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SIRIUS??? Or XM???

H

Holland Cooke

It's a little like asking...
"Ginger or Mary Ann?"
"Mac or PC?"
"Dogs or cats?"

At the risk of seeming-like-a-consultant, I just can't resist the temptation to ask ANY gathering of oldies aficionados: WHICH IS BETTER, SIRIUS OR XM?

I don't own either, but hear both often, in rental cars.
And I get XM channels on DirecTV at home.

Being in-the-demographic, I always stream-into the 60s and 70s channels...and there's a fundamental difference in approach.

Sirius plays more music; XM puts more "stuff" between the songs.
XM's 60s-on-6 channel is full of what-THEY-seem-to-consider "atmosphere."
Old jingles, old-medium-market-sounding-DJ, old COMMERCIALS.
Yep, on the commercial-FREE music channels.

They seem to be trying to re-create the sound of vintage upper-band directional AM radio.
As opposed to delivering-listeners-who-fled-AM/FM-clutter clutter-FREE music.
Which is what the Sirius 60s channel sounds like, by comparison.

You can tell which of the two I prefer.
But, "while I've got you here," do oldies listeners prefer the Sirius approach? Or XM's?

When I'm NOT working (stations-that-don't-play-music), 60s/70s music is my favorite kind of radio. If it's yours, and if you have satellite radio, would you rather just hear hit-after-hit-after-hit, or would you rather hear the "museum" approach?

"One, eight hundred..."

Holland Cooke
News/Talk Specialist
McVay Media
www.HollandCooke.com
 
I have Sirius and listen to 60s Vibations and their 70s channel. Not a big fan of
either. Not much content or personality from the DJs. Most local Oldies
stations sound as good or better than Sirius. Music is ok. They seem to play a lot
of Bubblegum.

Why isn't Truckin' Tom Kent on Sirius or XM? Landecker on 70s? Rick Dees on the 80s channel?
(glad he got a gig)

You'd think with a potentially huge national audience, and the chance to sell more
subscriptions, they'd be better. Oldies is the perfect format for Sirius and XM to focus
on because they're dropping like flies on terestrial radio.

Standard Time and Movin' Easy on Sirius are two great formats when the mood strikes!
 
Without a doubt, the 60's on 6 (XM) is my favorite. I want the extras, otherwise I would listen to my iPod. From the resings of the old PAMS jingles to the Coca-Cola commercials by the artists of the 60's to the Top 6 songs each hour, they make listening worth while.

I can hear the music in so many places, it's the other stuff that makes it special. I remember a jingle from the old WIBBAGE here in Philly that sums up my feeling, "WIBG, where it's what between the music that counts."
 
I have Sirius and XM. If you forced me to pick, I'd take XM. Their 60's channel is certainly more entertaining and features live jocks in the dayparts. Sirius' 60's Vibrations is 100 percent voicetracked and they burn through the same 300 to 400 songs that you hear on any other oldies station.

I do get tired of the decades approach on XM. How many people would say they like the Doors but only their hits from the 60's? 60's on 6 won't touch Riders on the Storm or Love Her Madly because they are from 1971. That doesn't make any sense. So that is one aspect of Sirius that I like, they program their 50's and 60's channels by era: roughly 1955-1963 for Sirius Gold and 1964 to early 70's for 60's Vibrations.
 
I have XM as part of my DirecTV package and if I were to consider getting it in the car I would go for XM. I don't know many people who have Sirius but I guess it would make sense to compare before buying.
 
Are the radio and DishNetwork formats for Sirius "70's" the same? I enjoy the 70's Sirius format on Dish Network much more than the XM "70's on 7" format that I have in the car. The 70's songs that are played on XM are not what I remember as being "hit music" in the 70's. In fact, many of the XM 70's songs would only be played on Sirius' "Jukebox from Hell"....
 
jimbo said:
I have Sirius and XM. If you forced me to pick, I'd take XM. Their 60's channel is certainly more entertaining and features live jocks in the dayparts. Sirius' 60's Vibrations is 100 percent voicetracked and they burn through the same 300 to 400 songs that you hear on any other oldies station.

I do get tired of the decades approach on XM. How many people would say they like the Doors but only their hits from the 60's? 60's on 6 won't touch Riders on the Storm or Love Her Madly because they are from 1971. That doesn't make any sense. So that is one aspect of Sirius that I like, they program their 50's and 60's channels by era: roughly 1955-1963 for Sirius Gold and 1964 to early 70's for 60's Vibrations.
Click to expand...

XM's '50s on 5 breaks the "rules" in that it plays a lot of pre-British Invasion '60s music, including songs that rarely get played on '60s on 6. While '60s on 6 won't play a single out-of-decade song, its emphasis is clearly 1964-69.

What satellite radio needs is an oldies channel that sounds like the typical late '50s-through-early '70s FM oldies station of the early '90s (before the format's death spiral began), but with a deeper playlist than such a station would have had -- not to replace the existing decades channels but as a complement for those listeners who like oldies from all three decades.
 
