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I like what you have to say. I agree 100% on your thoughts. I think ole mel needs a kick to the curb with his penny stock and send you in there to actually listen to fans and paying subscribers. XM was cool at one point. Now its squished into the rest of the slop and shoveled out into the trough for us customers. If it wasn't for Opie & Anthony and Ron & Fez...And CT & Jivin of course...I'd go back to casette tapes and crappy FM

This is one trucker who listens to 171, the truckers channel. The Stern deal was stupid at best. Bubba, who cares.

This article is straight to the point and RIGHT ON! Sirius/XM is headed straight to the gutter by suits who don't know their rear end from a hole in the ground

Best of is still a great option. I never listen to Stern. There are other channels of interest which have attracted my subcribership.

Bad move. I already canceled.

Savery's article is dead on, well written and I agree 100%. As a self employed professional engineer, radio is the daily cornerstone of entertainment in my home office and Bubba was my afternoon staple. It took me three months to hard wire my entire 3 floor home for Sirius so it's in every room. I just turn the volume control as I change rooms when the wife is at work. All my cars have Sirius as well as my shore home. While this deal works for Bubba it is watered down radio that doesn't belong on subscription based, satellite radio. A better option would have been Podcast Willie created after his 10AM show. Consider if Showtime began airing CSI as a replacement for Dexter. Does anyone watch The Sporanos on A&E? I walked away from it after the deplorable last 2 seasons and being a South Philly Italian who grew up around numbers writers, that says allot towards my anger. Bubba's FM show is not what I want to pay for. I can get it for free via the Internet, record it with software and time shift it. The question remains how do I fill my afternoon with compelling radio? Tiffany, Poteus, Playboy and Doctor Radio and music. The music channel changes expanded the tight format of the channels I enjoyed, what they did to Channel 8 IMHO was the MTV channel I grew up with almost makes me feel I now play or the other team, no offense. Sure the Bubba Screwing is a financial decision from management for not wanting to pony up the bucks Bubba deserved. But there will be cancellation and/or greater churn. A larger issue is what will happen to Sirius in 2 yrs if/when Howard leaves the air as they have not developed any new talent that has the ability to draw listeners. The obvious replacement would have been Bubba but clearly after a wife/GF has burned you only a needy man without self respect will go back. If Howard decides on cutting his show down to 3 days week in 2 years and do it during afternoons, a second backlash will occur. Still, this can be marginally repaired with software time shifting or replays. An option may be getting Danny Bonnaducci now doing mornings in Philly on WYSP. His life is as compelling as Artie's, not as self destructive, shows up every day and tells amazing stories inside the FCC standards. WYSP's tight music format is perfect for my 56 year old ears. All... Def Leppard. Mel is an amazing businessman and the price of the stock reflects the radio sector that is lossing money as IPod's have taken over after Howard left FM and tight format free internet radio. Clear Channel was successful in stalling the merger and burning Sirius cash and continue the shoring of the stock. Still, the larger issue is that Sirius had a 16% increase in subscription rates, what will happen in 2Q2009 is another issue. Ah.. Van Halen with DLR. I'm pissed, bummed out and feel absolutely betrayed.

I agree, if it wasn't for that Opie and Anthony, and Ron and Fez, I would cancel. XM is not what it used to be.

I use to list to bubba, when he was on XM, i dont know what all the gripes are, his current show is the exact same replay dibble that he did 5 years ago. I personally have had O&A since day one, and when i got them i had no idea who they were. Them & ron & fez are awesome.

Sirius is still the best entertainment for my money compared to all other subscriptions.

I totally disagree. If Bubba was doing so well he would still be there. His ratings must have been minal and therefore he was not worth the money they were paying him. When will all you guys learn this is a business and with a business you must make money and when one of your employies is not bring in any money at his current salary, it is time to cut the waste. You people are just fans of Bubba and do not care about the long term viability of Sat Radio

All people do is complain go ahead cancel your service already.
Go ahead go back to terrestrial radio.I'll bet you'll come running back because terrestrial radio sucks there's no variety.Bubba had
no choice what do you guys want them to do.End his cotton pickin
marriage so he could work two radio to make you happy.You people are friggin' selfish.Bubba don't listen them your family is
more important then fans.I'm remain a fan and i'll listen on fridays
uncensored.

