XM Sports Nation

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

XM Sports Nation
Image:XM Sports Nation.gif
Broadcast area Flag of the United States United States
Flag of Canada Canada
Branding XM Sports Nation
Frequency XM144
First air date August 28, 2006
Format Sports Talk and Play-by-Play
Class Satellite Radio Station
Affiliations Sporting News Radio
American Le Mans Series
Southeastern Conference
Bowl Championship Series
U.S. Open
Indy Racing League
Owner XM Satellite Radio
Website XM Sports Nation

XM Sports Nation, also known as XMSN, is XM Satellite Radio's premier sports news and talk channel. It is located at channel 144. XM Sports Nation mostly features exclusive sports talk shows heard only on XM Radio, as well as syndicated and non-XM content like Tony Kornheiser, Dan Patrick, and overnight shows from Sporting News Radio.

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] Sporting News Radio (2001-2006)

Before XMSN, channel 143 was a complete simulcast of Sporting News Radio, a United States based national sports radio network, of which XM had an exclusivity contract with. It was complemented on XM by its competitors, the long running ESPN Radio (channel 140), controlled by Hearst Corporation and Disney, and the recently formed Fox Sports Radio (channel 142), controlled by Premiere Radio Networks. The three sports networks remained in co-existence on the XM platform for several years. In 2005, the exclusivity contract with XM expired, and the satrad company renewed it under non-exclusivity, which allows XM competitor Sirius Satellite Radio to pick up the network as well. With the arrival of the PGA Tour Network, channel 143 ended up being pre-empted on the weekends due to bandwidth considerations. It was assumed that the channel was one of the platform's lower performers because of this, as no other third party sports networks on XM were being pre-empted. Despite negative feedback from fans, this practice did not stop until the channel underwent a renovation.

[edit] XM Sports Nation (2006-)

On August 28, 2006, Sporting News Radio became XM Sports Nation, and featured several new shows exclusive to XM. XM had already used the XM Sports Nation name to brand their sportscasts, often ending the games with a soundbyte saying "This has been a presentation of XM Sports Nation". New programs included XMSN This Morning, Power Shift, Rotowire Fantasy Football Hour, and College Football Coast to Coast. XMSN also acted as a replay channel for select NASCAR Radio shows, and became the new home of XM Live's weekly show, 60/20 Sports. To accommodate these shows, the Sporting News Radio lineup was carved up selectively. Some shows survived the transition, while others were truncated, or bounced from the platform completely. As of the change to XM Sports Nation, weekends were no longer pre-empted for the PGA Tour Network, and the channel became available on XM Canada.

[edit] XM143 to XM144, NASCAR Radio merger, and beyond

On January 1, 2007, XMSN moved to XM 144 from XM 143. Programming from XM's NASCAR Radio channel was merged into XM Sports Nation, including Claire B. Lang's afternoon show, both Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt, Jr.'s live half hour shows, and Joe Castello and Thommy Noodlez remained on Powershift from 8-10 PM ET. XMSN also added the Andretti-Green Racing Hour in March 2007,[1] as part of expanded Indy Racing League coverage. More content from Sporting News Radio was sacrificed to make these changes, which included more replays of XMSN originals. As of February 2007, the only weekday host from Sporting News Radio that continue to air on XMSN is Tony Bruno show.

In addition, XMSN began airing Tony Kornheiser's radio show, which broadcasts from WTWP, on 2007-03-05.[2]. In August 2007, XMSN added Barry Switzer[3] as apart of the channel's expanded college sports coverage. On 2008-01-21, XMSN added The Dan Patrick Show[4] to its lineup as well as return Kornheiser to the lineup.

Only one week into "The New XM Sports Nation," Sporting News Radio announced that Tony Bruno was going to be cut from the network lineup[5]. Technically, Bruno's last show was on January 18th, and was followed up by a week of fill-ins, but it wasn't announced that it would be his last broadcast.

[edit] Personalities

[edit] Sporting events broadcast by XM Sports Nation

[edit] 2006

  • San Diego County Credit Union Bowl
  • Pioneer PureVision Las Vegas Bowl
  • PetroSun Bowl
  • Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl Presented by Bridgestone
  • Brut Sun Bowl
  • Insight Bowl
  • Meineke Car Care Bowl
  • MPC Computers Bowl

[edit] 2007

[edit] 2008

[edit] References

[edit] External links