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181 Comments
- TimmyGUNZ, on 10/12/2007, -9/+82What XM should do is create two-tiers of service. One, being the paid model they use now, will offer all the channels commercial-free, the way it basically is now. I don't listen to the channels that they listed, so I can't confirm if I've heard commercials on them.
The second tier should be free, and should include those stations with commercials. This will be great for those who get an XM Unit in their new car to see just how much better XM Radio is than terrestrial radio, even WITH some commercials! It could have one hard-rock station, one classical station, one hip-hop station, etc.
As a huge fan of XM, I can say that I've personally turned about 5 or 6 people on to the service, but it only worked after they experienced it themselves. This would be a great way for XM to reach a segment of the audience that isn't thinking about buying XM currently. - Sirocco, on 10/12/2007, -16/+75Greedy pricks. The whole attraction to digital radio is the willingness to pay for:
A) Your choice of content.
B) No commercials. - rebrad, on 10/12/2007, -4/+49Why should I care about the 4 clear channels stations. Who listens to them anyway. I think if clear channel is going to play that game they should just take them off XM.
- EpicSA, on 10/12/2007, -7/+38This will affect 4 channels only. They are the 4 channels that already exist on terrestrial radio.
If you read the reasoning behind this it isn't a big deal. Avoid those 4 channels.
-digg - diggerphelps, on 10/12/2007, -3/+29There are no commercials on Sirus' music channels.
Hoo hoo.
Tell 'em Fred. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -6/+17only talk channels had commercials when they went 100% commercial free music you 'tard.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10XM doesn't have commercials...l There are 4 channels that are broadcasted on terrestrial radio that will resume to have the commercials... All XM stations that have music are commercial free.
- Lacrossedragon, on 10/12/2007, -5/+14Ugh. You're a moron... It's 4 channels people, all of which are on standard radio. No big deal.
So how's Howard? Now that he's taking Fridays off. - cdreiling, on 10/12/2007, -3/+11Wasn't cable television suppose to be commercial free?
They are going where the money is, commercials.
Remember when the Internet was commercial free. - TRUEPATRIOT, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10is it really that surprising? i mean cable tv`s big sell was no commercial and as we all know that stayed true ; )
- cyrix, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10I agree as well. I think that would be the best line of thought for them to follow.
I would hate to see it if they went to a "a la carte" service though, which I could actually see them doing in the future.
As for it being modded down, it's just simply trolls getting their kicks. You know kids these days.....yup. - beandog, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8I was worried until I actually *read* the article.
"Now, as I understand it, there are four channels that contain 'music programming' by Clear Channel - Sunny, KISS, MIX, and Nashville - and as this reads, XM will be forced to include commercial advertisements on these channels."
Either way, none of the channels I listen to are affected, thank goodness.
Let's hear it for more digg.com sensational headlines though. - ericpp, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9Clear Channel sucks so hard...
Their stations are great if you like hearing the same 50 songs played over and over again. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9They're not greedy. This is part of the settlement between them and clear channel. I don't think they really have a choice. They've pushed to not have commercials on those channels.
- hepcat, on 10/12/2007, -5/+11It is just on 4 crappy channels now sure, but combined with the absurb-makes no damn sense-addition of WLW last week, I am increasingly worried about my XM service.
Here is an update to this story: http://www.orbitcast.com/archives/more-info-on-xm-music-channels.html - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7In newer cars they have the preview function where u can preview certain channels on certain days.
- riskable, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Honestly, if you pay XM to listen to KISS and MIX you're either an idiot or you're living in one of those three square miles in the U.S. that don't already have these stations on the FM dial.
The whole point of XM is to get stations that DON'T exist locally. Sure, it is nice to never have to worry about signal loss when traveling, but we all know why people subscribe to XM: Niches. I subscribed so I can listen to Techno/Trance/Dance radio (three stations!) and Ska/Punk/Rock/Unsigned (~6 stations?). I was pleasantly surprised by CNN, C-SPAN, XM Public Radio, and the uncensored comedy channel.
The whole thing is moot anyway. Soon we'll all be listening to radio in our cars via wireless Internet connections (whether it be via Cell, Wi-Max, or something else entirely).
-Riskable
http://www.riskable.com
"I have a license to kill -9" - Helfax, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6I've been an XM subscriber for a number of years and have noticed a steady increase in the cross promotion of channels as well as commentary from the DJs. Is it annoying? Definitely. Not as "100% commercial free" as they lead us to believe? You bet. That being said, I would still rather listen to XM than listen to the banter on the local FM stations. I will, however, drop them without thinking twice if commercials continue to invade my listening space.
