DCRTV is reporting that XM's in-house traffic and weather channels will come to an end tonight at midnight (Eastern), with Westwood One's Metro Traffic taking over. There were rumors dating back to October that Sirius XM Radio Inc. was debating renewing its deal with Westwood, but if DCRTV's sources are right, that debate is over.
Westwood's Metro Traffic currently provides services for the Sirius side of the business, and was reported to be costing the company about $5 million a year in cash. There's no word whether a new deal has been negotiated, but XM's in-house traffic was said to be "cheaper" than Metro.
Most XM's traffic staffers are expected to be laid off with a some employees staying on board until January 24th during transition .
Most XM's traffic staffers are expected to be laid off with a some employees staying on board until January 24th during transition .
Wow, too bad. I was a traffic part timer at XM in 2004 into 2005. I loved working there. Great team, great environment, and cutting edge technology. The place is a shadow of its former self. I'll miss the every now and then major mispronunciation of regional locations by the traffic reporters!
I know there will be weather channel changes.
The Minneapolis channel (219) has been saying
for the past couple of days that effective tomorrow its moving to 215...
I see a dying radio service that is cutting until there is nothing left to cut, these idiots have taken a great idea and ran it into the ground. Thank God for Slacker and I pods.
Great move, Mel. Spend more $ that you don't have AND lay off more XM employees. Can't wait until a company with real vision picks this company off the scrap heap when it files for BK and maybe something positive can be made of all of this.
I don't know about the Sirius side of things, but I always felt the XM traffic and weather stations were pretty useless. They always seemed behind and slow to update. Listening to the channel for my area got pretty old pretty quick. Maybe the new company will be an improvement.
Crossposted from DRC. Here's the new T&W lineup:
XM 210 - Boston / Philadelphia
XM 211 - New York City
XM 212 - Miami-Ft. Lauderdale / Atlanta
XM 213 - Dallas-Ft. Worth / Houston
XM 214 - Washington, DC / Baltimore
XM 215 - Minneapolis-St. Paul / Pittsburgh
XM 216 - Detroit ..... and maybe Las Vegas
XM 217 - Chicago / St. Louis
XM 218 - Tampa-St. Petersburg / Orlando
XM 219 - Phoenix/San Diego
XM 220 - (apparently blank)
XM 221 - San Francisco/Seattle-Tacoma
XM 222 - Los Angeles
Dude, are you actually pissed off about TRAFFIC EMPLOYEES being laid off? Get a grip!
I'm confused. If XM's in house traffic and weather was cheaper, why go with the more expensive option? What genius came up with this idea? Somebody is getting paid off on this one.
oh , great. what's next? a tape delayed bubba the love sponge show?
They've combined cities on XM to mock similarly to Sirius. The new traffic line-up is now: 210 BOS-PHL 211 NYC 212 ATL-MIA 213 DFW-HOU 214 DC-BAL 215 PIT-MPS 216 DET-VEGAS 217 CHI-STL 218 ORL-TSP 219 PHX-SD 221 SF-SEA 222 LA. Hard to tell if its the XM in-house or Westwood One.
I never pay attention to the traffic because they don't have where I live (Kansas City). Need to know when the next tornado outbreak or cattle truck wreck are going to make me take 470 instead of the 435 loop on my way home.
It's why I'm switching to Ted's Traffic Service. Sure, it may lead me into the tornado's path or into Crackton where I will surely come to my demise but the 5 cents a month saved is well worth it.
The XM traffic is now the same as Sirius in that they have 2 cities per channel (great job saving 8kbps of bandwidth!!!) However, it doesn't sound like it's the same as Sirius' service....they're still saying "XM Traffic Time is..." and playing the XM tones before switching between cities.
I don't have XM to compare it to, but the traffic cities are the exact same now on both services. One more indication that the *real* XM has died.
