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Sirius/XM merger could ground Opie & Anthony

post #1 of 240
2/28/07 at 10:24am
Thread Starter 
A more subtle issue also surfaced yesterday when Opie and Anthony said they would not work for the new satellite entity if they were going to play "second fiddle" to Stern.


Well...seeing how they've been second fiddle their entire careers I don't see why they should feel any differently now! ~
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post #2 of 240
2/28/07 at 1:19pm
Quote:


Though a decision on the proposed XM/Sirius satellite radio merger is months away, Opie and Anthony warned yesterday that they could be among its casualties.
Opie and Anthony are heard 6-9 a.m. daily on two dozen CBS Radio stations, including WFNY (92.3 FM); then they move to XM for two more hours, 9-11 a.m.

But Mel Karmazin, who would be CEO of the yet-unnamed merged company, told Howard Stern yesterday he has little interest in sharing satellite hosts with terrestrial radio.

"I have not seen that in any way, shape or form as being an advantage," said Karmazin, who didn't specifically cite Opie and Anthony. "The more different our talent is, the better."

Anthony Cumia later commented, "Mel's answer didn't make me feel welcome."

Opie (Gregg Hughes) said yesterday that "something's gonna give," and added that if satellite doesn't want O&A, they wouldn't mind doing terrestrial radio full-time.

Opie and Anthony, CBS and XM have all said the current deal benefits everyone. O&A are reportedly under joint contract into 2008, and Karmazin said yesterday all contracts will be honored.

A more subtle issue also surfaced yesterday when Opie and Anthony said they would not work for the new satellite entity if they were going to play "second fiddle" to Stern.

Stern and O&A have had a tense relationship going back to the days when Stern was the morning powerhouse on WXRK and Opie and Anthony were successful afternoon hosts on CBS sister station WNEW.

Stern asked Karmazin, then the head of CBS Radio, to forbid Opie and Anthony from talking about him on the air. Stern's opposition also reportedly played a role in CBS declining to put Opie and Anthony on WXRK, which many radio people felt would have created a stronger station.

Since Stern went to Sirius in January 2006, the sniping has continued. Opie and Anthony say Stern has faded, losing more than 80% of his free-radio audience, while Stern notes that O&A haven't come close to matching his terrestrial ratings.

Before Karmazin came into the studio yesterday, Stern also said the merged satellite company should not share talent with free radio.

"The thing with Opie and Anthony tanked," he said. "But what were they thinking in the first place? If I'm an Opie and Anthony fan, why subscribe if I can get them free? Keep it exclusive."

this is the problem i thought would come about.... and poof..... here it is.
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post #3 of 240
2/28/07 at 6:14pm
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Originally Posted by RAVEN56706 View Post

this is the problem i thought would come about.... and poof..... here it is.

Way to go out on a limb.
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post #4 of 240
2/28/07 at 7:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jonvall View Post

A more subtle issue also surfaced yesterday when Opie and Anthony said they would not work for the new satellite entity if they were going to play "second fiddle" to Stern.

Their point about "second fiddle" was that they have no intention of being part of Stern's channels and refuse to be issued another gag order from Karmazin, while Stern is allowed to continue to make comments about them, just like what happened when they all worked for Infinity.
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post #5 of 240
2/28/07 at 7:22pm
This is just more baseless hype. I don't think O&A would be dumped (or vice versa) if a merger occurred.

-Paul
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post #6 of 240
2/28/07 at 7:24pm
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Originally Posted by drrosen2l View Post

This is just more baseless hype. I don't think O&A would be dumped (or vice versa) if a merger occurred.

-Paul

And wasn't this rumor started by some other hack radio show at XM?

-Paul
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post #7 of 240
2/28/07 at 8:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by drrosen2l View Post

This is just more baseless hype. I don't think O&A would be dumped (or vice versa) if a merger occurred.

It's not a matter of being dumped or not. It's a matter of being treated like a crap, like they were the last time that they worked for Karmazin.

