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Car Guy
Why I Didn’t Renew My Sirius-XM
Here’s one you can’t blame on General Motors.
My Sirius-XM contract came up for renewal last month and I decided to let it lapse.
Reason?
Some of the content is really good (I’m a longtime and big-time fan of Howard Stern’s) but I’m also really tired of paying to hear commercials. Endless, super-annoying commercials. Buy Gold! Do You Need Mortgage Relief?
Argghh!
On some of the Sirius-XM talk channels, commercials are 40-50 percent of the “content.” For example, Glenn Beck. I don’t like particularly like Glenn Beck (sorry) but sometimes I listen to the channel he’s on because I just like talk shows in general. But if the guy isn’t pushing his “sponsor this hour,” then he’s taking another 5-10 minute “break” so that the sponsor can directly push whatever the product is.
Now, there’s nothing wrong with advertising your product. What has been eating at me for years now and finally caused me to say the Hell with it is this business of paying to be spoon-fed ads.
In other contexts, where you’re viewing or hearing a program for free, I understand that having ads in the mix is a necessary — and absolutely justifiable — thing. It is how the station (or Internet site, like Hulu.com) makes money. Since you’re not paying to view or hear the program, the ads are there so that the provider of the program is able to make ends meet and — hopefully — make a profit, too.
It’s a fair exchange when it comes to rabbit ears TV, say — or “free” radio.
Online stuff, too.
But there is something oily and just plain not right about paying a monthly fee to receive content — ostensibly — but which in reality is at least a third to half commercials.
They’re double-dipping, as far as I’m concerned. And it makes me mad. Mad enough to drop my subscription, much as I will miss Howard’s show.
Yes, I know. Sirius-XM has “commercial free” channels. But they are all music channels. Some of them are very good, but let’s face it, it’s 2011, and we have things such as MP3 players and (in our cars) music storage hard drives that can catalog an entire library of your own personally chosen selections. I bought Sirius-XM for just one reason — to hear the talk programs like Howard’s show. I bet many other people did, too — and are getting tired of all the blankety-blan, expletive deleted !!%$## commercials.
I think maybe this is why Sirius-XM hasn’t been as successful as everyone hoped — Howard Stern included.
Howard, to his credit, does a much better job keeping the dreck in check. And — I hope I am not giving away something here — he provides a way to escape commercials almost entirely by dint of his two channels (Sirius 100 and 101), which makes it possible to toggle between the two. When a batch of ads erupts on 100, go to 101 and — usually — you can pick up another Stern segment and dodge the advertising juggernaut.
Still, it’s annoying that you even have to do such things given you’re paying to hear the stuff in the first place.
About the Author
Eric Peters is an automotive columnist and author of Automotive Atrocities: The Cars You Love to Hate (Motor Books International) and a new book, Road Hogs.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (113) | Leave a comment
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Carol| 3.22.11 @ 6:51AM
I agree about the commercials being annoying but that is the time I switch to another favorite channel.
I bought a hand-held XM radio specifically for the day when the Obama Regime makes AM radio all NPR.
I'm sure one of these days I'll drop it by do love my little gadget.
mames| 3.22.11 @ 12:09PM
Many years ago movie theatres began running commericals. You plunk down serious money to see a movie in that setting and are subjected to an attempt to psychologically manipulate you just like the free radio you listened to on the way there. My wife and I protested by verbal and written form to no avail. The other day we went to see a movie, 'got there a few minutes early ( we sumggled in our own snacks , much better and far far less expensive). But there they were, an onslaught of locally produced slime oozing from the screen (nod to Frank Zappa). Online on demand movies will soon include first release movies. WE cant wait. $5 bucks for a delivered film, no commercials, 60 inch HDTV with surround sound and you can stop when its time for a bathroom break. Ain't technology great. As for the muck dwelling ,perverted Stern, maybe God is getting even with you for listening to such crap in the first place. :)
hatchie | 3.22.11 @ 7:29PM
Amen mames! the samething was going thru my mind as i was reading the column. WHO would pay to listen to Howard Stern?
unominous| 3.23.11 @ 9:43PM
So you "smuggle" your own snacks into the theater and complain about the theater making money from commercials.
You don't see some sort of connection there?
Joe| 3.22.11 @ 7:00AM
I am an XM subscriber and I recently paid $450+ to extend my subscription for 3 years. I agree with Mr. Peters. One of the reasons I dropped Glenn Beck's Insider access was his constant promotion of books, tours and his Fox TV show. I see XM as a consolidation service that gives me access to these shows for a single monthly fee. An improvement would be to replay the commercial-free content that the Insiders get. It takes almost exactly 2 hours for a three hour show. So, do not play Hannity in real time. Play the commercial free version in a two hour format. Same with Beck and Levin. That covers the Patriot channel. Wilkow and Church have much less commercial time in their programs and are not as much a problem.
It is the reason I remain a Rush 24/7 subscriber. There is a value to my time. I get the entire show in two hours, virtually commercial free (there are a few embedded ones) and I can listen when I want to listen.
