Re: [Swprograms] More on Sirius, Post-Stern

[John Figliozzi <jfiglio1@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hiya again...

On Feb 2, 2006, at 10:14 PM, Mark J. Fine wrote:

> John Figliozzi wrote:
>> FWIW, Mark... same situation up here in Albany viz Sirius and XM
>> stock on hand in stores.  Evidently, Sirius had a significant higher
>> share of new subs than XM during the 4thQ of '05.  I can only explain
>> it in terms of the Stern factor.
>
> That would seem to explain it, but it almost sounds surreal,  
> doesn't it?
> LuAnn's listened to Stern since we lived in Jersey ~20 years ago. That
> was back when WNEW-FM actually played "album-oriented" rock.

Speaking of that, I'm sure you've noted that Sirius has quite a few  
of the old NYC and MTV DJs on their air.  Folks like Carol Miller,  
Cousin Brucie, Pat St. John, Mark Goodman.  They even have Vin  
Scelsa's "Idiot's Delight".  They have a guy named Jonathan Schwartz,  
but he's not the guy we used to hear on NEW-FM (at least I'm pretty  
sure about that.

>
> Which reminds me that we finally got to see "Private Parts" (albeit
> ironically censored) on Comedy Channel this month. I remember the  
> whole
> W-Nnnnn-BC fiasco quite clearly. This was at a time when Don Imus used
> to call up housewives and ask them on-air, over their 50kw flagship AM
> station, if they were nekkid [a-yaw]. So, I'm also not buying into the
> whole idea how Stern "created" the genre. He may have made it popular,
> he may have pushed it to the next level, but Imus definitely  
> spawned it
> in the NY market.

Right with you, here.  Imus was the trailblazer.


>
> But back to the Sirius/XM debate... Having actually heard both  
> services
> (for those that don't know, XM's now on DirecTV), I really don't see a
> lot of what XM has to offer. For all intents and purposes, XM (or at
> least the watered-down version that DTV gives us), is really no better
> than the Music Choice selections that it replaced. It's just safe,
> average stuff. There's nothing real special other than the MLB  
> contract
> and Opie/Anthony, and I'm not terribly impressed with that.

I agree.  The Sirius product is just better.  More variety, a global  
perspective, a commitment to making each channel a unique place.   
There just seems to be movement there, vitality.  XM to me sounds  
dead, stagnant, staid.  (I bought an XM subscription for one of my  
sons in a fit of pique over the fact that Sirius would not sell me a  
fourth 6.99 subscription under my original account.  He likes it  
fine, but I hear a definite difference between the two.

>
> If you think about it, the Stern factor may be a different animal from
> what we might think. It's quite possible that Sirius, generated  
> greater
> curiosity from consumers by getting Stern than people that actually
> listen to him. The pure publicity that was generated was  
> unprecedented.
> I have no problem believing that it was a lot more positive than XM's
> "exposure" deals with DTV and AOL (you can also get XM via AIM). The
> problem with XM is that once you actually see what you've got versus
> Sirius, Sirius wins hands down. XM may find out that they can't even
> give it away and win.


Agreed.  I think Stern gave Sirius a big dose of credibility.

>
> As an aside, after three months of the XM deal, I'm wishing DTV still
> had Music Choice. Music Choice provided a lot of good Freeview  
> material
> re: concerts, etc. that DTV showed on weekends. For example, in three
> successive months, they aired the recent Queens of the Stone Age  
> concert
> DVD, the Audioslave in Cuba DVD, and the John Mayer Trio concert just
> last month. DTV replaced these extremely well-produced programs with
> their over-produced, over-commercialized, and amateurishly-hosted  
> weekly
> train wreck called CD USA. It's hard to watch, even in HD.

Just can't bring myself to pay the price for HD right now.  Maybe the  
fact I have three in college has something to do with that.  Are you  
coming to Kulpsville this year?  Missed you the last few.

John

>
> -- 
>
> Mark J. Fine
> Remington, Virginia, USA
>
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