For more than a month, yuletide tunes, jolly jams and perhaps even “Puppy for Hanukkah” have been easily accessible — via YouTube, Pandora, Spotify and radio stations across nearly every city in the U.S.
Yet, SiriusXM, which offered a plethora of holiday-themed channels to its subscribers in years past, has seemingly skimped on its satellite-delivered offerings.
That’s not the case, the satcaster says. However, there’s an app for that explanation.
Officially, SiriusXM’s holiday-themed offerings are greater than last year.
But, that’s where reading the fine print matters.
Yes, SiriusXM subscribers have access to 9 channels that are available on satellite and eight more that are online-only exclusives.
But, having the SiriusXM app or accessing the satcaster via a web browser is necessary — an intriguing fact given the launch on Sunday (12/13) of the SXM-7 satellite by SpaceX and Maxar Technologies. “SXM-7 will deliver the highest power density of any commercial satellite on-orbit, sending more than 8,000 watts of content to the continental U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico and the Caribbean, increasing the power and reach of the signal for SiriusXM.”
One just won’t be getting a lot of Christmas tunes from that satellite.
As of today, Hallmark Channel Radio on Channel 70 is offering “timeless Christmas music and carols” and has done so since November 5.
Holiday Traditions is found on Channel 73 and includes traditional holiday recordings from the 1940s through the 1960s. Holly, the contemporary Christmas offering, is on Channel 105. Each of these offerings arrived on November 5.
Further, there’s Country Christmas on Channel 58, as of December 3. Even more, on Channel 49 is the R&B-flavored Holiday Soul.
So, then, why are some bemoaning SiriusXM for a supposed lack of Christmas and holiday choices, in particular through a connected car receiver?
In 2019, Holly was on Channel 30, from Dec. 5, and from Nov. 1-Dec. 4 was on Channel 65. Now, it is below Channel No. 100. For one RBR+TVBR reader, frustration was seen when manually searching from Channel 2 to find at least one holiday-themed offering.
RBR+TVBR then engaged in a channel-by-channel comparison to 2019. It yielded two key facts. First, many Christmas offerings and the Hanukkah-themed audio channel are now accessible exclusively through the SiriusXM app, as the company presses ahead with its digital access by encouraging more subscribers to access its channels on a smartphone or a smart speaker device such as Alexa.
Second, several Sirius XM Christmas channels haven’t yet arrived, much like some Hanukkah gifts sent via the U.S. Postal Service.
Acoustic Christmas, from Dec. 20-Dec. 26, 2019 prominently placed on Channel 14 after nearly six weeks on a streaming-only channel, is getting a truncated airing in 2020, debuting Christmas Eve and lasting through Dec. 26
Holiday Pops, on Channel 76, also won’t arrive this year until Christmas Eve. That was the same in 2019. But, there was a streaming-only channel, that’s gone.
Christmas Spirit, featuring holiday-themed tracks from contemporary Christian music (CCM) artists of the last four decades, will take Channel 63 — starting December 21.
Also seeing their streaming-only channels disappear are the Latin Navidad channel and a host of additional Christmas channels — new offering Jolly Christmas, Jazz Holidays (last year on channel 786), 70s/80s Holidays, Rockin ‘Xmas, and Holiday Chill-Out.
Thus, Sirius XM’s offerings are actually greater in 2020 than in 2019 — once one gains App access or waits several more days for their launch.
Another RBR+TVBR reader asked why, in a pandemic year, Sirius XM didn’t debut the channels earlier, or place them in more prominent channel positions. “Some of these channels are not ‘Live’ yet and are set to go Christmas Week, but terrestrial radio largely went right after Thanksgiving,” the reader commented. “Why?”
Similar questions about app-only access were presented.
A Sirius spokesperson did not respond to these questions when contacted by RBR+TVBR.
A third RBR+TVBR reader who requested anonymity said, “I can tune to Christmas music on no less than three radio stations in my market, none of which require a subscription. You would think Sirius XM would offer more on its satellite channels for the holidays than what anyone can tune to for free.”
RBR+TVBR OBSERVATION: When the Radio + Television Business Report first received reader notes regarding a “lack” of Christmas offerings at Sirius XM, we were baffled. There are plenty of Christmas-only stations … right? Then, we took a closer examination. Indeed, Sirius XM is offering two more offerings than it did in 2019. But, the slow rollout begs the question as to why a paid service didn’t act sooner — especially when free FM radio stations started the move to all-Christmas programming on November 1. Then, there is the channel placement. One cannot assume they’d consult a Channel Guide to Get their Sleigh Jams on. Channel 105?! Bah, humbug! It’s easier here in South Florida to go to 88.1 FM and enjoy Way FM — or a host of the commercially licensed FMs that are all-Christmas. Streaming-only access? Why not just ask Pandora to play a holiday-themed stream? Sirius XM certainly needs to grow its app user base. But thrusting a populace of merry subscribers onto an app during the most unique holiday seasons ever is a lump of coal on Christmas. Next year, put the tunes on Channel 4. Is SoulCycle Radio more important than the holiest time of the year?
