Are you happy with XM/Sirius Changes, Actual Poll - Page 2

First off, when the FCC granted licenses to XM and Sirius it was on the condition that there were 2 entities in the satellite radio market b/c they didn't want a monopoly with that same attitude. However, as we all know there are plenty of alternatives to satellite radio. So the notion that its a take it or leave it, I feel, is unfounded, b/c there are so many alternatives.

The idea of any company is to have an advantage over its competition, so that consumers will use their service. You get Sirius or XM for ___ fill in the blank, NFL? MLB? Nascar? Howard Stern? whatever it may be, thats why you get it right, because you can't get that in your car whether your in Chicago or New Orleans with other means.

That's why I had it. Ask yourself why did you get it? For the music or for the content?

There should have been only one company to begin with. Neither company has made a signal cent since they started broadcasting.

I'm sure there are plenty of people out there who don't give a damn about these changes.

But people like me, who got and had XM for almost 7 years for the music, I am disappointed with the changes to the music channels.

If I want Sat radio for just Stern, or the NFL then I'd stick around. But unfortunately for SiriusXM I listen to sat radio 99% of the time for the music. And right now there are PLENTY of other alternatives out there. If this happened 4-5 years ago I'd have to grin and bare it. Now a days, I don't have to. I can vote with my feet.

And I am.

I'm keeping one of my XM subs, but the rest are gone after the 1st.

I've had XM since 2004, cancelled it when O&A got suspended, simply in principle. Then I never got around to signing back up. I burned dozens of MP3 CDs instead..

I signed back up about 6 weeks ago, right after the merger.

I switch between music and talk radio. I never listen to sports.

I don't care one way or other about the music changes, I didn't just lock into one channel, I jump around all over the place. I don't miss any particular channel that was lost at all.

The sound quality has always been iffy at best, some channels now sound just awful. THen again, I only listen in my truck, I don't have a home unit, so the sound quality in my Rav 4 can't be considered audiophile anyways.

I'll stick with the service, probably for as long as it's around. Right now I think the 'History of Howard' is some of the most entertaining radio I've heard in years. For sometime listeners like me, there's a lot of his show that I don't get, since I haven't been around for the last 20 years. That 'history' program is filling me in on a lot of the past of the show, so that some of the characters now make more sense. I am about to check to see if it's available for download online on his site. I'll pay for a decent downloadable copy of that whole program.

I also voted with my wallet and cancelled XM. In the process, I found internet radio is better in any case.

According to this 10,000 subs canceled. We don't know if that's 10,000 accounts or 10,000 subscriptions. And of course that number could be much higher, but they are only admitting to 10k. Whatever the truth is at least they listened to some of the complaints and acted.


Sirius XM addresses its slipped disco

By David Hinckley
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Wednesday, December 24th 2008, 4:00 AM
Sirius XM disc jockey Joe Causi Paul Hawthorne/Getty Images

Sirius XM disc jockey Joe Causi

Sirius XM has restored the Strobe and Backspin channels that did not originally survive consolidation after the merger of Sirius and XM.

"We listened to our subscribers, and they wanted those channels back," says Sirius President and Chief Content Officer Scott Greenstein. "In fact, they had been among the last channels we cut."

Strobe plays disco and classic dance from the '70s and '80s, with shows like "Deney Terrio's Request Fever" and "[Joe] Causi's Club Classics."

Backspin plays old-school rap and hip-hop, with specialty shows featuring hosts like Monie Love and Afrika Bambaataa. Sirius XM is also adding "The Beat Morning Show" to the BPM channel. The host will be New York radio veteran Geronimo.

The channels return Jan. 15, and Greenstein says he hopes no other permanent channels must be dropped, though that's still being worked out.

The Sirius XM merger reduced 130 music channels to 67, and alongside multiple host cuts, it left some listeners concerned.

Some of the mergers involved two almost identical channels, others less so. But listeners noted that often nominally similar channels took different approaches.

