SiriusXM Radio will present a lineup of live concerts, DJ sets and a New Year’s Eve music channel to usher in 2013. Listeners can hear a wide range of live concert music from across the country from entertainers including Willie Nelson, Gregg Allman, Widespread Panic, The Lumineers, Southside Johnny and Little Feat.

The live concert broadcasts will include: Willie Nelson from Austin City Limits Live at The Moody Theater in Austin, Texas (Willie’s Roadhouse, channel 56); Gregg Allman at the House of Blues in New Orleans, La. (Classic Vinyl, channel 26); Widespread Panic at Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, N.C. (Jam_On, channel 29); The Lumineers at Ogden Theatre in Denver, Colo. (The Spectrum, channel 28); Southside Johnny at Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank, N.J. (E Street Radio, channel 20); and Little Feat’s concert at The Hamilton in Washington, D.C. (Radio Margaritaville, channel 24).

Additionally, Real Jazz (Channel 67) will present NPR’s annual “Toast of the Nation” featuring coast to coast live jazz performances from Wynton Marsalis, John Scofield, Dee Alexander and Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band.

The Pulse (Channel 10) will broadcast performances from the “Live in the Vineyard Concert” in Napa, Calif. featuring performances by Alanis Morissette, Gavin DeGraw, Grace Potter and Paloma Faith. The Spectrum (Channel 28) will air The Avett Brothers’ New Year’s Eve performance at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex in Greensboro, N.C., immediately following the live Lumineers broadcast.

New Year’s Nation (Channel 3), will feature upbeat party songs from various music genres. The channel will launch at 3:00 p.m. ET on Monday (Dec. 31) and will air through Tuesday (Jan. 1) at 6:00 p.m. ET.

For more information on SiriusXM Radio’s New Year’s Eve programming, visit siriusxm.com/holiday.

Patrick Carney

SiriusXM Radio announced Patrick Carney, drummer of The Black Keys, as host of a new series featuring a wide range of independent music from his personal collection.

The show, titled Serious Boredom, premieres on SiriusXM channel 35 tonight (Dec. 20) at 8:00 p.m. ET with new episodes debuting the first Thursday of every month beginning in January 2013.

“When an influential artist like Patrick Carney gets behind the mic and invites listeners for an inside look into his inspirations and personal favorites, it’s a special, must-hear moment for our subscribers,” said Scott Greenstein, President and Chief Content Officer, SiriusXM, via a release. “And we know Patrick’s Serious Boredom will be anything but.”

During the first broadcast, Carney will play music by artists like Pavement, Guided By Voices and Yo La Tengo as well as a new duet by Adam Green and Binki Shapiro.

After each broadcast, Serious Boredom will be available on SiriusXM On Demand for subscribers via Internet Radio App or online at siriusxm.com.

Nielsen today (Dec. 18) announced an agreement to acquire Arbitron Inc. for $1.26 billion. The deal is subject to regulatory approval.

Nielsen is home to SoundScan, which tabulates album and digital track purchases. The company’s BDS division measures radio airplay. This data is used to determine radio and sales charts published in Billboard. Nielsen also measures television ratings, consumer spending, demographics and much more.

Arbitron calculates local radio station ratings, network and national radio audience measurement, and much more.

Nielsen has agreed to acquire all of the outstanding common stock of Arbitron for $48 per share in cash, representing a premium of approximately 26 percent to Arbitron’s closing price on December 17, 2012.

“U.S. consumers spend almost 2 hours a day with radio. It is and will continue to be a vibrant and important advertising medium,” said Nielsen Chief Executive Officer David Calhoun. “Arbitron will help Nielsen better solve for unmeasured areas of media consumption, including streaming audio and out-of-home. The high level of engagement with radio and TV among rapidly growing multicultural audiences makes this central to Nielsen’s priorities.”

