Ohio's Attorney General, began investigating complaints regarding Sirius XM's policies on billing, customer solicitation, and subscription renewals and cancellations. The company informed shareholders of

4128-475: The United States. Also in 2004, the company partnered with automakers General Motors , Honda , Isuzu , Nissan , Toyota , Volkswagen , and SAAB to offer in-dash XM receivers on an OEM basis. The Acura TL is the first luxury automobile to offer XM radio as "standard" in every vehicle. On October 4, 2004, "shock jocks" Opie and Anthony begin broadcasting on a premium XM Satellite Radio station. Also, former National Public Radio host Bob Edwards broadcast

4224-485: The XM-Sirius merger and on July 29, Sirius and XM officially merged as Sirius XM Radio . XM Canada and Sirius Canada, subsidiaries of the parent companies, remained separate until April 2011. In early 2009, Sirius XM prepared to file Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company had a $ 1 billion debt obligation in 2009 and $ 175 million immediate obligation due February 17, 2009. On November 12, Gary Parsons resigned as chairman and

4320-436: The air. The Pink Channel, National Lampoon Comedy Radio , WSIX-FM , WLW , and Rock@Random were launched and later removed, and replaced by channels like Bollywood & Beyond , The Music Summit, and Sixx Sense , all of which are on the air today. Seen as a blow to XM's 100% commercial-free music channel status, XM Executive Vice President of Programming Eric Logan released a programming announcement to XM subscribers on

4416-579: The car or home stereo, the XM PCR required a computer to run. A software application on the computer acted as the radio's controls and display, which led to a flurry of third-party developers who wanted to make a PCR replacement. Many of them received Cease and Desist letters from the XM company. Once the PCR was discontinued, for the reasons listed above, people found that the XM Direct, a receiver intended to be used in satellite-ready car stereos, can be connected to

4512-415: The car rooftop. Each receiver was individually addressable via a unique identifier that could be used to unlock specially coded audio or multimedia signals. This capability provided the flexibility to deliver free, subscription and/or premium services to consumers. The currently available receivers were manually coded for subscription authorization. A password, valid for varying periods of time depending upon

4608-516: The channels used to be available only through a subscription plan. 1worldspace claimed to be the only company with rights to the world's globally allocated spectrum for digital satellite radio. However, it never made use of its license to broadcast to the Americas or the Caribbean. The company gained attention around 2000 because of its willingness to invest in impoverished areas and from 2006 to

4704-466: The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November 2008. In March 2010, the company announced it would be de-commissioning its two satellites (one served Asia , the other served Africa). Liberty Media , which owns 50% of Sirius XM Radio, had considered purchasing WorldSpace’s assets, but talks between the companies collapsed. The satellites are now transmitting educational data and operate under

4800-461: The company's website that reiterated XM's commitment to commercial-free music while noting that XM still had the most commercial-free music and that more commercial-free music channels will be added in the near future to ensure that XM will still have more commercial-free music than competitor Sirius Satellite Radio . On April 17, 2006, XM launched US Country (XM17), Flight 26 (XM26), XM Hitlist (XM30) and Escape (XM78) to provide commercial free music in

4896-501: The deal, XM created a 24/7 MLB channel called " Home Plate ". The deal started with the 2005 baseball season and ran through 2012, including a 3-year option that MLB could have picked up. On May 28, 2005, The Wall Street Journal reported that XM had awarded the contract for the XM 5 spacecraft to Space Systems/Loral . On June 7, XM partnered with Audible.com to offer downloadable audio show archives of The Opie and Anthony Show, as well as The Bob Edwards Show. On August 1, XM announced

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4992-566: The equator: XM Rhythm at 85° west longitude and XM Blues at 115° west longitude in addition to a network of ground-based repeaters. The combination of two satellites and a ground-based repeater network was designed to provide gap-free coverage anywhere within the contiguous U.S., the southern tip of Alaska, and in the southern part of Canada. The signal could also be received in the Caribbean Islands and most of Mexico (reports have stated that areas north of Acapulco were able to receive

5088-584: The existing Nashville! , KISS , Mix , and Sunny (now The Music Summit). The amount of advertising on the music channels amounts up to 4 minutes per hour, similar to the amount of advertising XM included before going commercial free. Exceptions include syndicated music shows which carry network spots. Clear Channel advertising on XM is handled by its subsidiary, Premiere Radio Networks . Clear Channel also provided existing talk channel programming ( Fox Sports Radio , Extreme XM , Talk Radio ). Clear Channel also controlled America Right (formerly Buzz XM), but through

