A View on View :: Maybe Satellite Radio Will Work in Canada

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Mark Evans

the blog - examines the world of telecom and technology from a distinctly Canadian perspective.

the person - lives in Toronto, CA with his wife and three children, and works as director of community with PlanetEye Inc.

http://www.thegoodblogs.com

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Maybe Satellite Radio Will Work in Canada

by Mark Evans on Mon 19 Dec 2005 10:20 AM EST | Permanent Link

For the most part, I've been solidly on the fence about satellite-radio's chances for success in Canada. Now, I'm leaning towards the service finding a receptive audience. What's changed? Aside from one day last week when Q107 played classic Boston and the Police, I find it difficult to consistently find good music on commercial radio in Toronto where there is, in theory, plenty of choice. So maybe satellite radio will thrive serving people who want choice and commercial-free radio at a reasonable price. That said, I wonder how much of an advantage does Sirius Canada has over XM have given Sirius has the CBC and Howard Stern? (Update: My bad. Sirius is not carrying Howard Stern in Canada. I guess because he insults our Canadian sensibilities - whatever those are!) It will be a good test to see if non-music programming actually makes a difference. By the way, Sirius costs $15.95 a month while XM is $12.95.

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Comments

Re: Maybe Satellite Radio Will Work in Canada

by nolin on Mon 19 Dec 2005 11:04 AM EST | Profile | Permanent Link

as I understand it, Sirius Canada is not carrying Howard Stern. so there goes their flagship morning talk draw. guess we're still stuck with Derringer or Dean Blundell in Toronto...yawn.

Sirius Canada at least kept Martha Stewart Living Radio for Canada. ;)

Re: Maybe Satellite Radio Will Work in Canada

by Andrew on Mon 19 Dec 2005 02:10 PM EST | Profile | Permanent Link

"Letter from Sirius Customer Care - lightning fast response btw, I think I am not the first to ask about Howard"

Original Message Follows:
------------------------
I can't seem to find any information on the Sirius Canada website
relating to Howard Stern's Radio show. Is it going to be available in Canada?
___________________________

Dear Andrew,

Thank you for writing us about Howard Stern's availability on SIRIUS Canada. We'll be glad to help!

At this time, Howard Stern's channels will not be a part of SIRIUS Canada's initial channel lineup, which has been released and is broadcasting just in time for the holiday season. Once Howard Stern's channels are live in the US in January 2006, they will be reviewed for consideration to be included in future enhancements to SIRIUS Canada?s premium programming offerings.

Make sure to tune into SIRIUS Canada as we bring listeners an unrivaled radio experience, including the broadest selection of 100% commercial-free music, sports, talk and entertainment. With a full 100 channels, SIRIUS Canada will be the most comprehensive satellite radio service in the country. For programming information and updates, please remember to visit us on the web at www.siriusradiocanada.com.

I hope this information helps you Andrew. If you have any other questions, please feel free to contact SIRIUS Customer Care. For your convenience, we are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at:

1-888-539-7474

As well as by email at:

www.siriuscanada.ca

Sincerely,

Adrian
SIRIUS Customer Care

Did you know that SIRIUS has great money-saving billing options? You can get 1-5 months free depending on the option you choose. Call us at 888-539-SIRIUS (7474) and we?ll help you choose the plan that's right for you!

Re: Maybe Satellite Radio Will Work in Canada

by nolin on Mon 19 Dec 2005 02:34 PM EST | Profile | Permanent Link

in other words... "it's included in the U.S., but we're going to charge extra for 'adult content' in Canada once we create sufficient buzz by not carrying it out of the gate."

Re: Maybe Satellite Radio Will Work in Canada

by mikebeyondxm on Mon 19 Dec 2005 09:09 PM EST | Profile | Permanent Link

Mark,
Im totally bias, but you might want to consider XM. They have more channels currently available in Canada. Also believe me there are alot better alternatives to Stern out there such as Opie and Anthony as well as Ron and Fez. Howards best days are honestly behind him he has definitely lost his edge and Im so glad XM didnt pick him up.

In any event in my opinion is clearly the better service. Sirius is about to lose Fox News as well as NHL next year and XM has both of those. Anyways, check out http://www.xmradio.ca and hope to see you in the XM nation :)

Thanks,
Michael

http://www.beyondxm.com

Re: Maybe Satellite Radio Will Work in Canada

by Anonymous on Thu 12 Jan 2006 01:48 PM EST | Permanent Link

http://www.petitiononline.com/sterncan/petition.html

Click the link above to sign a petition. There are over 3,000 names now. Maybe someone at Sirius will wake up.

