Sirius XM Canada
Encyclopedia
Sirius XM Canada is a Canadian
radio broadcasting company, which operates as a Canadian affiliate of Sirius XM Radio. The company received approval from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission on April 11, 2011 to merge the formerly distinct XM Radio Canada
and Sirius Canada
services, following the merger of XM Satellite Radio
and Sirius Satellite Radio
in the United States
. The merger was subsequently completed as of June 21, 2011.
John Bitove
's Canadian Satellite Radio Holdings Inc., the licensee of the former XM Radio Canada, holds 30.3% and effective control of the new company. Slaight Communications and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
, the primary shareholders in the former Sirius, each hold 20.4%, and the American parent Sirius XM holds 25%. Both Bitove and Mark Redmond, the former president and CEO of Sirius Canada, hold executive roles with the new company.
before the merger was approved, Bitove also noted the difficulties that arose from the merged American service becoming a minority shareholder in both of the Canadian companies simultaneously, such as conflicts of interest
that forced the American company to leave its Canadian partners out of strategic planning discussions which would have given each company power over decisions affecting the other.
Further complicating matters was that Sirius Canada had far more than half of the total satellite radio subscriber base in Canada, and felt they deserved greater than a 50/50 split of the new company, whereas XM Canada felt that their deal with the National Hockey League
— a particularly lucrative prize in Canadian sports broadcasting — warranted a larger share of value in the new company than its subscriber base would suggest.
On November 24, 2010, XM Radio Canada and Sirius Canada announced that they had reached a deal to merge their services.
As of 2011, Sirius and XM in the United States now offer nearly identical programming lineups, with the Canadian-produced channels being among the few remaining distinctions between the two services.
, CBC Radio 3
, Première Chaîne, L'Oasis francophone
and Latitude franco
, which are paralleled by XM's Canada 360
, The Verge
, Quoi de Neuf
, Sur La Route
and Air Musique
. However, both also offer services which are not currently duplicated on the other platform, such as Sirius' Bande à part
, a French-language counterpart to CBC Radio 3 or The Verge, and XM's Laugh Attack
, a Canadian comedy channel. The new company has not yet confirmed its plans for unifying its service lineups.
The company is expected to have some interoperable radio models, which can receive both Sirius and XM signals, available for sale by the Christmas
shopping season. However, existing Sirius or XM radios will continue to work with the appropriate service.
In the merger application, Sirius XM noted an intention to provide a new programming service for First Nations
audiences, who are not currently served by dedicated channels on either of the existing services. Voices Radio, a channel which airs a mainstream rock music
format programmed in conjunction with the Aboriginal Voices
radio network, was launched in September 2011, replacing Radio Parallèle on the XM platform and The Score Satellite Radio on Sirius.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
radio broadcasting company, which operates as a Canadian affiliate of Sirius XM Radio. The company received approval from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission on April 11, 2011 to merge the formerly distinct XM Radio Canada
XM Radio Canada
XM Radio Canada was the operating name of Canadian Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. , a Canadian communications and media company, which was incorporated in 2002 to broadcast satellite radio in Canada...
and Sirius Canada
Sirius Canada
Sirius Canada is a Canadian company, a partnership between Slaight Communications, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and Sirius Satellite Radio, which was one of three services licensed by the CRTC on June 16, 2005 to introduce satellite radio service to Canada.On November 24, 2010, following...
services, following the merger of XM Satellite Radio
XM Satellite Radio
XM Satellite Radio is one of two satellite radio services in the United States and Canada, operated by Sirius XM Radio. It provides pay-for-service radio, analogous to cable television. Its service includes 73 different music channels, 39 news, sports, talk and entertainment channels, 21 regional...
and Sirius Satellite Radio
Sirius Satellite Radio
Sirius Satellite Radio is a satellite radio service operating in North America, owned by Sirius XM Radio.Headquartered in New York City, with smaller studios in Los Angeles and Memphis, Sirius was officially launched on July 1, 2002 and currently provides 69 streams of music and 65 streams of...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The merger was subsequently completed as of June 21, 2011.
John Bitove
John Bitove
John I. Bitove, is a Canadian-Macedonian businessman and sportsman. He is the major shareholder and chairman of Scott's Real Estate Investment Trust and Sirius XM Canada. While controlling several public and private businesses, he has recently expanded into telecommunications with a company he...
's Canadian Satellite Radio Holdings Inc., the licensee of the former XM Radio Canada, holds 30.3% and effective control of the new company. Slaight Communications and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
, the primary shareholders in the former Sirius, each hold 20.4%, and the American parent Sirius XM holds 25%. Both Bitove and Mark Redmond, the former president and CEO of Sirius Canada, hold executive roles with the new company.