O&A have a valid point when they point out that Karmazin has avoided mentioning them in every possible situation since the merger announcement. People have tried to argue that he can't talk about any XM programming until the merger goes through. But that hasn't stopped him from talking about how good it would be to have Major League Baseball and Oprah Winfrey's channel available to Sirius subscribers.

Even when Karmazin and Stern had the conversation that was specifically about Opie & Anthony (they are the only show in XM where a portion of the show is simulcast on broadcast radio), they still didn't mention them by name.

That was when O&A commented that it looked like they were about to get crapped upon, once again by the hypocrite and his rabbi.
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post #8 of 240
3/1/07 at 5:03am
you know that their egos will clash and then its the survival of the fittest... no need to worry guys, the merger still didnt happen and who knows if it will..
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post #9 of 240
3/2/07 at 8:01am
Let's face facts. The main reason these announcements don't talk about O&A is because their names are not recognizable. You do not mix Howard Stern, Martha Stewart, Oprah, and O&A in the same sentence. The first three are recognized by the vast majority of people in this country. Most people have never heard of O&A.

O&A like to pretend they are as relevant as Stern but they never have been and never will be. They are the ones who built this wall between themselves and Stern and Mel, and now they may pay the price as they are forced to abandon satellite and move to terrestrial radio full time.

Most likely they will face that choice anyway, and it has nothing to do with ego. Mel has clearly stated that he wants his talent to be exclusive to satellite. So if O&A want to stay they would have to abandon their CBS contract (if that is even possible). That's A LOT of money they'd be leaving on the table, and I guarantee you, they won't do it. They will welcome the opportunity to go back to terrestrial radio full time, despite the fact that they will have to do a censored show full time.
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post #10 of 240
3/2/07 at 8:48am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jonvall View Post

Well...seeing how they've been second fiddle their entire careers I don't see why they should feel any differently now! ~

1st fiddle, 2nd fiddle, whatever. so many of you guys seem more concerned with who is more popular than with who actually puts on a better show, or more specifically, a show that YOU enjoy more.

stern certainly has more name recognition. O&A certainly have a larger audience. nether fact makes a damn bit of difference when i'm trudging to work every day. the only thing that matters is who does the better show, not how many people you can get to validate your personal preferences on an internet message board.
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post #11 of 240
3/2/07 at 9:17am
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Originally Posted by G-star View Post

1st fiddle, 2nd fiddle, whatever. so many of you guys seem more concerned with who is more popular than with who actually puts on a better show, or more specifically, a show that YOU enjoy more.

stern certainly has more name recognition. O&A certainly have a larger audience. nether fact makes a damn bit of difference when i'm trudging to work every day. the only thing that matters is who does the better show, not how many people you can get to validate your personal preferences on an internet message board.


Of course....for you and many it's O&A for me and many it's HS.
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post #12 of 240
3/2/07 at 9:26am
Quote:
Originally Posted by drrosen2l View Post

And wasn't this rumor started by some other hack radio show at XM?

-Paul

I thought it was by another Hack on Sirius, Bubba the brown nose.
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post #13 of 240
3/2/07 at 9:51am
lol..... gosh we sound like children... it doesnt really matter.... let me be honest... i find HS extremely funny and the reason i left..... i heard O&A and i didnt find them as funny but it was ok.....

i have to say though on this issue, if you listened to HS.... they dont talk about O&A... but when you listen to o&a, they always bad mouth..... so now, when the merger started to become clear, who in their right minds thought that they would be able to work together....

its very rare it happens but with their egos clashing and with Howard being the big name, you cant say that it wasnt clear that they probably wont survive this merger(key word probably because of what Mel said)
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post #14 of 240
3/2/07 at 12:15pm
My dream would be for artie to leave and lil jimmy norton to take his seat on stern. We would have the best of both worlds then.
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post #15 of 240
3/2/07 at 3:19pm
Bottom line is that MK and HS have had a 25 year history together of success. It's obvious that HS is the backbone of Sirius and the entire satellite radio industry. Nobody talks about satellite radio without mentioning Stern's name.