The news feeds are worse.....
grant1863| 3.22.11 @ 10:46AM
Just part of Beck's "branding", there was a Forbes magazine article a few months ago about his money making ways
Handy| 3.22.11 @ 12:10PM
Satellite radio is a great idea for over the road truckers and travelling salesmen. Listening to baseball or football on those flat, lonely stretches of I-80 will keep you from mowing down a few rows of Iowa ethanol as you doze off. Satellite radio isn't so good for anyone else.
iPods are better for music on long trips. Your local all news AM station keeps you informed of traffic during your commutes.
Yes, commercials have become a problem. I listen to several talk shows on my computer. That little clock in the lower right corner tells me that I am lucky to get 32 minutes of "content" out of every hour, not including news, weather and sports. Rush has become almost impossible. I put a stopwatch on him not long ago. Eliminating his Carbonite and Life-Lock embedded ads and his bumper music, he was only "On Air" for about 62 minutes out of his whole 3 hour program.
At some point commercial messages will become counter-productive. That is, they will cost more to air than they bring in in revenue. Maybe we are already there, because I sure haven't bought anything due to TV or radio advertising in many years. Oh wait, there was that Magic Bullet thingy. It's great BTW, but that was six years ago.
One more thought. Neither Howard Stern nor Imus could pay me enough to listen to them. Or was that two thinks?
Happy| 3.22.11 @ 10:42PM
When it comes to talk radio, podcasts are the way to go. Commercial free, easily mobile, download automatically, and the best are broken up into hourly chunks (well, 30-35 min without ads) and are labeled with the topics and/or guests for each segment.
I believe you can still download Levin's show for free (not sure how much longer that will last). Many other local and less known shows are still available as free podcasts. But the most bigger names started to charge over the last few years. The problem is that at $5-$6 per month the cost adds up if you listen to more that one or two shows. I wish someone would come up with a way to market shows into a monthly package. For example, Salem Radio hosts several excellent programs - Prager, Hewitt, Medved,etc. If only they would allow loyal listens to access multiple hosts for a reasonable fee.
Pecos Pete| 3.22.11 @ 7:05AM
Cable TV anyone?
Brian Mc| 3.22.11 @ 9:55AM
Or, for that matter, satellite, Pecos. When a pitch person sneaks past my screening process I ask if I can cash in the HSN, Spanish, Country Music, BET channels and receive in return just one channel to my liking. "Oh, no...our packages don't work like that." To which I respond, "Call me back when they do." And hang up. I refuse to pay for something I don't want or need. It's why I love my Netflix, though 80% children's content for TV shows online is a bit much.
Handy| 3.22.11 @ 12:19PM
Hey Pete. I tuned in to Public Broadcating several weeks ago. First time in many moons.
It was not commercial-free. Imagine that.
Will you join me in my effort to make all those advertisers simply to make their checks payable to US Taxpayers, C/O US Treasury?
Bob Jones| 10.3.11 @ 10:33AM
Exactly what I was thinking. You pay for all 27 ESPN channels at least twice over between commercials and subscriber fees even if you don't watch them.
mike| 3.22.11 @ 7:09AM
First you can get a lifetime subscription for 500. So you better call back and for an extra 50 bucks get it for life. Second yes commercials suck, but it's a parr of life. They're everywhere. Change the channel and go back to the original channel in 3 mins and they are usually done
CB| 3.22.11 @ 7:19AM
I was wondering why I thought your automotive expertise was a little suspect.....now I know. Anybody who enjoys that idiot Howard Stern is missing something upstairs....
Lullabys, Legends and Lies| 3.22.11 @ 8:11AM
"Anybody who enjoys that idiot Howard Stern is missing something upstairs...", well there's millions of us who are missing something upstairs then. Or maybe CB, we have something upstairs that you don't have, did you ever consider that? Who do you find funny? Who can you name, who you could listen to for hours, everyday, year after year, decade after decade? Howard is a commuter's Hero, he makes the miles pass by, and the repetition of the daily drudge seem almost pleasant, he makes me laugh. If you don't like him (that's cool), don't listen, but don't tell me he's not funny, or that he's an idiot, because he is funny, and he isn't an idiot. I've been listening to him since he was on WNBC in the afternoon, in the mid 80's, he's the best thing that ever happened to radio. Long live the King of all Media!!!
CB| 3.22.11 @ 9:23AM
I am so glad you replied to my post....it confirms what I thought about who listens to that idiot.
Lullabys, Legends and Lies| 3.22.11 @ 11:51AM
And exactly what did I confirm for you CB? Are you calling me an idiot? Well that's nice!! But around these parts, they like to call me Sergeant, who has served three tours in Iraq since 2003. Now I imagine behind my back, a few of the Joe's around here may have called me SGT Idiot, I really don't know, but they certainly didn't say it to my face. Is that what you were trying to say CB?
You didn't answer my question though CB, who do you listen to, so we can trash them, or are you not proud of NPR?
CB| 3.22.11 @ 12:31PM
The confirmation is the fact that the listeners of Stern are those of limited intelligence range....your response more than qualifies you in that category.....Sarge....
John Navratil| 3.22.11 @ 1:48PM
CB,
It's always fun to have someone drop by impugning the intelligence of people based on their tastes. It's typical of the liberal trolls who wander in for a few days before they wander off again.
You might choose to support "the fact that the listeners of Stern are those of limited intelligence range" with something other than your opinion. You might also share with the unenlightened how LL&L's response defines him as being of limited intelligence.
