SiriusXM has announced a ton of new programming for Super Bowl week – including 13 different broadcasts of the big game, available in 10 different languages.

Subscribers will have access to the national broadcast as well as both the Patriots and Giant-specific broadcasts (for those who like a little slant in their coverage). Alongside those three English broadcasts, the game can also be heard in Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, German, Hungarian, Portuguese, Russian, Dutch, and French. Here’s a schedule of channels:

New England Patriots broadcast – Sirius 86 / XM 226 / Online 879
New York Giants broadcast – Sirius 92 / XM 225 / Online 881
National radio broadcast – Sirius 88 / XM 88 / Online 88
Spanish broadcast – Sirius 149 / XM 234 / Online 870
BBC Radio broadcast – Sirius 93 / XM 227 / Online 861
Chinese broadcast – Sirius 139 / XM 231 / Online 866
Japanese broadcast – Sirius 94 / XM 228 / Online 862
German broadcast – Sirius 138 / XM 233 / Online 865
Hungarian broadcast – Sirius 113 / XM 235 / Online 869
Portuguese broadcast – Sirius 137 / XM 230 / Online 864
Russian broadcast – Sirius 117 / XM 236 / Online 868
Dutch broadcast – Sirius 134 / XM 229 / Online 863
French broadcast – Sirius 136 / XM 232 / Online 867

If your subscription also includes SiriusXM Internet radio access, you can listen to the game online and via the Internet Radio app.

All of the multi-language big game coverage is also being supplemented by exclusive radio broadcasts all-through the week leading up to Sunday. Starting Monday, January 30th, SiriusXM will broadcast interviews and discussion from Radio Row in Indianapolis. Here’s their list of special shows taking place during the week and the time and place that you can listen to them:

Rosie O’Donnell will host a special edition of SiriusXM’s Rosie Radio, featuring celebrity guests, live from Radio Row in Indianapolis on Friday from 12:00 to 2:00 pm ET on SiriusXM Stars (channel 107).

SiriusXM’s Christopher ‘Mad Dog’ Russo will be in Indianapolis all week to host his daily show, Mad Dog Unleashed, live from Radio Row from 2:00 to 7:00 pm ET. The show is the anchor program for SiriusXM’s all-sports talk channel, Mad Dog Radio (channel 86).

Mad Dog Radio’s Dino Costa will host The Dino Costa Show live from 7:00 to 11:00pm ET from multiple locations around Indianapolis throughout the week including Radio Row (Mon.), Nicky Blaine’s Cocktail Lounge (Tue.), the NFL Experience (Wed.), Buffalo Wild Wings (Thurs.), and the High Velocity Bar at the JW Marriott (Fri.). Costa will also host live from Radio Row on Saturday from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm ET.

Evan Cohen, of Mad Dog Radio’s Evan & Phillips in the Morning, will host the show from Radio Row on Thursday and Friday from 6:00 to 10:00 am ET.

Comedian Larry the Cable Guy will be featured on a Blue Collar Radio special airing live from Radio Row on Wednesday from 2:00 to 3:00 pm ET (channel 97).

Sway Calloway will host Sway in the Morning, his live weekday show on Eminem’s Shade 45 channel, live from Radio Row on Thursday and Friday at 8:00 am ET (channel 45).

On Thursday, Jacksonville Jaguars Pro Bowl running back Maurice Jones-Drew will be on Radio Row to host his SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio show, Runnin’ with MJD, live from 4:00 to 6:00 pm ET (channel 87 on XM and channel 210 on Sirius Premier).

Hall of Fame quarterback Fran Tarkenton will host a special broadcast from Radio Row on Friday at 3:00 pm ET. The show will air on SiriusXM Stars Too (channel 104) on Friday at 10:00 pm, Saturday at 2:00 pm and Sunday at 8:00 am ET.

SiriusXM’s Covino & Rich, hosted by Steve Covino and Rich Davis on SiriusXM Stars Too (channel 104, weekdays at 11:00 am ET), will broadcast from spots around Indianapolis, including the Maxim Party and Radio Row.
Additionally, on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, SiriusXM listeners can tune in for regular traffic and weather reports for the Indianapolis area on SiriusXM channel 145.

