SiriusXM Launching All-Soccer Channel SiriusXM FC; Fox Soccer Adds SI's Grant Wahl

SiriusXM Radio Thursday announced the creation of new soccer channel, SiriusXM FC. The channel will launch Monday and feature soccer content around the clock, including live match broadcsats (Sirius). In N.Y., Jack Bell reported the channel “will also be available to subscribers using a smartphone app and online.” It “joins a satellite sports lineup that includes SiriusXM NFL Radio, MLB Network Radio and SiriusXM Nascar Radio.” SiriusXM President & Chief Content Officer Scott Greenstein said, “We’ve built successful sports channels without the benefit of play-by-play. No one else has succeeded in doing that.” Sirius “first dipped its toes into the soccer waters when ‘The Football Show,’ with Charlie Stillitano and Giorgio Chinaglia, who died earlier this year, went live in 2006.” That show “now includes” Stillitano along with John Harkes, Ray Hudson and Neil Barnett on weekdays at 7:00am ET. The channel in '06 also “began carrying live commentary from the UEFA Champions League.” Now it has added games from the EPL, England’s FA Cup and "just signed a deal to carry live broadcasts of playoff games" for MLS, which begin in three weeks. The channel will also carry “MLS Extra Time” on Mondays and Thursdays at 7:00pm, “Men in Blazers” with Roger Bennett and Michael Davies, “Fox Soccer News” daily at 10:00pm, and programming from U.K.-based TalkSport (NYTIMES.com, 10/11).

ANOTHER BRICK IN THE WAHL: Fox Soccer on Thursday announced the addition of SI’s Grant Wahl as a weekly contributor beginning Tuesday to the net’s shows, including “Goals On Sunday” and “Fox Soccer News." Wahl will report from N.Y. and his analysis will complement commentary and discussions from studio host Rob Stone and analysts Warren Barton, Eric Wynalda and Brian McBride (Fox Soccer).