Background
In their application to the CRTC, XM Canada and Sirius Canada noted that following the merger of Sirius and XM in the United States, they found it increasingly difficult to remain in operation as distinct, competing services in Canada even as the parent services increasingly integrated and amalgamated their programming. In an interview with The Globe and MailThe Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail is a nationally distributed Canadian newspaper, based in Toronto and printed in six cities across the country. With a weekly readership of approximately 1 million, it is Canada's largest-circulation national newspaper and second-largest daily newspaper after the Toronto Star...
before the merger was approved, Bitove also noted the difficulties that arose from the merged American service becoming a minority shareholder in both of the Canadian companies simultaneously, such as conflicts of interest
Conflict of interest
A conflict of interest occurs when an individual or organization is involved in multiple interests, one of which could possibly corrupt the motivation for an act in the other....
that forced the American company to leave its Canadian partners out of strategic planning discussions which would have given each company power over decisions affecting the other.
Further complicating matters was that Sirius Canada had far more than half of the total satellite radio subscriber base in Canada, and felt they deserved greater than a 50/50 split of the new company, whereas XM Canada felt that their deal with the National Hockey League
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
— a particularly lucrative prize in Canadian sports broadcasting — warranted a larger share of value in the new company than its subscriber base would suggest.
On November 24, 2010, XM Radio Canada and Sirius Canada announced that they had reached a deal to merge their services.
As of 2011, Sirius and XM in the United States now offer nearly identical programming lineups, with the Canadian-produced channels being among the few remaining distinctions between the two services.
Future
At present, the two companies produce several similar channels which would be redundant from a single provider — for example, Sirius offers CBC Radio OneCBC Radio One
CBC Radio One is the English language news and information radio network of the publicly-owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It is commercial free and offers both local and national programming...
, CBC Radio 3
CBC Radio 3
CBC Radio 3 is a radio station that consists of two parts devoted to Canadian arts and music: a radio service which is available on Sirius Satellite Radio and streaming audio, and several daily and weekly podcasts from the CBC Radio 3 website...
, Première Chaîne, L'Oasis francophone
L'Oasis francophone
L'Oasis francophone is a Sirius Canada channel featuring adult contemporary music from French-Canadian artists, although broadcasting primarily French language music with mainly newer & older music...
and Latitude franco
Latitude franco
Latitude Franco is a Sirius Canada channel featuring new and emerging French Canadian music, such as punk, hip-hop, electronic and alternative rock music. It was born in September 2010 as a replacement for Énergie2 on the same channel, although that channel also played English music...
, which are paralleled by XM's Canada 360
Canada 360
Canada 360 is a Canadian 24-hour news radio station, which airs on XM Satellite Radio, Channel 155. The channel provides news, traffic, weather, sports and border crossing information, part of which is sourced from Radio Development and also from Canadian Press...
, The Verge
The Verge (XM)
The Verge is an XM Radio Canada channel featuring new and emerging rock bands from Canada. The channel is produced in Toronto, Ontario for the entire XM platform. The channel's former names included Unsigned, and Signed, which indicated that the channel played a combination of signed and unsigned...
, Quoi de Neuf
Quoi de Neuf
Quoi de Neuf is a Canadian 24-hour news and information radio station, which airs on XM Satellite Radio channel 125. The station is primarily a loop of news programming, much of which was originally sourced from Corus Quebec's terrestrial news stations...
, Sur La Route
Sur La Route
Sur La Route is a Sirius XM Canada channel featuring hit music, new and old. It was born in November 2005 as part of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission's regulations for Canadian content on the XM platform, as well as 50% French language content. Due to bandwidth...
and Air Musique
Air Musique
Air Musique is a Sirius XM Canada channel featuring new and emerging French Canadian music, such as punk, hip-hop, electronic and alternative rock music. It was born on 2005-11-17 as part of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission's regulations for Canadian content on the...
. However, both also offer services which are not currently duplicated on the other platform, such as Sirius' Bande à part
Bande à part (radio)
Bande à part is the name of a website and a Sirius Satellite Radio station in Canada that are devoted primarily to French Canadian arts and music....
, a French-language counterpart to CBC Radio 3 or The Verge, and XM's Laugh Attack
Laugh Attack
Laugh Attack is an XM Satellite Radio channel featuring uncensored comedy from Canada. It was born in November 2005 as part of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission's regulations for Canadian content on the XM platform....
, a Canadian comedy channel. The new company has not yet confirmed its plans for unifying its service lineups.
The company is expected to have some interoperable radio models, which can receive both Sirius and XM signals, available for sale by the Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
shopping season. However, existing Sirius or XM radios will continue to work with the appropriate service.
In the merger application, Sirius XM noted an intention to provide a new programming service for First Nations
First Nations
First Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 630 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The...
audiences, who are not currently served by dedicated channels on either of the existing services. Voices Radio, a channel which airs a mainstream rock music
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
format programmed in conjunction with the Aboriginal Voices
Aboriginal Voices
Aboriginal Voices Radio Network is a Canadian national radio network with licensed radio stations in nine Canadian metropolitan areas, all which are licensed under the calls of Toronto flagship station CKAV-FM...
radio network, was launched in September 2011, replacing Radio Parallèle on the XM platform and The Score Satellite Radio on Sirius.