5184-531: The first Bob Edwards Show on XM Public Radio on channel 133. On October 20, XM announced an 11-year, US$ 650 million deal with Major League Baseball to broadcast games live nationwide and to become the Official Satellite Radio provider of Major League Baseball. The agreement granted XM the rights to use the MLB silhouetted batter logo and the collective marks of all major league clubs. As part of

5280-993: The first satellite-to-tablet content delivery system. The system primarily aims at providing educational services to rural areas in developing countries. The first pilots of the technology are said to be taking place in India (with 30,000 licenses) and the sub-Saharan region in Africa, with the latest trials in two schools in South Africa , in Rietkol , in Mpumalanga Province, and at Heathfield, in Western Cape . The company, founded in 1990, has its headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland and additional studios were located in Washington, D.C. , Bangalore , Mumbai , New Delhi , and Nairobi . In 1991 Noah Samara, working with Thomas van der Heyden – founder of what

5376-645: The formats of the Clear Channel programmed music channels which were going to begin airing commercials. In response, Sirius has advertised that they are the only satellite radio provider that has 100% commercial-free music channels. Both XM and Sirius air commercials on their news, talk, and sports channels. The Clear Channel forward sales agreement with Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc was terminated on August 2, 2006. The termination resulted in Clear Channel Investments, Inc. paying Bear Stearns

5472-635: The home and office with a portable or tabletop receiver equipped to connect the receiver to a stereo system; or on the Internet. Reception is activated by obtaining the radio's unique ID and giving this to the service provider. Ground stations transmit signals to the satellites which are 35,786 kilometers (22,236 miles) above the Equator in geostationary orbits . The satellites send the signals back down to radio receivers in cars and homes. This signal contains scrambled broadcasts, along with meta data about each specific broadcast. The signals are unscrambled by

5568-634: The industry," the FCC also sold a license to the American Mobile Radio Corporation, which changed its name to XM Satellite Radio in October 1998. XM was founded by Lon Levin and Gary Parsons, who served as chairman until November 2009. CD Radio purchased their license for $ 83.3 million, and American Mobile Radio Corporation bought theirs for $ 89.9 million. Digital Satellite Broadcasting Corporation and Primosphere were unsuccessful in their bids for licenses. Sky Highway Radio Corporation had also expressed interest in creating

5664-538: The information they need to improve their lives, have the means to communicate their needs and wants, are able to share what they know with others – in their own voice. The organization attempted to reach the most people for the least cost by combining satellite and other technologies. By bypassing the isolating effects of illiteracy and remoteness, the organization routinely delivers information to people in areas lacking electricity, telephone or Internet service. Since uninterrupted line of sight reception may be difficult in

5760-466: The installation and sale of XM in their vehicles, while sharing revenue earned from these radios with OnStar, as well as payments on the exclusivity agreement. At the same time as the investment, American Mobile Satellite, still XM's parent company, reacquired the stake WorldSpace held in the company. In October 1999, XM Satellite Radio issued 10,241,000 shares of Class A common stock at an IPO price of US$ 12.00 per share. American Mobile Satellite remained

5856-485: The interest already held by their subsidiary, DirecTV. On November 12, 2001, XM Satellite Radio officially launched its nationwide service. In January 2003, the company underwent a re-capitalization plan, involving XM exchanging US$ 300 million in old debt for new debt, while deferring interest for 3-years on the notes. They also restructured payment obligations on the General Motors installation agreement, issuing

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5952-612: The label "XM" (e.g., "XM32" for " The Bridge "). The company had its origins in the 1988 formation of the American Mobile Satellite Corporation (AMSC), a consortium of several organizations originally dedicated to satellite broadcasting of telephone, fax, and data signals. In 1992, AMSC established a unit called the American Mobile Radio Corporation dedicated to developing a satellite-based digital radio service; this

6048-655: The length of the subscription purchased and paid for, is provided to a subscriber and entered into the receiver. Passwords were re-validated on a quarterly basis. Upon subscription renewal, a new passcode was provided and similarly entered into the receiver. As new receiver products were introduced, there were plans to provide over-the-air activation of subscriptions. The radio sets, or receivers, which could pick up 1worldspace signals were manufactured by South Korea's AMI, India's BPL and China's Tongshi, among other corporations. Discontinued models were manufactured by JVC , Sanyo , Hitachi , and Panasonic . The radios consisted of

