This is a list of former channels on XM Satellite Radio, in addition to information on format changes of existing channels. Also included is information on temporary channels and seasonal channels.
Contents
Before the Sirius and XM channel lineup merger
These actions took place before November 12, 2008, the merger of the Sirius and XM channel lineups.
Format changes
Most of these XM channels still exist on the lineup, but have made changes to its presentation method or playlist:
ESPN Xtra – Was 24/7 ESPNEWS TV audio rebroadcast until 2008-02-04.
XM Café – Was formerly titled Starbucks XM Café from 2007-07-31 until 2008-09-30. On November 12, 2008, the name was changed to The Spectrum.
Quoi de Neuf – Was Art and Entertainment news and information until 2007-04-09.
Radio Parallèle – Was Men's Lifestyle and Sports Talk until 2007-04-06. This channel titled SportPlus until 2007-04-06 and Franc Parler from 2005-11-17 to 2006-04-17.
Fuego – Was Latin Pop until August 14, 2005. This channel titled Alegria until April 17, 2006. It was later dropped from the line-up altogether.
The Pink Channel – Was a simulcast WLTW in New York City, New York until December 1, 2003, and formerly titled Lite. Following the format flip, the channel was titled Sunny. This title remained until 2008-08-18. Among the formats for Sunny were Beautiful Music until May 1, 2006, Nostalgic Music until June 2006, AM Gold music, and finally Early AC.
Highway 16 – Was 1990s and 2000s (decade) Country on channel 15 until December 1, 2003. Formerly titled Highway 15. It is now known as simply The Highway.
KISS 104.1 – Simulcast KIIS-FM/KVVS in Los Angeles, California until December 1, 2003. Flipped to "hits of the 90s and today" in June 2006.
MIX – Simulcast KHMX in Houston, Texas until December 1, 2003. Changed again May 1, 2006, to play wider array of hit music from 1970s onward.
Nashville! – Simulcast WSIX in Nashville, Tennessee until December 1, 2003. Formerly titled WSIX.
Defunct channels
These channels are no longer part of the XM platform:
BET Uptown (XM62) – Adult R&B Hits and Urban Adult Contemporary station from BET. Brought in-house and changed to Suite 62.
CNET Radio (XM130) – A simulcast of KNEW in San Francisco. The station was about news and information regarding technology. It changed formats due to financial losses. (Removed on 2/1/04)
C-Wave (XM105) – Outsourced Chinese language music channel. Was deleted when XM decided to move more programming in-house. (Removed on 8/26/02.)
CNNfn (XM128) – Complete coverage of business news. The network was shut down in 2004. (Removed on 12/2/02.)
CNN Sports Illustrated (XM141) – Sports News and In-Depth Features. The network was shut down on May 15, 2002. (Removed around 5/12/02)
USA Today (XM121) – News from USA Today and its staff in collaboration with XM. (Removed on 12/2/02.)
Discovery Channel Radio (XM161) – Discovery Channel programming. Originally programmed 24/7, then during nights and weekends. (Was removed on 9/1/05)
Babble On (XM168) – Talk channel geared towards teenage audience, deleted for low listenership. One of the first programming casualties of XM. (Removed on 12/2/02.)
Playboy Radio (XM205) – Premium channel provided by Playboy for an extra $4.99 a month. Was deleted due to low subscription turnout. (Added to lineup on 8/26/02. Removed on 9/1/05.) It has now resurfaced on Sirius Satellite Radio. It is available without an additional fee, but subscribers must "opt in" to receive the channel.
MTV Radio (XM155) – MTV audio simulcasts and pop hits. Also included Headbangers Ball and various MTV award shows. (Original channel that was on 25. Moved to 155 on 2/1/04. Removed from satellite lineup on 9/30/05.)
Channels which changed ownership
The Roadhouse – Programmed by XM Radio until 2011. This station is not present on XM anymore.
The Torch – Programmed by Salem Communications until 2006, then programmed by XM Radio. This station is not present on XM anymore.
The Message – Programmed by Salem Communications until 2006 under Salem's trademark brand The Fish, now programmed by XM Radio.
Spirit – Programmed by Radio One, Inc. until 2004, now programmed by XM Radio.
The Verge – Programmed by XM Radio until November 2005 as Unsigned, now programmed by XM Radio Canada.
The Flow – Programmed by Radio One, Inc. until 2004, now programmed by XM Radio. This station is not present on XM anymore.
RAW – Programmed by Radio One, Inc. until 2004, then programmed by XM Radio. This station is not present on XM anymore.
