XM Moves

[Richard King]

http://www.skyreport.com/#Story2
Meanwhile, there's talk XM could drop commercials from its music channels, and may make an announcement on the move this week. XM closed up nearly 7 percent in trading Tuesday, ending the day at $28.97.

[Chris Blount]

That is great! Sirius will no longer be able to claim that prize.

[Richard King]

Ain't competition grand? :D

[sorahl]

as long as they don't raise the price......

[BobMurdoch]

Actually, even if they did bump the price a buck I wouldn't care if they lost the commercials.

They would still be $1 cheaper than Sirius, and they could make a big splash about punting the audio spammers out of the channels they control (You're still screwed on Radio Disney and the others that they can't control)

[sorahl]

if we could get a greater library of OTR for channel 164 i'd pay 2 bucks more....

[BobMurdoch]

Live news conference from http://www.sirius.com at CES right NOW.

[Lee L]

Yep, XM did announce no commercials on music channels starting next month as well as some lineup changes. The details are already up at www.xmradio.com

[BobMurdoch]

XM needs to do something NOW. Sirius is stealing all the thunder with the NFL announcement as well as several others. I've had XM for 12 months and we've had NOTHING new over that time other than the Roady and XM Commander. Zilch from the programming side.

[BobMurdoch]

Yep, XM did announce no commercials on music channels starting next month as well as some lineup changes. The details are already up at www.xmradio.com

SheriffTruman, eh? What games do you play. I have XMLive but hardly have any games to play on, other than a few scorebaords that my name is on (I'm "Mad Dog Murdoch" by the way) I'm looking for a few good men, once the Halo 2 game drops in April.......

I've got 20 games, but I think MechWarrior is the only one I can play head to head with other players on.....

[Richard King]

I don't see Vero Beach listed in their traffic and weather updates. :( :lol:

[BobMurdoch]

I don't see Vero Beach listed in their traffic and weather updates. :( :lol:

How often can they say "Some old geezer rear ended a little old lady and traffic is backed up for a mile on -----" or in the Spring that "Traffic is backed up at the Dodgers Spring Training Home"!

I'm removing my tongue from my cheek now.

Actually, with the traffic reports, XM just removed the last obstacle to me ever turning on regular radio again. OK, except during football and baseball games (grrrr. Damn Sirius)

Now, I just have to find a manufacturer willing to make a plug and play receiver for BOTH XM and Sirius so I can have both!

[Richard King]

Wow!! The market didn't like the no commercial move today. XM is down $1.93. The only way that they can replace that revenue is by raising prices.

[thevoice]

That is great! Sirius will no longer be able to claim that prize.

But they now have sports and better talk. Plus XM is still CC - than in itself would scare anything intelligent in me. I think it sad to see where the right wing is leading us. CC only plays what they want you to hear, they don't look out for the little man, only what helps their cause.


The world of Propaganda, is a world without thought!

"The louder he talked of his honour, the faster we counted our spoons." , "Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

[BobMurdoch]

Don't read too much into it. Both XM and Sirius had huge runups the last month or so and the market is doing the buy on the rumor sell on the fact game again.....

I goofed and bought some more Sirius Monday at 3.99.... D'OH! Oh well I'm still breaking even as I bought the rest at $2.15 a month ago. I bought XM also (Sold some MBNA and Cisco stock that had been doing nothing for 2 years).

I listened to Sirius's CES webcast today and it sounds like they are getting some momentum.

HEY! I just found out that XM is dropping Special X to make room for one of the new channels. I loved that one during Christmas. Where else am I gonna hear Shatner sing Mr. Tambourine Man again? They also are getting rid of some of the Latin channels to make room. I guess they weren't pulling in the listeners.

Still wanted...... A PG rated comedy channel with NOTHING BEFORE 1980 ON IT. I'm looking for contemporary comedy that I can listen to with the kiddies in the back seat and when they seque from Ellen DeGeneres to Brooks and Foster it jangles me.

[Richard King]

Where else am I gonna hear Shatner sing Mr. Tambourine Man again? :lol: Hopefully nowhere. :lol:

A PG rated comedy channel with NOTHING BEFORE 1980 ON IT.I didn't think anything PG existed after 1980.

[BobMurdoch]

Ellen, Seinfeld, Tim Allen, Foxworthy, Ron White, Eddie Izzard (most of his stuff), .....

There are a bunch of guys that don't work blue that can fill the channel easily....

[pez2002]

I will be buying Xm Soon


Mabye i can get it in my car :)

[RichW]

Yep, no commercials on music channels plus five new channels. No price increase, either. I wonder how long it will be before the audiophiles start complaining about decreased AQ? :)

http://www.xmradio.com/lineup/index.jsp

[Steve Mehs]

Sweet! Man great news for XM, I have to echo Chris, Sirius can no longer say we're the only commercial free provider. And it's great seeing two additional rock channels, Lucy I might like, and I'll give the punk channel a whirl. Thank you XM for leaving Liquid Metal!

