Satellite Radio

In 2005, AirTran Airways became the first U.S. airline to offer passengers satellite radio among the in-flight entertainment options. But the XM satellite radio is about to be pulled out of AirTran planes as the airline gets swallowed up by its new parent company, Southwest Airlines, which acquired AirTran in May 2011. “The decision to remove XM satellite radio from the AirTran fleet was not taken lightly, and it's another step in the integration of offering a consistent product between Southwest and AirTran,” said Katie McDonald, a Southwest spokeswoman.

SACRAMENTO -- Former California Senate Majority Leader Dean Florez faces record fines for campaign violations that include using $26,541 in political funds for his personal benefit to buy furniture, concert tickets, fireworks, satellite radio, travel, expensive dinners and gasoline. Florez, a Democrat who represented a San Joaquin Valley district until 2010, has agreed to pay $60,000 in fines, according to documents released Monday by the state Fair Political Practices Commission.

Satellite radio went on the air this week, promising listeners greater variety on the dial--for a price. Hugh Panero, president of XM Satellite Radio, flipped a switch in the company's Washington headquarters shortly after 9:30 a.m. Tuesday and began offering service in San Diego and Dallas. The company plans to expand nationwide in the coming months, and a competitor, New York-based Sirius Satellite Radio, plans to come on line this year.

Barely three months ago, Eddie "Piolín" Sotelo's Spanish-language radio career appeared to be derailed. He had lost his popular "Piolín por la Mañana" morning program amid allegations of sexual and emotional harassment by a male co-worker. In the days that followed, six other former co-workers alleged that they too had been harassed by Sotelo, setting off an ongoing legal skirmish. Although Sotelo repeatedly denied the accusations, he and his longtime employer, the powerful media conglomerate Univision Communications Inc., parted ways in July.

The NHL announced a 10-year, $100-million deal with XM Satellite Radio on Monday that begins this season and will make XM the league's exclusive satellite radio broadcast partner beginning with the 2007-08 season. XM will broadcast more than 1,000 games a season -- beginning with the Oct. 5 opener -- as well as the All-Star game, the playoffs and the finals. XM has more than 4.4 million subscribers.

Forty years ago Bob Dylan went electric -- next year he goes extraterrestrial. Rock's most celebrated singer-songwriter will host a weekly show for XM Satellite Radio beginning in March, the company announced Tuesday. Dylan will handpick the music, interview guests, answer listeners' e-mails and "offer regular commentary on music and other topics," according to XM officials. "Songs and music have always inspired me," Dylan said in a statement.

Satellite radio stocks fell after a Merrill Lynch & Co. analyst downgraded their ratings. Shares of XM Satellite Radio Inc.--which went from an "intermediate" buy to "neutral" rating--dropped 47 cents to $5.75. Sirius Satellite Radio Inc.--which went from "neutral" to "reduce/sell"--fell 59 cents to $3.01. Both trade on Nasdaq. Analyst Marc Nabi blamed the "current telecom/media malaise" for the downgrade, saying it could harm the companies' abilities to raise funding.

XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc., the world's biggest satellite radio service, said its second-quarter net loss widened as costs increased. The company's shares rose as XM boosted its forecast for new subscribers. The loss widened to $166.1 million from $161.9 million a year earlier. On a per-share basis, the loss narrowed to 84 cents a share from $1.38 because the number of shares outstanding increased, XM said in a regulatory filing.

Howard Stern received a one-day suspension Monday after heavily promoting his move to satellite radio. "We expect him back on Wednesday," said Karen Mateo, a spokeswoman for Infinity Broadcasting Corp., which carries Stern's syndicated show in more than 20 markets. Infinity is a unit of media giant Viacom Inc. She wouldn't call Stern's absence a suspension and declined to comment further. Listeners will hear a compilation of Stern's best shows today, she said.

Oprah Winfrey is launching her couch into outer space. The billionaire talk show host announced Thursday that she had signed a three-year, $55-million contract to oversee a new channel for XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. and its 6 million subscribers. Called "Oprah & Friends," the channel will be more friends than Oprah, whose on-air commitment is one half-hour show a week for 39 weeks a year.