6144-586: The majority holder of the public company. In April 2000, American Mobile Satellite Corp. changed its name to Motient. In July, American Honda joined several private investors in a US$ 235 million preferred stock investment in the company. On September 25, 2001, XM Satellite Radio launched in San Diego and Dallas–Fort Worth , with nationwide expansion plans set for November. The initial lineup included 100 channels consisting of sports, talk, children's programming, entertainment and news. In October 2001, Motient

6240-561: The name of Yazmi USA, LLC. Ondas Media was a Spanish company which had proposed to launch a subscription-based satellite radio system to serve Spain and much of Western Europe, but failed to acquire licenses throughout Europe. Onde Numérique was a French company which had proposed to launch a subscription-based satellite radio system to serve France and several other countries in Western Europe but has suspended its plans indefinitely, effective December, 2016. Sirius Satellite Radio

6336-445: The original 1,000 installed when the service first launched in 2001. The repeaters transmit in the same frequency band as the satellites. A typical city contains 20 or more terrestrial stations. Typically, the receiver owner is unaware when a terrestrial station is being used, unless he or she checks antenna information from the receiver being used. Due to a FCC filing in October 2006, the latest list of XM's US terrestrial repeater network

6432-551: The performance and status of the satellites by controlling them and monitoring there. The system architecture is identical for each region. Telemetry, command and ranging (TCR) ground stations consisted of an X-Band uplink command and control system and an L-Band telemetry monitoring system. A backup mode was also provided using an S-Band link from Bangalore , India . Each satellite had two TCR stations with sufficient geographic distance between them so that if natural disasters or any unforeseen events were to make one inoperable,

6528-487: The present due to its financial difficulties and bankruptcy proceedings. European operations were liquidated in the spring of 2009. On December 25, 2009, the company issued notices to all of its subscribers in India that WorldSpace service in India would officially be terminated from December 31, 2009, with no refunds given to its subscribers, on account of bankruptcy. The company was known as AfriSpace until 1992 when it changed its name to WorldSpace until July 2008. For

6624-473: The probe shortly thereafter. According to news reports, Arizona, Connecticut, Tennessee, Vermont, and the District of Columbia had expressed interest in participating in the inquiry. According to Reuters , "The investigations come as Sirius XM , home to programs by Howard Stern and Oprah Winfrey, has found its footing and distanced itself from years of huge losses and questions about its business model." In

6720-537: The radio receiver modules, which display the broadcast information. In urban areas, ground repeaters enable signals to be available even if the satellite signal is blocked. The technology allows for nationwide broadcasting, so that, for instance US listeners can hear the same stations anywhere in the country. Satellite radio in the US offers commercial-free music stations, as well as news, sports, and talk, some of which include commercials. In 2004, satellite radio companies in

6816-532: The satellites, and for various other business expenses. Stating that it was the only way satellite radio could survive, Sirius and XM announced their merger on February 19, 2007, becoming Sirius XM. The FCC approved the merger on July 25, 2008, concluding that it was not a monopoly, primarily due to Internet audio-streaming competition. MobaHo! was a mobile satellite digital audio/video broadcasting service based in Japan which offered different services to Japan and

6912-570: The shows could only be broadcast inside the bandwidth controlled by Clear Channel. In June 2003, Clear Channel entered into a forward sales agreement relating to its ownership of XM. During the third quarter of 2005, Clear Channel and XM arbitrated the impact of this agreement on the Operational Assistance Agreement and the Director Designation Agreement . The Arbitration Panel decided that

7008-576: The total radio spectrum used for content is a little over 4 MHz. Each two-carrier group broadcast 100 8-kilobit-per-second streams in approximately 4 MHz of radio spectrum. These streams were combined using a patented process to form a variable number of channels using a variety of bitrates. Bandwidth is separated into segments of 4-kilobit-per-second virtual "streams" which are combined to form audio and data "channels" of varying bitrates from 4 to 64 kilobits-per-second. XM preprocessed audio content using Neural Audio processors that are optimized for

7104-431: The two radio services and created a single satellite radio network in the United States and Canada. The United States Department of Justice announced on March 24, 2008, that it had closed its investigation of the merger because it "concluded that the evidence does not demonstrate that the proposed merger of XM and Sirius was likely to substantially lessen competition." Satellite radio Satellite radio technology

7200-558: The urban areas, a need to install terrestrial repeating transmitters to rebroadcast the satellite signals in the largest metropolitan areas of intended mobile DARS markets was identified. The company had been licensed to build networks of terrestrial repeaters in Italy , Switzerland and Germany . With this addition, the system could have provided more reliable broadcast services to receivers in automobiles. 1worldspace had planned to start providing mobile radio and data services in Italy using