The Sirius traffic guys and girls, I've heard, are actually based in the cities they cover, which makes their reports, in my opinion, more accurate since they know how to get around, in the first place. The XM'ers, I think, were based in one location.
Yet another thing that set XM apart from Sirius and made it better. MLB, O&A, better traffic, and deeper music are what made XM great. It now is a clone of its merged partner. There's a reason I didn't sign up for Sirius and there's a reason that I don't view this service as essential as I once did.
Seriously - are people that worked up about the merging of frigging traffic services? Really?. I doubt one was substantially better than the other 0 I mean , after all, it's a traffic report. Consolidate them and cut some costs!
True....Westwood One >>> CBS >>> Infinity >>>> Viacom.....oops did I say Viacom. I hope its a hostile takeover.
Gee, it's as if people here haven't heard that THE ECONOMY IS IN THE CRAPPER and everybody - that is, EVERYBODY - is being affected by that. And I don't believe for a second self-produced 24/7 traffic is cheaper than subscribing to a service. How the Hell do people think XM got their reports, looking out the window in DC and telepathically divining where the accidents are?
Get a grip, people. It's bad out there, and nobody outside of maybe Aldi's is NOT cutting back.
I have been an XM Owner for over 4 years. I travel between Richmond, VA and Baltimore every week. I use my MyFi when the rental car does not have satrad. About 50% of the time, my rental has Sirius, the remainder have XM or I use my MyFi.
I have been comparing traffic reports on both services for the past 8 months. Now remember I am an XM owner.
Here is my opinion of the two traffix services for Baltimore and Washingotn, DC.
A. One or two stations
1. XM had 2 separate stations (213 and 214) for these cities.
2. Sirius combines these into one station, but with clear deliniation of which area you are listening at the time.
In my opinion, having 2 stations are better.
B. Clarity of broadcast
1. XM traffic for 213 and 214 (Baltimore and DC) broadcasts sounded like they were in a tin can someitmes making it difficult to understand
2. Siruius - The one station was very clear, easy to undersstand.
In my opinion Siruis is superior for item.
C. Rapidity of updating traffic conditions.
1. XM - It seemed to me as though the updates were not especially responsive to changing traffic conditions. I-95 Southbound in the early afternoon (2PM) was incorrect most of the time as it was reported as yellow (slow or slowdowns), but most times should have been red (incidence or roadwork impeding traffic).
2 Sirius - seems to update traffic conditions more rapidly for these two areas. Also reported I-95 Southbound seemed to me to be more accurate.
In my opinion Siruis is superior for item.
These are my personal observations and opinions based solely on these areas. Your most likely will differ.
Bob
The Sirius traffic reporters are not always in the city in which they're reporting. For example, if you listen to Boston and St Louis you will hear the same person.
Someone PLEASE tell the idiots over at Sirius that you're NOT SUPPOSED TO PLAY MUSIC ON THE TRAFFIC AND WEATHER CHANNELS.
They still play music on XM 247 like idiots.
True....Westwood One >>> CBS >>> Infinity >>>> Viacom.....oops did I say Viacom. I hope its a hostile takeover.
True....Westwood One >>> CBS >>> Infinity >>>> Viacom.....oops did I say Viacom. I hope its a hostile takeover.
No we're all waiting for a good Oral N Anal show. Or something funny from ron n pez.
Look, one thing I know about Mel, is he would not pick the more expensive option. I'm certain, in the long run, it was cheaper to farm out the traffic and weather. Reports to the contrary were probably leaked by XM traffic guys. Ha!
Sirius' traffic and weather is fine. Stop the griping. This company is trying to stay afloat right now. Consolidating the weather and traffic channels makes complete sense.
The company has something to fear thats down the road. That fear is SLACKER. Sirius has to bring back what they once were. They once had a SOLID line up. (before Nov 12th, 2008)
They somehow have to get things back to the way it was or they will tumble.
good one donkey! got any more awful o&a jokes you can waste in a traffic comment?.....
illterate, I liked his Oral and Anal comment! Keep it coming for those douche-bags!
