Opinion: Get ready, radio people! All-Obama, all-satellite radio, all the time
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In case you’re one of the 200 or 300 Americans who do not plan to assemble on the Mall in Washington next Tuesday morning and be unable to see the inauguration of Democratic President-elect Barack Obama and his voluble sidekick Joe Biden (who was a senator when Obama was only 11 years old, you know), the country’s media is planning extraordinary coverage.
That includes The Ticket, of course, which will have coverage from Times reporters all over the place with live streaming and all that good stuff. More on that later. Bookmark this now before you forget.
You might not believe this. But just as one extraordinary example, the newly combined satellite radio service, XM Sirius with its 18 or so million listeners, intends to devote 17 (yes, 17) channels entirely to Obama inauguration coverage. (No, you won’t lose the Elvis channel, but no Sarah Palin channel this time.)
You read that right. 17. Sure, the channels are online too. But you’ll probably want to purchase several new cars anyway just to have enough satellite radios to listen to all the channels.
The headliner, of course, is POTUS 130, the addictive all-politics channel with top political pros Joe Mathieu and Tim Farley doing nonstop inaugural ceremony coverage.
They’re also gonna have simulcast channels of Fox News, CNN, CNN en Espanol, plus channels devoted to liberal (of course), conservative (really!), African American (naturally), independent and LGBT coverage (Pastor Rick Warren fans will want to tune in there for sure).
There’ll be an inauguration weather channel, plus a D.C. traffic channel and, who could forget, the Oprah & Friends channel. See if she cries her eyelashes off like in Denver. Well, wait. It’s radio. So you’ll have to listen for falling eyelashes.
It’s all too complicated to include here. So click on the ‘Read more’ line to see all the inaugural satellite radio details.
-- Andrew Malcolm
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SIRIUS XM RADIO TO OFFER COVERAGE FOR HISTORIC INAUGURATION OF BARACK OBAMA ACROSS 17 CHANNELS
Gayle King, Jamie Foxx, Dr. Maya Angelou, Mark Thompson and Joe Madison to host special Inaugural broadcasts. Coverage to include 24/7 channel dedicated to inauguration coverage with unfiltered reporting steps away from the podium.
NEW YORK –- SIRIUS XM Radio announced that it will offer extensive live coverage of the historic inauguration of Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United States. Programming will include live uninterrupted coverage of the inauguration ceremony as well as special broadcasts with commentary and interviews across 17 channels including channels dedicated to liberal, conservative, independent, African American and LGBT communities.
SIRIUS XM Radio will also simulcast CNN, CNN En Espanol and Fox News Network, and will offer a channel dedicated to Washington, D.C.-area traffic and weather.
SIRIUS XM Radio’s channel P.O.T.U.S. –- Politics of the United States -– will be dedicated to unfiltered and uninterrupted inauguration coverage live from the Capitol, steps away from the inaugural podium.
Gayle King will devote several broadcasts to the inauguration on the Oprah & Friends channel from Washington, including a special two-hour live post-inauguration broadcast with special guests from the SIRIUS XM Radio studios near the Capitol.
Jamie Foxx and The Foxxhole, his exclusive 24/7 SIRIUS XM channel, will also broadcast live from Washington with co-hosts Claudia Jordan and Speedy Caldwell.
Below are additional details of SIRIUS XM Radio’s Inauguration Day coverage:
OPRAH & FRIENDS
Gayle King continues her in-depth coverage and celebration of Obama’s journey to Washington on ‘The Gayle King Show,’ her exclusive daily show. The show will air Jan. 19 and 20 from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. ET. The Inauguration Day show will feature a special interview with Inaugural Poet Elizabeth Alexander, the fourth poet in American history invited to recite a composition at a presidential inauguration. On Jan. 21st at 1 p.m. ET, King will host a live two-hour post-inaugural special from the SIRIUS XM Radio studios near the Capitol in Washington. King and a wide variety of notable guests will explore this history-making event from every angle and take calls from around the country.
