Buzz Saw hits XM staffers!!

[Juan]

For those who wanted the best of both worlds!! We have been had!! Major Layoff's at XM!!


dcrtv.com - washington dc/baltimore area radio/tv/media



Confirmed: Axe Hits XMers - 10/14 - Early Tuesday, DCRTV told you that DC-based XM Satellite Radio was on the verge of making massing cuts following its summer merger with rival Sirius. On Tuesday evening, we got this from an XM source: "All the great people that are gone from XM radio, may we all RIP... Let's go back and take the terrestial world by storm... Gone but not forgotten: '50s Channel PD Ken Smith, '50s Channel MD Matt The Cat, '60s Channel PD Pat Clark, '80s Channel MD/afternooner Kandy Klutch, Cross-Country PD Jessie Scott, Decades Channel Senior PD Kurt Gilcrest, Cafe PD Bill Evans, all of XM Urban accept three people." Also among the 50-ish employees cut Tuesday: George Taylor Morris of Deep Tracks, '70s-On-7's John Clay; Billy Zero and Tobi from XMU, Ethel's Erik Range and Rick Lambert, and Bill Hutton of Lucy. And, another round of cuts could be coming in early November. The word is that Sirius XM suits have abandoned plans to continue separate line-ups for each service, and instead will feature one common channel line-up on both systems. With the Sirius music channel versions probably being offered on both. More soon.....

 

[mikew]

If "Greg Brady" lands on 70's on 7, I am gone.

 

[MrSnarkyPants]

If "Greg Brady" lands on 70's on 7, I am gone.

He's pretty much gone from Sirius now, thankfully.

 

[Neutron]

This actually makes me happy as I don't like the XM lineup and prefer the Sirius lineup.

Since I can't add the Best of Sirius to my XM sub without losing my promo deal, this is great.

We've had Sirius for over 4 years now thanks to Scott and Satelliteguys.

 

[philhu]

This actually makes me happy as I don't like the XM lineup and prefer the Sirius lineup.

Since I can't add the Best of Sirius to my XM sub without losing my promo deal, this is great.

We've had Sirius for over 4 years now thanks to Scott and Satelliteguys.

Hmmm...everyone has their own taste

I have both services and prefer the XM channels......

So to each his own.

 

[Neutron]

Exactly. That's what makes our community great!

 

[BobMurdoch]

I liked XMs general lack of talking over the music and their deeper catalogs, but I understand that the market couldn't support both....

Now that there is one entity, hopefully they can really put their boot on terrestrial radio's throat now....

Now if their stock price could just survive this debt crisis, we'll be OK.....

 

[LER]

I'd love to see some of XM16's specials on SIRIUS60.

We'll see what happens next month.

 

[hrxtreme]

Sucks for XM Subs, not bad for Sirius subs.... Merger... looking more and more like one Sirius Takeover...

 

[snathanb]

Dang... after lengthy comparison of Sirius and XM, and selecting XM...

 

[navychop]

It IS a Sirius takeover. Sirius basically bought XM. Sirius was a lot closer to profitability than XM.

I don't understand the surprise. Of course Sirius/XM will make job cuts. That's why they merged. Cut duplication. That's not just in the admin side of things. There are always job cuts in mergers and acquisitions.


Frankly, I had little interest in sat radio until it came with my new Jetta (company car) with 3-6 months free Sirius. I like BBC, and the comedy on 103 & 105. But I recognize there's a lot of duplication on those two channels. Sometimes I listen to other channels. Traffic has proven of limited use. I think it's main appeal is to long haul truckers and others who drive long distances. I might pay for the subscription when the free period ends, esp if the company picks up the tab (company car).

 

[charper1]

For those who wanted the best of both worlds!! We have been had!! Major Layoff's at XM!!

Not sure how "we've been had" as this is what I was reading that was expected all along. As said just above me; this was a Sirius takeover all along as reported from day one (even those that were saying "merger" were also saying that Sirus execs would be in control); so NONE of this comes as any surprise; in fact, I am wondering what has taken so long.

 

[skottey]

I basically listen to Squizz for my hard/heavy rock fix, The System 82, The Virus (O&A, not that Ron and Fez crap), and found value in POTUS08 prior to the election. So I am basically paying for my regular priced account and my wife's half priced account for four stations and the occasional hockey game if I am out of my local market and want to listen to the game. I have no interest in the Area 38 techno station on Sirius. I had Dish Network and used to listen to it a little bit and found it to be both crappier with the techno music and annoying with the DJs compared to The System 82, which I enjoy very much as a soundtrack to my life in the car. I listen to System 82 the most, followed by Squizz while working around the house. There is no acceptable equivilant in DJ style or music on Sirius. Howard Stern and the once funny Bubba the Love Sponge (8-10 years ago he was funny) are garbage and do not compare to O&A and are not acceptable replacements.

