Like many listeners with satellite radio receivers at home or in their car, I turned on my XM Radio receiver this morning with a mixture of anticipation and dread. Would the merger between XM and Sirius improve variety and selection, or would the combination result in the worst of both channels and the loss of favorite DJs and program directors? Seeing channel names on the lineup released last week didn't really answer my questions. And, really, it's impossible to answer that question completely based on, oh, 15 hours of broadcasting. (Even if you're listening online as I am today, you can't listen to everything.)
So the jury's out for the moment.
But even awaiting today one channel I wasn't worried about was the Station Formerly Known As XMKids. And there's a good reason for that...
XMKids has now been rebranded as Kids Place Live, but "rebranding" is the right verb as little if anything has changed from the old XMKids lineup. (Which might be unfortunate for artists who got lots of play on Sirius Kids Stuff, but oh well...) Kenny Curtis is still there in the morning with the Animal Farm, Absolutely Mindy holds down the afternoon, and Robbie Schaefer is still going to be stuck in that Real Tall Tree this evening.
And it's in that Real Tall Tree I'm going to be stuck in myself tomorrow (Thursday) night. That's right, I'm going to be making my live radio debut tomorrow night about 8 PM Eastern, talking with Robbie about new albums, live shows, Fids and Kamily (but not the results), and who the heck knows what else. The chat will be the first in a semi-regular series, which could even see me make an appearance or two on the Absolutely Mindy show.
Anyway, hope you'll tune in -- you can even get a free trial to listen on your computer here. And for more Kids Place Live news, I'd recommend Kids Place Live Fans, where Gwyneth's got constant news and updates.
