Radio on Satellite Radio… coming again soon!
July 21, 2026We can put to rest the rumors of iHeart and SiriusXM merging.
Today SiriusXM announced a new affiliation with Audacy and will begin to carry the terrestrial company’s 23 sports talk stations, including Pittsburgh’s KDKA-FM (93.7) and 8 others over the satellite platform on September 1. The remainder of the 23 will be available via SXM’s app and vehicles with the 360L technology. Audacy’s 19 news stations – including Pittsburgh’s KDKA-AM (1020) will be picked up via the app and 360L later in the year.
When still separate providers, XM had an agreement with Clear Channel (now iHeart). Clear Channel owned the rights to a few of the satellite stations and XM carried KIIS from Los Angeles. The satellite companies eventually morphed into other stations programmed by XM. The two companies merged in 2008 but the agreement with Clear Channel and eventually iHeart to carry KIIS lasted until 2022.
With this agreement, SXM will pay Audacy a licensing fee in order to insert their own commercials over the local ads. The move also opens cross-promotional opportunities for the personalities in each city.
