SIRIUS XM Radio will offer listeners around the country comprehensive coverage of the 2009-10 NHL season with an extensive schedule of live play-by-play of NHL games and daily hockey talk on the NHL Home Ice channel.

Starting with tonight’s Opening Night games and through the Stanley Cup Final, XM listeners will have access to live play-by-play of every regular season and playoff game on XM channels 204-209. SIRIUS subscribers with the “Best of XM” programming package will get most regular season games and every NHL postseason game on SIRIUS channels 208-220.

In addition to live games, SIRIUS XM offers the 24/7 hockey talk radio channel, NHL Home Ice, on XM channel 204 and SIRIUS channel 208 with the “Best of XM.” NHL Home Ice features live play-by-play, plus hockey talk, news and analysis every day of the year.

NHL Home Ice features the weekly live show, NHL Hour, hosted by NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and a rotation of League executives, including Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly and Senior Executive VP of Hockey Operations Colin Campbell. The hour-long show, co-hosted by former NHL player Bill Clement, debuts today and airs every Thursday (4:00 pm ET). NHL Hour provides listeners with the latest news and events from the highest levels of the NHL and encourages fans to submit questions by calling 1-877-NHL-ON-XM or emailing HOMEICE@xmradio.ca.

NHL fans can also tune in to SIRIUS channel 122 for CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada Radio (weekdays, 4:00 – 7:00 pm ET), hosted by Jeff Marek, Kelly Hrudey, Cassie Campbell Pascall, Craig Simpson and Scott Morrison.

On SIRUS XM Sports Nation, SIRIUS channel 122 and XM channel 143, former New York Rangers forward Ron Duguay and former New Jersey Devils defenseman Ken Daneyko host their weekly show, Ice Breakers (Thursdays, 7:00 – 9:00 pm ET), a lifestyle-themed show that features the duo’s thoughts on the NHL, lifestyle, entertainment and more.

Source: SIRIUS XM Radio

SIRIUS XM Radio announced that it will offer live hole-by-hole coverage of the 2009 Masters Tournament this Thursday, April 9, through Sunday, April 12, nationwide on XM channel 146 and on SIRIUS channel 209 with the “Best of XM” programming package.

SIRIUS XM will offer listeners extensive coverage of the season’s first major championship with live play-by-play from Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, GA, plus expert analysis every day of Masters Week.

Live broadcasts from Augusta will begin at 12:00 pm ET Thursday through Sunday with SIRIUS XM’s John Tautges and Brian Katrek hosting The Masters Today, a daily preview show that will lead into each day’s on-course play-by-play. The live hole-by-hole coverage will air from 2:00 pm ET through the end of each day’s play giving fans live reports from around the course and access to golfers on and off the leaderboard. On-course coverage will be immediately followed by a nightly wrap-up show, Masters Replay, that will include a recap of the day’s action with highlights, analysis and interviews with players.

In addition to the live play-by-play, SIRIUS XM listeners will hear daily talk and analysis by The PGA TOUR Network’s lineup of expert hosts.

Every weekday morning, listeners can tune into special Masters editions of the daily talk shows Playing Thru (8:00-10:00 am ET), hosted by T.J. Rives, and Making The Turn (10:00-11:00 am ET), hosted by Peter Kessler.

Tuesday, April 7 (7:00 am ET), brings a new edition of oPINionated, the weekly talk show hosted by popular PGA TOUR member Chris DiMarco and broadcaster Greg Warmoth, featuring DiMarco’s thoughts on the week in Augusta. oPINionated re-airs throughout the week.

On Wednesday, April 8 (3:00-4:00 pm ET), John Tautges will host The Masters Preview Show, offering listeners a review of the tournament field teeing off the following day, plus a look back at Masters history.

Source: SIRIUS XM Radio

CBSSports.com, in partnership with CBS Sports, CBS College Sports Network and the NCAA will provide a live online broadcast of the Men’s Final Four semifinal and championship games of the 2009 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship via NCAA March Madness on Demand (ncaa.com/mmod). It will be just the second time ever that a major U.S. sporting event has been shown live and in its entirety on the Internet.

The continued success of NCAA March Madness on Demand builds on the growth of the broadcast of the tournament on the CBS Television Network. CBS Sports’ coverage through the first four rounds of the 2009 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship is up +7% in the metered markets from 2008.

The 2009 Men’s Final Four features the University of Connecticut (uconnhuskies.com), Michigan State University (msuspartans.com), the University of North Carolina (tarheelblue.com) and Villanova University (villanova.com). For the second consecutive year, the official web sites for all four schools participating in the Men’s Final Four are managed and produced by CBS College Sports.

NCAA March Madness on Demand traffic figures through Sunday, March 29

• 6.92 million unique visitors to the NCAA March Madness on Demand video player (2008 figure was 4.43 million — 56% growth)

• 8.04 million total hours of live streaming video and audio consumed (2008 figure was 4.69 million – 71% growth)

• 2.7 million clicks of the “Boss Button” (2008 figure was 2.5 million for entire tournament)

This year’s record growth was driven by an extensive promotional campaign across all CBS platforms that helped drive awareness and excitement for this year’s tournament. NCAA March Madness on Demand (MMOD) is the Emmy award-winning video player that provides live streaming video and audio of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship. Since its inception in 2003, MMOD traditionally provided live video of the first 56 games, starting with the first round, of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship as they were broadcast by CBS Sports, with local broadcasts being subject to blackouts. Beginning in 2008, MMOD started showing all 63 games from the first round of the tournament through the semifinal and final games of the Men’s Final Four, making it the only major sporting event that is broadcast live and in its entirety for free on the Internet. NCAA March Madness on Demand is available internationally as well.

NCAA March Madness on Demand can be viewed through a standard video player and a High-Quality option, both offered free of charge by presenting sponsors and NCAA Corporate Champions AT&T, Coca-Cola, and Pontiac.

Source: CBSSports.com