Sirius gets serious, reshuffles lineup, cuts DJs
At the satellite radio company--should we call it Sirius XM Radio?--big programming changes are starting to shake things up. Are the cost savings impacting you?
UPDATE! (November 19, 9:59 AM PST) Sirius Disorder fans take note: Vin Scelsa announced on his 11/19 Idiot's Delight show on The Loft (Sirius Disorder's replacement channel) that Meg Griffin will soon return to do her thing on The Loft (yes, she's currently on The Spectrum). Vin also noted that David Johansen's show will be back. The Lou Reed and Hal Wilner show is headed back as well. All will appear on The Loft. Maybe our protests were heard!
As a Sirius Satellite Radio subscriber, I received an e-mail on Wednesday "Announcing The New Sirius Channel Lineup" that confirmed my worst fears about the Sirius-XM merger.
That is, the inevitable cost savings would impact me personally. My favorite music channel, Sirius Disorder, is history, replaced with the near DJ-less The Loft. It seems rather bland, and I really do miss Disorder's morning guy, Ghosty, as well as afternoon host Meg Griffin.
Hey, Sirius has to keep forking over those hefty paychecks to Howard Stern, and somebody has to pay for it.
There's a lot more changes across the range of programming, and some great XM channels are now on Sirius.
If you're not getting the new lineup, or you're a little dazed and confused, here's how Sirius recommends catching up:
Please note that when you turn on your radio for the first time on or after November 12, it may need 2 (to) 5 minutes to receive the update from our satellites.
During this time, the audio you hear may not match what is shown on your display, and you may see messages such as "updating channels." While the radio updates, please do not change channels, as this will delay the update.
I know it's still early, and we are just starting to grasp the changes, but I'd love to hear Sirius and XM subscribers' views on the shake-up. Is it good for you? BTW, the Sirius-XM stock is now 25 cents (down from a 52-week high of $3.94), so please remind me why the merger was such a great idea.
Oh, anybody know if Howard Stern still has any stock? He was such a big booster of Sirius, wasn't he?