How Much Longer Can Sirius/XM Can Hang On?

[A 94Z Fan]

This May Very Sound Stupid On My Part By Asking? How Much Longer (Sirius/XM) Can Hang On? I Get So Sick And Tired Of Them 2 Repeat The Same Old Songs Over And Over!

 

[K6JHU]

Quite a while, if you look at the subsriber numbers increase for the last quarter.

 

[AZJoe]

Depends on which channel you listen to.....60s on 6, 50s on 5, Classic Vinyl , and several others still have large playlists (larger than any terrestrial stations), then there are the ones like 70's and 80s which are far too shallow. It is a mixed bag- and SiriusXm keeps growing.

 

[scanman1]

They'll be around awhile, especially as traditional radio programming continues its journey down the toilet bowl.

 

[JohnnyElectron]

I wish to hell that they'd hire real live program/music directors for the 70s and 80s channels that cared about radio and a huge playlist instead of the same freakin songs over and over again.
Maybe when John Malone takes over SiriusXM and fires Mel, perhaps Malone might actually spend $200,000 on programming again - wouldn't that be a treat?
XM7 & XM8 were so excellent 5 years ago that Sirius people don't realize how bad they suck now compared with when Sari and John Clay and HR and Rick Stacey ran the channels, and XM had the ultimate radio program called "IT".

SXM will continue to exist playing the same crap over and over again;
I just wish there were two SAT RAD radio services to choose from; one with a wide library of music and the other one that played the same songs over and over again so the listeners could choose what they wanted.

 

[scripps]

Some of the music programming departments certainly need some new perspective, inspiration, and passion for the formats they are presenting.

 

[Casey]

I don't think SiriusXM will change much until they get a new CEO. Mel is in no hurry to make changes. At least not the ones that will make people on this board happy, myself included. But I don't think the company is going anywhere. They are doing pretty well financially. Arguably better than any of their competitors.

 

[OldNumber7]

I get tired of subscribers complaining about alleged repetition on the decades channels. Enough! There are scores of other channels on the dial -- try 'em! You'll find the SiriusXM dial is nothing like terrestrial radio. If you subscribed only to listen to the same four channels all the time, you didn't make a smart purchase. Either change the station, or stop subscribing if you want, but QUIT COMPLAINING.

 

[benale]

Agreed. There are many different channels on SXM, with music to satisfy almost everyones taste. I always thought a "hits only" mass oldies channel that would focus on the mid fifties to the mid seventies would be ideal, letting the decades channels go deeper, but that never happened.

There is a dedicated channel to Broadway show tunes, acoustic rock, classic alternative, deep tracks,outlaw country, new age, chill, traditional jazz and smooth jazz, which used to be on terrestrial radio. I wish there was another channel devoted to standards and deeper oldies, but for the most part SiriusXM is fine. I'm glad I have a lifetime subscription,though. With so many expenses,Satellite radio would not be on the A list these days.

 

[Casey]

I get tired of subscribers complaining about alleged repetition on the decades channels. Enough! There are scores of other channels on the dial -- try 'em! You'll find the SiriusXM dial is nothing like terrestrial radio. If you subscribed only to listen to the same four channels all the time, you didn't make a smart purchase. Either change the station, or stop subscribing if you want, but QUIT COMPLAINING.

Why would someone subscribe to a service to hear channels they don't want to hear? The point of subscribing is to hear channels with content you like. If the channels don't play content you like then it doesn't matter how many channels they have.

 

[Kent]

I get tired of subscribers complaining about alleged repetition on the decades channels. Enough! There are scores of other channels on the dial -- try 'em! You'll find the SiriusXM dial is nothing like terrestrial radio. If you subscribed only to listen to the same four channels all the time, you didn't make a smart purchase. Either change the station, or stop subscribing if you want, but QUIT COMPLAINING.

You should never suggest subscribers stop subscribing if you enjoy the service. They're helping the company, too, and it can't be around if it loses too many subscribers!

Besides, the numbers show time and again that the most listened to channels on satellite radio are the mainstream ones. The majority of subscribers want songs they like and only songs they like with fewer interruptions and/or better reception than what terrestrial radio can offer.

 

[OldNumber7]

I get tired of subscribers complaining about alleged repetition on the decades channels. Enough! There are scores of other channels on the dial -- try 'em! You'll find the SiriusXM dial is nothing like terrestrial radio. If you subscribed only to listen to the same four channels all the time, you didn't make a smart purchase. Either change the station, or stop subscribing if you want, but QUIT COMPLAINING.

You should never suggest subscribers stop subscribing if you enjoy the service. They're helping the company, too, and it can't be around if it loses too many subscribers!

Besides, the numbers show time and again that the most listened to channels on satellite radio are the mainstream ones. The majority of subscribers want songs they like and only songs they like with fewer interruptions and/or better reception than what terrestrial radio can offer.

You'll get no argument from me. Frankly, the complaints on this board I'm sure are not representative of many listeners in the SiriusXM universe. My point is only that, for me, the value of SiriusXM is that it has a channel for whatever fits my mood -- the decades for nostalgia, deep tracks and the loft for background while I'm working, the jazz channels for atmosphere when I'm entertaining, all sorts of different rock channels when I feel like exploring, etc. I never would have subscribed to just get a couple of channels -- if my taste was that narrow, I'd just download those tunes myself.

 

[nocomradio]

I get tired of subscribers complaining about alleged repetition on the decades channels. Enough! There are scores of other channels on the dial -- try 'em! You'll find the SiriusXM dial is nothing like terrestrial radio. If you subscribed only to listen to the same four channels all the time, you didn't make a smart purchase. Either change the station, or stop subscribing if you want, but QUIT COMPLAINING.

You should never suggest subscribers stop subscribing if you enjoy the service. They're helping the company, too, and it can't be around if it loses too many subscribers!

