- '80s on 8
-
The '80s on 8 
Broadcast area United States
CanadaSlogan The Big '80s (regarding the former Sirius channel Big '80s) Frequency XM 8
Sirius 8
Dish Network 6008First air date September 25, 2001 Format 1980s Music Class Satellite Radio Station Owner Sirius XM Radio Website SiriusXM: '80s on 8 
Former XM logo as The '80s, used prior to Sirius/XM merger on November 12, 2008.
The '80s on 8 (or just The '80s) is a commercial-free, satellite radio station on the Sirius XM Radio platform, broadcasting on XM Satellite Radio and on DirecTV channel 805. As a result of the Sirius/XM merger on November 12, 2008, the channel was merged with the Big '80s channel on Sirius 8 and Dish Network 6008, and took its current name. As of February 9, 2010, DirecTV has dropped the Sirius XM programming in favor of using SonicTap. The channel plays hit music from the 1980s. Artists played include Duran Duran, the Culture Club, The Go-Go's, Styx, Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp, The Police, Prince, and Michael Jackson.
The channel was created in 2000/2001 and programmed by Bruce Kelly, a veteran radio program director and morning drive/afternoon personality in Phoenix, Miami, Washington, D.C., Pittsburgh and Boston. Kelly's morning show was one of XM's highest rated programs. He was also featured on many XM Artist specials and live reports from the Cream reunion and Live 8 shows from London in Spring/Summer of 2005, plus was on-camera host with Bon Jovi for the launch of AOL AEG Network Live from the Nokia Theater, Times Square, NYC. Kelly also became a regular character on the Opie and Anthony show on XM Channel 202 - "The Virus (XM)". In late 2005, Kelly resigned from XM in order to care for his ailing father and has yet to resurface at another radio job. The channel is currently voice-tracked by the four living original VJs on cable network MTV, Nina Blackwood, Mark Goodman, Alan Hunter and Martha Quinn, who record their programs from their homes. There are no live announcers at any time on this channel.
Much like the other decades channels, The 80s on 8 attempts to recreate the feel of 1980s radio. It uses JAM Creative Productions' "Warp Factor", "The Flame Thrower," "Skywave" and "Turbo Z" packages (made popular in the '80s by Z100 in New York and other stations) for jingles, as well as similar DJ habits, '80s slang, news updates, and an occasional vintage commercial (which is presented this way in order to retain the commercial free status). The channel was also used for XM's annual pop music chronology, IT.
XM's 80s channel is the third most listened to station on the XM service, with an Arbitron-estimated cume of 698,300 listeners per week.[1]
For rare songs from the '80s played on this station, each song is played and described as an American Bottom 40, a parody of the American Top 40 program until April 2008, when it changed its tagline to Another '80s Lost Hit, which is currently introduced by Less Headroom, Max Headroom's brother, and picked by his Commodore 64. Since the Sirius/XM merger, the aircheck was most recently changed to that formerly aired on Sirius' Big '80s channel.
Contents
Program Schedule
All Times Central:
Weekdays
- 11:00PM-12:00A: Nina Blackwood (Tuesday-Friday, music only on Monday)
- 12:00AM-02:00A: Alan Hunter (Tuesday-Friday, music only on Monday)
- 02:00AM-05:00A: Music only (Tuesday-Friday, Big 40 Countdown on Monday)
- 05:00AM-09:00A: Mark Goodman
- 09:00AM-12:00P: Martha Quinn
- 12:00PM-03:00P: Nina Blackwood
- 03:00PM-06:00P: Alan Hunter
- 06:00PM-08:00P: Mark Goodman
- 08:00PM-10:00P: Martha Quinn (Monday-Thursday, Big 40 Countdown on Friday)
- 10:00PM-11:00P: Nina Blackwood (Monday-Thursday, Big 40 Countdown on Friday)
Saturday
- 11:00PM-01:00A: Alan Hunter
- 01:00AM-10:00A: Music only
- 10:00AM-01:00P: Big 40 Countdown
- 01:00PM-06:00P: Nina Blackwood
- 06:00PM-08:00P: Mark Goodman
- 08:00PM-11:00P: Alan Hunter
Sunday
- 10:00PM-01:00A: Big 40 Countdown
- 01:00AM-05:00A: Music only
- 05:00AM-08:00A: Big 40 Countdown
- 08:00AM-10:00A: Music only
- 10:00AM-02:00P: Alan Hunter
- 02:00PM-07:00P: Nina Blackwood
- 07:00PM-10:00P: Big 40 Countdown
- 10:00PM-11:00P: Music only
Current Programs
- 80s on 8 Big 40 countdown - Beginning with the weekend of October 10–11, 2009, the American Top 40 flashbacks were replaced by a reincarnation of "The Big 40 Countdown" which aired on Sirius Big 80s prior to the November 12, 2008 Merger. Nina Blackwood, who hosted the original version on SIRIUS' Big '80s channel from 2005–2008, also hosts this version, along with Mark Goodman, Alan Hunter, and Martha Quinn.
Former Programs
- '80s WannaBe's - The Lost/Forgotten/Misplaced/Spaced Out from the '80s... The songs you know, that you forgot you know, but that we know, ya know? "Ohhh WOW! I remember that one, dude!" Now known as 80's lost hits.
- '80s Alive - Your front row seat to live, legendary performances as they happened in the '80s. Crank it up the max, the amps are turned up. Listen for... All Day.
- American Top 40 - The original American Top 40 shows hosted by Casey Kasem from the '80s, aired weekly, taking snapshots of the biggest hits at various periods of time in the '80s. It aired Sundays 7:00 AM ET to about 10:15 AM ET and then again at 8:00 PM ET to about 11:15 PM ET. Before the merger it used to also air on Thursdays 10:00 PM ET to about 1:15 AM ET. (Originally the Thursday show was a repeat of the one run on Sunday, but as of October 2006 they are running two different episodes per week; this has since reverted back to the Thursday show being a repeat of the Sunday show.) Aired until October 2009.
- Rick Dees Weekly Top 40 - 80's editions of the Rick Dees countdown aired Saturdays until December 2008.
- Martha Quinn Presents... - Prior to November 12, 2008, this program was carried on Sirius' Big '80s channel. Martha plays the songs that defined a decade, and bringing her own personal perspective on the biggest pop and rock artists that she experienced firsthand. Airs: Saturdays at 8:00 AM ET and 9:00 PM ET, Sundays at 11:00 AM ET and 4:00 PM ET, and Wednesdays at 9:00 PM ET.
Post Sirius XM Merger
When the merge of XM and Sirius Satellite Radio music and talk channels occurred on November 12, 2008, Rick Stacy was named the channel's program director, and the airstaff consisted of the four surviving original MTV "veejays" - Nina Blackwood, Mark Goodman, Alan Hunter and Martha Quinn, carrying over the lineup of Sirius's Big '80s channel. '80s on 8 was simulcasted on both XM and Sirius, and channel imaging was revised to include the phrase "Sirius XM Radio". It also became Sirius XM Radio's first and only channel to phase out the apostrophe (like on most decades channels on Sirius XM), as they changed their logo entirely (other channels such as The 50s on 5 and The 90s on 9 did so, but the rest of the logos were updated). However with the recent reintroduction of the VJ big 40, the 80s on 8 is starting to sound more like the Sirius channel the big 80s complete with a schedule somehow reminiscent of the former Sirius channel.
References
- ^ Hinckley, David. Howard Stern rules satellite radio. New York Daily News. 7 May 2008.
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