But no! It's wander in full of unsubstantiated opinion and unsupported statement of facts along with a fatuous sense of ones superiority. Hear ye, hear ye, hear ye! CB has spoken.
Dispute that without calling me an idiot.
CB| 3.22.11 @ 5:18PM
Gee, I thought this "comment" section was comprised of the "opinions" of its readers. I did not know that my opinion needed to be substantiaated. I think Stern is crude and gross, and as someone else has opined here, sounds like some of my long lost junior high buddies. But I will apologize for my limited intelligence range comment, I was just trying to tweak LL&L after he pounced on my first post. I don't comment too often here, and when I do, it is usually in response to the well-known liberal trolls that frequent this site. As an avid automotive enthusiast, my objection is with Mr. Peters, who, in my opinion now, does not know much about the subject he specializes in. Please accept my humble apology Mr. Navratil, and likewise LL&L.
Being called a liberal troll...yikes!
John Navratil| 3.22.11 @ 7:45PM
CB,
Fair enough! And no one needs to apologize for "tweaking" one with which one disagrees. Still there is a difference between saying that one doesn't like veal kidneys and saying that anyone who does is of diminished gastronomic refinement, don't you think?
Cheers!
Handy| 3.22.11 @ 7:28PM
Howard Stern has a small penis. He brags about it all the time.
Yes, I had a girl friend who loved him and made me listen. We broke up.
John Navratil| 3.22.11 @ 10:03AM
Lullabys, Legends and Lies,
By gentle, my friend. CB doesn't have anyone to listen to now that Daniel Schorr has died.
CB| 3.22.11 @ 10:11AM
Well looky here...another one!
Occam's Tool| 3.22.11 @ 1:33PM
Dear CB:
I don't care for Howard anymore, and, with two 7 year olds, I can't play him in the car. So, no I don't agree with LLL that he's amusing. But I DO agree with LLL's writings on politics and war.
However, Eisenhower used to read Westerns for relaxation, and I like MST3K. Anyone with a truly stressful job has to have some activity which allows for brain rest, and SGT in a combat zone counts! (Thank you for your service protecting my fat civilian ass, LLL.)
Incidentally, I'm a Mensan, was accepted to two US Med Schools, got my MD at age 25, and am boarded in my specialty. So, give me a break on the comedy stylings=intelligence crap. I'm sure my cousin, Sir Jonathan Miller of the Beyond the Fringe group (co-stars: Peter Cook and Dudley Moore), might disagree with you. Different strokes for different folks.
Dan| 3.22.11 @ 3:44PM
When your mensan do you have to change your tampon often?
John Navratil| 3.22.11 @ 4:00PM
Howard Stern? Is that you?
Occam's Tool| 3.22.11 @ 6:21PM
That's Menses, dear man. Not Mensan. Besides, I was defending LLL. Give me a break.
Lullabys, Legends and Lies| 3.22.11 @ 7:35PM
John & Occam's-T: Thanks for watching my back while I was out doing Army stuff today. And about that limited intelligence thing CB said, he might be right about that. You see, I jump out of perfectly good airplanes from time to time, and have smashed my head, more times than I care to remember when I'm landing. Bad PLF, bad!! So he might have a point there? Now, what was I talking about again?
CB: "I was just trying to tweak LL&L after he pounced on my first post." Well it worked CB, but it probably had more to do with my Platoon Sergeant trying to kill me this morning than it did your post. You see, I posted that right after I was done with PT this morning, so maybe I wasn't in the best of moods at the time. The man thinks I'm a marathon runner or something, no matter how many times I try to tell him that I'm not. He doesn't care!! So apology accepted, and I'll do my best in the future not to take out my bad PT mood on everybody here, but it is practically the only time I get to post most days before the thread gets old, so I'm not promising anything.
mames| 3.22.11 @ 12:12PM
Dumbing down has worked.
David W| 3.22.11 @ 8:15AM
I was going to say.... I've never on purpose listened to Howard Stern, but from what I've heard about him I never would.
Daniel| 3.22.11 @ 8:39AM
If I had "never" picked up a copy of "Conscience of a Conservative" by Barry Goldwater in 1978, based on "what I've heard about him" then I would probably never become a conservative in the first place. You need to open your mind and trust your own judgement and not follow the lead of others, my friend.
Also, in the weeks following 9/11 Howard Stern raised over $5 million for the surviving families of the victims. How much did YOU raise? Hmmm?
mames| 3.22.11 @ 12:22PM
Oh I have listened to Howard and then I grew up emotionally and morally. A sampling of Howard's topics: female orgasm machines, farts, groins strikes, interviews with woman who have volentarily allowed themselves to be gang banged the Howard sponsored free porn sites, rants about the first amendment where he actually thinks all speech is allowable rather the protection of political speech the amendment deals with, a foul mouthed team of syncophantic idiots....yep I am qualified to critique the low life, I used to be one.
Charles Dennison| 3.23.11 @ 4:54AM
"Also, in the weeks following 9/11 Howard Stern raised over $5 million for the surviving families of the victims. How much did YOU raise? Hmmm?"
