Changes For Bluegrass Coming to Sirius XM

10/26/2008 08:40
sirius-xm_merger
With the recent merger of Sirius and XM, bluegrass fans have been wondering about the future of Sirius Bluegrass 65 and XM's Track 14. The BRN has now learned Sirius Bluegrass will soon be discontinued and Track 14 will be the new company's flagship bluegrass channel.

Track 14 Format Manager and IBMA Broadcaster of the year Kyle Cantrell will remain at the helm, joined by Sirius Bluegrass hosts Chris Jones and Ned Luberecki. Bluegrass 65 Format manager Joey Black will be assigned to another channel and not included in the new Track 14 lineup.

In October, Sirius' Director of Country Programming Scott Lindy was released along with more than 50 employees of the two satellite networks. XM's John Anthony is now in charge of all country related programming.

Swimming in a 3 billion dollar sea of red ink, concern is mounting about the survivability of Sirius XM. With one billion coming due in 2009 amid tightening credit markets, worried investors sent the stock plummeting to an all time low of .22¢ on October 24th.

Sirius XM currently pays $60 million annually to carry Major League Baseball, $80 million to Howard Stern and millions more to Oprah Winfrey and Martha Stewart. Goldman Sachs predicts a loss of $564 million next year.