AC/DC kicks out the punks

A press release - which, if it had hands, we just know would be making cutsey little devil horns - arrives, trumpeting US satellite radio's embrace of AC/DC:

AC/DC Radio will air AC/DC music 24/7, including classic rock recordings such as “For Those About To Rock (We Salute You),” “You Shook Me All Night Long,” and “Back in Black” as well as new songs from their Brendan O’Brien produced album, Black Ice (Columbia). The channel will also feature AC/DC band members Angus Young, Malcolm Young, Cliff Williams, Brian Johnson and Phil Rudd describing their singular rock & roll career spanning more than 30 years and sharing their personal insights into their music.

All good, harmless fun?

Well, perhaps - except the bandwidth has only been freed up for this service by XM and Sirius axing their punk stations. So AC/DC - who, let us not forget, are now endorsed by department store fashion departments - are helping to make satellite a more conservative place than ever before.

Sirius is suggesting that punk fans tune to the Extreme Sports network instead, where they might hear the occasional tune that would be considered punk by the sort of people who consider snowboarding extreme.