Times are hard, that is true, but why do they keep taking it out on the little people? People who work hard, don't make a lot of money, and are just trying to feed thier families. Take out just one "Mad Dog" and you have taken some real fat off the bottom line.
Couldn't this bandwith be used for more music or other content? I think traffic and weather is best left to the local folks.
I want my DC traffic in a timely manner - listening through Baltimore's and the rest of the junk they had on there this morning wastes my time. If it is going to take that long, what point is there for me to have a pay service when the local news station WTOP has it every 10 minutes and I don't have to pay for that. I wanted traffic that I could check between the times on the local radio.
Staying afloat = keeping people happy
unhappy people = canceled subscriptions.
XM's traffic information was provided by Traffic.com, which IS locally based and is MUCH more accurate. Sirius (and now both Sirius XM)'s service, Metro Traffic (Westwood One), is falling apart and losing millions of dollars a year. They also have the worst coverage in the country.
I couldn't agree more with this comment. Seriously guys get a fucking life and stop bitching. I mean fine you know what don't use the fucking service if it pisses you off that much for them dumping the god damn weather stations. Sat radio isn't meant for that anyway how accurit can they be anyway. Fuck get a life. Stop visiting Sat radio blogs if it bothers you that much. I enjoy the posts that are like I am glad I have an IPOD or Slacker oh really because both of those give you the fucking weather and traffic conditions now don't they?
"Seriously - are people that worked up about the merging of frigging traffic services?
Really?. I doubt one was substantially better than the other 0 I mean , after all,
it's a traffic report. Consolidate them and cut some costs!"
OH NO! What is Dee Dee going to do now? Well, she can always open a little S&M shop! Linger Longer!
It's funny to see some people telling others to get a life. These are opinions mixed with some fact. I live in Baltimore and drive around 150 miles to work and back each day. I liked the way XM was setup because they relied partially on people who were actually out on the roads and saw things. To me, it does suck. That's my opinion. Everyone's entitled to their own.
By the way, to the individuals telling others to get a life, look in the mirror. How pathetic is it that the only thing you have to do is bitch about somebody bitching about something else?
So exactly what are you saying.........
That someone should subscribe to a traffic information service to get traffic info????
Never heard of that service. If there is such a service for the Atlanta,Ga metro area, please send it to me.
Otherwise you are full of BS.
Best Traffic reporter of All-Time:
I have lived in NY for years and am a longtime subscriber. I can't speak for the other cities, but I personally loved NY's coverage. That guy Joe Dooley was the best reporter ever. Had me laughing on my shitty commute home every weekend.
I have to say the worst reporter was some chick named JUNO. Man, she was bad. Never mentioned the roads and sounded like she was doing an ad for a late night sex show.
Most of those reporters spoke too fast anyway. I was told that the reporters were young and had no on air expereince before. Oh, it was obvious at times!
It has reached the point where people just bitch about everything being done to save a company in jeopardy. There have been some moves that might upset listeners, but who cares if they use in house traffic or an outside source. I feel for the employees, but otherwise I really can't see the problem. In fact, Shadow will probably be an improvement.
This is pretty much the last straw for me. I live in Philadelphia, and if I have to sit through two and a half minutes of traffic and weather for Boston to get the traffic for where I live...I'll take my chances scanning the AM band for a traffic report. It will likely be faster. I may just buy a Navigon GPS with lifetime traffic, leave it on, and never rely on radio for this again.
Traffic was all that was left, after they ruined the alternative channels (Lucy, Ethel, Fred.) Now I have absolutely no reason to stay.
I laughed when Mel made the rationalization that the competition for satellite was the iPod to get the merger approved...and now, I'm dropping XM and replacing it with my iPod. Mel has the amazing ability to make his lies true. Now, if he can do that with his earnings forecasts, he'll have something.