XM Satellite Radio today put a stake in the ground to remain focused on existing consumers and prospective subscribers by announcing the XM Customer Promise.
The XM Customer Promise, signed by Chairman, Gary Parsons, CEO, Hugh Panero, President and COO, Nate Davis, reiterates that existing XM radios will continue to work before and after the merger.
In an open letter to XM customers published in today's USA Today, XM said: "As long as you are an XM subscriber, your XM radio will continue to receive XM's great programming. Following the merger, XM expects that the existing radios will be able to receive a mix of programming from both services."
The letter also states: "XM's programming, including Major League Baseball, Oprah & Friends, Bob Dylan, Opie & Anthony and commercial-free music channels will not be interrupted by the merger. In the future, we will be able to offer the best of both companies' programming."
There's also a new section on XM's website that will keep subscribers up-to-date with XM's business and the happenings of the merger process.
Too bad for O&A Mel is gonna fire them...but they always win in the end.
I'm still waiting for them to say that they won't raise the price at any of the content that we currently get for 13/mo (still want the same exact content avail w/o hacing to purchase 'additonal packages'), add more commericals to the stations that have them, or add commercials, or make the sound quality any crapper by adding sirius stations to their spectrum.
Unless that is the case, I'm against this merger. I still haven't heard anything to convince me how this will be good for the consumer/current customer. I'm not interested in receiveing "XM's great programming" if it sounds like shit.
Boy oy boy the pests are twisting in the wind over this merger. I love it! hahahahah!
Stan, you know you are the result of rape and incest right?
Stan,
You do realize that Mel has already stated that he will honor any contract in place meaning that O&A are safe untill 2014
Yeah, Mel hates free advertising.
- Boy oy boy the pests are twisting in the wind over this merger. I love it! hahahahah! -
Yea, God forbid Howie would have to actually compete. You Stern fans are somehow proud of his pattern of using Mel to get rid of his competition?
When you're screwed and left with one shitty satellite company we'll be the ones laughing. "hahahahah!"
The sceneo will probably end up like this. Instead of 69 XM music channels you'll get 30 music channels, some XM, but mostly Sirius. They'll be needing the bandwidth to add new features that current radio cannot recieve. If you want the whole music line up again, you'll have to get a new radio.
I love how the Sirius diehards are so giddy over the merger. If you're such fans of the service, why do you care if there is or isn't a merger? Personally I like XM's message. I have had both services and I inevitably chose one over the other (XM). I'm happy with the service. Maybe you all just feel left out? I don't get it.
Though Karmazim will run the company , from what I'm reading on other sites , XM's programming will have the stronger presence .
Nice of XM to give us a letter but too much is up in the air for it to makes many of us calm at this point.
Guess I'm the only one who feels good about XM's message. If they are trying to screw us over I sure can't see it.
Do I file this promise before or after " CFBE @ 4.5 million ".
What is a promise worth when one's credibility is suspect?
Panero selling in 12/05 took that away.
So what would cause XM's management to issue such a notice, and why is the stock breaking the 13's on this press release?
I suspect that they are getting a boatload of phone calls and canceled accounts based on the reaction of the fan base.
Don't be shocked if Q1 subs numbers goes negative. That will take her down to 10-11.
"You do realize that Mel has already stated that he will honor any contract in place meaning that O&A are safe untill 2014"
can someone point to the SEC filing or a link where the 2014 contract was proven, i've seen this before but i cannot imagine that they would sign a 8 year deal...just seems weird...but then again i've seen worse.
why would'nt mel honor the agreement, i think O&A have their place as well in the merger. they used to be great on Krock in the afternoon.
As for the morning, i don't think mel will have a choice the CBS contract is for morning drive as is the other sindicated radio contracts.
now as for those contracts, hmmm, i wonder if they will continue in their current form since mel love "exclusive" content....
P.s Hi Pfreak glad you added greatly to the conversation. wonderful to see you again
Opie and Dopie said it themselves. When the merger is complete their contract will be just about up. I'll post audio if you want.
Stan, they were reading an article. They said themselves they signed a "very long extension", and they were joking that when this whole deal is "completely done", which would mean by 2010, they'd be up. That's when their contract is up, two months before Howie's.
