NEW YORK, Feb. 1, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- SiriusXM announced new limited-engagement channels and specialty programming as a part of SiriusXM Celebrates Black History Month, beginning today, through March 1.

Limited-engagement channels, saluting powerful, pioneering Black artists, Aretha Franklin, Jimi Hendrix, Miles Davis, and recognizing the sounds and artists from legendary record label, Motown, will be available throughout the month of February on the SiriusXM app, internet connected devices and smart speakers in your home.  Each of these channels will also be available on a respective satellite channel for a limited time, see details below.

SiriusXM has collaborated with these historic artists and their teams to create unique, hand-crafted radio channels that listeners and fans will find exclusively on SiriusXM. For information on these music channels please visit:  siriusxm.com/bhmartists

The Aretha Franklin Channel will pay homage to the 'Queen of Soul' by featuring Aretha's iconic catalog, from her early recordings to biggest hits, which have withstood the test of time.  Listeners can also expect to hear music from artists that have been influenced by Aretha.  The Aretha Franklin Channel will be available on the SiriusXM app in the Hip-Hop/R&B category.  Channel 49 (Soul Town) will become The Aretha Franklin Channel from February 15 at 12:00 pm ET through February 21.

The Jimi Hendrix Experience Channel will immerse listeners into the world of the legendary rock guitarist and singer, who redefined music with his compositions on the electric guitar, with studio and live performances, demos and original programming. The deep influence of Hendrix will be represented on "My Hendrix Experience," a show curated by guest DJs, who will share their love of Hendrix and his music. Additionally, the channel will feature music from artists that influenced Hendrix, as well as those that were influenced by him and that have covered his music.  The Jimi Hendrix Experience Channel will be available on the SiriusXM app in the Rock category.  Channel 27 (Deep Tracks) will become The Jimi Hendrix Experience Channel from February 8 at 12:00 pm ET through February 14.

Miles Davis Radio will honor one of the most significant and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz music by showcasing music from over 100 of Davis' albums and featuring alumni band members as hosts. These band members include Marcus Miller, Lenny White, John Beasley, Joey DeFrancesco, Vince Wilburn Jr., and others.  Miles Davis Radio will be available on the SiriusXM app in the Jazz/Standards category.  Channel 67 (Real Jazz) will become Miles Davis Radio from February 22 at 12:00 pm ET through February 28.

The Motown Channel will celebrate the iconic record label envisioned by Berry Gordy, that generated history-making artists, who changed music forever.  The channel will feature music from Smokey Robinson, Diana Ross & The Supremes, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, The Jackson 5 and more. A special virtual event, celebrating the 60th Anniversary of The Supremes, with founding member of The Supremes, Mary Wilson, will also be broadcast on the channel.  The Motown Channel will be available on the SiriusXM app in the Hip-Hop/R&B category. Channel 49 (Soul Town) will become The Motown Channel from February 1 at 12:00 pm ET through February 7.

Also beginning today, Pandora will celebrate Black History Month with the launch of a new Wake Up! Mode on the Black Music Forever station. The Mode will feature Black artists and thought leaders reflecting on songs that capture their journey from childhood to adulthood, great loves, biggest triumphs, and more. With special commentary and song selections from Robert Glasper, Deon Cole, Kirk Franklin, Ester Dean to Kiana Lede, Jon Batiste and more, the new Wake Up! Mode will highlight the music that inspires them to make every day into a better tomorrow.

