NASCAR Radio UPDATE: NASCAR Radio, one channel of the new 100-channel pay-to-hear satellite system coming on line this fall, is an interesting experiment in several aspects. Not only will it be interesting to listen to Tim Farley, the channel’s programming boss, trying to come up with 24 hours of NASCAR sports news every day, but also to follow the cross-marketing, cross-promotional links with some of the other 99 channels. The whole operation is housed in a spiffy new building in Washington, with 400 people working out of 82 digital studios, all making for strange and interesting bedfellows: Andréa Bocelli, meet Dale Earnhardt Jr. “The rebirth of radio,” is the slogan behind the two new satellite systems, XM Radio and Sirius. NASCAR has signed on with XM, which is partly owned by General Motors, which has the new radios in this year’s Cadillacs and will have the new radios in more models next year, with a tiny shark fin antenna the size of a cell-phone link. The official launch of XM, about eight years in the works, was set for Sept. 12 but has been postponed until Tuesday, when it will debut in Dallas, San Diego and other points in the Southwest. It will roll out nationally in the coming weeks, dependent more on the availability of new radios and adapters than anything else. There will be 70 music channels and 30 talk channels, including NASCAR, and one selling pitch is digital-sound quality. Other talk channels include XM News, USAToday, BBC, Fox, ESPN, Sporting News, CSPAN, MTV, VH1, BET and Bloomberg. Most channels will be commercial free, in part because the service costs $10 a month. The NASCAR angle is being pitched hard. XM will have a hauler and hot-air balloon at Dover Downs this weekend to entice Winston Cup fans to buy into the package. The channel will carry all Winston Cup, Busch events and truck races, all qualifying from start to finish, all MRN and PRN broadcasts, Benny Parsons’ FastTalk, Eli Gold’s NASCAR Live, replays of classic races, and a number of in-house produced shows. There will also be a morning NASCAR News Now, a news magazine show. Farley, from Richmond’s WRVA, will be the host for a NASCAR talk show every day, 4-7 p.m.(Winston Salem Journal), TWO NOTES: the XM Radio site address is www.xmradio.com and recently Jayski did an interview for the channel (9-20-2001) UPDATE: NASCAR Radio, the first 24-hour radio station dedicated to a single sport, will debut on September 25 on XM Satellite Radio, the first commercial satellite radio service in the United States. Channel 144 on XM will be home to NASCAR Radio, which will feature coast-to-coast live racing coverage, news, interviews, lifestyle shows, classic races and original programming showcasing NASCAR. NASCAR Radio will be on the air 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week, and is the only channel on the XM line-up dedicated to one sport.(NASCAR PR), more info at www.xmradio.com(9-25-2001)
