 The channel debuted on XM Satellite Radio channel 26 and DirecTV channel 818 on April 17, 2006 as Flight 26 in response to demands by former shareholder Clear Channel Communications (who owns the similarly-formatted Mix on channel 22), and was programmed by New York City native Mike Abrams.XM agreed that Clear Channel Communications can add commercials to channels which it already provides programming to, such as KISS, Sunny, and Mix.In response, XM changed their slogan from "100% commercial-free music" to "the most commercial-free music channels on satellite radio".