7296-534: The use of the S-band frequencies that the FCC subsequently decided to allocate to digital audio broadcasting. The National Association of Broadcasters contended that satellite radio would harm local radio stations. In April 1992, Rothblatt resigned as CEO of Satellite CD Radio; Briskman, who designed the company's satellite technology, was then appointed chairman and CEO. Six months later, Rogers Wireless co-founder Margolese, who had provided financial backing for

7392-756: The user-owned devices in which the signal was received. In addition, the company planned to implement terrestrial repeater networks in order to facilitate access to new markets in Europe and the Middle-East. The 1worldspace system was built with companies including Alcatel Space (now Thales Alenia Space ), EADS Astrium and Arianespace (France), SED (Canada), GSI (USA), Fraunhofer Society (Germany), ST Microelectronics (Italy), Micronas (Germany) and others. 1worldspace operated two satellites: AfriStar and AsiaStar . This made it available in Asia, Africa, Middle East, and parts of Europe. The company ordered also

7488-441: The venture, acquired control of the company and succeeded Briskman. Margolese renamed the company CD Radio, and spent the next five years lobbying the FCC to allow satellite radio to be deployed, and the following five years raising $ 1.6 billion, which was used to build and launch three satellites into elliptical orbit from Kazakhstan in July 2000. In 1997, after Margolese had obtained regulatory clearance and "effectively created

7584-589: The world, particularly in a disaster-relief context. The promotions also mentioned WorldSpace's facilitation of long-distance educational projects in Africa. The ads, broadcast on Washington D.C. radio stations, appeared aimed at government procurement officials and possibly NGOs. WorldSpace named noted Indian composer A.R. Rahman as its brand ambassador in India where 90% of its customers are located, and unveiled an integrated marketing communication campaign across print and visual media featuring an exclusive signature tune composed by Mr. Rahman. WorldSpace Foundation

7680-404: Was a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization created in 1997 with the aim of improving literacy in Africa, and providing content through satellite to smaller community radio stations in the continent. WorldSpace Foundation has changed its name to First Voice International . First Voice International was a non-profit organization that tried to ensure that people living in poverty and remote places get

7776-645: Was dissolved as a separate entity and merged into Sirius XM Radio, Inc. While the satellite receiver radio service was its primary product, XM also operated audio, data and advertising services. XM's primary business was satellite radio entertainment. XM carried music, news (both simulcast and syndicated programming), sports, talk radio, comedy (both stand-up and radio shows), and radio drama. In addition, XM broadcast local weather and traffic conditions in its larger markets. XM Radio Online (XMRO), XM's Internet radio product, offered many of XM's music stations and could be accessed from any Internet connected computer, or via

7872-560: Was founded by Martine Rothblatt , who served as the new company's Chairman of the Board. Co-founder David Margolese served as Chief Executive Officer with former NASA engineer Robert Briskman serving as President and Chief Operating Officer. In June 1990, Rothblatt's shell company, Satellite CD Radio, Inc., petitioned the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to assign new frequencies for satellites to broadcast digital sound to homes and cars. The company identified and argued in favor of

7968-565: Was founded by Ethiopia-born lawyer Noah Samara in Washington, D.C. , in 1990, with the goal of making satellite radio programming available to the developing world. On June 22, 1991, the FCC gave WorldSpace permission to launch a satellite to provide digital programming to Africa and the Middle East . WorldSpace first began broadcasting satellite radio on October 1, 1999, in Africa. India would ultimately account for over 90% of WorldSpace’s subscriber base. In 2008, WorldSpace announced plans to enter Europe , but those plans were set aside when

8064-546: Was heading into bankruptcy and spun off their non-XM satellite division into a joint operation with TMI Communications and Company, L.P., a wholly owned subsidiary of BCE Inc. of Canada. The new venture was known as the Mobile Satellite Ventures. In November, Motient was in bankruptcy, and sold off their controlling interest in XM to Hughes Electronics , SingTel and Baron Capital Partners. Hughes Electronics would go on to combine this new interest in with

8160-722: Was inducted into the Space Foundation Space Technology Hall of Fame in 2002. Satellite radio uses the 2.3 GHz S band in North America for nationwide digital radio broadcasting. In other parts of the world, satellite radio uses the 1.4 GHz L band allocated for DAB . The first satellite radio broadcasts occurred in Africa and the Middle East in 1999. The first US broadcasts were in 2001 followed by Japan in 2004 and Canada in 2005. There have been three (not counting MobaHo! of Japan) major satellite radio companies: WorldSpace , Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio , all founded in