The bottom line is, my wife and I will drop XM in a heartbeat if they fire O&A, replace our music stations with what the suits see as equal replacements, or start hitting us with ads where ads don't belong. I feel like the value in the service has gone by the wayside anyway. And actually, I'll still be able to listen to it on DirecTV at home if I feel so inclined.

Now days, there are plenty of options. I can just listen to my dozens of MP3 CDs in the car if it comes down to it.

Way to go satellite radio. Sounds like you are going to ruin what was once a good thing. Oh well. Life goes on.

I do however think that there is huge value in satellite television in the car. I don't mean the kids channels they offer now. I want Fox News and some informaton channels. The audio feed isn't good enough. A 9 inch wide screen with the Fox News HD feed (down rezed is OK). I sat there watching my GPS screen the other day thinking how nice that would be to have Fox News playing as I drive. Forget your comments about me watching the road and not the TV. I can multitask. It is no different than glancing at the GPS or a passanger. You don't stare at the screen the whole time.

Anyway, this story just makes it clear that they lied in order to get the merger. Suddenly they are going to lay a bunch of people off and consolidate the channels some of us love. I am not stupid, I saw this coming, like many of you.

Why not get rid of the crappy Sirius music stations and that overpaid Howard Stern DB? Why the XM music stations?

Keep us informed OP, that way I can plan out my service cancellation.

 

[reddice]

Looks like they are axing The System for that crappy Area 38 channel with it unfamiliar unknown trance and techno music. Chrome and The Move which has been off the air for months already are also gone so they can add 22 flavors of rock channels. Come on rock music is not even that popular compared to pop music but do you need 22 channels of that crap with about five of them just being one artist waste stations. They are even getting rid of Fine Tuning. I most likely won't be subscribing much longer as I can get all my Trance music fix on my Di.fm subscription. They care about dance music unlike Mel rock head Sirius one artist lover channels.

 

[HCI]

The Virus (O&A, not that Ron and Fez crap),

AHH, Ron and Fez are awesome budday!!!

 

[kstuart]

While I have not listened to the XM channels, I can say that I frequently enjoy the Area 38 channel, and that I was impressed by how they have managed to collect together shows by most of the top names in Techno music.

BTW, there are other alternatives beside satellite and terrestrial - namely Internet Radio.

For example, I frequently listen to the many electronic, techno and other channels at:

SomaFM: Listener Supported, Commercial-Free Internet Radio

 

[danielle_s]

we know that both services have duplicate channels but the have different shows on these channels. Even though the removal of duplicate channels makes sense the removal the disappearance of these shows do not. Sure the shows would have new time slots on the new channels but just cause we have to remove the channel doesn't mean we have to let the DJs go.

The one channel I want to see carried over from XM to Sirius is: channel 71 Watercolors, as Sirius does not have a smooth jazz channel

 

[BobMurdoch]

Last Friday's USA Today had a Sirius Ad with a channel listing with the merged channel listings on it....

Cinemagic survived, UPop didn't.... that's all I noticed....

 

[navychop]

... just cause we have to remove the channel doesn't mean we have to let the DJs go...

That's how they're saving money. Stations without DJs, or maybe 1 DJ handling several stations.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Just posted it in the other thread... But here is all the music changes and new music lineup for XM. (List obtained from DigitalRadioCentral.COM)

Retired

2 XMX - gone
18 No Shoes - Gone
51 Metallica - gone
53 Fungus - gone (but Lou Brutus is DJing on Octane 48 and Faction 52)
65 Rhyme - gone (Sub Sonic is moving to Hip-Hop Nation)
72 Beyond Jazz - gone
76 Fine tuning - gone
82 The System - gone (will remain on XMRO)
83 Chrome - Gone
91 Viva - gone
92 Aguila - gone
93 Caricia - gone
125 Weather Channel - gone
162 E! - gone


Format Adjusted / Name Changed

12 X Country - renamed Outlaw Country
29 UPOP - Replaced with BBC Radio One
45 XM Cafe - replaced with The Spectrum
66 Raw - replaced with Hip Hop Nation
80 The Move - replaced with Area
112 VOX - Moved to ch 79 and changed to Metropliton Opera Radio
120 XM Live - renamed 'Specials'
130 Potus '08 - renamed Potus
144 XM Sports Nation - renamed Mad Dog Radio
155 Take Five - renamed Sirius XM Stars


Moved and Renamed

77 Audiovisions - renamed Spa and moved to ch 72
110 XM Classics - renamed Symphony Hall and moved to ch 78
113 XM Pops - renamed Sirius XM Pops and moved to ch 77


