SIRIUS Satellite Radio to Broadcast Comprehensive Live Coverage of Democratic and Republican National Conventions

Download as PDF

Every minute of DNC, RNC to air on 'SIRIUS Convention Radio' channel

Real-Time Spanish-language translations of every speech on 'SIRIUS Convention Radio En Espanol'

Exclusive additional talk channels to broadcast commentary, interviews with politicians, experts, celebrities, and listener call-ins

NEW YORK, Aug. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- SIRIUS XM Radio (Nasdaq: SIRI) announced that it will offer comprehensive live coverage from the 2008 Democratic and Republican National Conventions.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19991118/NYTH125 )

SIRIUS Convention Radio will offer listeners a unique opportunity to "live" the convention experience. The channels will present live, uninterrupted "gavel to gavel" coverage of every speech from the convention podium, and replays of each day's highlights, as well as information on convention agendas, schedules, events, and meetings.

SIRIUS Convention Radio will also revisit key moments of convention history with insight and reflections by members of both the Democratic and Republican Convention committees, and SIRIUS hosts and former convention participants Senator Bill Bradley and Ron Silver. In addition SIRIUS will give voice to voters across the country with the People's Podium -- listeners will record their own brief political speeches to be broadcast on the channel.

SIRIUS Convention Radio En Espanol will provide real-time Spanish-language translation of every speech, plus replays of each day's events. The Spanish-language broadcast from the Democratic National Convention will be provided by Comcast.

"This marks a tremendous step forward to ensure all Americans can fully participate in this year's historic Democratic National Convention and in our democratic process," said 2008 Democratic National Convention Co-Chair and Texas State Senator Leticia Van de Putte. "We applaud what SIRIUS is doing to bring listeners across the country in to the Convention experience and in particular its efforts to offer a bilingual simulcast for the more than 35 million Americans who speak Spanish."

Maria Cino, President and CEO of the 2008 Republican National Convention, said, "We look forward to welcoming to St. Paul SIRIUS and the hundreds of other media outlets that will help bring the 2008 Republican National Convention into millions of homes across America and around the world. It will be an historic event as Sen. John McCain accepts our party's nomination and springboards into the general election."

"SIRIUS will cover the Democratic and Republican National Conventions like radio has never done before, with hosts from many perspectives, and dedicated channels in both English and Spanish. We will use our technology and extensive programming to give listeners unprecedented coverage of these historic events," said Scott Greenstein, President and Chief Content Officer, SIRIUS XM Radio.

In addition to the SIRIUS Convention Radio channels, SIRIUS will present a wide variety of political perspectives with live broadcasts from the conventions on its exclusive talk channels. The broadcasts will include commentary and interviews with politicians, experts and celebrities, and listener call-ins. SIRIUS channels broadcasting from the conventions will include:

    -- SIRIUS Indie Talk (the Nation's only talk for independent voters)
    -- SIRIUS Left (progressive talk)
    -- SIRIUS OutQ (the Nation's only gay and lesbian talk radio)
    -- SIRIUS Patriot (conservative talk)

SIRIUS hosts Ron Silver, Michelangelo Signorile, Mark Thompson and Andrew Wilkow will broadcast their shows live from the conventions while hosts Alex Bennett, Lynn Samuels, and Mike Church will be on air with special convention programming from the SIRIUS studios.

SIRIUS will kick-off SIRIUS Convention Radio, SIRIUS Convention Radio En Espanol and special coverage of the Democratic National Convention in Denver on August 25th followed by coverage of the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul on September 1st.

For more information on SIRIUS' political channels and SIRIUS Convention Radio, please visit www.sirius.com/politicaltalk .

About SIRIUS XM Radio

SIRIUS XM Radio is America's satellite radio company delivering the "The Best Radio on Radio" to more than 18 million subscribers, including 100% commercial free music, and premier sports, news, talk, entertainment, traffic and weather.

SIRIUS XM Radio has exclusive content relationships with an array of personalities and artists, including Howard Stern, Oprah, Martha Stewart, Jimmy Buffett, Elvis, Jamie Foxx, Barbara Walters, Frank Sinatra, Opie & Anthony, The Grateful Dead, Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Tom Petty, and Bob Edwards. SIRIUS XM Radio is the leader in sports programming as the Official Satellite Radio Partner of the NFL, Major League Baseball, NASCAR, NHL, and PGA Tour, and broadcasts major college sports.

SIRIUS XM Radio has exclusive arrangements with every major automaker. SIRIUS XM Radio products are available at shop.sirius.com and shop.xmradio.com, and at retail locations nationwide, including Best Buy, Circuit City, RadioShack, Target, Sam's Club, and Wal-Mart.

SIRIUS XM Radio also offers SIRIUS Backseat TV, the first ever live in-vehicle rear seat entertainment featuring Nickelodeon, Disney Channel and Cartoon Network; XM NavTraffic service for GPS navigation systems delivers real-time traffic information, including accidents and road construction, for more than 80 North American markets.

This communication contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements include, but are not limited to, statements about the benefits of the business combination transaction involving Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. and XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc., including potential synergies and cost savings and the timing thereof, future financial and operating results, the combined company's plans, objectives, expectations and intentions with respect to future operations, products and services; and other statements identified by words such as "anticipate," "believe," "plan," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "will," "should," "may," or words of similar meaning. Such forward-looking statements are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of SIRIUS' and XM's management and are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are difficult to predict and generally beyond the control of SIRIUS and XM. Actual results may differ materially from the results anticipated in these forward-looking statements.

The following factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ materially from the anticipated results or other expectations expressed in the forward-looking statement: general business and economic conditions; the performance of financial markets and interest rates; the ability to obtain governmental approvals of the transaction on a timely basis; the failure to realize synergies and cost-savings from the transaction or delay in realization thereof; the businesses of SIRIUS and XM may not be combined successfully, or such combination may take longer, be more difficult, time-consuming or costly to accomplish than expected; and operating costs and business disruption following the merger, including adverse effects on employee retention and on our business relationships with third parties, including manufacturers of radios, retailers, automakers and programming providers. Additional factors that could cause SIRIUS' and XM's results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements can be found in SIRIUS' and XM's Annual Reports on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007, which are filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") and available at the SEC's Internet site (http://www.sec.gov). The information set forth herein speaks only as of the date hereof, and SIRIUS and XM disclaim any intention or obligation to update any forward looking statements as a result of developments occurring after the date of this communication.

    P - SIRI

     Contacts for SIRIUS XM Radio:

     Neel Khairzada
     SIRIUS
     212-584-5243
     nkhairzada@siriusradio.com

SOURCE SIRIUS XM Radio

Released August 19, 2008