Fed Up with Sirius' Childish Customers

I have had enough of this. When Sirius XM (SIRI) merged its channels there was an outpouring of threats of canceled subscriptions. Now it has begun again at the hands of the Bubba Army.

Like little children threatening to take their ball and go home, there seems to be a new attack on any company decision on any given day, with the inevitable backlash of threats soon to follow.

I recently switched banks and failed to notify Sirius of the new account, and my subscription was deactivated. When I tried to take care of business, I learned I was overdrawn over 1 million dollars on an account that was 2 days old. I’ll spare you the details, but I had to live without Satellite Radio for that weekend.

I cannot begin to tell you of the horror I felt listening to terrestrial radio after being a Sirius subscriber for the last 5 years. I’m not sure which was worse; listening to Pink Floyd with chorus from Whitney Houston chiming in every few seconds on the FM band, or the annoying whine that came through the speakers when I accelerated while trying to listen to the Giants game.

I had forgotten the ill effects of driving under power lines while listening to terrestrial radio. Going back to am/fm is like going back to rabbit ears or in this case, a phonograph from those swinging days of old.

So for those that want to threaten to cancel their subscriptions in an attempt to blackmail the company, I say “go ahead punk, make my day!” You’ll be back. Everyone has to grow up eventually.

Position: Long SIRI

Comments

[b3rkut:]

Haha, right on, my man. Terrestrial does suck once you've had satellite radio.

Jan 12 04:57 AM

[User 335558:]

I agree completely. Just want to add all the new investors,the ford Sirius Travel Link,the new radios,and the new services prove Sirius is going absolutely nowhere but up!
Position : Long Live Siri

Mark

Jan 12 06:19 AM

[gspet:]

You're right, but then again you're not. You're right that terrestrial radio is not an option. If I'm stuck with AM/FM for brief periods it's painful. So, after three years with XM I've just renewed my subscription. But that doesn't change the fact that what I have now is less than what I had three months ago. My favorite stations have not improved or stayed the same, they are less than what they use to be. If six months from now Sirius management said, "we have to put in one commercial an hour or we're going off the air," would subscribers put up with it? Yes they would, but the product would be less than what it had been. That's how XM subscribers feel today.

Jan 12 07:25 AM

[Toasted Rye...:]

Sirius pulled a bait and switch deal on it's customers with Bubba and you know it, or you should know it. Look into the FACTS - Sirius has Bubba on CENSORED. It re-plays his terrestrial show MONDAY-THURSDAY.

REPLAYS HIS TERRESTRIAL SHOW.

The place is run by a bunch of idiots (the list of poor/bad money management decisions is as long as the as the share price is LOW) and if you don't believe me ask Bubba. He's said the same thing in much stronger words on what was his show.

Stop begging for the share price to go up. This boat is going down fast and hard and there's noone to blame except management. 4 year subscriper here and I'm out, so you guy's can party on without me and a couple of thousand others who feel cheated. I still listen to Bubba on the Internet everyday just look up Cox radio it's all streamed for FREE!

The 2nd MOST POPULAR show on Sirius and they told him to F off. Yea they really got a clue.

Jan 12 07:36 AM

[ZenInvestor:]

With all due respect Bubba is the one who wanted to work half the hours. He wanted to still have his show on Terrestrial radio and Sirius, so something had to give, and it was Bubba who screwed his fans, not Sirius.

I agree, stations change all the time, TV sitcoms switch characters, and life goes on. All this noise is just that. I am an XM subscriber who is thrilled with the new offerings, and got 'best of' added right away. There is so much to Satellite radio that you can't even think about getting anywhere else.

Jan 12 08:34 AM

[Arties Dime...:]

Sirius as done nothing but broken promises since Howard Stern hit the airwaves. First it was supposed to be commercial free Howard BS and the first promise broken. # 2 Howard is only on 4 days a week and off on vacation more than he seems he's there. #3 Cutting Bubba down to one live show a week??? WTF??? another bad move. Their music channels have become unlistenable. The merger of XM and Sirius.. Did anybody think is was going to cost more to hear both? I didn't. I think this merger is a sinking ship and it won't be long until the ship goes down for the last time.