As for the Clear Channel involvement, XM is not Clear Channel. CC is only directly is involved with the programming of 5 or 6 stations, Mix, Kiss, Nashville and a few others. I don't see why everyone hates Clear Channel, I recently started listening to WNVE 95.1 The Nerve from Rochester, a Clear Channel station, on my way home from work. Excellent rock station! Commercials are a little heavy but the music selection is excellent, just like Squizz 48 on XM. Clear Channel, along with GM and DirecTV were smart to back XM, and it has and will continue to payoff for them.

[thevoice]

Clear Channel, along with GM and DirecTV were smart to back XM, and it has and will continue to payoff for them.

I wrote up this long debate and then thought it not necessary. Just look at your reply and think "who runs these guys".

I guess it is us that supports these guys and made them millionaires (hell even got a free education out of it and if you are die hard "right wing" maybe that education is paying off.) Just please look to who you are backing before you give another dollar to these "media giants". If you support them, to each his own. I am not here to try and change your mind. I just wanted to open some eyes as some may not know what they are contributing to.. Remember one thing for me - if you can call M$ a monopoly, look at the roots of the above. I think it funny how they push only their words into your ears and when you are human, you start to believe even the smallest of lies after you hear it so long.

You say, what's this have to do with satellite radio? Heheheh I would expect that from an average citizen, do more and be above average. Study who you make rich, study their cause and then make a decision. Only you can make a change. Don't buy something right away (b/c it looks good) and then lie to yourself after - so you will feel better about your mistake.

I myself prefer the "underdog" the guys that isn't funded by someone with a political cause, someone that is open to any and everything and will offer something for a variety of views. Someone that has programming to meet all peoples needs - someone that is a little to the left - a little to the right, not 99% to the right!

For those with access to other news stations (outside of the states) just watch or listen to them and you will see what I mean. It is nice hearing a non-biased view every now and then.

[Steve Mehs]

I'm sorry but I really don't follow. I didn't mean to start anything, but I just don't see the politics in sat radio like you do. XM and Sirius are two companies competing with each other, just like Dish and DirecTV, Intel and AMD, Pepsi and Coke. And by XM becoming commercial free it appears the competition paid off. Yes I am a die hard conservative, just look at my posts in the Potpourri. :D I generally do take big companies over underdog companies, go to national chains instead of local stores, but that really has nothing to do with why I got XM.

I wanted XM instead of Sirius because XM seems more into rock music. I like the idea of a true dedicated underground death metal channel like Liquid Metal. Hard Attack on Sirius plays a mishmash of metal including current and past commercial bands mixed with death metal. I chose XM based on programming not on aligned companies. Hell I don't even like GM, I'm a Ford guy. Going back to FM radio, the Clear Channel station out of Rochester provides me a better listening experience then the Citadel station out of here in Buffalo. I’ll take listening to The Nerve any day on my drive home, better music, better DJ, it has nothing to do with Clear Channel. Regarding sat radio, I really don't care who provides the music, just as long as it's hard, uncut and from bands like Dying Fetus, Cannibal Corpse, Cradle of Filth and the rust and mercury bands on LM

But Sirius is being supported by Ford and DCX in the auto industry and it is possible Dish could get involved in Sirius down the road. Sirius has the deals with the NFL and NHL. If you look at just the NFL and what companies they have deals with. Viacom/News Corp/Disney for tv broadcasting, Visa and Nextel for halftime shows, Motorola for team communications, Anhueser-Busch, Miller and Coores for beer. One could say by supporting Sirius you’re also supporting all those companies and many more.

And look at the music I listen to, hardly conservative at all. I don’t listen to much talk radio on XM, besides XM Comedy and Playboy Radio for laughs.

Thanks for your point of view, I don’t fully understand it, I guess the same can be said for my point of view by some, but hey that’s life. All I know is I’ve to 2 more rock channels, and a commercial free Liquid Metal, Bone Yard and Squizz. :D

[thevoice]

I'm sorry but I really don't follow. I didn't mean to start anything, :D


Thanks for such an interesting read... It is good to know some people still have heads on their shoulders! BTW: I used to listen to whom you mentioned, Morbid Angel and so on - the softest was probably Slayer (whom I still actually like.) I am more into punk now though. (Check out punkvote dot com) you may not like them though as I think they are a little against XM also... This is from their site "The vice-chair of Clear Channel, Thomas Hicks, has donated over $500,000 to BushÕs campaigns in the past. Michael Powell, the chairman of the FCC, is Secretary of State Colin Powell's son. During the most recent war with Iraq, Clear Channel advertised, organized, and sponsored numerous patriotic rallies attended by over 20,000 people each. The end result: "patriotism" Ð in a very narrow, conservative definition -is a marketing tool. Governmental policy and advertisements for vacuum cleaners are becoming more indistinguishable. Opinions, when unopposed and repeated thousands of times a day, sound like unilateral truths. That's scary."


As I leave, I would like to say this - I would pay more, to keep a man from dying at war.

Ohh and GO LINUX!

