Whenever I discuss No Direction Home, Martin Scorsese’s documentary on Bob Dylan, my friends and colleagues usually comment that one of the highlights and most exciting parts of the documentary was learning about the music, books, and people that Dylan openly admitted to being influenced by. That excitement will continue as Bob Dylan will now be hosting a weekly show on XM Radio. Dylan will select the music, offer commentary, interview guests and answer e-mail from listeners during the one-hour program, which is scheduled to start in March. It is a dream come true for the millions of Dylan-obsessed fans who, over the past year, have been getting more and more insight into the reclusive rock star’s life.
Dylan’s show is another success for satellite radio over conventional broadcasting. Howard Stern, who will be moving to Sirius radio on January 9th, is another high profile host that will be making the jump to satellite. Stern, who signed a contract for $500 million over five years, hopes to help Sirius close the gap between XM’s 5 million customers to Sirius’s 2 million.
It took almost 2 years for XM to negotiate a deal with Dylan and the amount he will be getting paid is not being disclosed. A national audience, a commercial-free program, and “total creative freedom” to air whatever he wants attracted Dylan to finally work a deal with XM. Lee Abrams, XM’s chief programmer, said that Dylan would be able to broadcast from wherever he wants.
Over the past year, Dylan has given his first interview in 19 years on 60 Minutes, was the subject of a Martin Scorsese-directed documentary series, and wrote a book that spent 19 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. Dylan also provided his song “Lovesick” for a Victoria’s Secret commercial that he also appeared in.
Dylan’s yet-to-be-named show will debut in March 2006 on XM’s deep album rock channel Deep Tracks (XM channel 40).
Source: Jeff Thrope
