Sirius Xm brings Notorious Radio back for 30 days
Sirius xm brought back Notorious Radio for Black Music Month 2024, giving listeners a limited window to hear a channel built around Christopher Wallace, the Brooklyn-born rapper known as the Notorious B.I.G. The run is split between app access from June 5–31, 2024 and satellite access on channel 79 from June 25–30.
The programming centers on a clear commercial idea: a short-run tribute tied to a specific month and a specific anniversary. It marks 30 years since Ready to Die and keeps the focus on Wallace’s catalog rather than a broad hip-hop sampler.
Christopher Wallace on channel 79
Notorious Radio honors Wallace with his entire catalog, plus music inspired by him and tracks from other hip-hop artists and luminaries paying tribute to the rap legend. SiriusXM is effectively packaging a legacy channel around a single artist with enough cultural weight to support a temporary programming slot.
Rolling Stone called the Notorious B.I.G. “the greatest rapper that ever lived,” and SiriusXM used that description in its announcement. The wording is blunt, and for a radio service it signals the pitch plainly: this is not a nostalgia exercise built on generic oldies, but a named-catalog event centered on one of hip-hop’s most bankable legacies.
Black Music Month 2024 window
The limited availability is the catch. App listeners had the longer run, while satellite listeners got only June 25–30 on channel 79. That split means the service is using the app to carry the promotion across most of the month, then giving satellite subscribers a shorter burst at the end.
For listeners, the practical move is simple: the channel is only live during the stated June windows, and the app offers the broader access period. If you want the full run, the app is the safer route; if you rely on satellite, the listening window is tighter and ends on June 30.
Ready to Die at 30 years
Thirty years after Ready to Die, SiriusXM is leaning on a catalog strategy that keeps the focus on one name, one album milestone, and one month of programming. That is the point of the channel: short duration, specific legacy, and enough exclusivity to make the listening window itself part of the event.