The new elites of Los Angeles-Orange County radio raised their stature even further in August, as both KBIG-FM (104.3) and KLAX-FM (97.9) widened their leads against rivals, according to ratings released Tuesday by Arbitron. KBIG - the "hot adult-contemporary" station that mixes pop and rock, new and not-so-recent, and features artists such as Katy Perry, Peter Gabriel and Taylor Swift - held sole possession of first place for the third time in the last five months. But after more than a year of battling with Top 40 station KIIS-FM (102.7)

Harry Shearer is wondering what went wrong. His Sunday morning satire program, "Le Show," is syndicated to about 100 public radio stations nationwide and is also available on shortwave radio, NPR Worldwide and as a podcast on iTunes. Yet the station where "Le Show" has originated for more than 29 years, KCRW-FM (89.9) of Santa Monica College, kicked him off the air last week. Instead, it will stream the program over the Internet. KCRW General Manager Jennifer Ferro cast the move partly as a simple matter of math: She's trying to make room for new voices while hanging on to some old ones by putting them online.

After the coffee. Before seeing if the Dodgers need a tweeter. The Skinny: There is a great article in today's Wall Street Journal about all the distractions people face every day at work. I'm glad to see I'm not the only one with ADD. Wednesday's stories include a look at the Screen Actors Guild nominations, speculation about who will run satellite radio broadcaster Sirius XM and obituary of Ravi Shanker. Daily Dose: Fox Business Network still likes Don Imus in the morning.

Music is the most mathematical art form, but for classical music station KUSC-FM (91.5), the radio world's arithmetic has turned hostile, spelling nothing but trouble for its ratings. Arbitron, the company that surveys radio listeners to calculate how many tune in to each station, says KUSC has lost more than half its core audience over the last 20 months. Ratings declined moderately during 2010 and the first half of 2011, then went into a tailspin. According to Aribtron's reports, KUSC's average core audience has sunk from nearly 26,000 listeners in 2009 to 9,500 in its latest report - a 63% fall.

Sirius XM Radio Inc. Chief Executive Mel Karmazin will resign from the satellite radio broadcaster on Feb. 1. The move was not unexpected. Liberty Media, the largest shareholder in SiriusXM, is in the process of taking control of the company and Karmazin had previously indicated he would likely leave as a result. Karmazin's contract with SiriusXM expires at the end of this year. He said he is staying on an additional month to ensure a smooth transition. He will also resign from the SiriusXM board.

After the coffee. Before topping Felix Baumgartner's jump. The Skinny: I don't want instant replay in baseball. Just putting that out there since a lot of fans are now screaming for it after a blown call in Sunday's Yankee-Tiger game. Monday's headlines include a box office recap, a profile of Clear Channel chief Bob Pittman and a look at NPR's "Morning Edition. " Daily Dose: Ben Affleck's "Argo" has a great soundtrack. There's only one problem. The Rolling Stones song "Little T&A" wasn't technically released at the time his thriller about the rescue of six Americans from Iran in the midst of the hostage crisis takes place.

The Federal Communications Commission said licenses held by XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. and Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. would prevent them from combining, but one industry expert said they could ask for the licenses to be modified. "There's a prohibition on one entity owning both of those licenses," FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin said. However, Martin also said the FCC would examine any transaction submitted to it.

House lawmakers on Friday introduced a bill aimed at lowering the fees paid by Pandora Media and other Internet radio streaming services. The bill proposes to change the way the U.S. Copyright Royalty Board calculates how much money Internet radio services must pay music labels and artists. Pandora has actively lobbied Congress to make the change, arguing that the current method is unfair because it charges Internet radio services disproportionately more than similar services provided by cable operators and satellite radio.

Liberty Media has raised its stake in SiriusXM Radio to 48.8%, bringing the Englewood, Colo., media company closer to majority control of the New York satellite radio company. The increase in ownership, from 48.1%, was reported in a regulatory filing late Tuesday by SiriusXM. Liberty's steady march toward full control of SiriusXM is not surprising. The company has publicly stated its intent to acquire a majority share of SiriusXM and is now attempting to follow through with its promise.