O&A made a decision to make their radio show not exclusive to satellite which is wonderful for them and their pockets but not good for people who actually have to pay for the service. In the end, the fans got screwed because they were forced to listen to a watered down (censored) version of the show for the first 3 hours.

And for the record, those who have seen O&A's ratings, i doubt that they have more listeners than anybody. Even Anthony himself has said they are pitiful.
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post #16 of 240
3/2/07 at 3:42pm
First post? So who are you really?
BTW, there are millions of people who talk about sat radio without mentioning Howie, they're called XM subscribers.
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post #17 of 240
3/2/07 at 4:26pm
Trashing Stern is absurd, because it's a FACT that if Stern had signed with XM, SIRIUS would be a forgotten entity, and XM would be a powerhouse. There would be no merger talk.

O&A failed as a "premium" service at XM, they then failed as a subscription source, first at standard XM, then as a combo "Free FM/XM Afterwards" program. They just do not have the subscription base or potential that Stern has.

They also spend much of their airtime talking about Stern, whereas Stern could care less about them and rarely mentions them at all.

Look at the "Free FM" ratings book. It's embarrasing. Before they can trash Stern, they need to at least approach half of the ratings that he had at K-Rock. Good luck.

Even when they went on Letterman, a "gift appearance" from Les Moonves, they ended up talking about Stern. Great job!
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post #18 of 240
3/2/07 at 5:10pm
Who trashed Stern? Seems like most of this thread and other recent threads are Howie's fans trashing O&A. If they are so insignificant, why are Stern fans so obsessed with them?
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post #19 of 240
3/2/07 at 6:54pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by BZiggyZ View Post

There's not one "fact" in your entire post. Ba-ba-booey anyone?

I agree with one of your opinions- Stern couldn't care less about O&A; his fans on the other hand seem to not be able to get enough of the O&A "feud."

Right, O&A brought in tons of bucks to XM when they were a premium channel....
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post #20 of 240
3/2/07 at 6:56pm
I take it back.. Their NY and Chicago ratings suck. Everything else- conjecture.
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post #21 of 240
3/2/07 at 7:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by oblio98 View Post

Trashing Stern is absurd, because it's a FACT that if Stern had signed with XM, SIRIUS would be a forgotten entity, and XM would be a powerhouse. There would be no merger talk.

A "fact" is a provable statement. Go ahead and prove that statement.

Quote:


O&A failed as a "premium" service at XM, they then failed as a subscription source, first at standard XM, then as a combo "Free FM/XM Afterwards" program. They just do not have the subscription base or potential that Stern has.

Incorrect statement #2. O&A were initially put on premium because XM was concerned that, even two years later, there would still be a backlash from the Sex For Sam 3 incident. By putting them on a premium channel, there was a built in answer to people who would object to their subscription dollars being used to pay for O&A. With a premium channel, the answer to anyone who complained could be "It isn't". All along, O&A complained that their channel shouldn't be a premium channel. They wanted their show to be made available to everyone.

According to XM VP Eric Logan, they didn't get the complaints that they feared. So, at the same time XM announced a price increase, they moved O&A to the standard tier and included the XM Online feature (which previously cost $3 per month for people who subscribed to the satellite service) at no additional charge.

Quote:


They also spend much of their airtime talking about Stern, whereas Stern could care less about them and rarely mentions them at all.

It was Howie & Robin who brought up Opie & Anthony's show when talking to Mel (although he didn't mention them by name, their show is the only one where a portion is played on both XM & FM)

Quote:


Look at the "Free FM" ratings book. It's embarrasing. Before they can trash Stern, they need to at least approach half of the ratings that he had at K-Rock. Good luck.

While they are also on XM, they never will. Instead of listening via FreeFM, those people are listening on XM, so they hear the uncensored version of the show. They also don't hear the FreeFM commercials. They hear best of bits during the FreeFM commercial breaks. Because of that, these people don't count toward the FreeFM ratings.

Quote:


Even when they went on Letterman, a "gift appearance" from Les Moonves, they ended up talking about Stern. Great job!