Well, that was pointless - how many of us are celebrities with big radio shows? I think the true question regarding fund-raising for 9/11 would be, how much of his own money did Howard Stern contribute? Then you could use a ratio comparing donations per incomes. How about that? Hmmmm?
B. Patton| 3.22.11 @ 12:16PM
C. B.--You nailed it on both counts. Peters' opinions on cars are both inexpert and strange. And Howard Stern? His schtick is a tiresome replay of the discourse in my eighth-grade locker room 50 years ago. Incredible that AS would publish someone who could find Stern entertaining. The magazine is slipping. Unworthy columnists, typographical errors and a creeping evangelistic slant make it less than it used to be.
godsowncrunk | 3.22.11 @ 7:41AM
This piece is a bit ... touchy.
It may be the difference in running in different circles, but most of the people I know use SiriusXM for the music, not the talk shows. Most of those talk shows are formatted for AM radio, meaning that there are commercials on a regular basis (if you pay attention, they come on at the exact same time, so you can switch between music and talk if you abhor the commercials). The conveninece of SXM for me is not having to deal with static and listening to music you can't normally find on the AM-FM dial.
I have 3 SXM subscriptions (car, online and a portable) and I buy it strictly for the music - if I want to listen to talk radio, I tune to AM. Since I don't listen to Stern, not a problem.
SXM has awful customer service, and their new online player is beyond bad - I'm about to drop that part of my service out of annoyance. Getting commercials for gold, carbonite, gotomeeting etc during poly-talk just isn't that big a deal to me, but I use many of the products advertised based on the ads.
Question: do you hold cable television to the same standard? Sure, there are channels without ads, but you pay for most of the content, and most of that content has lots and lots of ads.
DG in GA| 3.22.11 @ 11:30AM
I agree. My thought, reading this column, was that Beck's show is formatted for AM radio, so of course there would be commercials. And the gold advertisers, viagra, etc., are the big ads on AM radio. I guess people pay the money for satellite radio so they don't have the problem of losing the AM signals or having electrical interference as they drive from one place to another, or drive under power lines, etc.
DVG93| 3.22.11 @ 5:21PM
I own the stock, and yet canceled the service myself. The thing re commercials is BS tho. Talk radio will likely always have commercials.
My beef w SIRI is regarding the music. XM was superior in content. The programming now is more mundane. The classical is repetitious. Cousin Brucie annoys the heck out of me, and they dropped hearts of space.
Ch 3 on XM had a variety of music that was very well thought out. SIRI dropped the channel that combined a lot of gendres like the Moody Blues, Bob Dylan, classical and it was great.
Last point....isn't this a repeat article. I am positive he has canceled before as I remember responding.
Dee See| 3.22.11 @ 7:46AM
ALEX JONES continues to set the vital agenda
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ALAN WATT'S coverage online remains
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Ken in People's Republic of MD| 3.22.11 @ 7:49AM
A question for those who subscribe. The portable option, can that be used in the car?
Hillel| 3.22.11 @ 7:57AM
I didn't buy Sirrus because I like Opera and Classical Music and Sirrus hardly provides it. I support WMNR because the are mainly a Classical No Talk Radio.
mare| 3.24.11 @ 1:55PM
they have 2 classical and one opera channel on sirius. commercial free. sounds a lil better than one "mainly" classical no talk.
Big Tony| 3.22.11 @ 7:58AM
This piece makes no sense under this kind of reasoning Mr. Peters should also drop his cable television subscription. Maybe he has hence the "rabbit ears" reference. I like Sirrus-XM but I simply feel like it's not worth the money if it was $2=$3 a month or if I had unlimited funds then I'd buy in but as it is I can buy a CD and have something of value at the end of the month.
logmank| 3.22.11 @ 8:05AM
Peters is a "big fan" of Howard Stern and doesn't like Beck. Tells me all I need to know.
Lullabys, Legends and Lies| 3.22.11 @ 8:14AM
I like Howard & Beck, so what does that tell you?
Larry| 3.22.11 @ 8:07AM
I don't pay for radio. I don't pay for TV. I never will. I have a great collection of CDs and DVDs, any of which I can listen to at any time. And I own them. Where I live if one doesn't have cable or satellite, it's impossible to get any TV signal. I don't miss it at all. When I listen to the radio, real, free radio that is, I listen to select shows, I never have it on just for background noise. I listen to a lot of talk radio as well as music shows which play the music that I like to hear and which I might be playing from the CDs that I own.
MoeBlotz| 3.22.11 @ 8:08AM
The satellite radio is most beneficial to those of us who spend our work day behind a steering wheel. We can drive hundreds of miles and not have to spin the radio dial,or hit the search button,until the doctor of democracy begins his broadcast. Compared to the other channels on Sirius/XM, Howard Stern is the Hustler channel.
Mike Hawk| 3.22.11 @ 11:31AM
Stern listeners are fans of puerile bathroom humor and tasteless discourse.
LarryK| 3.22.11 @ 8:27AM
What the heck is Sirius XM?
Matthew Quigley| 3.22.11 @ 8:40AM
Beck's all over terrestrial, why does he have to ALSO be on SXM? I'm angry that putting Beck on moved Mike Church back to before dawn! Church is a lot more informative than Beck ever could be. And Andrew Wilkow also is more informative. Beck is a waste of satellite time.
