It looks like Sirius XM will kill off several channels....

[PhDance]

That's nice? more like a slap in the face to those of us that have been Beat listeners for many years the new programming is not to my liking. If they are going to deliberately go out of there way to bash what I have loved and listened to for 4 years they can go screw them self. Very unprofessional move and I am also calling customer care. If these new people don't straighten up there air i'm gone and never subscribing again.

How was this a bad move at all? You just admitted you already decided the new programming is not to your liking. If they've already lost you as a listener then why not make light of the distinction between BPM and The Beat? Radio stations do this all the time after a format flip. Do some research on the other boards here and you'll see some bolder examples. I'm sure the vast majority of listeners found it as funny as I did. Please don't take it personally, but if it means there is one less person requesting old September songs, I (and I'm sure I'm not the only one) am more than alright with that. I called customer care to tell them how happy I am. It's just pretty sad if anyone became so institionalized by The Beat that they think dance music is "remixes on the sixes!"

 

[CHRles]

They're both 2 of the most popular stations with satellite radio so I see both of them remaining as part of the linepu, even after all the channels are merged.
Sirius Hits 1 is more Rock friendly, and possibly more male and adult friendly.
XM's 20 on 20 is very interactive, current based, and youth friendly.

It'll be interesting to see what they'll end up doing with Kiss XM though.

 

[Saladressing]

Let's frame this in another way: The Beat is KROQ and BPM is Indie 103.1.

So you have your casual listeners who would prefer the repetition, familiarity, narrower playlist and more corporate sound of the Beat/KROQ and the more active music listener who would prefer an Indie/BPM sound.

I *personally* have preferred BPM over the Beat over the years. That said, like Tony, I can at least empathize for the person who misses the Beat when he plugs in to hear a mixshow in the middle of the day or whatever, when he's used to hearing certain tracks one after the other.

The casual listener of dance music who consumes music in the way the overwhelming majority do could have benefited if they had kept the Beat as well as BPM. The reason The Beat played September is the same reason alternative rock stations play a band like Bush: Sure the music is corporate to those in the hyperactive core, but it's popular and it SELLS.

On the scale of art (100) and commerce (0), The Beat was around a 35 I would say, while BPM is more around 65.

 

[PhDance]

Let's frame this in another way: The Beat is KROQ and BPM is Indie 103.1.

So you have your casual listeners who would prefer the repetition, familiarity, narrower playlist and more corporate sound of the Beat/KROQ and the more active music listener who would prefer an Indie/BPM sound.

Salad, I greatly respect your posts on this board, but I do have to respectfully argue that it doesn't necessarily mean that appealing to more casual listeners translates to higher ratings. Ignoring the actual ratings (which as CHRles mentioned earlier, BPM had much higher cume than The Beat), in the transition sirius/XM chose the stronger of two stations when they were left in a situation of overlapping stations. While I'd love to think they would choose BPM because they would think it would appeal higher to a small niche of listeners- dance music enthusiasts, it really comes down to business. Sirius/XM chose the station with greater ratings- higher listenership. If The Beat is to be thought of as KROQ and BPM is to be thought of as Indie 103.1, the ratings sure paint a different story. In LA, Indie 103.1 is consistently ranked as one of the lower rated stations in the market. This is certainly not the case with The Beat vs BPM.

Yes, it would have been nice if there was another dance station in the Dance/electronica umbrella, but from a business standpoint they chose the strongest stations in the combined offering. My caution to everyone on this board remains; be careful to think of any consequences of contacting Sirius/XM and please send letters if you're happy with the changes. We are fortunate that more people will be exposed to a well programmed, high energy dance station. After listening to BPM for a few months, the playlist won't sound as unfamiliar as it sounds now. Give it a chance before writing it off. The in-genre fighting is not going to help our case. Instead, it only serves to perpetuate the confusion/disagreements between programmers, listeners, dj's, etc; all fighting that doesn't exist in other genres of music. We need to unify and support current dance- stuff that could make it onto the mainstream charts if enough of us get out the word. This is how we will move dance music further- not by encouraging our modern dance outlets to play 80s crossover music, but rather- allow them to continue a sound that establishes dance music as a legitimate genre that doesn't need to rely on covers of 80s music or on already established maintream R&B songs. Throw in an abundant amount of remixes and this is what The Beat was modeled after. We are fortunate (sirius subscribers) to have access to such a well programmed outlet for modern dance hit music.

 

[CHRles]

Couldnt have said it any better, PHDance

 

[thefoxxman]

I'm definately sensinga change a BPM since the merger, but here is what I REALLY hope doesn't happen and is still getting through: all the pop celebrity trash news that the DJ's do! I believe I heard SKYY mention something to the effect of not having all that type of stuff on BPM and how they wanted to keep it jsut about the music... I hope he catches what is passing on the announcer spots, especially Ms. V (or whoever she is in the evening). That would be an instant way to trash this gem.