[Richard King]

During the most recent war with Iraq, Clear Channel advertised, organized, and sponsored numerous patriotic rallies attended by over 20,000 people each.I know you read this on the internet, so it must be true, but it isn't. Clear Channel organized no such rallies. The "rallies" you speak about were done by Glen Beck, one of the talk show hosts on some Clear Channel Stations. I am not a Clear Channel fan because of what they have done to radio, not because of their politics. They have made every radio station sound the same. They have hurt employment in the industry for on air personalities by using national "talent". They have hurt the local musician by taking programming decisions away from the local level. They have even made it harder to win radio staion contests by making them national also, this from someone who won $1100 on a radio station contest MANY years ago. I never would have had a chance if this were not a locally owned locally run station. There are many things to dislike Clear Channel for that deal in fact, not fiction.

[thevoice]

I know you read this on the internet, so it must be true, but it isn't. Clear Channel organized no such rallies. The "rallies" you speak about were done by Glen Beck,

Yes, of course I didn't read it in the paper b/c they are all owned by the same person and that person supports CC, NC and from my understanding has funded Beck on several occasions. Glen did organize many of these on his own, it is obvious he had support and that support was from CC and to my understanding - fully sponsored them. I am just asking to please keep the politics away from radio. I know for a fact that CC has pulled radio ads and music alone b/c they felt it was hurtful to their cause...Not to forget, they fired people who aired anti-war segments, including a lead marketing director whom many loved. Do you call this a democracy?

"Regardless of the central headquarters? level of involvement in the planning of each rally, when the countrys largest radio company starts blatantly manufacturing the news, heightened awareness is required."

1230+ radio stations in the US alone - monopoly. Once again though, if you choose to support them, it is your choice. I am not doubting the technology behind XM, I just doubt who funds it.

[tampa8]

These changes have moved me off the fence and I'm going to get XM for my car/home. I definately view this as an overall improvement.

[Scott Greczkowski]

I am all for the commercial free, but the station changes didn't impress me at all, infact I am saddened by the fact we are losing Special X which has become one of my favorite XM Channels.

All the new channels sound like rehashes of channels we already have.

And since they got all these regional traffic and weather stations why cant they get rid of the weather channel, which does not really give good forecast (ie snow in the Northeast, rain in the plains...) if they got rid of the Weather Channel they could keep Special X. :)

[BobMurdoch]

I don't know. I like the sound of the Lucy channel (Fred? Lucy?.... What's this got to do with alternative music?). The channels that were jettisoned to make way for the adds didn't hurt, except for Special X. I listened to it just about exclusively at Xmas time.

The other Latin channels were already banished to my Channel Skip list (BTW, for those that don't know..... on the Delphi SkyFi, click on Menu then rotate to Channel Add/Skip. Press the enter button and the "+" sign to the left of the channel will change to a "-" and it will not come up on the list when you scroll through. You can still direct connect to the channel by entering in the channel number by changing from stack "A" or "B" to "Direct". This also work as a poor man's Parental Control. I use it for Playboy, but you can do the same for the other channels if you want.

[Steve Mehs]

Good point Bob, but then again the name of the best alt station of them all, Squizz, isn't even a real word. All we need now is a Ricky and we're all set :D

[pez2002]

Ricky

For Mexican Music



It could happen

[FTA Michael]

I am all for the commercial free, but the station changes didn't impress me at all, infact I am saddened by the fact we are losing Special X which has become one of my favorite XM Channels.Ditto! I wrote Customer Service hoping to dissuade XM from dropping Special X. I mean, when Wired.com ran a long story comparing the two services, it talked about the live sports on Sirius and Special X on XM.

BTW, I see dropping commercials more as a sign that XM couldn't sell anywhere near six minutes per hour on its popular music channels.

[BobMurdoch]

I saw it more as a way to short circuit the momentum that Sirius was starting to build in teh last holiday shopping season. Club Pam, Little Steven, and the NFL showed XM that Sirius was ready to be a player. Their Audiovox knockoff off the XM SkyFi also showed that their hardware was comparable as well.

I'm envious of the Sports simulcasting they are starting to develop. At this point I'm hoping for a combination receiver that will pull in Sirius AND XM. (Hey, I can get HBO AND Showtime... why not?)

[djlong]

I see the dropping of commercials on XM's music channels as two things:

1 - Takes the wind out of Sirius' sails.
2 - They no longer need the minimal revenue stream of selling advertising on some channels which would only get a fraction of a couple hundred thousand (at the time) ears at best. Another million-plus subscribers (roughly $120M/year in revenue) will MORE than make up for that.

[BobMurdoch]

Plus, there was a good chance that Sirius could have gone bust if they didn't break above the 500,000 level which looked possible. Then the Audiovox SkyFi knockoff came out with a bigger display and portability added in, Club Pam was launched, and they signed the NFL to go along with their other burgeoning sports content.

Right now, sports simulcasts are nonexistent on XM (other than the World Series which I could hear on ESPN Radio). Does ESPN Radio have ANY simulcasts anymore?

I like the ads going away, the coming traffic and weather reports tailored to my area, and I still love Cinemagic and UPop (although Cinemagic has been a little stale lately for me for some reason.)