Mike Laughlin| 3.22.11 @ 8:49AM
Speaking for myself, I've been a subscriber for five years to Sirius, and I still love it. However, I'm the inverse of you; I don't listen to talk radio at all. Instead, I subscribe so I can listen to Little Steven's Underground Garage, which features a lot of new songs by new bands. I see your point about ipods and all of that, but I still love listening to the radio, especially when it's commercial free. I love listening to the banter of DJs and to songs I haven't heard in a while.
Margee| 3.22.11 @ 9:09AM
As frustrating as this sounds for Mr. Peters, if that's the worst thing in his life, life isn't so bad, is it? Given the situation we're now in re. Libya, and the plight of those in Japan, whining about too many commercials seems a bit trivial to say the least. If you're going to cancel your subscription, cancel it quietly. Did it really warrant an entire article?
John.in.Georgia| 3.22.11 @ 12:34PM
My sentiments too.
mike| 3.22.11 @ 9:17AM
Yes, you can use the portables in your car. You would just have to find the "docking unit" for that device. You can use them in your house too with the right dock.
Harry the Horrible| 3.22.11 @ 9:39AM
Well, I'm sure heck renewing my subscription for the "Catbus." Great music, great access to talk radio, reception is better even out in the boonies, and you can always find your station. The only problem is not enough presets on the radio.
If there are a few commercials, so what? These guys are NOT providing this service for your benefit - they're doing it for a paycheck. Satellite time is expensive, as is good programming. I am not going to object a few commercials.
Bob Grant| 3.22.11 @ 9:41AM
Solution: Isn't there a TiVo-type device for satellite radio? If not you hackers should get to work.
logmank| 3.22.11 @ 9:59AM
LL&L - Tells me there's a part of you that enjoys listening to profane, overbearing idiocy.
Lullabys, Legends and Lies| 3.22.11 @ 11:43AM
I guess you're right, but you hear the same thing everyday, everywhere you go, even here at FT Bragg, the Soldiers like to curse "A LOT", I guess it's an Army thing (but I know it isn't, it's just an American thing). But overbearing idiocy you say? Well just change the dial then, and listen to Imus, if you feel like taking a nap!!
Dagny Taggert| 3.22.11 @ 1:10PM
LL&L, I'm with you. I remember my friend telling me to give it 3 days (back when it was broadcast on WBCN in Boston). I was hooked. I guess it's hard for some TAS readers to accept a political conservative who like to have a laugh at potty humor on occasion. I just wonder is it my perpetual immaturity that allows Stern, O&A, Family Guy and South Park to make me laugh my a$$ off, or are the others just better at stifling their inner 17-year old?
Jim| 3.22.11 @ 1:46PM
Hi "Dagny":
WELL DONE puerile humor is terrific! I think the others don't feel as if HS, et al is well done, as I don't either. Well done puerile humor USES often gross words or situations, but the HUMOR in the joke does not have its essence in these. For example, why I was little, I used to go to the drugstore for a ice cream float, and the soda jerk would carve sexually suggestive scenes into the ice cream. So I told my best friend, and he said I should tell my parents. I responded that I tried, but by the time I got home, the ice cream had melted.
John Hinds | 3.22.11 @ 10:07AM
I pretty much gave up on radio and TV (don't even own a TV) a long time ago. Even the best hosts of talk radio endlessly repeat themselves. The best shows accept a lot of calls, or do interviews. That's where the "new" content is for me.
On the net I my favorite device is Ad Blocker software. Why can't someone come up with a similar method for civilizing radio/TV?
Stuart Koehl| 3.22.11 @ 10:35AM
Plug the iPod into the sound system, and I can drive from one end of the U.S. and back again without every having to listen to the same thing twice, and without ever having to listen to something that I don't like. The business model for satellite radio was always built on a foundation of sand.
Old Soldier| 3.22.11 @ 10:37AM
I jumped into XM years ago when they signed Opie and Anthony (go ahead, say it). They too have commercials. Sean Hannity (who is sometimes shows up on O&A and has them on his TV show) is on in the afternoons. While O&A might go an hour between commercials, Hannity (the same show as regular radio) seems be 50% commercials. I might listen for a segment, but can't handle any more. Then I'm off to the wide range of commercial-free music.
I do a lot of driving and the music is good. Lots of different types of music and new stuff you would never hear anywhere else. Corporate commercial radio is unbearable these days. The same playlist on every station determined by some mindless corporate entity. No real DJ’s, no requests, no new artists – just the same crap in a loop. I will keep paying to escape the hell of listening to that dreck.
Paul from SA| 3.22.11 @ 10:39AM
I can't stand Glenn Beck. I like his message, but I don't like him personally. He is dopey, loopy, repetitive, long-winded and I especially hate it when he starts preaching, starts pontificating, starts going hollywood and tries to get all emotive. I don't like him getting emotional. Stick to facts and stop trying to make be laugh and cry.
How much does Sirius/XM cost? I keep hearing the technology is soon to be obsolete.
PhilTheCapitalistPig| 3.22.11 @ 11:13AM
An entire article whining about commercials? Get over it.. Glenn Beck doesn't do separate shows for Sirius and AM radio. So its either listen to an Ad or listen to elevator music. take your pick. Either way, quit whining.