Jan 12 08:37 AM

[?????????:]

not sure if there's anything more childish than bragging that your business deals in the millions. you must have some insecurities to mention that insignificant detail. sirius customers have every right to threaten the company with action if changes are made that they don't like. your argument that sirius customers should not complain because sirius is such a great product is in your own words, "childish."

Jan 12 08:38 AM

[Big Ben:]

GSPet and toasted rye toast are right. Bubba's show or what is left of it is a gimmick! I was an occasional listener to his show and many times I found myself laughing out loud. His show is not for everyone but all the people in Bubbas army just got screwed. All the otr truck drivers got a big fu. I hate to say that the FCC had a leg to stand on, but has the new company done anything that would be considered anti-competitive? Yes. pricing has not come down but your available channels have. Major talent like bubba has nowhere to go. Take your deal and like it mgmt says. My major beef with mgmt is Chris Russo...he got 5mill and I have not once heard his show or even thought to find it. If they can round up cash for a local market sportscaster loud mouth, why can't bubba get something other than one fresh show a week, joke! No live call ins on Bubbas show, I would be pissed if I was a die hard Bubba mark.

The only thing missing from these debates is the numbers. If this is a publicly traded company and I am a share holder why are the negotiations hush hush. All the top talent, Stern,Russo..joke, Stewart, Oprah..joke, we have an idea what they get paid but not Bubba. Why?

I am willing to bet that Bubba feels as if he should be paid close to the other top talent on the channels. I do agree with that but I feel as that anyone who talks on the radio for a few hours a day about nothing really does not have a very demanding job. They all get paid way too much for bullshitting on the radio. For example last week Bubba had a bear on the show,tonk, and they had the bear do stupid ass tricks with a strap on dildo and honey......real creative. Take that show into Greenstein and ask for a raise! Good luck!

I did see recently that a few of the axed channels are coming back..hip hop rewind, and a few others. Atleast mgmt is listening to somebody.

Long Steelers/ short Ravens

Jan 12 08:45 AM

[tradeking13:]

"When I tried to take care of business, I learned I was overdrawn over 1 million dollars on an account that was 2 days old. I’ll spare you the details..."

Did you fall prey to one of those Nigerian banking or lottery scams?

Jan 12 08:55 AM

[relmor:]

Bubba the gay sponge is not worth mentioning. He might get 10000 people to cancel, and another 10000 will join cause hes not on anymore....LOL

Jan 12 08:57 AM

[NanO49:]

You are soooooo right! My car was damaged in an accident and I'm driving a rental WITHOUT SATRAD - it's horrible, just horrible! My skin crawls everytime a flurry of (shudder) commercials come on. The DJ's and their inane laughlines are turning my hair gray! ARGHHHH! Sirius, I'm sorry for everything bad I ever said about you. I really miss you!

Jan 12 09:28 AM

[mogami_99:]

Hi, Scary weekend for me. Woke up sunday morning 530 room full of smoke. Got everyone up and outside and watched as the 2 buildings next to mine burnt down. My apartment now has holes in wall and everything is covered in soot. (at a hotel currently).

Jan 12 09:36 AM

[Me, Myself, I:]

What's childish isn't the fact that people are cancelling because they're unhappy, but because they're constantly complaining in angry, semi-factual online rants and trying to convince others to cancel as well. I almost fell into this trap after the programming merge, but now I've adjusted to the new content. Yes, some good content was lost and not completely replaced. But what's left is still good and a decent value. All I want in the short term is for satellite radio to survive and be profitable. If they do become profitable and then fail to enhance their programming long term, then I'll jump ship to another type of mobile service.

Jan 12 09:43 AM

[killerkaul:]

mogami 99.................. glad everyone is ok, hang in there buddy. killer.

Jan 12 09:44 AM

[budbro7:]

Sirius is about to go sky high

Jan 12 09:47 AM

[Big Ben:]

is skyhigh .16 .17c?

Jan 12 09:57 AM

[User 190103:]

I dobt more than a few cancelled because of Bubba's new contract. They just want to vent and whine a bit, which I would do if my favorite channels were cancelled. I find the vocal Bubba Army annoying sometimes as well but after all, it is America, isn't it?