Only because Letterman asked. Neither one of them brought Stern up.
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post #22 of 240
3/3/07 at 8:46pm
O&A are crap. In this case, they would be fourth fiddle behind the KOAM, Bubba, Ferrel. When they went to sat radio, no one cared. When Howard went, it changed the industry. Sirius was a dead dog until Howard signed, now it is a merger of equals and if it does not go through, Sirius will continue to dominate the industry with superior programming and higher quality sound.

It was funny to see the ratings for Howard's old spot drop BELOW even David Lee Roth levels when O&A took over. Way to go!
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post #23 of 240
3/3/07 at 8:51pm
Hey, oblio98 - O&A brought in 35k subscribers. Not exactly TONS, as you stated. Try 6 million in 12 months. $932 million a year vs. $35k a year.
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post #24 of 240
3/4/07 at 4:51am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ryansprance View Post

Hey, oblio98 - O&A brought in 35k subscribers. Not exactly TONS, as you stated. Try 6 million in 12 months. $932 million a year vs. $35k a year.

I was being sarcastic!
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post #25 of 240
3/4/07 at 4:53am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bill Broderick View Post


Only because Letterman asked. Neither one of them brought Stern up.

They sure took the bait, though. Right into their favorite "act".....
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post #26 of 240
3/4/07 at 10:35am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ryansprance View Post

Hey, oblio98 - O&A brought in 35k subscribers. Not exactly TONS, as you stated. Try 6 million in 12 months. $932 million a year vs. $35k a year.

Please let us know the source for your numbers.
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post #27 of 240
3/4/07 at 3:41pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pat6366 View Post

Please let us know the source for your numbers.


I believe his source is Opie....when they were a pay service on XM opie let slip out the 30 thousand number-
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post #28 of 240
3/4/07 at 4:08pm
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Originally Posted by mercury View Post

I believe his source is Opie....when they were a pay service on XM opie let slip out the 30 thousand number-

Wow, he must be a very faithful listener, I subscribed from day one and I missed that tidbit of info.
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post #29 of 240
3/4/07 at 4:58pm
Like O&A actually make a difference. Lets face it Howard sells radios. Look at the numbers. O& A are a bunch of cry babies. Can anybody be so nieve to think that they are remotely important to the success of XM? Come on, any time a company has a valuable commodity, would that actually let them go work for the competition. I would love for the merger to happen and watch O&A play 10th fiddle and cry some more. Of all the years I listen to Howard, I can remember maybe a handful of times he even mentioned their name. It's almost pathetic how everytime I talk to an O&A fan, they all say the same thing, "Howard put a gag order on them." Ya Howard is so scared of other talents that he went out and hired Bubba, and Farell. O&A fans are dedicated though. So much they belive every stupid thing that come out of their mouth.

How about this one. If Howard retires tomorrow, guarantee there is no merger. If O&A retired tomorrow, it wouldn't even be an issue.
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post #30 of 240
3/5/07 at 5:12am
Quote:
Originally Posted by liftn View Post

Like O&A actually make a difference. Lets face it Howard sells radios. Look at the numbers. O& A are a bunch of cry babies. Can anybody be so nieve to think that they are remotely important to the success of XM? Come on, any time a company has a valuable commodity, would that actually let them go work for the competition. I would love for the merger to happen and watch O&A play 10th fiddle and cry some more. Of all the years I listen to Howard, I can remember maybe a handful of times he even mentioned their name. It's almost pathetic how everytime I talk to an O&A fan, they all say the same thing, "Howard put a gag order on them." Ya Howard is so scared of other talents that he went out and hired Bubba, and Farell. O&A fans are dedicated though. So much they belive every stupid thing that come out of their mouth.

How about this one. If Howard retires tomorrow, guarantee there is no merger. If O&A retired tomorrow, it wouldn't even be an issue.


true.... its the truth... howard sells radios and if o&a left, people wouldnt care... thats the truth...

oh and can someone please bring the statistics book for Pat6366.... he wants the turth but cant handle the truth
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