My big beef is that we lost Backspin. I'm not a big rap fan, but I really like old school stuff.
Hmmm...and XM dropped The Rhyme, which was the same thing.
I understand the need to consolidate. I even understand that Mel is too stupid to see why Fred and 1st Wave are complimentary, not redundant. But why are they dropping entire formats like Old School Rap and Punk. Shouldn't we be getting MORE variety, not less?
Today, I turn it on, and both channels sound like the old XM Vox, which I see is now gone. Its new age classical which will have a guitar, and percussion kit in there.
I hadn't noticed this...didn't bother to check, because how can you screw up a format that hasn't changed in 100 years? But XM Pops seems fine right now...I heard Hayden and then Pachabel. The Symphony Hall channel seemed normal, but whatever they were playing I didn't recognize. That could mean that it's something only a hardcore classical fan would know, or it's just lame new-agey stuff.
Other notes
-EVERY time I turn on my old SkyFi, it tunes into a "This channel is off the air" stream for 15 seconds or so. However, I leave it on 202, which is one of the few channels that didn't change at all.
-The Q&A said that if one of your presets is retired, it would automatically tune to the closest alternate format. When I hit the preset for The System, it tuned to NPR. IDIOTS!
-I thought it was funny that Opie was complaining this morning that Audio Visions was gone when he got up this morning. Funny that the "shock jock" was missing the new-age channel, and funny that even people who have their own channels weren't informed of the changes.
-Ron Bennington confirmed that Unmasked would continue and would now be on "Raw Dog" Comedy. The tone of his voice indicated he finds the name as idiotic as I do