Gotta love the utter hatred and contempt for XM and Opie and Anthony in particular by the Sirius Fanboys. What gives? Hey Sirius people, go enjoy your Sirius service. If you don't subscribe to XM, then you don't pay for XM, and you probably don't listen. So just sit back and enjoy your service. No need to be a troll just to be a troll.
as a sirius listener , theres no contempt or hatred for xm just opie and anthony.
Brian. I heard it. They were complaining and ranting for about 30 minutes over Mel's comments on Howard. Lie all you want but we all know that the clones and their lil' fruit fans don't want this merger to go through.
Stan,
As a 'fruit fan', I do not want the merger to happen. And it's not because I am worried about what will happen with o&a...it's going to be a shitty deal for the consumer. Why do you want the merger? Is it because Howie says it's good and "if you don't see how it's good, you are and idiot"...and you don't want to be an idiot? Or is it that you want Howie to be happy, and the way for him to be happy to to make money on all the shares of Sirius he owns. I'm sure there's no bias in his words when he talks about such issues.
Odds are that everyone will benefit from this merger if it goes through.
The only thing that actually concerns me is how they will be handling "redundancies" in the music programming.
Given Opie & Anthony's high popularity on XM, I seriously doubt that they or Ron & Fez are going anywhere.
With that out of the way, this one goes out to all the suckers who still believe in love:
The funny part about the O&A vs Stern thing is that O&A will probably end up picking up more listeners than Stern will with this merger. Many O&A fans are ex-Stern fans who have moved on from Howard or are completely polarized to Stern and his ilk after being exposed to his hostile arrogance, stupidity and hypocrisy via O&A.
O&A's style of humor (a.k.a. cringe) is essentially Stern's style (a.k.a shock) evolved. And despite what will be said to the contrary here, I think many Stern listeners will pick up on that should they tune in to XM202 out of curiousity (or out of the fact that Howard takes so much vacation).
I've been listening to Stern's show on my friend's Sirius for months now and the above could not be more apparent. One perfect instance I could note would be a guest Stern had on who was discussing how he likes his girl to urinate all over him. Stern, Robin, et al thought this was vastly disturbing and "potty humor" giggles ensued. I remember thinking how run of the mill this type of thing is on the O&A side. It really needs context of excruciating detail and/or a clever approach. Just saying "pee pee" shouldn't cut it as humor. I could go on citing Stern's blase use of nudity, Robin's use of non-humor, and on and on...but I won't.
And yes there have been things on Stern's show that have made me laugh, but it becomes very difficult to ignore the show's kinks and failings especially when your ear is attuned to hearing them. What's even more frustrating is the knowledge of how much better O&A, Norton, and crew could approach the same topics creatively, intellectually and comedically.
You can't even honestly compare the two's supporting crew. O&A have Jim Norton, Rich Vos, Patrice O'neal, Bill Burr, a large list of today's top comedians as regular guests, and their incredibly funny second show with Ron Bennington and Fez Whatley. Who does Stern have that's funny besides Artie and maybe Bob Levy? Sal? Robin? Fred? Bubba? Ferrall? Wait, wait...all we need is Howard, right?
But hey it's just Opie & Anthony who are just Howard Stern clones. Anything they have to say is irrelevant because they're not Howard. Right?
Oh well...Satellite's gone way up to Mars..
like i said the best thing for O&A is mid morning afternoon 12-4 or even drive time 3-7 they would pick up so many more stern fans this way.
direct competition against stern will do them no good
- direct competition against stern will do them no good -
Are they not directly competing against stern right now? And who knows, how are they going to get stern listeners if Sirius people are going to end up having to pay a fee to recieve the show? The details of this merger are so vague I don't know how anyone could cheerlead it as a good thing without knowing exactly what will happen.
What's the matter Sternos, O and A getting under your skin maybe just a little when they tell the truth about your boy? If you hate him so much maybe their's a reason for it, he llies to you so much and you aren't even smart enough to maybe figure it out on your own. You're so far up his ass it's pathetic. and when the murger goes through, they'l still be around, dogging Howie just to get on his nerves. If you like Stern, listen to him and be happy. Oh wait, you can't be happy with a man who makes an obsene amount of money and takes half a year off.
