BEATLES INVADE SIRIUS/XM

SiriusXM will be playing Beatles music eight days a week on a new channel that starts 5/18, a week before the release of Apple/Capitol/UMe's 50th anniversary edition of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

Beyond music by The Beatles, the station will play the solo work of John, Paul, George and Ringo work plus music that influenced them. Programs will include Chris Carter’s “Breakfast With The Beatles,” a weekly Peter Asher show and "My Fab Four," which will feature musicians and celebrities talking about Beatles songs.

Writer Bill Flanagan will host a live weekly call-in round table with broadcaster Dennis Elsas, and a second show based on themes that tell the story of the band. The network will have a weekly "Magical Mini Concert" featuring live music recorded by the quartet and as solo artists.

SiriusXM President and Chief Content Officer Scott Greenstein told the AP that a Beatles channel was the satellite radio’s Holy Grail, and he wanted to ensure that Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr realized the station was not only interested in their past.

"The moment came, and you can rest assured that when the moment came, we dove right in," he said.

SiriusXM will use the new channel—it will be channel 18 beginning at 9:09am on the 18th—for a membership drive, offering free listening to people with inactive satellite radios from 5/17 to 5/30.