The City – Programmed by Radio One, Inc. until 2004, then programmed by XM Radio. This station is not present on XM anymore.
Top 20 on 20 – Programmed by XM Radio until 2008, then programmed by Sirius XM Radio until 2014. This station is not present on XM anymore.
Fuego – Programmed by Hispanic Broadcasting Corporation under the name Alegria with a Latin Pop format, until it merged with Univision Radio in 2002. Univision Radio programmed the channel until 2004. It was then programmed by XM Radio, who changed its name and format. This station is not present on XM anymore.
Caliente – Programmed by Hispanic Broadcasting Corporation, until it merged with Univision Radio in 2002. Univision Radio programmed the channel until 2004. Now programmed by XM Radio.
Channels canceled before launch
XM announced in April 2006 that in late spring/early summer six regional News & Talk channels (XM 134-XM 139) would be added and provide regional news coverage for every area of the continental US. These channels were to have been provided by Clear Channel Communications and were to have been located in "Regional News, Talk & Music Channels." According to Jon Zellner via a subscriber email, Clear Channel decided to forego the launch of these channels. The original plan was to create a set of regionalized, five-minute newscasts. Each newscast was to carry 90 seconds of advertising, with the 3:30-minute balance devoted to regionally targeted news. The channels were to be titled:
Northeast News and Talk
Southeast News and Talk
Midwest News and Talk
Middle America News and Talk
Southwest News and Talk
Northwest News and Talk
Channels of unknown status
XM Announced on 2006-01-31 that they would be adding Traffic & Weather channels for Cincinnati, Cleveland, Denver-Boulder, Milwaukee-Racine, Portland, Providence-Warwick-Pawtucket, Sacramento, San Antonio and Wilmington, DE to their NavTraffic product during the first quarter 2006. Rumors that a Traffic & Weather station could be dropped for Cincinnati due to the addition of WLW on XM channel 173 were unfounded as WLW was dropped from the XM service in 2009.
Seasonal and holiday channels
These channels are season- and holiday-based, and are only around for a part of the year. It is not uncommon that they take the place of an existing channel. As of 2014, Sirius XM has reduced the periods that some of the holiday channels run for the 2015 season with only Holly and Holiday Traditions running for the full season (day after Halloween to day after Christmas.)
Holly – Holly is one of Sirius XM's annual month-long Christmas music channels that plays Christmas songs with an emphasis on up and coming singers. Its playlist changes from what one would find on an FM Adult Contemporary station at Christmas time to what one would find on a station aimed at tweens and teens. It previously aired on SiriusXM Love (2009–2014, since 2016) and Velvet (2015).
Holiday Traditions – Holiday Traditions is not a traditional Christmas channel per se, but instead is narrowly focused on seasonal pop recordings from the 1940s to the 1960s.
Holiday Pops – This holiday channel plays choral and orchestral music with a Christmas theme. It replaces Sirius XM Pops in December and is therefore presented in XM HD Surround. Formerly known as "Pops Holiday Classics" (2005) and "A Classical Christmas" (2006–07). In summer 2014 the Sirius XM Pops station was discontinued and Holiday Pops will air during a reduced period, only during Christmas Eve and Christmas Day (December 24/25 – before the Sirius XM pops station was cancelled it operated during the bulk of December.)
Country Christmas – This channel features Christmas-themed country music. It previously aired on XM as "A Nashville Christmas" (2005) and "Music City Holiday" (2006–07).
Radio Hanukkah – This channel was debuted in 2006 for the Hanukkah celebration. Radio Hanukkah features the best in Jewish music, comedy, Broadway, talk and kids programming. This was the first satellite radio channel dedicated exclusively to Jewish culture. Following the merger with Sirius, Radio Hanukkah produced almost exclusively Jewish music selections, foregoing the comedy, Broadway, talk, and kids programming.
The following seasonal channels also aired on XM in past years:
XM on AOL Radio
On 2008-04-30, the XM channels were no longer offered on AOL Radio, as AOL switched to CBS Radio for some of its content, thus ending a partnership between AOL and XM.
On or after the Sirius and XM channel lineup merger
These actions took place on or after 2008-11-12, the merger of the SIRIUS and XM channel lineups.
Channel mergers
These channels were merged with their Sirius counterpart to reduce redundancies across the two channel lineups:
America was replaced with The Roadhouse.
US Country was replaced with Prime Country.
The Heart was replaced with Sirius XM Love.
