Washington's Loss: XM Empties Out

[Jtaylor1]

Washington's Loss:XM Empties Out (http://voices.washingtonpost.com/rawfisher/2008/10/washingtons_loss_xm_empties_ou.html)

[djlong]

More classic financial mismanagement from the boys at Sirius.

Let's cut staff at XM in DC where we own the building and keep paying rent in NEW YORK CITY with the highest rents in the western hemisphere.

Now, if they said they were transferring personell to DC where XM renovated that huge building, THAT would make sense.

[Nick]

Well, that does it for me -- I'm canceling my XM subscription as of today.

EDIT: After resisting two account retention offers, being 3 mos @ $4.95, then 3 mos @ $0.00, I canceled my sub. When asked the reasons for my cancellation, I cited Karmzin's broken promises, the likely loss of the 'Decades' channels, and the overriding reality that I just don't listen that much anymore.

[mitchelljd]

honestly,
i feel badly for some of the loyal XM workers, but it is to be expected that there needs to be consolidation into less offices and broadcast centers.

Also, it is widely known that Sirius has had better on air talent, my bet is after the re-organization, some of the XM talent sticks, but much of their channels are going to get improvements. so i hope XM channels sound similar, but they get improved talent, which is geographically desirable to their corporate bases.

I would trust Mel Karmazin to make sure the best talent and programming exists. I am sure that there will be changes on the Sirius side as well. but... as i said, Sirius has been known as the more music and creative oriented company. XM had alot of Clear Channel type DJ's and such. so i am sure the talent and programmers are going to be changing. maybe more on XM, but if I were a customer, I would wait it out and see how things shake out in 3 months. My bet is that people will like the new XM.

[wilbur_the_goose]

Mitchell - I think you just don't know much about what XM used to be. The DJ's were the antithesis of Clear Channel-type jocks. The PDs dug deep into albums to pull out the best music. They only talked infrequently, and it was usually about the music.

These were people that loved music, loved their listeners, and, I think, loved XM.

This is like a good friend leaving forever. I'm truly sad, and I rue for things to be the way they were.

I chose XM becuase I really disliked what I heard on Sirius when I tried it.

But I'll wait to see what happens on 11/5. You never know, but I'm not hoping for anything good.

Fortunately, we have WXPN-FM here in Philly that's a blend of X-country, Fine Listening, the old Starbucks channel, Soul Street, and Flight 26. And it's commercial free (U of Penn station).

[wilbur_the_goose]

A great POV:
Here is a lengthy letter from the MySpace page of Michelle Samartino, one of the now ex-hosts of the Beyond Jazz channel. She gave seven years of her life to XM and right now ain't exactly pleased:

October 22, 2008 - Wednesday

A note from Michelle
Current mood: sad
Category: Life

Well folks, I know a lot of you have been asking what is going on, why was I laid off, what will become of the channel and Russ etc etc. I now have some answers for you… and I am ready to talk about them. Admittedly it took me some time to decompress and adjust to no longer being a part of the one thing that I sunk every bit of my time, passion and effort into for the last seven years.

Before I get into the sad part of this, let me preface it by filling you all in on how it all began for me.

I interviewed for XM Satellite Radio on September 11th 2001… the day the planes hit those buildings. It was not only a day that changed the USA, but it changed my life completely. I began what would be the best point of my career thus far. Never in my life have I enjoyed a job more, and I have always spent my time in jobs that I liked. That was something I made sure of, to follow a career path and to make sure that if I was going to do something for over 50 hrs a week, I better damn well like it.

I loved XM. I loved their philosophy, their passion for music and quality programming, choice, commercial free uninterrupted music. I loved that they were on a cutting edge of technology and I was fortunate enough to work alongside some of the most brilliant people I will ever have the opportunity to work with. I watched this service go from no satellites, watched them launch them, watched the subscriber base grow, helped grassroots word of mouth growth and essentially felt like I was making the world a better place, through exposing this incredible music to the masses.

I enjoyed every day. I loved the people I met. The musicians. Their stories. I loved the music I was exposed to. I LOVED helping unknown bands with a passion for jazz get played to the widest audience they could ever possibly imagine being exposed to… simply by sending me a copy of their CD in the good ol US Mail.

It was the most rewarding and selfless "job" I could ever imagine. I could not believe how fortunate I was and was thankful every day for it.

Then there was merger talk. Merger talks with the rival we grew to hate just because they were our only competition and we needed that rivalry. And it was that way from the start. We always knew we were the better company. I can not speak for other XMers but I felt betrayed with the thought of a merger with THEM! How could we be negotiating with the enemy! We always had more subscribers, we always had better content, better programming, better technology, better products, better talent. Who cares that they could (NOT) afford to pay Howard Stern's ridiculous salary, so much damn money yet they won him anyway! STUPID! His programming is trash… all T&A and the same thing regurgitated day after day. How many tits can you guess are implants or not in one week? Ugh! This is what they chose to spend their money on. They canned their Modern Jazz channel for a Grateful Dead channel. A band that stopped making music in the 90's. Modern Jazz is STILL being made every day. Sixty years of incredible improvisational music unrepresented on their service… and now ours. Unacceptable! We are talking Miles here… among SO many others.

