Playboy Radio
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Playboy Radio is a radio station on Sirius Satellite Radio. Playboy Radio was originally launched on XM Satellite Radio in September 2002. It was an attempt by Playboy Enterprises to parlay its enormously popular softcore porn product to radio; not an easy task given Playboy's reliance on photos for fame. Included were programs such as Night Calls Radio, originally hosted by adult film star Juli Ashton and Playboy TV star Tiffany Granath. 1980's porn star Christy Canyon was brought in as a replacement when Ashton left to pursue other ventures in April/May 2005. The channel also featured programs such as Playboy TV's Sex Court and Sexy Stories. It was XM's first premium station—offered à la carte on top of the base XM subscription price (High Voltage featuring Opie and Anthony would be the second). Playboy Radio gained a healthy following in the short time it was offered, including a dedicated group of Night Calls fans that established a strong online presence, although many complained the station offered too little content for the monthly price.
On 2005-08-20, the XM Radio website informed customers that as of 2005-09-01, XM would no longer be offering the Playboy Radio channel. The removal of Playboy Radio brought the end of XM's premium stations as High Voltage was made available free of charge to all subscribers earlier in the year.
In January 2006, XM's competitor Sirius Satellite Radio announced they were picking up Playboy Radio and would be offering more shows than XM did. Playboy Radio debuted on Sirius Satellite Radio in March 2006 on channel 198. Unlike on XM, Playboy Radio is free of charge on Sirius, though subscribers will have to "opt-in" in order to receive the stream of the channel.
Currently, Playboy radio offers many shows, amongst them the popular Night Calls, now hosted by Christy Canyon and Ginger Lynn. New programming includes The Playboy Radio Morning Show, billed as "an audio version of Playboy magazine and featuring segments by Playboy founder and editor-in-chief Hugh Hefner; The Playmate Hour, featuring current and past Playboy Playmate centerfolds; and Afternoon Advice, an afternoon call-in show hosted by Tiffany Granath and a rotating panel of "sex experts."
In June 2006, Sirius Canada added Playboy Radio as part of a 10-channel addition to its lineup. While the channel is included with subscriptions, listeners had to "opt in" in order to unlock and receive the channel.