Raise the monthly rates but do NOT bill yourself as "commercial free" when that isn't the case. Forcing commercials on those that bought the service to try and escape them only provides one with angry customers. - Nerfdude, on 10/12/2007, -7/+13sounds like a lot of Stern supporters in here. i like that. :D
XM has always sucked.. their original draw was the lower per-month and supposedly clearer audio. i've had Sirius since early 2003, and love it... - jbno, on 10/12/2007, -5/+10I find it interesting how people in a bad situation are so willing to accomodate the system that is treating them badly. Only four channels, so just avoid them--if you're paying for it it should not have any commercials. That's the point of paying for it.
People have so little fight left in them they're willing to pay upwards of $10/seat for admission to a movie in a theater where they get ads before the movie and ads during the movie. It won't be long until XM radio is like cable TV where you pay ever increasing rates while telling people who aren't willing to pay for ads that "it's always been that way!" merely because it has been that way for a long time and people have short memories, or "that's normal, they've got to stay in business somehow!" as if it's our job to keep them in business.
It seems that there is no line they can draw you're not willing to step up to. And, no, "voting with your dollars" is not a substitute for how things ought to be run. That just means rich people get more votes than poor people. - foshizol, on 10/12/2007, -4/+9I just got a Sirius subscription. Looks like a I made the right choice.
- Philbert, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Reminds me of when I first got cable TV, the whole reason you paid for it was to get rid of the commercials. That didn't last long.
- construct, on 10/12/2007, -6/+11Vote for Sirius here too... Even though I'm not really paying for it (came with car for 9 months), and probably won't. I can' justify paying for radio.
- maddoginthefog, on 10/12/2007, -0/+59 million people are paying for satellite radio and the numbers are growing every month.
- culebra, on 10/12/2007, -4/+9I have to agree with davidemm comment "If you let the camel's nose in the tent, soon you will have the whole camel in the tent". It's the same reason I COMPLETELY refuse to pay for cabel television, you are paying to be advertized too. It remindes of my fav. quote from futurama:
LEELA: Didn't you have ads in the twentieth century?
FRY: Well, sure, but not in our dreams. Only on TV and radio... and in magazines... and movies, and at ballgames, and on buses, and milk cartons, and T-shirts, and bananas, and written in the sky. But not in dreams, no sirree.
At what point do you draw the line? I just get sick and tired of being advertized to. I am one of those people who will totally avoid a product if it's marketing becomes far to invading. Case an point, Star Wars 1 (phantom mennace). I recall when that movie came out it was marketed more than any product I can EVER remember. It was absolutely everywhere I went. So much so I got sick of it, and to this day I have refused to even so much as watch the movie at a friends house. Thats an extreme case, but you get the point.
As far as XM goes, where I work they play it all the time. I remember they had the christmas channel going 24/7 (god I won't even be getting into that). They had this one add, that went "XM radio is brough to you by the United States Postal Service..." I remember going WTF? The hell it is, XM is brought to you by US your cusomters. Thats when I wrote them off as a business.
So long XM, glad I never bought that crap. - dnite, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Can't go anywhere w/o finding a pest. hehe.
The title of this guy is kind of misleading. It's 4 channels and it sounds like if XM could help it, they wouldn't be broadcasting comercials on these stations, but it's an agreement they had a long time ago. No biggie. I love XM. - cyrix, on 10/12/2007, -5/+9I suppose they weren't making enough off the subscription fee's. I really can't think of any other reason for them to do this. I don't think it was because of lack of users, seeing as this could only serve to turn people off even more to the service and force some customers to an alternative service that's commercial free.
- SpydrMrphy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Hey, its not that bad. If people avoid those stations with ads on XM, and the ratings will go down. If ratings are low they'll understand why people go to XM, for the shows that have no ads, and will stop doing it. It's like any 'boycott' when the company realizes it will take a loss it will stop.
Also if the channels are regularly aired on Terrestrial Radio, I wouldn't know I stopped listing to all "radio" quite some time ago and listen solely to Pod-casts, it probably was cheaper and easier to do it with the ads in tact then to edit them out especially if the XM broadcast is simulcasted live with the Terrestrial Radio version.
From a company point of view, ads = money, money = good, there for ads = good, until they go away, the ads or the listeners that is.
And this new ad scheme might make it less expensive, you know like cable "did" - davidemm, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6This is the same thing as always, you START with just four channels, but then other channels will follow that path. What's to stop them??? "But they [Clear Channel] do it!"
*Give them an inch, they'll take a mile*
*If you let the camel's nose into the tent, soon the whole camel will be in the tent.* - AaronMan24, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Commercials or no commercials, the fact still remains: Clear Channel is evil.
- MilitantRabbit, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I hope Clear Channel's board of directors get hit by drunk drivers on their way to their sons and daughters' weddings. These greedy ***** take delight in bringing down the competition.
- ajamer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4This would be impossible to do without doubling the number of channels carried on the satellite. Seeing as how the stations are already compressed to hell (64kbs) I'd actually prefer them to start removing channels and up the bit rates.
