The Infinite Dial

In a move sure to gladden the hearts of terrestrial Rock radio PDs, XM Satellite Radio announced this afternoon that it will unveil a "Mandatory Metallica" channel for six weeks beginning Aug. 16. The channel (airing on the XM side of the newly combined Sirius XM) will be hosted by band members (including James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich) and feature other artists, from Atreyu and Dragonforce to Triumph and Guns 'N' Roses commenting on the band's importance.

Satellite radio was headed in this direction well before the Sirius/XM merger, of course, but it's interesting to see a satellite channel, even briefly, branded after one of Rock radio's best-known benchmarks -- a change from the early days when your XM employment was in jeopardy for mentioning anything that smacked of, well, radio. Now, with Mel Karmazin working to position Sirius XM as "the largest pure-play radio company," those days are officially over.