The satellite radio provider SiriusXM has been making a push in recent years to expand outside the car, which when you think about it is a smart move to diversify itself away from just those moments when you happen to be on the road and you happen to turn on the radio for a few minutes. SiriusXM announced late last year its acquisition of music streaming service Pandora, for example, and the company has also brought its service to smartphones as one more way to access it outside the car.
And now, thanks to an integration announced today, SiriusXM has expanded its reach even further.
Starting next week, you’ll be able to stream SiriusXM’s lineup of channels via the Google Assistant on smart devices like the Nest Mini and Nest Hub, plus Android and iOS phones as well as everywhere else Assistant is available.
According to Google product manager Will Hennessy, this will be available first in the US and Canada starting in English and expanding to Canadian French soon. “With just your voice,” he noted in a Google blog post today, “you can pick from a wide selection of talk shows, commercial-free music, and sports stations from SiriusXM, which is great when your hands are full while getting ready for work or you’re cooking dinner with friends. Just say ‘Hey Google, play Howard 100 on SiriusXM’ or play other channels, like ‘play Hits 1 on Sirius XM’ and ‘play Fantasy Sports Radio on SiriusXM.'”
You’ll also be able to choose dedicated artist channels by asking ‘Hey Google, play The Beatles Channel on SiriusXM’ or try other channels, like ‘play Kevin Hart’s Laugh Out Loud radio.’ The feature will also remember the last radio channel you were listening to, which is what it will play if you simply ask the Assistant, “Hey Google, play SiriusXM.”
But that’s not all. Eligible customers can score a free three-month trial subscription for SiriusXM when you create a new account with the Google Assistant within the Google Home App. Among other benefits of this new integration and partnership, curated video content from SiriusXM will be coming to Nest Hub and Nest Hub Max devices, and users will also be getting access to exclusive in-studio performances and interviews, among other things.