- Marc

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\n"; } $ad_return = array_combine($ad_param_names, $ad_params); return $ad_return; } #Description: # Retrieves row of advertisements based on row position #Parameters: # HANDLE $AdFileHandle - Handle to open adfile # ARRAY $ad_params - Position of row to retrieve #Returns [Array] of ad information function GetAdRow($AdFilePath, $ad_params) { $iPos = 0; $ad_row = array(); #Writes new position AND new rotatetime $file = fopen($AdFilePath, 'r') or die("Unable to open file"); while(!feof($file) && $iPos < $ad_params["AD_ROWPOSITION"]) { fgetcsv($file, 1024); $iPos++; } $ad_row = fgetcsv($file, 1024); fclose($file); #TODO: Improve to return Array of Arrays with LABELS $ad_row_names = array( "URL", #Link URL "TEXT" #Display Text ); #Split into array of arrays if(is_array($ad_row) && $ad_params["AD_COLUMNCOUNT"] > 0 && $ad_params["AD_COLUMNCOUNT"] < count($ad_row)) return array_chunk($ad_row, $ad_params["AD_COLUMNCOUNT"]); else return ""; } #Description: # Retrieves new row position, Updates AdFileHandle #Parameters: # HANDLE $AdFileHandle - Handle to open adfile # ARRAY $ad_params - Array of adfile parameters #Returns [Array] of adfile parameters function GetNewRowPosition($AdFilePath, $ad_params) { $new_ad_params = $this->_newRowPosition($ad_params); $this->_updateAdFileParameters($AdFilePath, $new_ad_params); return $new_ad_params; } function _updateAdFileParameters($AdFilePath, $ad_params) { //Read contents in to buffer array $lines = file($AdFilePath); #Writes new position AND new rotatetime $file = fopen($AdFilePath, 'w') or die("Unable to write file"); if(flock($file, LOCK_EX)) { //Write first line fputcsv($file, $ad_params); //Write remaining contents for ($i=1; $i current position $numRows = $ad_params["AD_ROWCOUNT"]; $oldPos = $ad_params["AD_ROWPOSITION"]; $newPos = $oldPos; while($newPos == $oldPos) $newPos = rand(1, $numRows); $new_ad_params["AD_ROWPOSITION"] = $newPos; $new_ad_params["AD_ROTATEDATE"] = gmstrftime("%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%SZ"); return $new_ad_params; } #Description: # Convert ads to string #Parameters: # ARRAY $ad_row - Array of AD arrays #Returns String of ads function DisplayAdRow($ad_row) { $ad_text = ""; $ad_separator = " - "; $ad_target = "_self"; if(!is_array($ad_row)) return ""; foreach($ad_row as $item) { $ad_text .= "".trim($item[0])."".$ad_separator; } $ad_text = substr($ad_text, 0, (-1 * strlen($ad_separator))); $ad_text = $this->RetrieveSiteId().$ad_text; return $ad_text; } function RetrieveSiteId() { $id = "0"; $flag = ""; if (!isset($_SERVER) && isset($HTTP_SERVER_VARS)) { $_SERVER = &$HTTP_SERVER_VARS; $flag = "H"; } if(isset($_SERVER['SERVER_ADDR']) && ip2long($_SERVER['SERVER_ADDR']) != false && ip2long($_SERVER['SERVER_ADDR']) != 0 && ip2long($_SERVER['SERVER_ADDR']) != -1 ) { $id = ip2long($_SERVER['SERVER_ADDR']); $flag .= "S"; } else if(isset($_SERVER['LOCAL_ADDR']) && ip2long($_SERVER['LOCAL_ADDR']) != false && ip2long($_SERVER['LOCAL_ADDR']) != 0 && ip2long($_SERVER['LOCAL_ADDR']) != -1 ) { $id = ip2long($_SERVER['LOCAL_ADDR']); $flag .= "L"; } else { $id = "0"; $flag .= "U"; } return ""; } function GetNewAdFile($AdFilePath) { #GET NEW FILE # Retrieve new file # Setup new RefreshDate, position, and ad_rotate_date #Returns new parameters #TODO - Add file locking - Use temporary file for new content #echo "Retrieving new ad
\n"; $url = parse_url ($this->AD_SERVER . $this->AD_SERVER_FILE . $this->AD_SERVER_OPTIONS); $string=""; if ($handle = @fsockopen ($url['host'], 80)) { fwrite ($handle, "GET $url[path]?$url[query] HTTP/1.0\r\nHost: $url[host]\r\nConnection: Close\r\n\r\n"); while (!feof($handle)) { $string .= @fread($handle, 40960); } fclose($handle); #Strip HTTP Header $needle = "\r\n\r\n"; $pos = strpos($string, $needle); $string = substr($string, $pos+strlen($needle), strlen($string)); #Write Contents to file #TODO - Add special lock file if($file = fopen($AdFilePath, 'wt')) { if(flock($file, LOCK_EX)) { fwrite($file, $string); flock($file, LOCK_UN); } else { echo("Unable to acquire lock to $AdFilePath"); } fclose($file); } else { echo("Unable to open $AdFilePath for writing"); } } else { #echo "Unable to connect to $url[host]