Apparently, people really want the guidance of commentary (as well as the spectacle of the whole production). One study found that football fans would actually prefer to watch the Super Bowl on TV as opposed to live. It’s doubtful that same sentiment would also translate to radio but if you don’t speak English, these channels will be a great way to enjoy what’s sure to be a great game.

 Kevin Martin And The FCC Up Next

"[T]he evidence does not demonstrate that the proposed merger of XM and Sirius is likely to substantially lessen competition, and . . . the transaction therefore is not likely to harm consumers," according to a formal statement issued by the government entity.

Granted, the satellite radio market will be wrapped up.  Yet the DoJ took "AM/FM radio, HD Radio, MP3 players (e.g., iPods), and audio offerings delivered through wireless telephones" into consideration.  Add CD players and even in-car computers onto the list, if you like, and we wind up with a laundry list of options that should keep the combined XM-Sirius business from getting too strong.

Also, the DoJ believed cost savings will prevent the combined firm from trying to raise prices, anyway.  The two companies should be able to avoid, or at least streamline, a number of expenses after they begin working together.

A successful merger still depends on the FCC’s approval, but that isn’t seen as a major problem.  After more than a year of PR efforts and thumb-twiddling, it may not be too much longer until the companies instead have to focus on equipment compatibility issues.

 Specter Sees Resolution Happening Soon

During an interview on the Howard Stern Show, Senator Arlen Specter "said . . . a decision should reached by the end of the month," according to an Orbitcast article, which then added, "to his knowledge."

It’s not the strongest possible confirmation – Pat Leahy is actually the Senate Judiciary Committee’s chairman, and Specter’s statement puts uncomfortably narrow (and yet nonspecific) time restrictions on the matter.  But Specter is hardly out of the loop, so we may see something happen soon.

Also, in terms of what that something will be, it seems at least one important onlooker believes the merger will be approved.  As reported by Eric Savitz, a Stifel Nicolaus analyst stated, "The FCC rumblings bolster our sense that the DOJ will likely clear the deal followed by FCC approval with conditions."

Customers and investors surely remain anxious to see what happens; the stocks representing both XM and Sirius have risen quickly in the past couple of days.

A gain of 38 percent in one year’s time is quite good; it brings the total number of subscribers to over 8.3 million, and Mel Karmazin, Sirius’s CEO, stated, "[O]ur gross subscriber additions in 2007 were the highest in the history of satellite radio."

But satellite radio has been around for how long, exactly?  And even if Sirius’s only serious competitor, XM, had grabbed bragging rights to subscriber additions, Sirius intends to merge with XM.

Also, in reference to a Sirius press release, Douglas A. McIntyre adds, "What it did not mention is that it also exited the year with about $1.3 billion in debt and $2.2 billion in total liabilities."

So let the arguments continue.  Just a tip to Sirius (and/or Ron Paul), however: if a few Audi R8s equipped with satellite radio were to show up outside WebProNews’s headquarters, we’d likely be in an optimistic mood for months on end.

Howard Stern and his merry band of entertainers could be looking at shifts in the corporate structure if Google were to deliver on what’s either a really hot rumor or a mischief making writer spinning out the end of a long Friday.

The rumor first appeared on ClickZ, with Zachary Rodgers stirring the pot on a blog entry:

A high profile source is pretty convinced ol’ Goog is on the verge of snapping up Sirius Radio. Heard anything of the sort?

Well, no, honestly, and neither has anyone else, it seems. If it is in the cards for Google to buy itself a satellite outlet for its dMarc/AdWords radio advertising, several things have to happen.

Seeking Alpha blogger Tyler Savery said the proposed merger of Sirius with satellite radio rival XM could get in the way:

So while Google buyouts are fun to consider, any company trying to buy either Sirius or XM would have to do so with very limited cooperation from either company. That adds risk to such a transaction.

Thanks to the various bureaucratic gymnastics involved in the Sirius-XM merger proposal, Savery thinks that deal could be approved and wrapped up before the end of the year. Perhaps Google will be able to deliver Sirius as a holiday gift to its employees and shareholders.