Advertising Age - XM and Sirius: Meant to Be Together?

An Advertising Age article about the pros and cons of an XM-Sirius merger includes an analyst's comment that talk programming will become more important in satellite radio's future.

Former college radio director arrested for embezzling

New Jersey police arrested the former director of Seton Hall University's WSOU-FM on charges of embezzling more than $500,000 from the university between 1985 and 2004, reports CMJ. (Via WFMU's blog.)

BBC offers more listener control

BBC's free iPlayer not only offers downloads of the past week of the TV network's programs but also the listeners' own choice of podcasts, tentatively called MyBBCRadio. Yet to come: details of how do-it-yourself scheduling will work. Meanwhile this week, the Beeb is offering downloads of BBC Philharmonic performances of Beethoven's symphonies 6 through 9. Music lovers downloaded the first five symphonies 700,000 times. Downloads are offered for a week starting on the day after broadcast. The iPlayer holds down server costs by using Kontiki peer-to-peer technology also employed by the California-based nonprofit Open Media Network.

Ten Primetime Emmy nods for "Bleak House"

Bleak House leads PBS's slate of programs nominated for Primetime Emmys. The Masterpiece Theatre miniseries received nominations in 10 categories and American Masters drew 9 Emmy nods. PBS fare earned a total of 34 Primetime Emmy nominations. Broadcasting and Cable runs down top nominees for the commercial nets, and the Post's Lisa de Moraes reports on how the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences overhauled its nomination process.

The Long Tail

The New Yorker finds a few "blind spots" in The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More by Chris Anderson, the book expounding on his influential 2004 Wired magazine article. The Long Tail blog links to this and other reviews in the blogosphere.

ContentDepot rolls out this month

NPR's Public Radio Satellite System rolls out the ContentDepot this month after almost two years of delays, reports Radio World. "ContentDepot promises to simplify operations for more than 400 satellite-interconnected stations, make program distribution more reliable and improve tracking and reporting of program carriage for producers," writes Dan Mansergh.