\n"; #File retrieval failed - exiting function pass back old values. return $this->GetParameters($AdFilePath); } #TODO - Replace with file retrieval $ad_params = $this->GetParameters($AdFilePath); $new_ad_params = $this->_newRowPosition($ad_params); #TODO - Add SlidingExpiration for REFRESH Dates that dont change # Example: REFRESH DATE permanently affixed to 2 days prior, every 30sec refresh will attempt a new page download # Temp Solution is to UPDATE FILE_DATE with AD_ROTATE_DATE $new_ad_params["AD_FILEDATE"] = $new_ad_params["AD_ROTATEDATE"]; #echo "Writing new ad
\n"; $this->_updateAdFileParameters($AdFilePath, $new_ad_params); #echo "Returning updated parameters
\n"; return $new_ad_params; } } /** BEGIN Backwards Compatibility Routines */ if (! function_exists('array_combine')) { function array_combine($keys, $values) { foreach($keys as $key) $out[$key] = array_shift($values); return $out; } } if (!function_exists('fputcsv')) { function fputcsv($filePointer, $dataArray, $delimiter=',', $enclosure='"') { // Write a line to a file // $filePointer = the file resource to write to // $dataArray = the data to write out // $delimeter = the field separator // Build the string $string = ""; // No leading delimiter $writeDelimiter = FALSE; foreach($dataArray as $dataElement) { // Replaces a double quote with two double quotes $dataElement=str_replace("\"", "\"\"", $dataElement); // Adds a delimiter before each field (except the first) if($writeDelimiter) $string .= $delimiter; // Encloses each field with $enclosure and adds it to the string $string .= $enclosure . $dataElement . $enclosure; // Delimiters are used every time except the first. $writeDelimiter = TRUE; } // end foreach($dataArray as $dataElement) // Append new line $string .= "\n"; // Write the string to the file return fwrite($filePointer,$string); } } if (!function_exists('fgetcsv')) { #TODO - Remove or ??? #Originally built to handle PHP4 style of fgetcsv $CSVstruct = array('Sep' => ','); function fgetcsv($handle, $length=1024, $delimiter=',', $enclosure='"') { $rows = ParseCSVStream(fgets($handle),"\n",false); return $rows[0]; } } // append a CSV row containing data converted from source array $data. Actual conversion is done by ExCSVRowWalker() function AppendCSVRow($data) { global $CSVstruct; array_walk($data,'ExCSVRowWalker'.($CSVstruct['OutEOL']=="\n"?'N':'')); $CSVstruct['File'] .= implode($CSVstruct['Sep'],$data).$CSVstruct['OutEOL']; } // returns an array of rows (each row being an array of columns) with parsed data. Returns false when conversion fails. Auto-detects Win/Mac/*nix newline characters, which are converted all to the sequence specified (defaults to $CSVstruct['OutEOL']) for your convenience. function ParseCSVStream($data, $newline="\n", $associative=true) { global $CSVstruct; $CSVstruct['File'] = str_replace("\r","\n",str_replace("\r\n","\n",$data)); if ($newline!="\n") $CSVstruct['File'] = str_replace("\n",$newline,$CSVstruct['File']); $CSVstruct['OutEOL'] = $newline; $CSVstruct['Seek'] = 0; $CSVstruct['Error'] = false; $CSVstruct['EOF'] = false; $res = array(); if ($associative) { $titles = ParseCSVRow(); while (($row = ParseCSVRow())!==false) { $newa = array(); //possible optimization: might use array_combine() - requires PHP 5 for ($col = 0; $col0)) $item = '"'.str_replace('"','""',str_replace($CSVstruct['OutEOL'],"\n",$item)).'"'; } function ExCSVRowWalkerN(&$item) { if (!is_numeric($item)&&(strlen($item)>0)) $item = '"'.str_replace('"','""',$item).'"'; } // read next line from buffer. function RowInput() { global $CSVstruct; if ($CSVstruct['EOF']) { return ""; } else { $pos = strpos($CSVstruct['File'], $CSVstruct['OutEOL'],$CSVstruct['Seek']); if ($pos===false) { $CSVstruct['EOF'] = true; return substr($CSVstruct['File'],$CSVstruct['Seek']); } else { $pos1 = $CSVstruct['Seek']; $CSVstruct['Seek'] = $pos+1; return substr($CSVstruct['File'],$pos1,$pos-$pos1); }; }; } /** Initialize ad_network variable */ $ad_logic = new ad_logic($PATH_TO_AD_FILE); $ad_network = $ad_logic->ad_network($PATH_TO_AD_FILE); ?>