Flight 26 was replaced with The Pulse.
XM Hitlist was replaced with Pop2K.
Spirit was replaced with Praise.
Fred was replaced with 1st Wave.
XM Café was replaced with The Spectrum.
Top Tracks was replaced with Classic Vinyl.
Ethel was replaced with Alt Nation.
xL SquiZZ was replaced with Octane.
XM Liquid Metal was replaced with Hard Attack, and then was renamed Liquid Metal .
Big Tracks was replaced with Classic Rewind.
Lucy was replaced with Lithium.
Soul Street was replaced with Soul Town.
Suite 62 was replaced with Heart & Soul.
The City was replaced with Hip-Hop Nation.
High Standards (formerly Frank's Place) was replaced with Siriusly Sinatra.
Defunct channels
These channels are no longer included in the XM part of the Sirius XM Radio platform:
BBC Radio 1 (XM29) – UK radio hits and chart hits, Removed from satellite delivery on 2011-08-10 for a new channel at 5:00 p.m., Studio 54 Radio.
U-Pop (XM29) – Global Chart Hits and International Pop hits. Removed from satellite delivery on 2008-11-12 when the merger of the SIRIUS and XM channel lineups took place but continued on XM Online on XM31. Removed 2009-02-06 from XM Radio Online and DirecTV as 1worldspace prepared to cease operations resulting from its bankruptcy protection filing in October 2008.
The System (XM82) – Various Electronic and Dance. Removed from satellite delivery on 2008-11-12 when the merger of the SIRIUS and XM channel lineups took place but continued on XM Online. Removed 2009-02-06 from XM Radio Online and DirecTV as 1worldspace prepared to cease operations resulting from its bankruptcy protection filing in October 2008.
World Zone (XM90 Online) – World Music. Removed 2009-02-06 from XM Radio Online and DirecTV as 1worldspace prepared to cease operations resulting from its bankruptcy protection filing in October 2008.
Ngoma (XM98 Online) – African Music. Removed 2009-02-06 from XM Radio Online and DirecTV as 1worldspace prepared to cease operations resulting from its bankruptcy protection filing in October 2008.
Fox Business Network (XM136) – Business news. TV audio simulcast.
National Lampoon Comedy Radio (XM154) – Comedy. Removed 2009-03-06 by Clear Channel.
WLW 700 (XM173) – News/Talk, UC and XU football/basketball play-by-play. Removed 2009-03-06 by Clear Channel.
XM Deportivo (XM 147) – (in Spanish) Sports Talk and Play-by-Play. Removed 2010-07-01 and was replaced by Sirius XM Fantasy Sports Radio.
Micro-channels
These channels are specialty themed channels aired to coincide with an event, or devoted to a single personality or musical artist:
Me-103 (XM 103) – In celebration of XM's 4 million subscribers, a contest was held for a listener to program his/her own channel for a day.
FIFA World Cup 2006 (XM 148) – Was the home for English World Cup Soccer Commentary and Play-by-Play. Added on 3/24/06. This station left the day after the completion of the 2006 World Cup. (Removed on 7/10/06.)
XM Green (XM 200) – Between 2007-03-16 and 2007-03-18, this channel featured Irish folk music in honor of Saint Patrick's Day on channel 200. In 2008, XM Green preempted Fine Tuning on channel 76 from 2008-03-15 to 2008-03-17. On 2009-03-17, the format (renamed Radio Ireland) aired on XM channel 15, temporarily preempting The Village. On 2010-03-17, the format (once again renamed, to St. Patty's Day Radio) preempts The Spectrum on XM channel 45.
Play Ball! (XM 120) – A special program of baseball-themed songs and spoken-word bits, timed to coincide with Opening Day of the Major League season. Aired on channel 200 between 2007-03-30 and 2007-04-02, and on channel 120 between 2008-03-29 and 2008-03-30.
Larry! (XM 130) – Between 2007-04-16 and 2007-05-04, channel 130 featured replays of The Larry King Show along with interviews and new material. Originally scheduled for 5 days starting on 2007-04-16 the broadcast was extended and replayed the CNN coverage of Larry King Live that was aired during that week.
XM Summer (XM 120) – This channel, featuring a marathon of summer-themed songs, first aired on channel 120 between 2007-06-20 and 2007-06-22. It re-aired on 2008-06-21.
Uncle Sam (XM 120) – This channel, featuring patriotic American music for the Fourth of July, aired on channel 120 between 2007-07-03 and 2007-07-05. It re-aired on 2008-07-04.