XM Canada Becomes Exclusive Music Channel Provider for Air Canada
A Landmark Partnership for XM Canada
TORONTO and MONTREAL, Nov. 29 /CNW/ - XM Canada (TSX: XSR) and Air Canada (TSX:AC.a; AC.b) today announced a multi-year agreement to supply music content to all of Air Canada's customers.
Effective March 1, 2007, XM Canada will program all audio content currently provided by the existing "enRouteFM" channels. The new content, which will be branded as being supplied by XM, will be made available on both the existing legacy in-flight entertainment system and the new touch-screen, seatback in-flight entertainment systems being installed on all Air Canada aircraft.
The agreement will make XM Canada's fresh and exciting programming in both English and French accessible to all of the 31 million passengers Air Canada carries each year. Additionally, XM Canada will engage in various marketing activities both on-board the aircraft and in Air Canada's Maple Leaf lounges across the country.
"We are extremely excited to announce this partnership. We will continue to surround our listeners with our unique, desirable content on platforms beyond satellite radio," said Stephen Tapp, President and Chief Operating Officer of XM Canada.
"We want to be everywhere our listeners are, and this relationship will expose us to millions more Canadians every year." "We are pleased to provide our passengers with a wide variety of musical selections, including various genres in both English and French, through our partnership with XM Canada.
We believe XM Canada's superior programming and unique Canadian content is the right fit for our passengers," said Sean Menke, Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer at Air Canada.
"This agreement advances Air Canada's strategy of providing our customers choice and control over their travel through such innovations as our à la carte pricing that allows people to tailor tickets to their individual needs, multi-trip flight passes, and self-check-in, either remotely through the internet or at the airport through kiosks." About Air Canada Air Canada is Canada's largest domestic and international airline and the largest provider of scheduled services in the Canadian market, the Canada-U.S. transborder market and the international market to and from Canada.
Together with its regional affiliate Jazz, Air Canada serves 31 million customers annually and provides direct passenger service to 157 destinations on five continents. Air Canada is a founding member of Star Alliance, providing the world's most comprehensive air transportation network. About Canadian Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. Canadian Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. (TSX: XSR) operates as XM Canada(TM) through its subsidiary, Canadian Satellite Radio Inc. XM is the No. 1 satellite radio service in the universe with the best coverage in the country and offering a unique lineup of premier Canadian and international programming.
XM Canada offers listeners up to 100 channels of unique and exclusive programming including the most NHL(TM) games, PGA TOUR(TM) and Major League Baseball(TM) coverage, the deepest play list, and news, talk, sports, entertainment and children's programming.
After this season, XM will become the exclusive provider of NHL games on satellite radio. General Motors, Honda, Nissan, Toyota, Suzuki and Subaru will offer XM radios in more than 80 different models of vehicles for model year 2007. XM has an exclusive Canadian licence from U.S.-based XM Satellite Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: XMSR), the leading satellite radio provider in the U.S. with more than 7.1 million subscribers.
(From Air Canada)