8256-469: Was launched ahead of its planned schedule on February 28, 2005, and moved into XM-1's previous location of 85° WL. XM-1 was then moved to be co-located with XM-2 at 115° WL, where each satellite operated only one transponder (thus broadcasting half the bandwidth each) to conserve energy and cut the power consumption in half while XM-4 ("Blues") was readied for launch. Subsequently, XM launched ground-spare XM-4 ("Blues") ahead of schedule on October 30, 2006, into

8352-413: Was launched on March 18, 2001 and its second on May 8, 2001. Its first broadcast occurred on September 25, 2001, nearly four months before Sirius. Sirius launched the initial phase of its service in four cities on February 14, 2002, expanding to the rest of the contiguous United States on July 1, 2002. The two companies spent over $ 3 billion combined to develop satellite radio technology, build and launch

8448-403: Was made available to the public. The XM signal used 12.5 MHz of the S band : 2332.5 to 2345.0 MHz. XM provided 128 kilobits per second of its bandwidth to OnStar Corporation for use with XM-enabled GM vehicles, regardless of whether their owners are XM subscribers. American Honda also retained the right to some of the company's bandwidth to transmit messages to Acura vehicles via

8544-493: Was made the president and chief operating officer. In October, the XM-4 " Blues " satellite was launched atop a Zenit 3SL rocket. On January 18, 2007, the Federal Communications Commission ruled that licensing regulations would prohibit a possible merger of XM and Sirius Satellite Radio . On February 19, XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. and Sirius Satellite Radio announced they would merge . On March 20, 2007, XM and Sirius filed

8640-407: Was not covered by the bankruptcy filing. In August 2008, two of the top executives of 1worldspace announced their resignations. Greg Armstrong, co-COO, left effective on August 1 and Alexander Brown, co-COO, has given notice of his intention to leave. WorldSpace audio advertisements in 2006 highlighted the company's ability to provide communication and data-transmission services to remote areas of

8736-451: Was primarily due to the company’s partnerships with automakers and car dealers. Roughly 60% of new cars sold come equipped with SiriusXM, and just under half of those units gain paid subscriptions. The company has long-term deals with General Motors , Ford , Toyota , Kia , Bentley , BMW , Volkswagen , Nissan , Hyundai and Mitsubishi . The presence of Howard Stern , whose show attracts over 12 million listeners per week, has also been

8832-486: Was replaced by Eddy W. Hartenstein, as the new non-executive chairman. On November 24, 2010, XM Canada and Sirius Canada announced plans to merge. On April 11, 2011, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission approved the merger of the Canadian companies, Sirius and XM, into Sirius XM Canada . XM provided digital programming directly from two high-powered satellites in geostationary orbit above

8928-422: Was reported to owe its creditors over $ 50 million, due to be paid by various repeatedly postponed deadlines. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on 17 October 2008. The reorganization includes a 90-day $ 13 million debtor-in-possession financing approach, with the hopes of obtaining added funds to repay senior secured notes and convertible notes . The company's wholly owned India affiliate

9024-515: Was spun off as XM Satellite Radio Holdings, Inc. in 1999. The satellite service officially launched on September 25, 2001. On July 29, 2008, XM and former competitor Sirius Satellite Radio formally completed their merger, following U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approval, forming Sirius XM Radio, Inc. with XM Satellite Radio, Inc. as its subsidiary. On November 12, 2008, Sirius and XM began broadcasting with their new, combined channel lineups. On January 13, 2011, XM Satellite Radio, Inc.

9120-420: Was sued in federal court by a customer accusing it of deceptively raising prices. The report also stated that "Sirius, in a statement, said it was cooperating with the investigations and that it believed its 'consumer-related practices comply with all applicable federal and state laws and regulations.'" The American Mobile Satellite Corporation was founded in 1988. In 1991, Lon Levin joined the company. In 1992,

9216-570: Was then International Telecommunications Inc. (ITI), later in 1997 to become the geostationary satellite division of Orbital Sciences , prepared and filed for the world's first Radio Broadcast Satellite with the US FCC. In 1992, Samara and van der Heyden (at the time representing the Republic of Indonesia ) were able, at WARC-92 with the support of many African and Asian countries, to have the ITU establish

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