With Arbitron assets, Nielsen intends to further expand its “Watch” segment’s audience measurement across screens and forms of listening. “These integrated, innovative capabilities will enable broader measurement of consumer media behavior in more markets around the world,” said Steve Hasker, Nielsen President of Global Media Products and Advertiser Solutions. “We will also bring local clients greater visibility to empower more precise advertising placement and campaign effectiveness.”

“Radio reaches more than 92 percent of all American teens and adults because they love to listen to music, talk, news and information while at home, at work and in their cars,” said William T. Kerr, President and Chief Executive Officer of Arbitron. “By combining Nielsen’s global capabilities and scale with Arbitron’s unique radio measurement and listening information, advertisers and media clients will have better insights into consumer behavior and the return on marketing investments.”

Earlier this month it was announced that Kerr will retire and Sean R. Creamer will take over as Pres./CEO of Arbitron effective Jan. 1.

I do not want to come off as someone trying to defend cutting jobs in the broadcast business. I have spent my entire career in radio and have never had a job outside of the business. All of my friends are in the radio/music business.

That said, I cannot fault Clear Channel for making cuts this month. I agree the timing was poor, coming between Thanksgiving and Christmas, but there’s no good time to be let go from your job. What if they had waited until January 3^rd after you over spent on Christmas gifts? When you get laid off, fired, cut back, whatever you call it, checking the calendar is not the first thing they do. Beyond the fiscal year being the driver of these firings, I am not even sure the bean counters think about the holidays being around the corner. They never take their faces out of spreadsheets long enough to realize the impact.  The timing is crummy considering the bosses are in the budgeting process in October but credit themselves with holding off on the cuts as long as they can.

All that said, companies are allowed to conduct their businesses as they see fit. Last week I wrote about streaming music and the inability to show a profit for almost anyone in the space. Broadcast companies are not doing a lot better. It might be because of an unrealistic debt burden, albeit one brought on by trying to bite off more than they can chew. It certainly is about the economic problems that America has been mired in for years. No one is willing to stick their neck out and make a financial commitment to advertising because many companies are not sure that they can grow their business in this environment. When automobile advertising went south years ago, the fate of the guys who lost their jobs last week was set.

I know the popular thinking is the guys at the top of the pyramid are raking in millions while the worker bees are stung. I don’t know the hierarchy of Clear Channel; however, I do know a lot of smaller broadcasters where this is not the case. Everyone shares the pain. Perhaps not to the extent of firings every month, but if someone does leave they are not replaced and that impacts those left standing. Agreed, I would rather be one of those guys.

I have a few friends that are now looking for work after last week. I am sad for them. I have been there. You’re first hit with a feeling of, “Could I have done something differently?” This is followed by, “It’s not my fault. They are dumb,” and then, “Am I prepared to uproot my entire life?” Those of us not directly touched by these layoffs have a responsibility to our friends who have been let go. You don’t have to make up the spare room, but be sure you reach out to them and let them know you’re thinking about them and keeping an ear out for something they would be suited for.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of MusicRow.)

Sean R. Creamer

The Board of Directors of Arbitron Inc. announced today (12/13) plans to appoint Sean R. Creamer President and Chief Executive Officer effective January 1, 2013. Creamer will succeed William T. Kerr who has announced his intention to retire as President and Chief Executive Officer. Kerr will continue to serve on the Arbitron Board of Directors.

“The Board of Directors and I are very pleased to welcome Sean as President and CEO of Arbitron,” said Philip Guarascio, Chairman of Arbitron’s Board of Directors. “Sean is a seasoned media and marketing executive with years of leadership experience at Arbitron. We would like to thank Bill Kerr on behalf of everyone at Arbitron for his many contributions to the company as President and CEO.”

Creamer has been Arbitron’s Executive VP Chief Operating Officer since August 2011, where he was responsible for Arbitron’s core business (ratings, qualitative and software) and for executing the company’s global strategies. Creamer joined Arbitron in 2005 as Executive VP, Finance and Planning. That same year, he was named Chief Financial Officer at Arbitron.

Prior to joining Arbitron, Creamer was Senior VP and Chief Financial Officer of Laureate Education, Inc.