Its BS what happened .... and by what Bubba has said .... that he could not disclose this before hand shows that Sirius was AFRAID to let the people know how they screwed up and were afraid that to many people would have cancelled at the end of the year .... therefore dropping their numbers .... now that it is after the 1st they dont care ... they can show good numbers for 2008 and deal with 2009 as they go

This was a Sirius screw up big time .... after Howard leaves I will go back to "testicle" radio .... no need to pay for something that is free ... that is the BIGGEST problem that people have with the deal .... we are PAYING for something that is FREE

Why would you be LONG on Sirius if you dont agree with what they are doing ? You are a stupid investor if you are still long. The stock is at 12 cents, why are you long ? Do you think you can get 15 cents someday ??

As far as Bubba goes, he doesnt have the fan base to support paying him anything. A thousand fans nationwide isnt worth anything to Sirius. Bubba hates his fans anyways so he deserves what he is getting from Sirius - NOTHING. Bubba kept Sirius for exposure but gets nothing from it. Only problem is he cant do a decent show anymore - he might as well quit radio and open another nightclub or restaurant.

Bubba is just a WHINER and complainer about everything. I'm glad Sirius pretty much dumped his show and told him to F off. All you "fans" just dont get it. Someday you will. His site says it all "Its all about me" and it is, he doesnt care about anyone else period. So when you dont care about your FANS - the ones that support you, pay for your crappy merchandise, pay for a 12.95 monthly sub to sirius, pay for you "raw" website deal - you eventually get what you deserve - a whole lot of NOTHING.

Your article is so off base, and so is everyone that commented below.  First of all.  Subscribers are "ponying" up .43 cents per day for the ability to listen to satallite radio.  You can't even get a pack of gum anymore for that.  For your 43 cents, you get commercial free music of many channels.  So they have been moving them around.  Are you telling me everytime your satallite tv or cable company restructions your channels never change....????  Mine do all the time, its called adjusting... Life changes, nothing stays the same.  I would pay much more for the ability to listen to Howard Stern.  Howard 100 is really the only channel I listen to.  I am an educated woman, not a 20 year old male.  Bubba had an contact with terrestrial radio that he couldn't get out of and needed financially. How many hours a day do you want the man to work???  He would have to do 2 completely different 4-6 hour shows every day if he did what you guys want him to do.  When he signed on to Howards channel he couldn't get a job washing windows...  No one would hire him.  Now everyone realizes his talent and draw, but he can't work all the time and he is honoring contracts.  Give it time.  He will do something to piss of the FCC and he'll be back at sirius full time.

I think this is a great article that hits the nail on the head.  There's basic problems that I, as a subscriber, have:

*The way the extension was delivered to the fans was a classic "corporate maneuver" and was amazingly disrespectful to the fans.  Bubba wasn't allowed to disclose the 'whole deal,' and in retrospect, you can hear a hesitation in Bubba's voice in that show w/the announcement.  What a slap in the face to the fans.

*Sirius & their allocation of their money is extremely disturbing.  Martha?  Seriously, does anyone know of ANYONE listening consistently to that? How many paid subscribers would you attribute to this channel she's not even on???  Mad Dog gets $3 million?  Really???  You're investing in a NY Local voice for that kind of money instead of investing in a show that's got a DEMONSTRATED deathly loyal following ALREADY DEMONSTRATED?  I still dare anyone to tell me this character is remotely as entertaining as Scotty Ferrall.  You've ALREADY got a sports talk show, not to mention NFL channels, a nightly NHL show on channel 122, and various  other sports programs already.  Was this really a wise use of money? 

*The stock price wasn't too much different when they ponied up $3 million and the economy sure as hell wasn't any better.  How in the hell do they dare sell that to Bubba and the fans?

Look, it's not whether you listen to Howard, or if you consider yourself in the Bubba Army or not.  It's about Sirius instilling confidence in the subscriber that they're committed to provided the best possible entertainment for the dollar.  For such a loyal following, I'm amazed Bubba has yet again taken a back seat.  Why do I feel like they'll have plenty of money in two years when Howard Resigns (and oh yeah, bank on it that he will!!!).  Can you imagine the financial status if they cut Howard, Martha, Oprah, and Jaimie Foxx's contracts?  They way they've wasted money already, maybe Bubba's just gotten a 'head start.' 

Good Luck Bubba and God Bless you for doing what you had to do.  I'll continue feeling betrayed by Sirius and listening to a watered down tape delayed show. To think, I'm PAYING to listen to a show Florida hears for free....and they hear it LIVE!!!  And you wonder why people are dropping their subscriptions?  I don't wonder.