Jan 12 10:00 AM

[AT57:]

Brandon, put in a bunch of CD's or plug your i-Pod into your dash and stop paying $150+ annually for a deteriorating service. Just like 'old-fashioned' radio is screwing itself by not investing in local content, SATRAD is screwing itself by not listening to the listeners. Mel has already watered down the music content by getting rid of the hosts. If I just wanted a music loop, I'd load up my i-pod and save the susbscription fee. Radio, SAT or otherwise, is all about what's between the songs, or who is talking. Wait until Howard's deal is up. Wait until the NFL deal is up. If SATRAD is so great, why can't Howard break the 10% of his former listeners numbers from 'old-fashioned' radio? Oh...maybe because it's FREE radio.

Jan 12 10:06 AM

[Big Ben:]

I disagree with your comment about between the songs. I don't care if I ever hear a dj again. If your listening to sat radio for the djs your nuts! The ipod comment makes no sense either, did you pay for those songs on your Ipod and if you did are they not limited?

Just this weekend I was complaining about Shade 45 and G-unit Radio, its all a bunch of uneducated loud mouths. Play the songs and shut up! In the morning its Angela Yees mouth, in the afternoon rude Jude and the fat kid. Play the songs, crazy concept?

Another thing your missing is services like LImewire, believe it or not but people are still using these sites...in essence music is free. Any song I want I can download to one of my 3 computers that actually has LImewire. Why would I pay apple? If your into DJs stick with free radio.

Jan 12 10:23 AM

[Joe_in_Atlanta:]

I couldn't disagree more. Of course the Sirius subscribers were always a different breed than us XM subscribers.

You know what I can't stand? The constant talking on the "commercial free" channels by the Sirius "DJs". XM had truly ALL MUSIC channels before Sirius took over.

I will cancel. Sirius XM's days are numbered. It sucks since the merger.

Jan 12 10:33 AM

[wilber:]

Satellite Radio is the future of radio.

Jan 12 10:36 AM

[aware:]

Do you see ?This guy Brandon is part of the problem in the country.Why did you have to slip in your banking business?What was it for to show that your some kind of big man?Everybody wants to show up the other guy,thats why the american people spent like they had millons and didn't.I believe alot of this shit started when lifestyles of the rich and famous was on t.v.Everyday you hear this shit,year after year,so of course people wanted those thing,and now most are having money problems.So what I have to say to you Brandon is stick to the story and leave your money business out of it.(JERK)

Jan 12 10:44 AM

[Ronny G:]

Once you go SAT, you wont go BACK!

Jan 12 11:07 AM

[sl62:]

mogami_99...

Wow, tough weekend. Sorry about that...Hang in there dude...

Jan 12 11:34 AM

[Flagle:]

I completely agree! Get over it, or go ahead and cancel. Sirius XM is so much bigger than just Bubba, and for me, there's no going back.

Jan 12 11:41 AM

[IBuriedtheU...:]

Satellite radio had a chance.

Jan 12 12:01 PM

[Blah, blah,...:]

Puh-lease. The "Bubba Army" is an absurd fiction. Howard Stern is too insecure to put anyone with talent on his channel, so he got that useless terrestrial retread to fill airtime. He's moderately successful in a tiny market. There's another 100 or so people who could take his place in an instant and after a day or two nobody would notice, in part because they all do exactly the same bits.

Jan 12 12:22 PM

[Edster:]

Thank you for your article on SIRUS XM you hit the nail right on the head. Bleading SIRIUS XM holders of stock in the company are right when they see no price movement in such a long time. All holders of the companies stock can only hope that Mel and the management team can succeed in handling the debt situation. The unbelievabe volume in the shares with but almost no movement in price seems to me rather suspicious and deserves in my opinion some SEC investigation.