PhilTheCapitalistPig| 3.22.11 @ 11:16AM
Personally, I think that you all should be thanking Glenn Beck for exposing the truth of this administration. I still remember when he first came to Fox and the other shows were still following the news cycle for content. Meanwhile, Glenn Beck is walking his own path. Now many opinion leaders on the right are following him.
Glenn Beck was telling the truth about Bush while at CNBC and he's now telling the truth about Obama at Fox. Even Rachel Maddow said she used to love Glenn Beck's show before he came to Fox, but that's just bc she liked hearing him expose Bush. But now that his sights are on a Democrat Administration, she doesn't like it.
I have the utmost respect for Glenn Beck. Someone who is willing to tell us what's really going on. I'm surprised you guys don't see this as well.
Jim| 3.22.11 @ 1:47PM
Hi Phil TCP:
Beck didn't need to expose Obama - he laid it all out well before he even ran for president. I guess people either neglected to read what he wrote, or didnt' care.
PhilTheCapitalistPig| 3.22.11 @ 3:33PM
How much would people be talking about Van Jones, Soros and the like if it were not for Beck?
I understand some people were aware before GB but he has mainstreamed these names in conservative circles. I think that deserves commendation not criticism.
JIm| 3.22.11 @ 6:41PM
Sadly, he does so in a way that preaches to the choir, without convincing others. Try listening to Michael Medved, or Hugh Hewitt, both of whom can do
fire-breathing (when needed) and convincing argumentation. I like Rush, Beck, et al, but feel they convince almost no one, which is really the key to conservatism gaining "market share" amongst Americans.
GavInTucson| 3.22.11 @ 6:23PM
I quit watching/listening to Beck last Fall, and I had been listening to his radio program since 2002, which has been very entertaining.
He's just become too doomy and apocalyptic for me.
Larry| 3.22.11 @ 11:26AM
I agree wholeheartedly. I've had the same thoughts as you (except I can't stand Howard Stern). I thought that when I bought a new automobile in 2008, which came with a free 6 months trial, that Sirius was pay for content like the cable tv channels. I have now noticed that some talk radio will have commercials until 7 or 8 minutes after the hour and go to more breaks around 7 or 8 minutes until the hour. Then they will have commercials during the show. I'm just about fed up with it but I love my 50's and Soul Town channels. Might follow you though and chuck the whole thing. Another example of companies thinking that their customers (us) aren't paying attention and will settle for anything.
BigSky| 3.22.11 @ 12:47PM
Beck isn't blazing any trails with this administration or any other, he's gotten where he's at by ripping off Alex Jones.
PhilTheCapitalistPig| 3.22.11 @ 3:37PM
Huh? at least people listen to Glenn Beck. Hell, I listen to a lot of people and I don't listen to Alex Jones. I listen to prager, hewitt, levin, hannity, beck, limbaugh, bennett, ingraham.
And with your logic, all these people (except rush, of course) are ripping off Rush Limbaugh.
Bob Grant| 3.22.11 @ 5:07PM
Alex Jones lost me 10 years ago when he predicted Y2K would be the end of the world. His whole show was one big infomercial for a local survivalist shop.
As far as Beck, he does not rip off Jones. His show is much more fact based. I wish, however, he'd put a sock in it with the gold commercials which , admittedly, is sorta Alex Jonesesque.
Brusimm | 3.22.11 @ 12:04PM
I agree with you on all counts. Well said Eric.
I too hate paying for having ads shoved down my throat... I hate listening to the "ad free" music channels that pitch themselves and other channels on and off. I hate that I lose the dang channels under trees and bridges.
But I try hard to focus on what I do like about the Satellite radio broadcaster and move forward from there.
But if we were to stop and drop SIRIUS because they're charging us to pummel us with ads, we might as well go hog-wild and drop cable TV too. We pay to receive cable TV... that the avenue alone has so many channels of income.
Example: ABC sometimes never need run ads because they've made so much money from rights fees for some sporting events. But they do any way.
The networks make around $8-11 billion from advertisers to grab ad slots.
There are transmission fees paid to networks from cable companies.
Then we're hit up with needing to pay for viewing older content online, that has played already and we've paid for it, but various mediums like HULU are starting to charge the end user. (ABC is part owner of HULU.)
It's getting bonkers how many times we're charged for, or made to suffer advertising for content we've already paid for.
But the majority of consumers prove that we're a willing customer who will do just that, and thus, we're stuck.
It's like when The CW first tested if ads would fly with online viewers of streaming content. "We" sucked it up and everyone else took note. Now we're stuck with ads in streaming content.
It's an ugly cycle, that's for sure. No wonder so many of my peers are dropping cable and just buying TV series on DVD.
Wow... sorry for the side-rant. Didn't know I had ALL that in me!
BigSky| 3.22.11 @ 12:56PM
Even the music only channels have gotten steadily worse, notably after Sirius bought out XM. XM's play lists were much broader and diverse, but now that Sirius has bought out XM, the play lists have become narrower, only focusing on songs people have heard a billion times on terrestrial radio, rather than playing more of those forgotten favorites.
Ink-stained-scribe| 3.22.11 @ 2:10PM
I could not agree more. I subscribed to XM in 2003 and dropped it soon after the merger with Sirius. The playlists shrank, and several of the best hosts were sacked. XM's traditional country, blues, and Americana channels were wonderful. Sirius'? Meh.