I think it would probably be a good idea to merge the 2 companies together as one .
The merger of 2 companies together like this would keep the prices lower for those of us who would like to have satellite radio in our homes or cars.
I also personally think that the name SKYWAY RADIO should be the new name used for the new merger of the 2 companies ...............
" If you like Stern, listen to him and be happy. Oh wait, you can't be happy with a man who makes an obsene amount of money and takes half a year off."
i always love this because these are the same people who forget what industry this is.
Welcome to moviestars who work for 6 months and get 40m and dont work again for 3 years
Welcome to letterman and leno who work for 6hrs a week and get 2 months off 3 times a year..making millions.
Welcome to news anchors/leads who get 6m+ a year for a 1hr read 5 days a week
Welcome to O&A who get prob over a million for a 1.4 share for 3 hrs a dayon a new york station.
Please stern does as many hours now as he did before..just takes friday off. i hate it, i wont lie but he is hardly abnormal
Stan,
For a guy that doesn't like O&A, your posts indicate you sure listen a lot. Keep on listening Stanley. Keep on listening.
PNess,
Way to excuse Howards lack of loyalty to his fans by comparing apples to oranges. He takes way more time off now. 3 months of vacation plus 52 Fridays off. That's almost another 2 months. With your regular holidays such as Xmas and the 4th he takes about 5 months off. He's half retired.
Oh, and you must be a little bummed, O&A's ratings had a massive jump.
Not excuses PFreak just comparing him to other people in his "league".
"Oh, and you must be a little bummed, O&A's ratings had a massive jump"
Massive? 1.4 to ?
i heard they had a bump, but then again a single book bump after 3-4 drops..seems a tad suspect till the next book comes out.
Guess this is the book huh?\
increase from 2.9 to 5.9 in 18-34.
They are also up in 12+ from 1.5 to 2.1
Men over 18 are up from 2.3 to 3.6
hmm 1.5 to 2.1..still quite crappy
...decient bump in 18-34 but a little suspect in one book...but could be...better hope for more fun in the next book vs a one time spike.
BTW i never ANYWHERE ever said i wanted them to fail, so this is not "bad" news for me...i actually want them on a merged channel so i have something to listen to in the afternoon since bubba is really not my style. but then again some people are too stupid to understand you can like both shows and have a favorite when it comes time to choose one...
was this an official rating quarter or a monthly trend i am seeing both comments?
http://www.musicradio77.com/wwwboard//messages/308922.html
"Persons 18+ mornings 1.7 Fall to 1.8 for November to January trend, 2.2 January extrap"
"That "5.9" is an extrap, not the Arbitron trend number"
????
Picky Picky PNess, still can't admit they are pulling decent numbers. Certainly numbers that will keep them around for a while.
And BTW, O&A won't be doing afternoons. Old Man stands to lose more listeners to them in any merger, not the other way around. Everyone knows what Howard offers. Once you listen to O&A you realize how milquetoast and stale Howie is and there's no going back. O&A listeners don't migrate to shows with old men and fat holes. Some Howie listeners will, however, wake up from their stupor.
And you're not comparing Old Man Stern to "people in his league". He's neither a movie star nor a television star. He's barely even a radio star anymore. He's a radio guy who's not very popular or relevant anymore. He should be doing more radio not less. Name me some other hosts who take 5 months a year off when people pay to hear them. How about just one.
"Picky Picky PNess, still can't admit they are pulling decent numbers. Certainly numbers that will keep them around for a while."
Nope i just gave you the full numbers and asked a question, i am hardly a arbitron expert.
i will wait for a better link or explination of the ratings before i tell you their "massive" jump is really not "massive" when you start out at 1.4.
i will also wait for more then one book, BUT HEY...is'nt that the excuse you guys used for the first 4 books.... "give it time, can't predict performance with one, two, three books".
BTW on a yearly basis there is only a few stars in hollywood that make more money then stern...so who's really in his league???