I like Sirius Gold (50s early 60s) better than XM 50s on 5, but like XM's 60s on 6 better than Sirius 60s Vibrations, and when it comes to the 70s Sirius Totally 70s beats 70s on 7 on XM. Either Sirius or XM blows away terrestrial offerings. If you add up the number of songs played on the 3 decades channels (50s, 60s & 70s) on Sirius, you will have a playlist of over 2000 songs and with XM over 2500. Compare that to 300-500 on a typical terrestrial oldies/classic hits station.
 
Yeah, but they don't have to get ratings, and it takes you three stations to
get your fill. Glad you enjoy it, but those channels wouldn't make it on terrestrial
radio.

I programmed Oldies from 92-95 with E. Alvin Davis as our consultant. Great station
with over 2000 songs in the library. Strong ratings. Our average age listener then
was 45. That would make those 45 year old listeners 58, now. Out of the demographic
that can make a station enough money to stay in business.

Sad, but true.
 
surfdude said:
Yeah, but they don't have to get ratings, and it takes you three stations to
get your fill. Glad you enjoy it, but those channels wouldn't make it on terrestrial
radio.

I programmed Oldies from 92-95 with E. Alvin Davis as our consultant. Great station
with over 2000 songs in the library. Strong ratings. Our average age listener then
was 45. That would make those 45 year old listeners 58, now. Out of the demographic
that can make a station enough money to stay in business.

Sad, but true.
Click to expand...


Its not terrestrial radio, thank goodness, and oldies isnt making it on terrestrial radio anymore either. Great oldies stations with 2000 titles in their library rarely exist anymore. Oh yeah, I dont have to deal with 15-20 minutes of ads every hour- I get 60 minutes of oldies every hour. 8)
 
Holland Cooke said:
Sirius plays more music; XM puts more "stuff" between the songs.
XM's 60s-on-6 channel is full of what-THEY-seem-to-consider "atmosphere."
Old jingles, old-medium-market-sounding-DJ, old COMMERCIALS.
Yep, on the commercial-FREE music channels.

They seem to be trying to re-create the sound of vintage upper-band directional AM radio.
As opposed to delivering-listeners-who-fled-AM/FM-clutter clutter-FREE music.
Which is what the Sirius 60s channel sounds like, by comparison.

You can tell which of the two I prefer.
But, "while I've got you here," do oldies listeners prefer the Sirius approach? Or XM's?
Click to expand...


Sorry, but I prefer the "clutter" on XM. If I only want music I can play my thousands of CDs. LPs, 45s, and 78s.
 
Many of you have to remember, those of us who like the old music also enjoy hearing the old ads and features. They all have pleasant memories for many of us. I real enjoy the Chickenmann series that XM is playing. They have a little more talk, but it's usually talk abou the tunes or artists....Which ever you choose, it has to be better than the AM FM alternative. ( Except for WDJO in Cincinnati)
 
RE "oldies isnt making it on terrestrial radio anymore "

AZJoe said:
Great oldies stations with 2000 titles in their library rarely exist anymore.
Click to expand...

It's a darn shame that so many Oldies stations have chickened-out, and abandoned a format with SUCH equity among the-most-monied demographic. Every day in the USA, 10,000 people turn 50. And -- RIGHT NOW -- the biggest pile of inheritance money in history is falling their way, as elderly parents pass on.

One common thread among consistently successful Oldies stations I hear in my travels: SHORT playlists. When I'm in Miami/Fort Lauderdale, I can't get out of the car! I sit there with the key on Accessories, because, after waiting for ONE great song to end, I hear Majic102.7 play ANOTHER one. Clearly, they've invested to determine WHICH x-hundred songs strike a chord with me.

Mostly, I work with non-music AM stations. But I do one Oldies FM, KDOK/Tyler TX (http://www.kdok.com), and it's a-ton-o-fun.

Happy NEWS Year,
Holland Cooke
News/Talk Specialist
McVay Media
www.HollandCooke.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FonOwlry9I
 
Just a question from "an oldie" who occasionally enjoys listening to the music of the 50s, 60s and 70s...

"Are repetitive familiar songs better in a heavy rotation?" Or do listeners (jocks and non-radio personalities) enjoy the archival moderate hits that Sirrius and XM both seem to be playing...even if they didn't reach #1? ???

And one more question...

Do local stations that STILL PLAY OBSCURE or SELDOM HEARD MUSIC have 'an edge' over the satellite stations when it comes to programming certain type(s) of music? ::)

argytunes
 
Just finished logging nearly 1,000 miles in a Sirius-equipped rental car. My first real "test" of Sirius after two years with XM.

Oldies? Sirius appears to have a much "safer" playlist/approach than XM on both channels 5 and 6. I'm personally more or less neutral on the "clutter" question. I basically like "more music", but I have to admit some of the stuff XM throws in is fun to hear again.

Audio quality of music channels on both services leaves a LOT to be desired. (And on some talk stations, its absolutely dreadful). I was given XM as a b-day present. I'm not sure I'd pay for either satellite-delivered service until that (lousy sound quality) gets fixed.
 
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