SiriusXM Celebrates Black History Month will extend across an array of music channels throughout the month of February, with specialty programming dedicated to iconic Black artists who have impacted the history of music. See the featured broadcast schedule below.  For information on SiriusXM Celebrates Black History Month specialty programming and full broadcast schedule,  please visit: siriusxm.com/black-history-month  

Bob Marley's Tuff Gong Radio (ch. 19) will celebrate Bob Marley's birthday on February 6 with a special "All Bob, All Day," format playing only music from the Bob Marley repertoire in between a series of special programs that begin with a new children's show hosted by Ziggy Marley inspired by Ziggy's Grammy-winning Family Time album and the recently-released follow up More Family Time. Additional programming will feature an exclusive "Survivor 76" party mix from DJ GQ, as well as highlights of the annual "Reggae Jam Session" concert, which traditionally closes the annual birthday celebrations at the Marley Museum in Kingston. The highlights line-up include the late great legends Toots Hibbert and Betty Wright and new performances from Kabaka Pyramid, Papa Michigan, Richie Spice, Tifa, Tanya Stephens, Skip Marley, Jo Mersa Marley, and Agent Sasco. Country star Kenny Chesney will kick off the birthday weekend programming as a guest DJ, playing some of his favorite Bob Marley recordings and sharing how reggae music impacted his life and career, on Friday, February 5 at 7 p.m. ET. Special programming will continue to air on the channel beyond Marley's birthday in honor of Black History Month.

B.B. King's Bluesville Powered by The Blues Foundation (ch. 74) will pay tribute to the founding artists of blues music and the prominent artists who continue to move blues music forward.  Hourly vignettes, presented in partnership with The Blues Foundation, will salute legendary Black artists of the blues including, Muddy Waters, Big Mama Thornton, John Lee Hooker, Etta James, Robert Johnson, Koko Taylor, B.B. King and more.  The channel will also feature exclusive live performances at SiriusXM's studios from Buddy Guy, Shemekia Copeland, Keb' Mo', Gaye Adegbalola, Gary Clark Jr., Irma Thomas, Joe Lewis Walker and more.

Heart & Soul (ch. 48) will host Common for "There's a Beautiful Revolution Happening" Town Hall event, to celebrate his latest album, There's a Beautiful Revolution Happening Pt. 1., which is meant to uplift, heal and inspire those that are dealing with racial injustices.  The one-hour event will broadcast on February 20 at 4 p.m. ET. 

Hip Hop Nation (ch. 44) will spotlight today's most paramount and ground-breaking Black artists impacting music now. All month long, the channel will give credit where credit is due to artists such as Drake, Kendrick Lamar, Nicki Minaj and more, with specially-produced segments.

Kirk Franklin's Praise (ch. 64) will see Franklin in conversation with legendary gospel artists Jonathan McReynolds, Kierra Sheard and more led by both Franklin and our own Isaac Carree, as they discuss the meaning of Black History Month. "Honoring the Legends of Gospel Music on Kirk Franklin's Praise" will air Saturday, February 20 at 9 a.m. ET.

SiriusXM Celebrates Black History Month programming is available to listeners nationwide on SiriusXM radios, the SiriusXM app, and at home on a wide variety of connected devices including smart TVs, devices with Amazon Alexa or the Google Assistant, Apple TV, PlayStation, Roku, Sonos speakers and more. Go to www.siriusxm.com/ways-to-listen to learn more.

About SiriusXM

Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) is the leading audio entertainment company in North America, and the premier programmer and platform for subscription and digital advertising-supported audio products. Pandora, a subsidiary of SiriusXM, is the largest ad-supported audio entertainment streaming service in the U.S. SiriusXM and Pandora's properties reach more than 150 million listeners, the largest addressable audience in the U.S., across all categories of digital audio – music, sports, talk, and podcasts. SiriusXM's acquisitions of Stitcher and Simplecast, alongside industry-leading ad tech company AdsWizz, make it a leader in podcast hosting, production, distribution, analytics and monetization. SiriusXM, through Sirius XM Canada Holdings, Inc., also offers satellite radio and audio entertainment in Canada. In addition to its audio entertainment businesses, SiriusXM offers connected vehicle services to automakers. For more about SiriusXM, please go to: www.siriusxm.com.

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 future financial and operating results, our plans, objectives, expectations and intentions with respect to future operations, products and services; and other statements identified by words such as "will likely result," "are expected to," "will continue," "is anticipated," "estimated," "believe," "intend," "plan," "projection," "outlook" or words of similar meaning. Such forward-looking statements are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of our management and are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are difficult to predict and generally beyond our control. Actual results and the timing of events may differ materially from the results anticipated in these forward-looking statements.

