The following 39 XM/Sirius XM channels were, overseen, programmed, created, or developed by Mike Abrams. (Click Logo or scroll down for details)
From a month after arriving at XM, I oversaw the Pop channels (as well as the dance channels. 20 ON 20 was the biggest Top 40 outlet in the country, with more cume than Z100/NY at one time. It was an interactive countdown channel, where votes would be tabulated each hour based on phone calls and web voting. We also exposed new music as well. KISS and MIX were two channels that were programmed by ClearChannel, and at the time I was there, were programmed in house by programmer Kevin Kash. I worked with Kevin to insure the channels fit into the grand plan of the XM system, and worked with him on many aspects of the channels. The HEART was the original XM love songs channel, which I oversaw and later programmed, and Sirius XM Love was the same after the merger of Sirius and XM. Escape is what used to be called “beautiful music” channel, programmed by Marlin Taylor, which I oversaw. The BLEND I programmed since it came on. Before there were JACK formats, this channel was billed as a “lifestyle AC.” Basically, it was geared to anyone in their mid-40s to 50s, and played songs that they would know, regardless of era. This gave it a standout sound from other ACs, and was unique as it strived to include a generation, and the music they knew and loved. Flight 26 was programmed by me, and was closest to what was called a HOT AC at the time. There were lots of artist specials and features that people enjoyed. John Mayer even said it was his second favorite channel (next to Soul Street). The Hitlist was a mainstream Top 40 channel that was ahead of the curve and broke a lot of new music. While we had 20 on 20 for the big hits, this brand was much more aggressive, and served a different purpose. Pop2K was our 2000-today channel and with it, we were able to highlight the music of the past decade, much that cannot be heard anywhere else.
Pop
Decades
At Sirius XM, I oversaw the 40s channel, and helped with the transition from former XM programmer Bob Moke to Sirius legacy programmer Human Numan, who programs the channel to this day. I also oversaw the 50s and 60s channels, programmed by Lou Simon. I always believe that hiring good people and giving them the opportunity to excel and come up with ideas themselves, is the right way to go. I worked closely with our programmers to help them accomplish what they wanted and as a sounding board, and to give suggestions of better ways to do things. During different points in my 11 years with Satellite One and Sirius XM, I programmed the 90s channel as well as oversaw programmers for it. As programmer of the channel, I welcomed the challenge of creating something that is not normally heard of terrestrial radio, as 90s and Gen X stations didn’t yet exist, as well as keep a decade that was extremely musically fragmented interesting to our subscribers. Coming up with special and fun features was a big part of that, as well as DJ interaction, and allowing the subscribers to relive this period. The target listener of this channel during the 2000s was a recent top 40 listener, mainly younger, and the channel was geared as such. We took advantage of special weekends with doing all 90s mixes, party weekends (with simulated parties on the air) as well as other things that would be relevant and fun. Musically, there were always the big mainstream hits, but we didn’t shy away from regional hits and those that weren’t “A” hits all the time, to give people plenty of oh wow moments. Programming these channels was done for the music fan, and the casual listener was always along as well, but when creating any kind of premium programming, it is important I feel to make sure there is something of value available.
Dance
I have overseen the dance channels for XM and later Sirius XM since 2004. The MOVE was our original trance channel. CHILL came on the XM platform while I was there, and I oversaw programmer Luis Baro, who programmed that channel. The SYSTEM was a channel that was programmed by one of our 3rd party partners at XM, Worldspace, which I oversaw as well. CHROME on XM, and later STROBE were disco and classic dance channels programmed by me. STUDIO 54 RADIO was a channel I assembled most recently at Sirius XM, which received extremely positive reviews. BPM is one of the most listened to channels on the system, and I worked with my programmers Alan Freed, Skyy, and Geronimo over the years to create a format which literally is one of the few places dance is embraced nationwide. BPM has consistently won awards every year by various entities. ELECTRIC AREA is a channel which features the top mixers in the world. This is a true dance fans dream of a channel because of this.
Urban
As Director of Operations for Satellite One, a Division of Radio One Inc., I was responsible for the creation, programming, and maintenance of all aspects of our XM channels, as we were partnered with XM to provide 5 channels of programming as part of the original XM plan. During this time, we built new state of the art studios, utilizing the same equipment as XM for their own channels at the Radio One Lanham national headquarters. I hired and oversaw 5 programmers for our channels, as well as a total staff of 64 persons, which included programmers, jocks, producers, talk show talent, engineers, and more. Some of the highlights from this experience include creating CLUB 82, the first all mix show channel (later replaced by The City), in which we built a state of the art dual studio for mixing. The FLOW was originally created as our Urban Top 40 branded channel, however as the Neo-Soul movement became more popular in the early 2000s, this channel was rebranded as a true Neo Soul channel, and The City was added as the Urban Top 40 channel. RAW was the first uncensored Hip Hop channel at a time, when this was not available anywhere. The SPIRIT was a gospel channel, at a time when the rise of the format was becoming prevalent, especially in the south, and there were many un-served markets. The POWER was the first African American 24/7 nationwide talk channel. Hosts such as Joe Madison (who is on The Power as well as TV One each morning still today) and Mark Thompson rounded out a group of people which brought the first unique perspective of many topics to the African American community, including Money Matters, sports, relationship advice, and a political show directly from Capitol Hill each day. The POWER was truly a huge creation in a previously nonexistent area.
Specialty
I also oversaw The MESSAGE which was our contemporary Christian Channel. The EYE was a rhythmic top 40 which was originally online only, and later went on the satellite service as THE HEAT. There were many micro channels that would be on for limited times which I created. 30 DAYS OF COLDPLAY was in celebration of their album release. XM THRILLER celebrated the anniversary of the THRILLER album, and featured EVERY Jacksons song, plus never before heard audio from Michael in the studio. XM VETS was an unaired channel created for Veterans Day. Christmas in July was a Christmas channel in July. PARTY CITY was a New Year ’s Eve party channel, which featured a variety of party music from many genres. MARDI GRAS was a channel celebrating New Orleans, its music and culture.
Holiday
I oversaw and created HOLLY, which was our mainstream Holiday channel and was ranked most listened to while it was on. HOLIDAY TRADITIONS was our traditional Christmas Channel which I also oversaw and programmed. Radio Hanukkah was the 1st nationwide celebration of Hanukkah and Jewish culture built from the ground up. Instead of just having “Hanukkah” music, I decided to make this channel the epitome of Jewish culture. There were special Kids segments, live performances every day, blessings over the candles in every time zone, Yiddish segments, Israeli music hosted by the world renowned David Broza and much more. This channel received thousands of the most positive emails due to the care in programming and the passion that myself and the rest of the team put into it.