Besides, the numbers show time and again that the most listened to channels on satellite radio are the mainstream ones. The majority of subscribers want songs they like and only songs they like with fewer interruptions and/or better reception than what terrestrial radio can offer.

You'll get no argument from me. Frankly, the complaints on this board I'm sure are not representative of many listeners in the SiriusXM universe. My point is only that, for me, the value of SiriusXM is that it has a channel for whatever fits my mood -- the decades for nostalgia, deep tracks and the loft for background while I'm working, the jazz channels for atmosphere when I'm entertaining, all sorts of different rock channels when I feel like exploring, etc. I never would have subscribed to just get a couple of channels -- if my taste was that narrow, I'd just download those tunes myself.

The problem as I see it with Sirius ( I refuse to refer to them as SiriusXM after the merger) is that there isn't an outlet to complain to. They have made it painfully clear that they don't care what the consumer thinks, and as such have delivered a product consistent with that business model.

The only reason the subscriber numbers are up is simply because of new car sales also going up. Many automobile manufacturers offer a Sirius subscription with a new car. People are not running out in droves to buy a Sirius radio because its so great. They can get their music from a smartphone, MP3, etc for a lot less money and without the poor sound quality and hassle of billing, etc.

Sure, Sirius has a lot of channels, and if you listen occasionally then you won't hear the repetition. Try it on a daily basis as I did for a number of years in my shop. Having Sirius playing 8 hours a day 5 days a week you would hear definite patterns and the same stuff on a slightly more lengthy rotation than a local station. This went for nearly every channel, as we did switch up quite a lot between all the decades and other channels offered at the time. All of the great live shows and entertainment died with XM and left a big void that hasn't been filled with much quality.

Recently, during a free week of Sirius, I decided to listen, digging out my old XM radio. It had been two years so I fogured maybe, just maybe I might consider going back. Instead, I was greeted with a DJ on Deep Tracks who went off on some political tangent, ranting about the evil 1% and how horrible corporate world was to the workers. He sprinkled in a bunch of late 60's protest songs and proceeded for about an hour or more to rant on about nothing. I couldn't help but think how he worked for one of those "evil corporations" he was moaning about as I trashed my Sirius radio and vowed that I will never listen again, even for free.

 

[OldNumber7]

Recently, during a free week of Sirius, I decided to listen, digging out my old XM radio. It had been two years so I fogured maybe, just maybe I might consider going back. Instead, I was greeted with a DJ on Deep Tracks who went off on some political tangent, ranting about the evil 1% and how horrible corporate world was to the workers. He sprinkled in a bunch of late 60's protest songs and proceeded for about an hour or more to rant on about nothing. I couldn't help but think how he worked for one of those "evil corporations" he was moaning about as I trashed my Sirius radio and vowed that I will never listen again, even for free.

The guy on Deep Tracks doing the political rants (at night, at least) is Jim Ladd. I agree; his comments are not at all appropriate and I no longer listen to that show. That said, there is still a lot of good stuff on other channels unavailable on regular radio.

 

[JH_Radio]

The Serius side has horid sound qualety. XM 1.0 is pretty good with XM 2.0 being better. the Extra 2.0 channels are horible to listen too though. I'm wondering if the serius side wil have a 2.0? I dont think so, it seems as if they are going to move tward the XM way of delivering things in regards to sound quality .

it seems as if a lot of the DJ's are Voicetracked too.

 

[Walter Graff]

I get tired of subscribers complaining about alleged repetition on the decades channels. Enough! There are scores of other channels on the dial -- try 'em! You'll find the SiriusXM dial is nothing like terrestrial radio. If you subscribed only to listen to the same four channels all the time, you didn't make a smart purchase. Either change the station, or stop subscribing if you want, but QUIT COMPLAINING.

Why would someone subscribe to a service to hear channels they don't want to hear? The point of subscribing is to hear channels with content you like. If the channels don't play content you like then it doesn't matter how many channels they have.

The same reason you subscribe to cable that has 100 channels you don't watch. It's the way it's offered and in the case of Sirius, quite popular.

 

[Walter Graff]

Considering that over the air stations are now imitating Sirius style of narrow casting (New Am comedy only channel) I'd say Sirius is not only around for a long time, but starting to set standards in radio listening.

 

[Casey]

I get tired of subscribers complaining about alleged repetition on the decades channels. Enough! There are scores of other channels on the dial -- try 'em! You'll find the SiriusXM dial is nothing like terrestrial radio. If you subscribed only to listen to the same four channels all the time, you didn't make a smart purchase. Either change the station, or stop subscribing if you want, but QUIT COMPLAINING.

Why would someone subscribe to a service to hear channels they don't want to hear? The point of subscribing is to hear channels with content you like. If the channels don't play content you like then it doesn't matter how many channels they have.

The same reason you subscribe to cable that has 100 channels you don't watch. It's the way it's offered and in the case of Sirius, quite popular.

True, but you subscribe to cable assuming there is something on there you want to watch at some point (or you subscribe because you have to if you want HBO for Game of Thrones....) But if there are no channels that interest you at all, then it doesn't matter how many they have, there is no point in subscribing. Same goes for SiriusXM.

 

[JohnnyElectron]

SXM has the same problem my cable TV company has: too many stinkin channels so that quality is lowered. The difference is that using a TV antenna gives me a nice uncompressed OTA local HDTV signal; SXM is actually worse over the air than on 'cable'/internet. Sad. Wish they'd combine bandwidth for the SXM OTA so that the audio quality might return to pre-merger levels

 

[Ai4i]

Wish they'd combine bandwidth for the SXM OTA so that the audio quality might return to pre-merger levels.

Patience, my young grasshopper, 2.0 is just beyond that tree up ahead.