'80s on 8
 | |
| Broadcast area |
United States Canada |
|---|---|
| Slogan | The Big '80s (regarding the former Sirius channel Big '80s) |
| Frequency |
Sirius XM Radio 8 Dish Network 6008 |
| First air date | September 25, 2001 |
| Format | 1980s Music |
| Class | Satellite Radio Station |
| Owner | Sirius XM Radio |
| Website | SiriusXM: '80s on 8 |
The '80s on 8 (or just The '80s) is a commercial-free, satellite radio station on the Sirius XM Radio platform, broadcasting on XM Satellite Radio and on DirecTV channel 805. As a result of the Sirius/XM merger on November 12, 2008, the channel was merged with the Big '80s channel on Sirius 8 and Dish Network 6008, and took its current name. As of February 9, 2010, DirecTV has dropped the Sirius XM programming in favor of using SonicTap. The channel plays hit music from the 1980s. Artists played include Duran Duran, the Culture Club, The Go-Go's, Styx, Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp, The Police, Prince, and Michael Jackson.
The channel was created in 2000/2001 and programmed by Bruce Kelly, a veteran radio program director and morning drive/afternoon personality in Phoenix, Miami, Washington, D.C., Pittsburgh and Boston. Kelly's morning show was one of XM's highest rated programs. He was also featured on many XM Artist specials and live reports from the Cream reunion and Live 8 shows from London in Spring/Summer of 2005, plus was on-camera host with Bon Jovi for the launch of AOL AEG Network Live from the Nokia Theater, Times Square, NYC. Kelly also became a regular character on the Opie and Anthony show on XM Channel 202 - "The Virus (XM)". In late 2005, Kelly resigned from XM in order to care for his ailing father and has yet to resurface at another radio job. The channel is currently voice-tracked by the four living original VJs on cable network MTV, Nina Blackwood, Mark Goodman, Alan Hunter and Martha Quinn, who record their programs from their homes. There are no live announcers at any time on this channel.
Much like the other decades channels, The 80s on 8 attempts to recreate the feel of 1980s radio. It uses JAM Creative Productions' "Warp Factor", "The Flame Thrower," "Skywave" and "Turbo Z" packages (made popular in the '80s by Z100 in New York and other stations) for jingles, as well as similar DJ habits, '80s slang, news updates, and an occasional vintage commercial (which is presented this way in order to retain the commercial free status). The channel was also used for XM's annual pop music chronology, IT.
In 2008, '80s on 8 was the third most listened to station on the XM service, with an Arbitron-estimated cume of 698,300 listeners per week.[1]
Lesser-known '80s songs are occasionally played on this station, described as an American Bottom 40, a parody of the American Top 40 program until April 2008, when it changed its tagline to Another Lost '80s Hit, which was until recently introduced by Less Headroom, Max Headroom's brother, and picked by his Commodore 64. Since the Sirius/XM merger, the aircheck has been changed to that formerly aired on Sirius' Big '80s channel.
Post Sirius XM Merger
When the merge of XM and Sirius Satellite Radio music and talk channels occurred on November 12, 2008, Rick Stacy was named the channel's program director, and the airstaff consisted of the four surviving original MTV "veejays" - Nina Blackwood, Mark Goodman, Alan Hunter and Martha Quinn, carrying over the lineup of Sirius's Big '80s channel. '80s on 8 was simulcasted on both XM and Sirius, and channel imaging was revised to include the phrase "Sirius XM Radio". It also became Sirius XM Radio's first and only channel to phase out the apostrophe (like on most decades channels on Sirius XM), as they changed their logo entirely (other channels such as The 50s on 5 and The 90s on 9 did so, but the rest of the logos were updated). However with the recent reintroduction of the VJ big 40, the 80s on 8 is starting to sound more like the Sirius channel the big 80s complete with a schedule somehow reminiscent of the former Sirius channel.
Hosts
- Mark Goodman
Weekdays 6 am – 10 am ET
Mondays - Thursdays 7 pm – 9 pm ET
Saturdays 7 pm – 9 am ET
- Nina Blackwood
Weekdays 1 pm - 4 pm ET
Mondays - Thursdays 11 pm - 1 am ET
Saturdays 2 pm - 7 pm ET
Sundays 4 pm - 8 pm ET
- Martha Quinn
Weekdays 10 am - 1 pm ET
Mondays- Thursdays 9 pm - 11 pm ET
Fridays 7 pm - 9 pm ET
- Alan Hunter
Weekdays 1 am - 3 am ET; 4 pm - 7 pm ET
Saturdays 9 pm - 12 am ET
Sundays 12 pm - 4 pm ET
Current Programs
- 80s on 8 Big 40 countdown
Fridays 9 pm ET
Rebroadcasts Saturdays 11 am & 5 pm; Sundays 12 am, 6 am, 4 pm & 8 pm; Mondays 3 am ET
Mark Goodman, Nina Blackwood, Alan Hunter and Martha Quinn count down the Big 40 hits of each week from a particular year of the decade of "excess!"
References
- ↑ Hinckley, David. Howard Stern rules satellite radio. New York Daily News. 7 May 2008.
External links
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