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Today, XM Satellite Radio launches its much-ballyhooed Oprah and Friends channel with a roster of programs hosted by friends of Oprah Winfrey's, including spiritual author Marianne Williamson, poet Maya Angelou, best friend Gayle King and fitness expert Bob Greene. This morning Winfrey will ring Nasdaq's opening bell, and the Oprah and Friends programming will launch at 11 a.m. on XM channel 156 with "Oprah and Gayle," a phone conversation between Winfrey and King. "I don't categorize it as programming for women so much as programming for interesting people," Harpo Radio general manager John Gehron said, although he quipped, "I've become a more sensitive man listening to all this programming."

"It's nighttime in the big city," a woman's voice intones, low and even, as thunder rumbles in the distance. "Rain is falling in the big city. Fog rolls in from the waterfront. A night-shift nurse smokes the last cigarette in her pack." With that archetypal Edward Hopper moment begins the first show of Bob Dylan's new career as a disc jockey, set to air today at 10 a.m. on subscription-only XM Satellite Radio in what is perhaps the most anticipated of the burgeoning medium's high-profile roll-outs -- with the possible exception of the considerably less poetic Howard Stern, who debuted in January on XM's rival, Sirius.

It's been four months since Howard Stern, the self-proclaimed King of All Media, abandoned terrestrial radio, but the personalities who sought to fill his shoes are still struggling to find their footing. Audience ratings released last week for the first three months of the year show dismal numbers for most of Stern's successors in morning drive-time on terrestrial radio. One, the former rock singer David Lee Roth, who never took to his new gig and admitted as much on the air, was fired, and replaced last week in seven major markets -- including New York, Boston and Philadelphia -- by a duo more in tune with Stern's shock-jock persona, Opie and Anthony.

The orbit of XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. wobbled yesterday as the nation's largest pay-radio service said its fourth-quarter and annual losses widened and a company director quit after warning of an impending crisis. Shares fell 5 percent as investors learned of concerns raised by former XM director Pierce Roberts Jr. that the company may be spending too much to attract subscribers in its rivalry with Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. Revenue more than doubled to $177 million and the company signed up more than 2.7 million new subscribers, bringing its total to more than 6 million.

In the high-stakes battle for the nation's burgeoning satellite-radio audience, luring the biggest name in television is akin to winning the Super Bowl. That's the message Oprah Winfrey and XM Satellite Radio were sending yesterday, when they announced that she had signed a three-year, $55 million agreement to launch a new channel on XM called Oprah & Friends. The centerpiece of the 24-hour channel, to begin airing in September, will be a taped, weekly half-hour show with Winfrey and her longtime friend, Gayle King, the editor of Winfrey's monthly magazine, as hosts.

Bob Dylan shocked his fans 40 years ago by embracing the electric guitar. Now he's stunning a few more by embracing another technological innovation: satellite radio. The singer has signed on to serve as host of a weekly one-hour program on XM Satellite Radio, spinning records and offering commentary on new music and other topics, starting in March. The famously reclusive 64-year-old performer said in a statement yesterday that "a lot of my own songs have been played on the radio, but this is the first time I've ever been on the other side of the mike."

If you're old enough to remember the words: "Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear," you may be surprised to learn that, thanks to new technology, the Lone Ranger and other stars of classic radio are riding once again. But these days, programs from the golden age of radio are available for download from the Internet to CDs, MP3 players and cell phones. "Research shows that the older generation is the fastest-growing group of Internet users," says Jeffery Dittus, CEO of Media Bay, a digital media and publishing company.

XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc., the biggest satellite radio service, reached an 11-year, $650 million agreement yesterday to broadcast Major League Baseball games, countering Sirius Satellite Radio Inc.'s contracts to carry National Football League games and Howard Stern's talk show. XM Satellite, based in Washington, is adding attractions to maintain its subscriber lead over Sirius, the second-largest pay-radio service. XM Satellite said in a statement that it will broadcast the games beginning in 2005.

Shock jock Howard Stern, who has earned a living - and the wrath of the FCC - with his foul mouth and sexual humor, is taking his act from the commercial airwaves to satellite radio. There, the government won't be able to regulate what he says, but his listeners will have to pay to hear it. In a deal announced yesterday, and valued at $500 million over five years, Stern will broadcast exclusively on Sirius Satellite Radio, which charges subscribers to listen to its 120 channels. Off the public airwaves, Stern will be freed from regulation by the Federal Communications Commission, which has repeatedly found his show indecent and has fined radio stations for airing it. "I'm done with this kind of radio," Stern said on the air yesterday in announcing his decision.

NEW YORK - Radio bad boys Opie and Anthony are coming back, and they just might be badder than ever. This time, however, they do come at a price for listeners. Starting Oct. 4, the former syndicated afternoon hosts will do a four-hour show each morning on XM Satellite Radio, where there are almost no content restrictions and which is creating a premium channel just for Gregg (Opie) Hughes and Anthony Cumia. That means fans have to buy an XM radio, pay the regular $9.99 monthly subscription fee and then pay an additional $1.99 per month for the new channel, which will start with just Opie and Anthony before it adds other programming.