Moved

27 Cinemagic - moved to ch 76
28 On Broadway - moved to ch 75
41 Boneyard - replaced with Hair Nation until January, then Boneyard will be back and moved to ch 53
52 The Verge - moved to ch 87
78 Escape - moved to ch 28
94 Caliente - moved to 85
95 The Joint - moved to 86
96 Air Musique - moved to 88
97 Sur le Route - moved to ch 89
103 Martha Stewart - moved to 157
104 Sirius Nascar - moved to 128
128 Fox Business - moved to 136
157 Reach MD - moved to 160
244 Canada 360 - moved to 96
245 Quoi de Neuf - moved to 125
246 Calendrier Sportif - moved to ch 97


Name Changed

10 America - renamed The Roadhouse
16 Highway 16 - renamed The highway (Aimee Page and Storme Warren remain)
17 US Country - renamed Prime country
23 The Heart - renamed Sirius XM Love
26 Flight 26 - renamed The Pulse (Ron ross and Rod Hendrix remain)
30 XM Hitlist - renamed Pop 2K (Albie Dee, KT Harris and Jason Kidd remain)
33 Spirit - renamed Praise
43 XMU - renamed Sirius XM U
44 Fred - renamed 1st Wave
46 Top Tracks - renamed Classic Vinyl
47 Ethel - renamed Alt Nation
48 Squizz - renamed Octane (Bodhi will be on Octane)
49 Big Tracks - renamed Classic Rewind
54 Lucy - renamed Lithium
60 Soul Street - renamed Soul Town
62 Suite 62 - renamed Heart & Soul
67 The city - renamed Hip Hop Nation
73 High Standards - renamed Siriusly Sinatra (Jonathan Schartz still DJing)
84 XM Chill - renamed Sirius XM Chill
116 XM Kids - renamed Kids Place Live
150 XM Comedy - renamed Raw Dog Comedy
163 Sonic Theater - renamed Sirius XM Book Radio


New To XM

18 Elvis Radio
41 Hair Nation
52 Faction
55 Radio Margaritaville
56 Jam On
57 The Grateful Dead Channel
58 E Street Radio
59 Underground Garage
117 Catholic Channel
119 Doctor Radio
134 NPR Now
135 World Radio Network
148 Blue Colar Radio
149 The Foxxhole
152 Cosmo Radio



DECADES
4 – 40’S on 4
5 – 50’s on 5
6 – 60’s on 6
7 – 70’s on 7
8 – 80’s on 8
9 – 90’s on 9
COUNTRY
10 – The Roadhouse*
11 – Nashville^
12 – Outlaw Country*
13 – Willie’s Place
14 – Bluegrass Junction
15 – The Village
16 – The Highway*
17 – Prime Country*
18 – Elvis Radio+
POP/HITS
20 – 20 on 20
21 – KISS^
22 – MIX^
23 – SIRIUS XM Love*
24 – The Pink Channel^
25 – The Blend
26 – The Pulse*
29 – BBC Radio 1*
30 – Pop 2k*
CHRISTIAN
32 – The Message
33 – Praise*
34 – enlighten

ROCK
40 – Deep Tracks
41 – Hair Nation+
42 – XMLM
43 – SIRIUS XM U*
44 – 1st Wave*
45 – The Spectrum*
46 – Classic Vinyl*
47 - Alt Nation*
48 – Octane*
49 – Classic Rewind*
50 – The Loft
52 – Faction+
53 – Boneyard (returning in January)
54 – Lithium*
55 – Radio Margaritaville+
56 – Jam_On+
57 – Grateful Dead Radio+
58 – E Street Radio+
59 – Underground Garage+
R&B/URBAN/RAP
60 – Soul Town*
62 – Heart & Soul*
66 – Shade+
67 – Hip Hop Nation*
68 – The Heat


JAZZ/BLUES/LIFESTYLE
70 – Real Jazz
71 – Watercolors
72 – Spa*~
73 – SIRIUSLY Sinatra*
74 – BB King’s Bluesville
75 – On Broadway~
76 – Cinemagic~

CLASSICAL
77 – SIRIUS XM Pops*~
78 – Symphony Hall*~
79 – Metropolitan Opera Radio*~

DANCE
80 – Area
81 – BPM
84 – SIRIUS XM Chill*

INTERNATION/LATIN
85 – Caliente~
86 – The Joint~
87 – The Verge~
88 – Air Musique~
89 – Sur La Route~


KEY: * - merged/adjusted | ^ - Clear Channel Music Channels, w/ commercials
~ - moved channel | + - NEW channel