I could not believe we were seriously merging. Our CEO bailed on us. Ok, his wife was ill and I understand family coming first. But then people started leaving in droves, as if they gave up the ship. Lee Abrams… gone. Eric Logan… gone. The people finally left in charge were essentially there to do the "handoff". The writing was on the wall a long time ago. But the merger took so long we truly missed our window of opportunity to be competitive. A year and a half later and here we are… struggling… and in the midst of what is now a hostile takeover and a recession. This is not a merger of equals… if it were there would be equal XMers to Sirius folks. It is not that way.

I was laid off unexpectedly on Oct 5th. It was a shock and I am still trying to recover. It is hard to shake off and let go of something that was my life. The channel is done Nov 14th and Russ is being laid off that day as well. 80 people in Programming (XM Programming) were laid off last week. It is over. The dream is over and the service is done.

I am not sure what else to say in this regard. I have no idea what this service will now be. I can honestly say I do not care at this point. I am moving on and so are so many others. Not by choice.

Russ Davis and I are planning to continue to work together in some capacity. STAY TUNED. I am working on JamminJazz.com and he has RussDavisMOJA.com. We are still deciding what we can and can not do with those sites. We would like to continue to provide you with the latest and greatest new and old and fusion music we know of…. Somehow.

So please stay in touch, and please stay with Beyond Jazz until the end. We promise to continue to make every day, every hour as good as it was… until they flick the switch. You can bet on that!

THANK YOU ALL for your devotion and support over the years, the channel would never have been what it was if it had not been for you. YOU are the reason we were the World's ONLY Modern Jazz Channel….

Onward and upward!

Thanks for listening!
~Michelle

[Scott in FL]

Wow, great letter from an insider. Thanks for posting it. She is spot on about XM's better technology (especially in the studio), and I loved her comments about Howard Stern.

By the way, to the person who said: "I would trust Mel Karmazin to make sure the best talent and programming exists," I couldn't agree less.

And "XM had a lot of Clear Channel type DJ's and such," don't knock Clear Channel DJ's. I personally worked with many Clear Channel DJ's and they didn't like their management either. One very good friend grew up loving radio (as did I), and finally quit CC after they fired him and hired him back as a $13 an hour part timer with no benefits doing voice tracks for 3 other stations. Yes, Clear Channel sucks, but don't blame the DJ's, espcially those in the DC area who were hired by XM.

[wilbur_the_goose]

Scott - Perhaps I should've said "I don't like the work of jocks when they've been forced to do their work in line with the Clear Channel model"

[Lee L]

honestly,
i feel badly for some of the loyal XM workers, but it is to be expected that there needs to be consolidation into less offices and broadcast centers.

Also, it is widely known that Sirius has had better on air talent, my bet is after the re-organization, some of the XM talent sticks, but much of their channels are going to get improvements. so i hope XM channels sound similar, but they get improved talent, which is geographically desirable to their corporate bases.

I would trust Mel Karmazin to make sure the best talent and programming exists. I am sure that there will be changes on the Sirius side as well. but... as i said, Sirius has been known as the more music and creative oriented company. XM had alot of Clear Channel type DJ's and such. so i am sure the talent and programmers are going to be changing. maybe more on XM, but if I were a customer, I would wait it out and see how things shake out in 3 months. My bet is that people will like the new XM.


This post is funny as it is pretty much the opposite of what anyone I have ever seen that spent any time with both servies has said. If you just replace Sirius with XM and vice versa, it would be dead on.

As far as liking the "new XM" I already think it sucks in comparison to what it was in the early days so I really doubt I will ike Sirius better.

[Dolly]

Yes folks XM is dead. It is even hard to get them on the phone. The recorded message says it is because the staff is busy with activating new radios. But I know what the staff is really doing--cancelling subs. And another telling sign when you do get to talk to them you are asked to take a survey, however, even if you say yes you will take the survey no survey comes on. Why? It is obvious. A survey isn't neccesary to see how customers are being treated because XM is no longer a company. Yet I had to tell one of their workers when I finally cancelled my sub that there was no survey. He hadn't a clue about that fact. In fact the Reps of XM seem to be trying to convey the message that it is business as usual. But we all know that isn't true. I will miss XM :( But they were gone as soon as they entered into the merger talks with Sirius they just didn't know that. XM was the better company, but they let Sirius win :( :mad: My only hope now is that enough people leave to take down Sirius. The old saying goes "revenge is a dish that is best served cold". Sirius may have won the battle, but I think they are a long ways off from winning the war.