In the on-going saga of XM subscribers upset over the suspension of Opie and Anthony, now a new issue is starting to make the rounds - one involving XM Customer Service.

According to individual reports, people are finding that instead of XM service cancelling their account (as requested), XM Customer Service is instead giving people 1-6 months of free service. I'm not talking about radios that still appear active (which can just be because the cancellation signal hasn't been received).

It's one thing to offer free months in an attempt to retain subscribers (I think pretty much every subscriber-based company does this), but it's another to appear to be deceiving. And it's something that XM needs to get a handle on sooner rather than later. The online buzz is giving XM Customer Service the kind of reputation that AOL Customer Service now has. And we all know how well that worked out.

In additional to the complaints that The Consumerist has received, Orbitcast has also numerous similar complaints regarding this. And this is not simply confined to online fanboyism. This has made it to CNN:

This is something that XM needs to get control of... quickly.

[The Consumerist]

I had a nice conversation with Jim Puzzanghera of the Los Angeles Times over the XM subscriber backlash yesterday. A conversation which led to a very well written article:

"The reaction is mind-blowing," said Ryan Saghir of North Branford, Conn., who runs a blog about satellite radio called Orbitcast. "One of the main attractors to satellite radio is the unregulated content. Once you take away that … you're going to have some upset subscribers."

Even more impressive (at least to me) is that a commenter was quoted in the article:

"I will not support a company that has decided the one true reason they exist no longer matters," wrote one poster on Orbitcast.

Now I wasn't kidding about the mind-blowing part. This is the highest amount of attention I have seen since the Sirius-XM merger announcement (and it's a record for Orbitcast... thankfully I'm running on good strong servers). 

The old adage of "any news is good news" sometimes still runs true, and I think it will in this case, if XM/Sirius can handle the situation correctly. This suspension has brought to light the differences of satellite radio versus terrestrial radio, the topic of social responsibility in the media, and (most notably) the regulation of free speech. Imus, JV & Elvis and Opie & Anthony have collectively made the public question what exactly they want to be "allowed" to listen to, although maybe not in the most optimal of ways.

People are actually thinking about this topic, rather than letting the special interest groups dictate it for them. That's important in today's media landscape.

In the long-run this level of attention may actually serve the satellite radio industry, and the "shock jocks" that work for them, quite well. Through adversity comes strength. XM and Sirius now just need to spin this increased attention in their favor.

But for the next 28 days, well... viva la revolution!

[Los Angeles Times]

Sponsors of the XM Satellite Radio channel The Virus (ch 202) are reportedly pulling their advertising from the channel in protest to the Opie and Anthony suspension.

The Nashville Coffee Company, a sponsor of both The Virus and Radio Disney (ch 115), even goes as far as to issue a statement on their website regarding the matter.

"It is apparent that XM Radio is beholden to crybaby special interest groups who cannot separate humor from reality," the company said on its website. "It is also unfortunate that XM Radio executives don't have the guts to stand up for their on air talent."

Other advertisers, such as Adameve.com, are reportedly pulling their sponsorship if O&A are not reinstated.

"As an adult company with a long history of fighting for our First Amendment rights, freedom of speech issues are extremely important to Adameve.com.," wrote an Adameve.com representative  in a letter to People Against Censorship.

This level of pressure, combined with the enormous XM subscriber backlash, may weigh in XM reconsidering the suspension decision. XM has always said they want to appeal to "cult" audiences. Well... they got 'em.

[People Against Censorship] 

"What do you say Howard, are you with us or are you against us?" Hughes was quoted as saying in the article. (Full audio available here.)

"I'm not spending a minute thinking about you," Stern said in response on his show. "I'm not with you, and I'm not against you. Your biggest 'nemesis' is you. You're fighting with you."

Howard further distanced himself from the situation. 

"Listen guys, I've got nothing against you, do you're show, have a blast," Stern continued. "But don't call on me to help you. I don't condone what you said about Condoleezza Rice."

The question remains whether Stern's show itself will fall victim to this newfound scrutiny of what is said over the airwaves - even if on unregulated airwaves. It's painfully obvious that the reason why XM is being so careful with how Washington perceives satellite radio (especially the "shocking" content on satellite radio) is due to the pending Sirius-XM merger.

Stern himself was the topic of discussion at the Congressional hearings over the Sirius-XM merger, particularly when it came to the topic of decency. As the Wall Street Journal points out, the satellite radio companies have signaled a willingness to work with the FCC on the issue of decency as part of a merger.

Mel Karmazin even offered a block-and-rebate style tiered pricing plan, allowing consumers to receive a discount on blocked explicit channels. But with Stern likely being seen as "Public Enemy #1" by the decency police, you can bet that he too will do his best not to ruffle any features in the weeks to come.

XM subscribers have been reportedly canceling their subscriptions ever since the announcement that Opie & Anthony were suspended mid-day yesterday. The hold times for customer service yesterday escalated from a 30 minute wait, to an 1.5 hour wait, according to those who were on hold to cancel.

People Against Censorship (PAC), a group formed in reaction to recent radio hosts firings, has organized support rallies outside of O&A's CBS studios everyday for the remainder of the week. PAC also has a list of items fans can do to support the show, including canceling of XM subscriptions. They encourage subscribers not to smash their radios, though some angry fans have already done so.

It'll be interesting to see what happens over this...

UPDATE: I'm just curious, how many people here have canceled or suspended their XM subscription?

XM stated that comments made on yesterday's O&A show "put into question whether they appreciate the seriousness of the matter" as their reason for suspending Opie and Anthony.

Orbitcast has obtained the audio in question. You can listen to it below:

It's obvious that XM is seeing some level of seriousness in the matter (either through pressure from the media, from subscribers/advertisers, or from the merger task force who felt this was bad for business... though it's hard to know for sure) and they're sending a clear message here that they're not messing around. XM generally isn't one to backdown from a good fight, which makes me wonder about the behind-the-scenes events that have led to this decision.

XM has said they deplored the comments aired on "The Opie & Anthony Show" last week. At the time, the company strongly expressed its views to Opie and Anthony, and they issued an immediate apology.

Comments made by Opie and Anthony on yesterday's broadcast put into question whether they appreciate the seriousness of the matter. The management of XM Radio decided to suspend Opie and Anthony to make clear that our on-air talent must take seriously the responsibility that creative freedom requires of them.

UPDATE: I'm looking for the offending audio from yesterday's broadcast that caused this... I hope to have it shortly.

This video says it all...

Patrice argues the point perfectly. The reality is that with comedy - or even the attempt of comedy - someone, somewhere, will be offended. Obesity kills 300,000 people in the U.S., but that doesn't stop people from making fat jokes. Why is there no "outcry" there? That's because sometimes comedy can be dark and people want the opportunity to laugh at otherwise depressing subject matter.

Satellite radio channels that are clearly labeled as "explicit" channels - with the full availability of blocking that channel - is where content like this can reside, unaltered. If you don't like it, don't listen. The only time when the "public" (and I use that term loosely) is offended is when pirated audio is distributed around the internet.

Bill O'Reilly, Mancow Muller and analyst Mike Gallagher debate the Opie & Anthony segment. O'Reilly sure didn't seem to appreciate Gallagher's more rational reasoning and gave Mancow "the last word."

...and Mancow is really milking this for all it's worth.