- sporkwitch, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Since when do they have a whole 50 songs?
- joshv, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6Yes, because Internet radio works so well on long road trips...
- cosm0, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3With all that bitching, I forgot to note that I am on the fence about satellite radio, I thought one of the benefits was commercial free radio? Why would I want to pay for commercials? I hope this stay limited to clear channel stations.
- gODfall, on 10/12/2007, -5/+8Thanks to Howard Stern for opening my eyes to Sirius.
- XM202, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6Hoo Hoo they're ripping me off Robin, I invented satellite radio.
Tell'em Fred - jamesey, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4If you're in L.A, listen to KCRW, 89.9. If you're not, go here: http://www.kcrw.com/grid/
Any new non corporate good music is played there first. M-F 9AM to Noon is musical gold for music lovers. There are few commericals, most are for the station itself. - kindrobot, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3He does have commercials.
- Blackscorpion, on 10/12/2007, -6/+9I don't listen to the stations that are listed. I hear commericals all time on just about any channel. They just happen to be for upcoming shows or specials on other XM channels.
- RobotCitizen, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2This is how it always goes. First they promise you a commercial-free experience for a fee. Then they sneak in the commercials after a while. This is only affecting 4 XM channels for now, but don't doubt that this is just the foot in the door.
- MilitantRabbit, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Does he? Does he really?
- Chompy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Well I was thinking of subscribing, but not anymore. If I'm paying for it, I want zero commercials. I don't even want to hear cross-promotion.
- drawkbox, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2What if they find that the advertising stations get more traffic?
- kindrobot, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2One of the main reasons that sirius and XM are not taking off as quickly as they should have is that the hardware is still more expensive than it needs to be. Yeah, you can get a 49.99 sirius radio for your car, but they charge 50 bucks more for any and all accessories. Wanna use it in your house? Headphone jack and your own power supply is the way to go if you don't want to have to purchase a "home KIT". It works, but the supplied antannae does not work well indoors. Placement is a crapshoot. They should offer a hardware free with contract option, or free hardware with a pre-paid year or two.
And as far as commercials go, it doesn't really bother me that much. The main reason I went with Sirius was the real DJs that really pick their programming. Terrestrial radio has been slowly (slowly enough for many not to even notice) turning into pre-programmed drivel with content designed for one demographic. And it's a pretty specific one. People that buy stuff. And why shouldn't they do this? Their job is to make money, right? Well, that type of thinking always fails in the end because you end up boring your audience to death and some subculture or (in this case) new tech comes along to challenge your comfortable business model.
If these companies would just finally learn that in order to keep an audience you have to have a LITTLE bit of human chaos in there somwhere, they would remain viable in the face of almost any new competition. I'm not talking college radio everywhere, I'm talking FM radio 15 years ago. A good balance.
I remember tuning in to the local FM rock station back then and knowing that if I stuck around for a certain show, I would hear at least some music I loved. If I tuned in a little earlier, I'd be bombarded with the latest makeup-bighair-bands.
Now when I tune to the local rock station (that still hilariously calls itself the "alternative" in our area), I can be sure that no matter what time it is, I can hear the same tired re-hashing of the worst elements of the seattle scene along with the most formulaic elements of the emo-screamo crowd. And NOTHING ELSE.
So bring on the commercials, just don't take the real DJs away again.
The real punchline of all this is that back then, when radio was still somewhat "real", the new trend was to have "less talk and more rock", which translated to a lack of respect for the DJ in the hearts and minds of management.
Guess what, folks? You got what you asked for. And maybe what you deserved. - xLiKx, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5Sirius rules, go get that. the audio quality is outstanding and they got Stern. i gotta have my Stern during the workday. :D
- Camman, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4no digg for this story with ridiculously misleading title, 4 XM channels provided by Clear Channel and they all suck, lame.
- Schda, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3I agree, people are overreacting. I don't listen to the 4 clear channel channels, but I think when I used to listen to KISS FM a few years back they did play commercials, basically it was a simulcast of what was being broadcast on FM. Well being as it was clear channel and the music selection was horrible I didn't listen to it. So I guess they got rid of the commercials are now bringing them back, oh well..
For those unfamiliar with XM here's how it works. There are commercials on every channel. For the music channels XM runs they are basically just promos for the other music channels. On the talk/weather channels they have commercials for outside products. This change isn't that big of a deal there will still be over 100 music channels free of outside commercials and that will still have promos for other channels.
Story reported as inaccurate. - FinishdLawSkool, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Don't forget, there are those executives who think that watching television without watching the ads (tivo and the like) is the same as stealing it. I am sure that this same crooked logic is going to be applied to satellite radio eventually...although then paying for satellite radio would be pointless.
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