On Jan. 20 at 10 a.m. ET, Maya Angelou will examine what it means to be American today and the notion that we are more alike than not during this historic time on ‘The Dr. Maya Angelou Show.’ Angelou will be joined by Americans from all walks of life, including people from mixed-race families, and people representing the political spectrum. Korean violinist Sonia Lee will also perform the version of the national anthem she will play at the inauguration.
‘The Gayle King Show’ and ‘The Dr. Maya Angelou Show’ air exclusively on Oprah & Friends, XM Channel 156 and SIRIUS Channel 195 as part of “The Best of XM” package.
FOXXHOLE
Jamie Foxx’s The Foxxhole will continue its unprecedented coverage of Barack Obama’s ascendance to the White House. On Inauguration Day, Jan. 20, Jamie Foxx and Foxxhole radio hosts Claudia Jordan and Speedy Caldwell will be live from Washington to cover the historic event. The Foxxhole -- SIRIUS Channel 106 and XM Channel 149 -– is Jamie Foxx’s exclusive 24/7 comedy and entertainment SIRIUS XM radio channel. Foxx serves as executive producer of the channel and hosts a live, weekly show.
P.O.T.U.S. –- Politics of the United States
P.O.T.U.S. was originally created to offer unprecedented unfiltered coverage of the 2008 presidential election and has evolved into SIRIUS XM Radio’s channel dedicated to presidential politics. On Inauguration Day the channel will provide a front-row seat to the historic inauguration of Barack Obama. Anchors Tim Farley and Joe Mathieu will broadcast live, bringing listeners the entire inaugural program and interviews from Americans in attendance. P.O.T.U.S. can be heard on SIRIUS Channel 110 and XM Channel 130.
THE POWER
The Power, the nation’s only 24/7 radio channel exclusively dedicated to African American talk programming, will begin its inaugural coverage at 6 a.m. ET on XM Channel 169 with host Joe Madison, “The Black Eagle,” live from Capitol Hill. The channel’s coverage will continue with Madison’s live broadcast from the rooftop of the Comcast building overlooking the inaugural ceremony and parade.
At 1 p.m. ET, the Rev. Al Sharpton will take to the air with his coverage of the inauguration as he follows the parade through the streets of Washington.
The Power host Armstrong Williams will pick up the coverage at 9 p.m. ET with interviews with celebrities, entertainers, sports stars and elected officials from several balls and the inaugural ceremony earlier in the day. Armstrong Williams’ guests will include Maya Angelou, Mary J. Blige, Kevin Liles, actor Robert Davi, Shirley Caesar, Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham and Drs. Ben Carson and Dorothy Height.
SIRIUS LEFT – Progressive Talk
Alex Bennett will kick off SIRIUS Left’s coverage of the inauguration with a special live extended broadcast of his show ‘The Alex Bennett Program’ beginning at 9 a.m. ET on SIRIUS Channel 146. At 5 p.m. ET, Mark Thompson, host of Make It Plain with Mark Thompson, will be broadcasting a special extended edition of his show live from the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s ball. Mark will interview congressional members, dignitaries and VIP attendees about their thoughts on this historic inauguration.
WASHINGTON TRAFFIC AND WEATHER
SIRIUS XM Radio will bring listeners up-to-the-minute traffic and weather for the Washington-Baltimore area on inauguration day on SIRIUS Channel 152 and XM Channel 214.
Additional Inauguration Day coverage will be broadcast on OutQ (SIRIUS Channel 109, American’s only 24/7 channel dedicated to the LGBT community), American Left (progressive talk powered by Air America, XM Channel 167), America Right (conservative talk, XM Channel 166), SIRIUS Patriot (conservative talk, SIRIUS Channel 144), Fox News Talk (SIRIUS Channel 145 and XM Channel 168), NPR Now (SIRIUS and XM Channels 134), CNN (SIRIUS Channel 132 and XM Channel 122), Fox News Network (SIRIUS Channel 131 and XM Channel 121), CNN en Espanol (SIRIUS Channel 92 and XM Channel 126), and CNN Headline News (SIRIUS Channel 133 and XM Channel 123).
For more information on SIRIUS XM Radio, visit www.xmradio.com or www.sirius.com.