XM's "High Standards" popular standards channel, for instance, had a different sound from Sirius' "Siriusly Sinatra."

"Siriusly Sinatra" survived, and "High Standards" program director Jonathan Schwartz now does a daily show there.

Not all listeners think that's enough. "I dread Schwartz's show ending, making way for the bland to begin and continue until his return the following day," writes subscriber Chip Geer, who's keeping his subscription "in hopes things will improve."

Sirius XM officials have acknowledged they heard from a number of subscribers post-merger, with about 10,000 canceling. Now, says Greenstein, "The complaints have pretty much stopped."

Sirius XM projects 19.1 million subscribers by year-end, up about 10% from last year. It expects 20.6 million at the end of 2009.

The programming keys to continued growth, says Greenstein, are diversity and "freshness."

"We already have a wider range than anyone, from Bing Crosby to Led Zeppelin. That will continue. We just need to keep providing music that people like and wouldn't hear anywhere else, including on their iPods."

That said, not every taste will always be represented.

"At some point we become the ultimate aggregator," he says, "and you do have to program for the greater good of all your subscribers."




http://www.nydailynews.com/entertain...ped_disco.html

I "cancelled" in September, but took their 3 free months so I am not officially off the books yet. I suspect many are in the same boat. I have almost completely stopped listening since I bought an iPod when the Red Sox were finished, only checking in once or twice to see which channels survived the merger. My wife will keep here Sirius although I'd just as soon cancel that as well. She likes Howard for some reason.

I subscribed for Fungus and Red Sox. Red Sox aren't enough to keep me year round and its clear punk isn't coming back. The stations that I listened to while Fungus was gone and the Red Sox were still playing have all been wiped: Lucy, Fred and X-Country.

can i play internet radio in my car?

Yes you can...

Slacker.com

how does that work?

Mercury,

Got to www.slacker.com

They should have pretty much all the info you need on what type of radio/content/cost(if any)/etc....

Thanks-

dont understand it but thanks

The portable?

You buy it. Either wirelessly or USB you d/l up to 25 pre programmed, OR custom programmed stations( 40 stations with the 8 gig player)..

It also refreshes as often as you like wirelessly anywhere, that way the playlist remain fresh and new. It adds songs, substracts songs, you can also fine tune the pre-programmed stations to your likes and dislikes.

To listen in the car except for the antenna it hooks up like any XM or Sirius PnP. No car dock yet but a cell phone holder would do the trick.

edit...After the cost of the portable the service is free. They have a pay service, $4 a month or $7 a month( if you want to save songs to the portable). But so far from what I'm reading there's very little reason to buy the pay service.

barbie845,

I have been reading on the website, and your post, but still am a little confused about(this looks very interesting as I really only do listen to Howard, and a handful of other stationson Sirius):

1. Does it connect to a car radio like my current Stiletto? I have it connected via a car cassette adapter(3.5mm one end from the stiletto to the cassette player on the car)? And/or does it connect via FM wireless(just curious)?

2. When it downloads via Wi-Fi, does it download, let's say, a ton of songs/info for each station you choose to setup? So if I have only 15 stations that I prefer(the 4GB seesm to be the way I would go, as it look like more than enough for me), will it download like 5 hours worth of music(this is just a random number. If it is more or less, do tell) on each channel/station I have chosen(whether it is 25 or 1 on the 4GB model)?

3. Does it have a Car power adapter(for the cigarette lighter) to charge/ or keep charge the battery?

1- Yep, it will connect to a radio via Aux-in, cassette adapter or an external FM mod. Slacker sells a FM mod, but of course you can get one on ebay much cheaper.

2- Yes, the 1st time it d/l's it takes HOURS because it is d/l hundreds if not thousands of songs. Of course the faster the wireless connection the faster the d/l. But after that 1st d/l the refreshing takes 10-15 mins. Because then all it's doing is deleting some songs, adding others, and re-shuffling the stations you listened to since the last re-fresh. The stations you haven't listened to since the last refresh it does nothing. I've read with the 25 station is d/l about 100 songs per channel. I do not know if you only choose 12 channels if it will then d/l 200 per channel. I imagine it will, that makes sense.

