| Broadcast area | United States Canada |
|---|---|
| Frequency | XM 6 Sirius 6 DISH Network 6006 |
| First air date | September 25, 2001 |
| Format | 1960s Music |
| Class | Satellite Radio Station |
| Owner | Sirius XM Radio |
| Website | SiriusXM: '60s on 6 |
The '60s on 6 (or just The '60s) is a commercial-free, satellite radio station on the Sirius XM Radio platform. It plays music from the 1960s and early '70s, mostly Top 10 hits from the second half of the decade. Airing on XM since 2001, the channel became available to Sirius subscribers (replacing '60s Vibrations) on November 12, 2008, following the merger of the two companies. The station currently broadcasts on channel 6 of both services, as well as on Dish Network channel 6006. As of February 9, 2010, Direct TV has dropped Sirius XM programming in favor of another music service called SonicTap.
The morning man is Phlash Phelps, the leader of the Phunny Pharm Phan Clan. Also heard on the channel are Terry "Motormouth" Young, Mike Kelly, and "Cousin Brucie" Morrow. Lou Simon is currently the program director for the channel.
Like the other decades channels, The '60s on 6 attempts to recreate the feel of 1960s radio. They use similar DJ habits, classic PAMS jingles, period slang, and news updates. The channel was also used for XM's annual pop music chronology, IT.
Example of the list of artists heard on this channel: The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Beach Boys, the Supremes, Herman's Hermits, the Animals, the Monkees, the Temptations and the Doors.
As of 2008 the '60s on 6 was the fifth most listened to station on the XM service, with a cume of 581,300 listeners per week, according to Arbitron analysis.[1]
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With the merger of many XM and Sirius Satellite Radio channels on November 12, 2008, there were some changes to 60s on 6. The channel's playlist (which had once exceeded an incredible 3,000 songs) was sliced to emphasize Top 10 hits more, with most of the lower-charting tracks (as well as many of the crossover and novelty hits of the era) removed and abandoned from the rotation. Program director Pat Clarke and another disk jockey, "Marty With The Party", were dismissed. Phlash Phelps and Terry "Motormouth" Young were spared, and Broadway Bill Lee and Mike Kelly joined the airstaff. (Lee eventually moved to the 70s on 7 channel.) Cousin Brucie began a live Saturday all-request show. Wolfman Jack was moved into an early afternoon block, and was eventually eliminated altogether, along with other channel fixtures such as the Sonic Sound Salute, Sweet Sixteen Music Machine countdown, and Chickenman.
The classic PAMS jingles were edited to remove references to XM Radio, or jingles not referencing XM were used. In the summer of 2009, PAMS produced a new set of jingles based on its Series 31, "Music Explosion" for the channel.
Prior to the merger, it was the only XM channel to not change its zero in the logo, since it has always been a peace sign (all decades channels changed logos, whereas this channel, along with The 40s on 4 and The 70s on 7 are updated logos from their predecessors). The current logo for The 60s on 6 is the same, but "The" is phased out on the left, and adds the "On 6" info at the right.