Jan 12 12:33 PM

[User 335825:]

Brandon,when you first started to write about Sirus I thought you were interested in helping the average investor. It is quite obvious that you believe the average investor is beneath you. For example a reservse split will wipe out the small investor because he will never recoupe his loses and probably will not be able to reinvest at the higher price. Knowing this situation, you continued to push for a reverse split for personal reasons. What needs to be done is to get rid of the 09 debt and the growth of members will raise the share price. A suggestion on reducing the debt for 09 would be for the top execuetives to take a substanial one year pay cut. Results are problem over with no interest charge.
Cardman

Jan 12 12:53 PM

[mogami_99:]

Hi, Thanks (you too Killer) Worse part was standing out in cold watching fire spread. My apartment is on 2nd floor right even with roof of burning building. The fire department needed 45 minutes before they were putting water on fire.
Power went out right after we realized we were in danger so I put a open laptop computer near each exit so people could find their way out. Got both computers back but they are covered in suet. (they still work, I am using one to write this) Suet comes right off with all purpose cleaner. All of my uniforms and equipment are covered in suet and wet. Poor wife is at apartment carring everything out before starting clean up. (I am watching dogs and babies at hotel)
We had just recovered from the flood of Aug 07. (Findlay Ohio)


On Jan 12 11:34 AM sl62 wrote:

> mogami_99...
>
> Wow, tough weekend. Sorry about that...Hang in there dude...

Jan 12 01:05 PM

[Bababooie:]

mogami_99. .
Glad to hear everyone is ok. Hope things return to normal soon!

Jan 12 01:09 PM

[dayworker:]

SATRAD technology is good, the way management runs it and programming bad. In the hands of youthful,forward thinking, innovative
people SATRAD might come alive. In the hands of the oldtime bozo's it'll
always be just an aging blip of a signal.

Jan 12 01:13 PM

[relmor:]

Another succesful retest of .131 held...Im so happy I can cry...1 or 2 more days of not seeing any .12 cents means it will probably have to go to .15 cents now before .12....Im so happy I could spit...

Jan 12 02:01 PM

[another for...:]

I canceled after the channels were merged. I gave it a month. I wanted to throw my XM radio out the car window! I don't know how Sirius ever succeeded at all with that programming. Bleah.

I have been recording streaming radio off the internet and re-playing that in my car with an ipod since I ditched the XM service. This is certainly more trouble, but the programming is totally worth it. Look at what you can get already on the internet already (Shoutcast radio and iTunes radio) and imagine how nicely that will work on the emerging 802.16 wireless metropolitan area networks and 3G+ data services.

Sirius XM's 15 minutes of fame is over.

Jan 12 02:13 PM

[Jim T:]

I could care less about Bubba, but Sirius is definitely a company of broken promises not the least of which is the promise of any 50 stations from Sirius and XM. Instead they arbitrarily dropped some of the better programmed XM stations and replaced them with Sirius Stations. The result are obnoxious DJ's and mainstream pandering.
I Tunes, Slacker, or a good MP3 player are just 3 alternatives to Sirius in the car. I for one DID drop my Sirius.

Jan 12 02:22 PM

[163888:]

I dont get it, people piss and moan about DJ's being on more now, but what is Howard and Bubba?

Jan 12 04:17 PM

[killerkaul:]

Mogami-99................ what's up with the lack of water for 45 min? Was that after arrival? I'm a retired firefighter/medic of 30+ yrs. A prob. of response time, lack of water supplies, volunteer organization or paid, what? Leave it to our military to think of the laptop exit markers. KUDOS. ..killer.

Jan 12 04:54 PM

[OKMONEY:]

??????? The overdraft fees were like manna from heaven to his banker. Hard to imagine $1m in overdrafts with instant internet access to your account. Fits the blog. Child can't handle money; child can't handle change; child can't handle criticism. You got it - childish. Sirius is a great product, but so was Equal. Great products can make a great business; bad business ruins great products. Alas, poor Yorick [SIRI] I knew him when.... his pps was $3.60.


On Jan 12 08:38 AM ????????? wrote:

> not sure if there's anything more childish than bragging that your
> business deals in the millions. you must have some insecurities
> to mention that insignificant detail. sirius customers have every
> right to threaten the company with action if changes are made that
> they don't like. your argument that sirius customers should not
> complain because sirius is such a great product is in your own words,
> "childish."

Jan 12 04:58 PM

[Hoopes:]

My beef with Sirius is I have 4 radio’s 1 full subscription and 3 - ½ price. Bought A Hyundai with XM radio and they want me to pay full price for Satellite radio and even more if I want Bubba and Howard I feel like canceling all of them.