3- it charges USB. So all you need is one of those 12v DC chargers that plugs into the cig lighter and a USB cable plugs into it.

I jumped in on the Woot $49 Slacker deal. Classical music selection is very poor but the rest seems pretty good. There are many repeat tracks on Classical and film music channels.
It's a very cool gadget. You can literally take the unit anywhere and listen to hours and hours of music.

I think a 3g iphone might be a better car solution (I have the 1g iphone, music is converted to low res mono on the slower network) but the best thing about the Slacker is that there is no fee for using it, ever, unless you want the premium features. On the iPhone you can choose from streaming music on several different apps including AOL music, Pandora, and FlyCast, all free.

I've been a Sirrius subscriber since Howard went there, and have been impressed with all aspects of the service. However, I'm not happy with the changes to the 70's or 90's channels. They are sticking with a top 40 play list that they did not have before. I also miss the Vault. I appreciate the input about alternate listening choices. I am currently listening to Slacker on the computer.

I'm pretty disappointed as an XM subscriber. I was kinda hoping for improvement in the service (I still love POTUS08). Was hoping for more than 1 blues channel. Listen to lithium 90s alternative and grunge still, but barely anything else.

Today( Monday) Woot has the 8 gig/40 channel slacker G1 on sale for $70..Nice price.

I thinking about going the "Slacker" route, and dropping XM.

Have you tried connecting to a AV reciever of any kind? I am wondering what the sound qaulity is on an actual audio system.

Also, does it work with sites like "Pandora"?

I have mine connected to my Pioneer A/V.. sounds is good, better then SiriusXM.

No, it only works with Slackers web site, which is free. But you can d/l Mp3's to the G2 player. I'm not sure about the G1, but I'm guessing it's the same.

Cool, thanks for the feedback.

I was going to set my house up with a Squeezebox Duet system; but for all the equipement I need it would be $700, the $79.99 G2 seems like a economical soloution for a multi-room setup (just move the unit around).

Thanks for the link, that is awesome! Thanks steelers


Another great link, thanks barbie

The $70 unit is the G1, not the G2..

It should work the same. From what I've read the G1 is bigger and has a few quirks, but I think basically both units work the same.

I dont know..... the slacker for me sounds like to much trouble. i just want to get in my car and turn on the radio.


thanks though.

Actually since the slacker has no antenna it's at least as easy to set-up as any XM or Sirius PnP unit. You just need power and audio. Again, same as a PnP unit, an Ipod, etc.

Try the web player, that's free too. See if you like it. If you like the music selection then maybe down the road you might want to invest in a portable player. I hope I'm wrong but you may need a music alternative to SiriusXM in the near future.

What about the iPod touch (or iPhone) - you can do Pandora, Last.fm, aol radio, flycast and others (slacker may or may not have an app in development), plus there are apps that will let you stream your entire MP3 collection through wifi so the small storage capacity is less of a concern.

Plus its a great little portable web browser if you need it.

Mine has made me forget all about my Inno.

You're welcome.. If you liked that everyone will love this..Woot is selling the 2gb G1 today for $45 shipped..

Link: http://sellout.woot.com/Default.aspx...10ab69217340d2

Sonus zoneplayer is also worth considering. I dropped XM and have been using Pandora. Eventually, I will try other services but it couldn't be better for the home.

I switched from XM to Sirius earlier this year to get the religious talk channels. Squizz and Liquid Metal were the only music channels I really listened to, and Octane and Hard Attack are very similar so I had no real complaints about the switch (other than the fact that Sirius combined the traffic channels for DC and Baltimore into one). My wife on the other hand hated the switch to Sirius. She's thrilled now that she has her favorite XM channels back.

I don't see how this is any different than how my Insignia MP3 player works, except that I have to do the "refreshing" myself.