Special Edition #3: Traffic and Weather are GONE.
Its the end of a satellite radio era after nearly 20 years in operation.
Wednesday, March 1st, 2023
I’m baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!!!!! Did you miss me? You probably did. If you are new, welcome aboard! Let me reintroduce you to this newsletter.
Welcome one and all to the SeriousXM newsletter! This is the ONLY such newsletter where every week, I report to you on the latest news, notes, changes, happenings, events, etc. involving the SiriusXM Satellite Radio service. Every week, its the latest in what’s going on in a way SiriusXM doesn’t tell you, mainly because it doesn’t do such a thing for its subscribers. That’s where I come in.
If you like what you are about to read, do a few things for me. First, subscribe to the newsletter. Its FREE after all. Second, share it with your family, friends, and loved ones plus those who may also be subscribing to SiriusXM as well. Finally, if you would like to donate to help support me, this newsletter, and the work that I do, then considering to donate today. I will appreciate every dollar I receive. It will make a tremendous difference.
For those returning, I thank you for sticking around! For those new, I welcome you here with open arms. Also, for those returning, you may have noticed that I’ve been away for a good month or so and that’s because there have been some things happening in my life recently. One, I lost my grandma from my mom’s side of the family and I was where she lived to see her final hours before passing away so that took up a HUGE amount of time devoted away from this newsletter. Not only that, I had to make some rearrangements as in my personal life, I was looking for a good-paying job where I can support myself while still doing this newsletter. I actually have a job interview coming up on Thursday, and I promise you that if I get this job, THE NEWSLETTER IS NOT GOING ANYWHERE. Not even close. I will still be here to deliver the latest every single week.
Finally, to wrap up some of my personal thoughts here before moving on, I was planning on coming back to doing the newsletter this Friday, March 3rd, which would’ve been two days from now. Instead… MAJOR BREAKING NEWS involving the service dropped late Tuesday night, which caused me to pull my return date earlier to TODAY.
So that’s where things stand at the moment and I will catch you up on everything you may have missed over the past month by this week, if not by this weekend. News, changes, and yes… events will be mentioned on Friday so stay tuned.
Now… let’s get to the breaking report.
SiriusXM 1st Traffic and Weather is NO MORE.
It truly is the end of an era. After nearly 20 years on the air, first, as separate offerings on both Sirius and XM, and then together as SiriusXM 1st Traffic and Weather, one of the most unique offerings in all of satellite radio, and especially in all of radio… is no more.
Earlier this morning at exactly 12:00 Midnight ET on Wednesday, March 1st, 2023, SiriusXM officially pulled the plug on SiriusXM 1st Traffic and Weather (as you can see and hear on the video above, which was the Boston-Philly-DC channel). The last four remaining channels that were a part of the service are now officially taken off the channel lineup and are now playing This channel is no longer available for messages on multiple loops until further notice. No word yet on what kind of service (if any) will replace these channels.
It truly is the end of an era for satellite radio as a service like this has been around pretty for nearly 20 years on both satellite radio companies. Without further ado, a history trip.
It began in 2004 when Sirius had Sirius 1st Traffic and Weather while XM had XM Instant Traffic and Weather. It first launched in New York and Los Angeles on February 29th, 2004, on Sirius, and in Washington, D.C. on February 28th, 2004 on XM, before expanding to 20+ top markets on both companies including Dallas/Fort Worth, Miami, and Chicago, and more throughout March 2004, first nationwide on XM, and then on Sirius. The last channels to launch were for Las Vegas on Sirius back on September 26th, 2006 with XM following suit on January 15th, 2009.
The channels were launched in partnership with traffic reports first from Traffic Pulse, then with Traffic.com which later became Beat The Traffic, and finally down the road to its final partnership with iHeartRadio’s Total Traffic and Weather Network. Weather reports mainly came from The Weather Channel through its (small but mighty) radio division.
Eventually, SiriusXM (when it became one company) would cut back on this service, cutting down to the last four channels it offered on January 24th, 2017. The last known channels to survive at the service’s end were…
Channel 133 - New York City
Channel 134 - Boston, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C.
Channel 135 - Chicago, Detroit, and Dallas/Fort Worth
Channel 136 - Los Angeles
Again, there is NO WORD as to what (if replaced) will be heard on these channels in the foreseeable future other than the looped messages being heard right now. As soon as I learn more about that aspect, you will read it here in the SeriousXM newsletter.
Also, to note, these were the ONLY channels to have never ever appeared on any of SiriusXM’s streaming plans, meaning they were only available on a traditional satellite car radio or home device.
Early reviews on the channels going away are mixed. Some are complaining as to why SiriusXM is getting rid of them while others are glad to see them go because of the horrendous audio quality these channels broadcasted on for years.
Whatever the case was for any of these issues, regardless… 19 years of history is now gone. While the majority of those channels have been gone for six years now, this news has now officially put this service to bed, to rest in peace forever, but not forgotten by all who loved it and heard it on Sirius, XM, or SiriusXM throughout its 19-year run.
I’ll bring more coverage about this in the newsletter as soon as I learn more.
For now, that is it. That’s about it for this special edition of the newsletter.
As I said, I’m back. I’ll be back on Friday for a regular edition of the newsletter, followed by on Saturday with another special edition which will help you catch up with the news you may have missed over the past month.
I’ll do my best to get back into this routine so I can inform you of what’s going on at SiriusXM every single week.
Thank you very much, and I’ll be back again for the weekly editions this Friday. Until then, enjoy your Wednesday and Thursday!
SeriousXM is a newsletter service of TheRolyPoly Productions.
