XM Radio Canada
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Canadian Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. | |
 |
|
| Type | Public Satellite radio(TSX: XSR) |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2002 |
| Headquarters | Toronto, Ontario |
| Key people | John Bitove, Chairman and CEO Stephen Tapp, President and COO Ross Davies, Vice President, Programming André Di Cesare, Vice President of XM Québec |
| Industry | Broadcasting |
| Products | Satellite Radio, |
| Revenue |  $1,146,010 CAD (Q106) |
| Net income |  $58,000,000 CAD (Q106) |
| Employees | 75 |
| Website | www.xmradio.ca 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. XM Radio Canada was one of the first three licensed satellite radio services in Canada. Galaxie and MaxTrax are licensed satellite-delivered music streams distributed by direct broadcast satellite and digital cable services, requiring satellite dishes or coaxial cable lines not required by the XM or Sirius systems.
Contents |
[edit] 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 broadcasing in Canada. Two other licenses were issued at the same time: one to Sirius Canada, a satellite service owned by Sirius Satellite Radio in partnership with Standard Broadcasting and the CBC, and a terrestrial based license for CHUM Limited, in conjunction with Astral Media. XM Radio Canada started transmissions across Canada on November 22, 2005, and launched officially on December 1, 2005. On June 6, 2006, XM Radio Canada announced that they have over 80,000 subscribers.
[edit] 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. On November 2005, CSR Holdings filed a prospectus with SEDAR to become a public corporation on the TSX exchange. Chairman, founder and CEO John Bitove, a Canadian Businessman, owns and/or controls 58% of CSR Holdings, while the American company XM Satellite Radio 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 and Nissan.
[edit] XM Radio Canada Content
XM Radio Canada offers listeners more than 90 channels, including 100-per-cent commercial-free music as well as news, talk, sports and children's programming across Canada via satellite. XM Radio Canada also offers 40 NHL hockey games per week, and becomes the exclusive broadcaster of more than 1,000 NHL games starting with the 2007-2008 season. As of March 2006, XM Radio Canada now offers every Major League Baseball game, and the PGA Tour Network. The company programs, produces and distributes eight new Canadian channels (four in English and four in French) with formats such as music, sports, comedy, and news, in addition to the existing XM service. XM Radio Canada uses the existing 3 XM satellites: Rock, Roll and Rhythm, 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 Radio Canada 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 doesn't play the more established Canadian rock artists. Broadcast in (English).
- Air Musique (XM100) - New and emerging music. Broadcast in (French).
- Sur La Route (XM102) - Pop hits. Broadcast in (French).
- Laugh Attack (XM153) - Canadian stand-up and comedy routines. Like XM's own XM Comedy, this channel is completely uncensored. Broadcast in (English).
- SportPlus (XM172) - News, talk, information and entertainment channel that also features NHL Play-by-Play. Broadcast in (French).[1]
- MLB Play-by-Play (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. All Toronto Blue Jays home games are broadcast on this channel. Broadcast in (English).
- 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. Broadcast in (English).
- NHL Play-by-Play (XM205-209) - 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. All broadcast in (English). For French language games, refer to SportPlus.
- Canada 360 (XM244) - Looping news and information reel that covers news, business, and other forms of information for Canada. Broadcast in (English).
- Quoi de Neuf (XM245) - Looping news and information reel that covers news, business, and other forms of information for Canada. Broadcast in (French).
XM Radio Canada also signed an exclusive deal with the NHL to start broadcasting all NHL games beginning in 2007. This means that Sirius Canada, the current broadcaster of NHL games on satellite radio, will cease its NHL programming content at the end of the 2006-07 season.