Old Soldier| 3.22.11 @ 5:11PM
Yep - Old XM was a better product and a better company. Why Sirius Management survived the merger rather than XM has always been a mystery to me. XM was far larger and more profitable. Somehow the smaller, more poorly run company took over.
Hugh Panero must have been paid a king's ransom to step aside for Karmazin - all the XM people eventually got the knife.
MikeN| 3.22.11 @ 1:24PM
Thanks for this rant. I assumed satellite radio was ad-free.
That said, regarding your argument of why people would pay money for something that is ads a third of the time, do you have cable?
absinthe| 3.22.11 @ 1:34PM
I am glad to read this and know that I am not alone. I have felt the same way for a long time. I'm a huge fan of XM talk radio, and I pay through the nose for it. It's incredibly irritating that a third or more of every hour is taken up by commercials - and the *same* commercials over and over and over ad nauseum.
Daniel| 3.22.11 @ 3:46PM
If I hear that stupid commercial with the annoying kid singing "1-800-cars4kids" one more time.....aarrggg!!
Or Gary Stanley (whoever that is) talking about his stupid mortgage again.....just gonna lose it folks!
High Commander| 3.22.11 @ 3:53PM
I doubt you're going to ever get to hear the talk content you want commercial free. It's not so much that SiriusXM is adding the commercials, but it's the fact that the programs are formatted to be aired on commercial radio stations. For example, the FoxNews radio feed is used by terrestreial radio stations as well, and those stations REQUIRE commercial avails (i.e. places to put commercials) or the stations would be out of business.
It would be cost-prohibitive for FoxNews to create one feed for SiriusXM (without avails) and another for terrestrial stations (with avails).
It would be nice, though...
High Commander
All American American| 3.22.11 @ 4:21PM
I'm just thankful we don't have to pay to read articles like this. I mean japan, Libya, the Middle east in general, Obama's mega-debt...yeah let's whine about commercials.
Speaking of Beck, why nothing from Amspec about his bombshell from this a.m. regarding the left's plan to crash JPMorgan/Chase and the American economy? Nothing Amspec? Really???
Oh, not "nothing." Silly me, give me more editorials about commercials on sat radio!!!!!
jeanne| 3.22.11 @ 4:23PM
Well if that's true why do you subscribe to Cable? Seems a disconnect there Eric.
Ed Ferro| 3.22.11 @ 4:52PM
Eric,
I agree with you about all the commercials. You say that 85% of their revenue comes from subscriptions. If that's the case, I don't think you would have to double the monthly fee: perhaps a 50% increase.
You also say that the only thing free is the music. But I listen often to POTUS and the two NPR channels. I can do without Stern's scatological broadcast.
Ed Ferro
See my stories and essays at
eddiewrites@wordpress.com
Brubaker| 3.22.11 @ 5:14PM
From my personal point of view, Sirius-XM is a technology that arrived at the wrong time. Decades ago on cross country trips, entertainment was limited to whatever could be found on AM radio, and that was precious little. I would have jumped at the opportunity to subscribe to a satellite radio service, had one existed.
By the time Sirius and XM made their appearance, things had completely changed. Now virtually everywhere in the country has multiple AM and FM stations providing an assortment of programming. Add CDs and MP3 players and you have a full plate. There just doesn't seem to be a need for Sirius-XM -- unless you're a hardcore Howard Sterns devotee.
Granny Smith| 3.22.11 @ 5:27PM
Who needs XM anymore? I have Pandora on my iPhone which takes care of my music, and I've got "TuneIn Radio" for my phone which allows me to record radio shows like a DVR.
The Bruce| 3.22.11 @ 6:35PM
The only real beef I have with SXM is their subscription model. Having a seperate subscription for each device seems a bit ridiculous, especially since, like television and radio, it's a passive and doesn't draw any additional bandwidth from the system when you add new devices.
So, for the sake of argument, if standard service costs $100/year, adding two more devices will cost you $300/year.
Chatt| 3.22.11 @ 8:47PM
Glenn Beck is a TV show that has commercial breaks so Sirius/XM has to fill these time slots!
Lullabys, Legends and Lies| 3.22.11 @ 9:06PM
He's got a radio show too Chatt, it plays in the morning, the TV show plays in the afternoon, so they run both of them everyday. The TV show has hard breaks, so it has to have commercials, the radio show has breaks for the purpose of selling Gold (I think?).
PCP Smoker| 3.22.11 @ 8:47PM
Some of the content is really good (I'm a longtime and big-time fan of Howard Stern's)
Lost me there. This asshole is a piece of shit. Anyone who listens to him is an asshole too. Fuck you.
RabidAmerican| 3.22.11 @ 8:54PM
PCP Smoker, what exactly are you trying to say?
Daniel Upton | 3.22.11 @ 10:51PM
Shows like Glen Beck do not originate with Sirius/XM. They are nationally syndicated and the commercial breaks are exactly the same length on sat radio as they are on over the air radio. Even shows which do originate with Sirius like Howard Stern, Andrew Wilcow and Mike Church have some commercial breaks so that the host can take a bathroom break or have something to drink (you try talking for 3 hours straight without a break).
