'Mandatory Metallica' Channel to Air on Sirius XM Radio

'Mandatory Metallica' Channel to Air on Sirius XM Radio

Channel to broadcast non-stop Metallica music, plus feature interviews with all four band members as well as a wide range of artists talking about Metallica

"Mandatory Metallica" to coincide with the band's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

"Mandatory Metallica" to be available to SIRIUS subscribers for the first time

NEW YORK, March 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- SIRIUS XM Radio (NASDAQ:SIRI) announced that legendary rock band Metallica will host their own music channel on SIRIUS XM. Mandatory Metallica will be broadcast on SIRIUS channel 27 and XM channel 42 and will debut on Saturday, March 14 starting at 6:00 pm ET and run through Monday, April 13 at 3:00 am ET. The launch of SIRIUS XM's Mandatory Metallica channel coincides with the band's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on April 4, 2009.

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"Metallica is one of the most influential and distinctive bands in the world," said Scott Greenstein, President and Chief Content Officer, SIRIUS XM Radio. "We are thrilled to broadcast Mandatory Metallica for SIRIUS XM listeners and give Metallica fans a place to go to hear all the music, interviews and rarities with this incredible rock band all in one place for thirty days."

Mandatory Metallica will air Metallica music 24/7 as well as new songs from their recent release, Death Magnetic, which debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 and was certified Platinum in less than three weeks. The channel will also feature interviews with Metallica guitarist and singer James Hetfield, drummer Lars Ulrich, guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo.

In addition to interviews with all four band members, Mandatory Metallica will air exclusive interviews with other artists sharing their personal insights about Metallica's influence on music, including Linkin Park, Slipknot, Disturbed, Guns N' Roses, Chris Cornell, RUSH, Ashes Divide, Black Stone Cherry, Five Finger Death Punch, Atreyu, Cinderella, Mastodon, Judas Priest, Dragonforce, Triumph, Tesla and others.

Mandatory Metallica will offer fans exclusive access to the band and their music. The limited-run channel aired exclusively on XM in 2008 and will be available to SIRIUS subscribers for the first time. The channel will feature virtually every Metallica song ever recorded, plus rare live cuts from the band's personal archives.

In addition to their own SIRIUS XM channel and recent record release, Guitar Hero will launch "Guitar Hero: Metallica" featuring music from the band's 25 year career as well as special hand-picked guest acts on March 29, 2009. The band will also be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on April 4, 2009. Death Magnetic, the band's 10th studio album, was released worldwide on September 12. For more information about Metallica's new album, go to www.metallica.com.

Mandatory Metallica continues SIRIUS XM's practicing of creating exclusive limited run artist-branded channels dedicated to iconic musicians. In addition to the current broadcast of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Radio and Paul McCartney's Fireman Radio, SIRIUS has previously offered limited run channels such as Rolling Stones Radio, AC/DC Radio, Led Zeppelin Radio, The Spectrum of John Mellencamp, The Who Channel, Radio R.E.M., Coldplay Nation, ABBA Radio, Neil Diamond Radio, Jay-Z Nation, Garth Brooks Radio and Duran Duran's Red Carpet Radio among many others.

   For more information, please visit www.sirius.com or www.xmradio.com     About SIRIUS XM Radio  

SIRIUS XM Radio is America's satellite radio company delivering commercial-free music channels, premier sports, news, talk, entertainment, traffic and weather, to more than 18.9 million subscribers.

SIRIUS XM Radio has content relationships with an array of personalities and artists, including Howard Stern, Martha Stewart, Oprah Winfrey, Jimmy Buffett, Jamie Foxx, Barbara Walters, Opie & Anthony, Bubba the Love Sponge(R), The Grateful Dead, Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, and Bob Edwards. SIRIUS XM Radio is the leader in sports programming as the Official Satellite Radio Partner of the NFL, Major League Baseball(R), NASCAR(R), NBA, NHL(R), and PGA TOUR(R), and broadcasts major college sports.

SIRIUS XM Radio has arrangements with every major automaker. SIRIUS XM Radio products are available at shop.sirius.com and shop.xmradio.com, and at retail locations nationwide, including Best Buy, RadioShack, Target, Sam's Club, and Wal-Mart.

SIRIUS XM Radio also offers SIRIUS Backseat TV, the first ever live in-vehicle rear seat entertainment featuring Nickelodeon, Disney Channel and Cartoon Network; XM NavTraffic(R) service for GPS navigation systems delivers real-time traffic information, including accidents and road construction, for more than 80 North American markets.

This communication contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements include, but are not limited to, statements about the benefits of the business combination transaction involving SIRIUS and XM, including potential synergies and cost savings and the timing thereof, future financial and operating results, the combined company's plans, objectives, expectations and intentions with respect to future operations, products and services; and other statements identified by words such as "anticipate," "believe," "plan," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "will," "should," "may," or words of similar meaning. Such forward-looking statements are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of SIRIUS' and XM's management and are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are difficult to predict and generally beyond the control of SIRIUS and XM. Actual results may differ materially from the results anticipated in these forward-looking statements.

The following factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ materially from the anticipated results or other expectations expressed in the forward-looking statement: general business and economic conditions; the performance of financial markets and interest rates; the failure to realize synergies and cost-savings from the merger or delay in realization thereof; the businesses of SIRIUS and XM may not be combined successfully, or such combination may take longer, be more difficult, time-consuming or costly to accomplish than expected. Additional factors that could cause SIRIUS' and XM's results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements can be found in SIRIUS' and XM's Annual Reports on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007 and their respective Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2008, which are filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") and available at the SEC's Internet site (http://www.sec.gov/). The information set forth herein speaks only as of the date hereof, and SIRIUS and XM disclaim any intention or obligation to update any forward looking statements as a result of developments occurring after the date of this communication.

   P-SIRI     Contacts for SIRIUS XM Radio:    Samantha Bowman   SIRIUS   212 901 6644   sbowman@siriusxm.com  

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact: Samantha.Bowman@siriusxm.com

Source: SIRIUS XM Radio

CONTACT: Samantha Bowman of SIRIUS, +1-212-901-6644, or
sbowman@siriusxm.com, for SIRIUS XM Radio

Web Site: http://www.metallica.com/
http://www.sirius.com/
http://www.xmradio.com/

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Profile: International Entertainment