Then it was a clear case of excess and greed and for every other additional channel that was added the quality when down. We now have systems with well over 600+ channels and with the decline of the offerings of ABC, NBC and CBS – what you have is 600 channels+ 24/7 of crap. And how many times have you surfed the numerous HBO, Showtime and other movie channels not being able to find anything to watch with your Chinese takeout?
In a much shorter time frame, that’s what has happened to Sirius/XM satellite radio. And what Howard complained about is only part of the problem.
I bought my first Sirius radio and subscribed to the service about four years ago. I can’t remember why I chose Sirius over XM but that’s not important since the two services recently merged. Sirius came in a nice blue box and the radio might have had more chrome on it – who knows?
Back then the service was somewhat “complicated” for truck drivers to get a grasp of. Even the same was funny – pronounced serious – many said s-eye-rus. I know many many drivers who passed on subscribing not because of the cost but because of the confusion as to how it all worked and which radio were you supposed to buy and how the heck do you hook it up.
Let me fast forward a second. I’m parked at a Love’s in Texas. On the shelves inside are Sirius radios and XM radios. Why? There are three types of Sirius and two XM units? I don’t know the difference between any of them and I’m a subscriber. It’s as if there are still two services out there operating independently of each other.
Five years after I bought my first unit, even I’m confused as to what’s now available. Why after the two services merged is there not only 1 or maybe 2 radio varieties offered. For drivers that don’t have the service and might want it - this unnecessary “choice” and unnecessary “duplication” is only going to make any potential sale just not happen.
Ok, now let’s assume you have either Sirius or the XM service. When I started there was no Howard Stern, Martha Stewart, Mad Dog Sports, Oprah Winfrey, Bubba, Cosmo or whatever else that is now offered. And the service was better. It was new and fresh. It was not trying to be all things to all people. One of the few available talk shows was a show called Derek and Romaine on OutQ. And it was revolutionary, fresh and hilarious. There was nothing like it on terrestrial or satellite radio – or television for that matter.
There were also many music choices. There were NO commercials. And there was little if any blabbering by those annoying professional DJ’s. You could drive coast to coast never searching to find a station or getting a headache like you got from listening to terrestrial radio.
Again, let’s fast forward to the present. Derek and Romaine are still on. It is still funny. Howard Stern joined the team and brought along 10 million listeners. But, there are now TONS and TONS of commercials. And somehow all those annoying professional slimy “wow-man that sooo-cool” DJ’s have found their way onto just about every channel that Sirius/XM offers.
On Fox News there are more commercials than news. Between Stern and Fox the advertisements are worse than the car commercials on terrestrial radio. And the commercial are all produced by sleazy credit, male enhancement and seminar salesmen who are literally shouting at you. The kind of advertisements you would find in the back of Popular Mechanics or Big Jugs. Many times you have to turn your radio down as the commercials are much louder than the shows.
There are so many commercials in fact that I’m surprised that I even have to pay for the service. But then it’s just like cable TV. Popular channels like Bravo go “all paid advertising” throughout the night. Cable TV has become one mega televised electronic flea market. And Sirius/XM is following along the same lines.
Now if I could throw away my Sirius/XM radio and stop paying $12.95 a month, I would. But I can’t. Terrestrial radio is not and probably never will be that sophisticated that I can travel as much as I do, as a truck driver, without constantly trying to find a decent station with good reception. I’m stuck with satellite radio, but I’m not happy about it.
Let’s fast forward two more years. Howard Stern’s contract us up. He’s going back over to terrestrial radio in a $billion dollar sweet deal. He has promised and proven himself to not use the “N” word or the “F’ bomb. He knows if Bubba can do then so can he. And his ego just can’t let Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity be #1 on radio.
And either terrestrial radio or some other type of service or device has come about that makes satellite radio obsolete. I can listen to music, Stern and even Rush Limbaugh across state lines uninterrupted without ever touching the dial. And it will cost me NOTHING!
And unless the geniuses (Mel Karmizan) do something soon to make Sirius/XM better than it has become I believe a lot of subscribers will be cancelling the service and waiting for that to happen.