Alky| 3.22.11 @ 11:48PM
I forced myself to listen to Stern once, the show was rude crap, even the people on the show with him spewed nonsensical garbage. What a waste of time!
Dee See| 3.23.11 @ 12:01AM
In this the 11th hour of doomed POST America
one and all should be moving to de-program.
First, throw out your tv's and radios along with
as much techno wampum as you can.
Make the home YOUR sanctury, a place to
draw breath from the relentless indoctrination
and predictive programming ongoing all around us.
If you can do without it, even hurl your PC
or, at least, keep it apart, in your work or
business area.
Complain relentlessly about these mind control
HD screens being hoisted everywhere. Get them
OUT of bars and restaurants. Try not to patronize
establishments that feature them. AGAIN they
are, on record, devices for flicker rate mind control. FACT
Step away from ALLLLL franchise slum operations even if you have to pay a little more.
If you can afford it, step away altogether and
permanently.
They are designed to standardize
and collectivize and culturally destroy. They
were also key to the Globalist RED China wampum
op. We don't have to tell you the damage that's
done.
Pull out, clean out.
Become master of your own thoughts and
processes again.
bopberrigan| 3.23.11 @ 5:40AM
Boy, do I agree with Mr Peters. I once subscribed to both Sirius and XM. After a year, or two, of listening to their obnoxious commercials I dropped my subscriptions. I think they have 3 min of programming followed by 3 min of commercials. If I never have to listen to them repeat their call-in numbers 3 times, I'll be happy.
Judester| 3.23.11 @ 7:03AM
I didn't renew mine either for the same reasons. I've heard phone numbers repeated up to 5 times, usually it's 3, drives me crazy. TV the same. I'm looking at the phone number and the audio keeps repeating it. Now TV has those little charactors down at the bottom telling me what I'm watching???????
Chinablack| 3.23.11 @ 9:32AM
Like Old Soldier I signed on for XM mainly for Opie & Anthony, but the quality of the service across the board has gone downhill after the Sirius buyout. Mel Karmazin is going to end up ruining satellite radio the same way he ruined terrestrial radio.
Old Soldier| 3.23.11 @ 3:23PM
Boardroom Jimcey explains it all.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v.....17F3E5506C
bluecollarbytes| 3.23.11 @ 11:12AM
Sorry to hear abut you poor taste, ie H. Stern
It must be a generational thing
Chris | 3.23.11 @ 10:53PM
I had to drop my XM subscription after being laid off last year. No reason to renew it.... the only stations I really listened to were 166, 202 and the occasional CFB game during the season. Agree that paying to listen to commercials is silly, which is why I haven't renewed teh subscription.
rissa| 3.24.11 @ 9:49AM
while listening to Howard on air while he took his microphone into the bathroom to pee on the first days of his show, i can't imagine the show going on for 10 years without any breaks. When else will they be able to catch a break on the show to regroup, take a breath, and prepare for the next segment?
sTAN rEDMOND| 3.24.11 @ 10:31AM
I know why XM advertises on talk. If not they would have to record all talk shows, edit out the commercials, then rebroadcast. That's a lot of work to transfer a broadcast to satellite-cast.
What I wonder is why every single ad is a scam? As long as I can remember XM has plugged pyramid schemes, pill scams, ED pill scams, and all those other borderline illegal scams. They are barely a step above email spam marketing.
AWF| 3.24.11 @ 11:02AM
I guess you'll listen to NPR now since you won't renew satellite?
Marty TC| 3.24.11 @ 12:28PM
Well, the Mike Church show on Patriot is woroth the subscription price alone. His show is not something you will get anywhere else and there are very few commercials.
Also, the Catholic Channel and Lino Rulli's show is commercial free. Try them both out before you go!
Christian Louboutin | 6.23.11 @ 6:04AM
Now, there's nothing wrong with advertising your product. What has been eating at me for years now and finally caused me to say the Hell with it is this business of paying to be spoon-fed ads.
Creative Recreation | 8.10.11 @ 11:41PM
is good
Barry Diabo| 11.8.11 @ 9:40AM
I hear you and feel the same way about paying and still getting ads. The reason I signed on was for "no ads". So I am miffed. I came back from work this morning, switched on to listen while I made my coffee and ONLY heard ads, so I switched off. About paying more? Not interested because they will eventually start to slip ads back in again and you'll just be paying more for it, you'll see. They did it on satellite TV once everyone got on board...it really p*sses me off.
fx2crazy| 10.11.12 @ 10:22PM
I do not normally post comments online but I felt like this was a worthy topic to post on.
I agree with you wholeheartedly 110%.
I bought my first Sirius radio with a lifetime subscription because of their claim of Commercial free radio. I assumed this statement ment all their stations were commercial free not just a few.
I HATE paying to listen to penis enhancement commercials, Gold Bond commercials every 10 minutes etc.
I still have my lifetime radio but I never use it anymore due to all the commercials.... I've since bought two new cars equipped with Sirius. I listened off and on throughout the free period that came with the car but when it came time to renew...Sorry Sirius. I'm not paying for commercials again.
Great post and I wish Sirius would rethink their position.... If people are paying to listen to your service then it should be commercial free as you advertise.