The following factors, among others, could cause actual results and the timing of events to differ materially from the anticipated results or other expectations expressed in the forward-looking statements:  the current coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is adversely impacting our business; our substantial competition that is likely to increase over time; our efforts to attract and retain subscribers and listeners, or convert listeners into subscribers, which may not be successful, and may adversely affect our business; our Pandora ad-supported business has suffered a loss of monthly active users, which may adversely affect our Pandora business; privacy and data security laws and regulations may hinder our ability to market our services, sell advertising and impose legal liabilities; we engage in extensive marketing efforts and the continued effectiveness of those efforts are an important part of our business; consumer protection laws and our failure to comply with them could damage our business; a substantial number of our Sirius XM subscribers periodically cancel their subscriptions and we cannot predict how successful we will be at retaining customers; our ability to profitably attract and retain subscribers to our Sirius XM service as our marketing efforts reach more price-sensitive consumers is uncertain; our failure to convince advertisers of the benefits of our Pandora ad-supported service could harm our business; if we are unable to maintain revenue growth from our advertising products, particularly in mobile advertising, our results of operations will be adversely affected; if we fail to accurately predict and play music, comedy or other content that our Pandora listeners enjoy, we may fail to retain existing and attract new listeners; if we fail to protect the security of personal information about our customers, we could be subject to costly government enforcement actions and private litigation and our reputation could suffer; interruption or failure of our information technology and communications systems could impair the delivery of our service and harm our business; we rely on third parties for the operation of our business, and the failure of third parties to perform could adversely affect our business; our business depends in part upon the auto industry; our Pandora business depends in part upon consumer electronics manufacturers; the market for music rights is changing and is subject to significant uncertainties; our ability to offer interactive features in our Pandora services depends upon maintaining licenses with copyright owners; the rates we must pay for "mechanical rights" to use musical works on our Pandora service have increased substantially and these new rates may adversely affect our business; failure of our satellites would significantly damage our business; our Sirius XM service may experience harmful interference from wireless operations; failure to comply with FCC requirements could damage our business; economic conditions, including advertising budgets and discretionary spending, may adversely affect our business and operating results; if we are unable to attract and retain qualified personnel, our business could be harmed; we may not realize the benefits of acquisitions or other strategic investments and initiatives, including the acquisition of Pandora; our use of pre-1972 sound recordings on our Pandora service could result in additional costs; we may from time to time modify our business plan, and these changes could adversely affect us and our financial condition; we have a significant amount of indebtedness, and our debt contains certain covenants that restrict our operations; our facilities could be damaged by natural catastrophes or terrorist activities; the unfavorable outcome of pending or future litigation could have an adverse impact on our operations and financial condition; failure to protect our intellectual property or actions by third parties to enforce their intellectual property rights could substantially harm our business and operating results; some of our services and technologies may use "open source" software, which may restrict how we use or distribute our services or require that we release the source code subject to those licenses; rapid technological and industry changes and new entrants could adversely impact our services; existing or future laws and regulations could harm our business; we may be exposed to liabilities that other entertainment service providers would not customarily be subject to; our business and prospects depend on the strength of our brands; we are a "controlled company" within the meaning of the NASDAQ listing rules and, as a result, qualify for, and rely on, exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements; while we currently pay a quarterly cash dividend to holders of our common stock, we may change our dividend policy at any time; and our principal stockholder has significant influence, including over actions requiring stockholder approval, and its interests may differ from the interests of other holders of our common stock. Additional factors that could cause our results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements can be found in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019 and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 30, 2020, 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 we disclaim any intention or obligation to update any forward looking statements as a result of developments occurring after the date of this communication.

Source: SiriusXM

Media contacts for SiriusXM:

Angela Burke
Angela.burke@siriusxm.com

Carolina Dubon
Carolina.dubon@siriusxm.com

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SOURCE Sirius XM Holdings Inc.