XM Radio Canada

Infobox_Company
company_name = Canadian Satellite Radio Holdings Inc.
company_
company_type = Publicly owned digital radio provider (tsx|XSR)
foundation = 2002
location = Toronto, Ontario
industry = Broadcasting
subscribers = 350,000
products = Satellite radio
revenue = profit$40,000,000 estimated
net_income = loss$20,000,000 estimated
num_employees = 75
homepage = [http://www.xmradio.ca www.xmradio.ca]
[http://www.cdnsatrad.com www.cdnsatrad.com]

XM Radio Canada is the operating name of Canadian Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. (or "CSR"), a Canadian communications and media company, which was incorporated in 2002 to broadcast satellite radio in Canada.

History

On August 19, 2003, Canadian Satellite Radio Holdings Inc., the parent company of CSR, filed its initial application to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) for a broadcast license to provide subscription based digital radio service in Canada. In June 2005, the CRTC awarded the company a six year license to commence broadcasting in Canada. XM Radio Canada started transmissions across Canada on November 22, 2005, and launched officially on December 1, 2005. On November 30, 2007, XM Radio Canada announced that they have over 350,000 subscribers.

Corporate Structure

XM Radio Canada is a wholly owned subsidiary of Canadian Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. (CSR Holdings). CSR Holdings tsx|XSR.SVis a publicly traded company on the TSX Exchange. The executive chairman and founder is John Bitove, a Canadian businessman, who owns 58% of CSR Holdings, while the American company Sirius XM owns 23% of CSR Holdings. The remaining 19% forms the publicly traded float on the TSX stock exchange. XMSR granted an exclusive 15 year license (including a 5 year renewal) to XM Radio Canada to broadcast and distribute its content and to use its XM brand name.

XM Radio Canada has strategic alliances with Corus Entertainment, Telesat Canada, General Motors, Honda, Toyota, Nissan Telus, Rogers Communications and Air Canada.

XM Radio Canada Content

XM Radio Canada offers listeners 130 channels, including 100% commercial-free music as well as news, talk, sports and children's programming across Canada via satellite. XM Radio Canada also offers every NHL hockey game, as it is the exclusive broadcaster of the NHL games starting in the 2007-2008 season. As of September 2007, XM Radio Canada now offers every Major League Baseball game, the IRL, select college sports, and the PGA Tour Network along with the NHL. The company programs, produces, and distributes thirteen new Canadian channels (eight in English and five in French) with formats such as music, sports, comedy, and news, in addition to the existing XM service. XM Radio Canada uses the existing 2 XM satellites: Rhythm and Blues, as well as a system of ground repeaters across Canada to broadcast a subscription radio service to Canadians. For a complete list of channels, please visit List of XM Satellite Radio channels.

XM Radio Canada currently programs the following on-air channels for XM Satellite Radio.
* The Verge (XM52) - New and emerging Canadian rock music. This channel sticks to the up and coming talent and does not play the more established Canadian rock artists. Broadcast in en icon.
* Air Musique (XM100) - New and emerging music. Broadcast in fr icon.
* Sur La Route (XM102) - Pop hits. Broadcast in fr icon.
* Laugh Attack (XM153) - Canadian stand-up and comedy routines. Like XM's own XM Comedy, this channel is completely uncensored. Broadcast in en icon.
* ATN-Asian Radio [cite press release |publisher=Canadian Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. |date=2007-09-18 |url=http://www.integratir.com/newsrelease.asp?news=2130983901&ticker=T.XSR&lang=EN&ny=on&title=Archived+Releases |title=XM Canada set to launch 'ATN-Asian Radio' Channel |accessdate=2007-09-18] (XM159) - South Asian Programming produced by ATN. Broadcast majority in en icon.
* Radio Parallèle (XM172) - News, talk, information and entertainment channel that features Jeff Fillion's show. [cite press release |publisher=CNW Telbec |date=2006-08-11 |url=http://www.cnw.ca/fr/releases/archive/August2006/11/c5263.html |title="Le Pirate" Jeff Fillion comes to XM Canada |accessdate=2007-09-18] Broadcast in fr icon.
* MLB Home Plate Info (XM179) - Major League Baseball information, scores, updates and short specials are produced for this channel, and loop on the other MLB play-by-play channels occasionally when out of service. Broadcast in en icon.
* NHL Home Ice (XM204) - National Hockey League talk and play by play. Features hockey talk and programming in the daytime hours and games in the nighttime hours. XM Radio is the exclusive broadcaster of the NHL. Broadcast in en icon.
* NHL Play-by-Play (XM205-209 & XM237-239) - National Hockey League play by play. These channels are programmed and scheduled by XM Radio Canada. XM Radio Canada also produces special content for the channels during their downtime, as well as sports updates, known as NHL Home Ice Info. All broadcast in en icon. For French language games, refer to Radio Parallèle.
* XM Scoreboard (XM243) - Channel for sports scores of current games, as well as schedules and updates. Broadcast in en icon.
* Canada 360 (XM244) - Looping news and information reel that covers news, business, and other forms of information for Canada. Broadcast in en icon.
* Quoi de Neuf (XM245) - Looping reel that covers art and entertainment news and information as well as news, business, and other forms of informationfor Canada. Broadcast in fr icon.
* Calendrier Sportif (XM246) - Sports information channel. Broadcast in fr icon.

XM NavTraffic

XM Radio announced on 2007-07-30 [cite press release |publisher=XM Satellite Radio |date=2007-07-30 |url=http://xmradio.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=press_releases&item=1478 |title=XM Real-Time NavTraffic Service Now Available in 79 Markets |accessdate=2007-09-18] that their XM NavTraffic added Montreal and Toronto to their list of cities that now have traffic data. Unfortunately, as of September 29, 2007, no data seems to appear for those users who have subscribed to this added feature. By calling XM Radio, you can leave a contact phone number to be notified when service is available. [cite web
url = http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=61289
title = XM NavTraffic comes to Canada - NOT Really - Digital Forum
accessdate = 2007-09-18]

References

External links

* [http://www.xmradio.ca/ XM Radio Canada]