Eminem creates satellite station

Howard Stern has flirted with the idea of taking his microphone to satellite radio, but it turns out that Eminem will be the sector’s first big-name firebrand. This fall, Sirius Satellite Radio will debut a 24-hour “cutting-edge hip-hop music and lifestyle channel” created by the rap star.

While it won’t feature Eminem as a daily host, it will have him as a frequent voice and guiding hand. The co- executive producers for the channel are Eminem’s manager, Paul Rosenberg, and Jimmy Iovine, the chairman of Interscope Records, which puts out the music of Eminem and Shady Records.

Sirius could use the help; the company and its chief sector rival, XM Satellite, are both growing but still have a combined audience of fewer than 2 million. Neither has become profitable.

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-- Geoff Boucher