Jan 12 05:33 PM

[Neal Barkett:]

Brandon, Bottom line is that even with its growing pains Sat. Radio is no comparison to Terr. Radio. I took my son back to college this past weekend. We went from N.E. Ohio to S.W. Ohio and my wifes car has a 6 cd changer & AM FM. NO COMPARISON. I kept getting that feeling like I forgot something or that something was missing. We tried to get the NFL playoff game Sunday with some luck. Westwood One carried it, but we'd have to keep changing the channel every 20 minutes to TRY to pick it up as we traveled. Then coming home I realized that I was even getting tired of the CD player. I missed the fun of not knowing what song was up next or waiting to hear the "Favorite Artist Beep" go off! I promise everyone Sat. Radio is here for the long haul. My only complaint is the over talkcative DJs. Other than that anyone who thinks its not here to stay is bullshitting themselves because they have their own agenda.

Jan 12 06:20 PM

[RingoIKE:]

The only thing sirius has done wrong is try to finance a great product at the wrong time. like the father in Caddyshack who will play through a thunderstorm to finish the greatest game of his life, Mel Karmazin will go down with the ship if it comes down to it. but it won't. No one saw that the credit markets were going down the tubes 1.5 years ago. Of course I want to see the merger settle into a comfortable relief on subscription prices and great new programing. We are just going to have to wait till the time is right. The sucess of the merger depends on the board of directors making the right decisions with the companies money this summer. Terrestrial is not even a competitor in this market, Sirius/XM must weather the storm or someone else will take advantage of their losses.

Jan 12 06:33 PM

[relmor:]

Hey everyone, how are we all doing today? I have a story for you all...
I was at the bank checking my new account, and this dasterdly little chap told me I had overdrawn my funds by 1.2 billion dollars...O my, I said, and cupped my hand to my mouth...No wonder my account balance was so low I thought.....

Jan 12 06:38 PM

[learn to think:]

Brandon, your article woke up the whiny high school brats. None of them have anything constructive to say about the company. The stock has nowhere to go but up from here, even after the reverse split. But people like me that were averaged in at 2 dollars probably won't get all our money back. That's why I took my money out and put it elsewhere. May put some back in if I feel the need. The stock might still shock people(in a good way this time). I'm keeping it out just in case of bankruptcy(unlikely), it just seems that the company is really tentative in making a dent in the debt.Little here, a little there. They're definitely playing games, like the three card monty guy on the corner. Which cup is it under......????????

Jan 12 07:32 PM

[Neal Barkett:]

C'mon, I have a feeling that he wasn't trying to show off. I think he was saying it as if he even would have a million in a checking account let alone a few thousand. Especially if he owns Sirius stock! Cut him a break.

Jan 12 07:40 PM

[sl62:]

relmor...

lol...

Neal B...

Great story and exactly.

Mogami_99...

That's a fine Happy New Year. wtf? It's every person's nightmare who lives in attached housing. You're at the mercy of your neighbor's diligence. Well, good luck getting that cleaned up. Now SIRI needs to step up and make you some cash! Maybe Killer can sic the dog on some MM's....

Jan 12 09:22 PM

[BigVinnie:]

I agree;
Stay loyal to sirius, as subscribers do to sirius.
Howard stern doesnt look back at terrestrial radio at all. He knows his fan base and he knows where he wants to be.
Bubba felt he is on some greater pedastool than howard stern, he got greedy, he wanted more, fact is you can't have it all until you earn it. Bubba bit the hand that feeds him, and he bit off more than he could chew. In the long run, Bubba is screwed.

I like Bubba, if he still has a show on internet radio, fine so be it. I can now listen to him for free, while I still get my commercial free radio from Sirius. Why are there so many crybabies in the world..


On Jan 12 08:34 AM ZenInvestor wrote:

> With all due respect Bubba is the one who wanted to work half the
> hours. He wanted to still have his show on Terrestrial radio and
> Sirius, so something had to give, and it was Bubba who screwed his
> fans, not Sirius.
>
> I agree, stations change all the time, TV sitcoms switch characters,
> and life goes on. All this noise is just that. I am an XM subscriber
> who is thrilled with the new offerings, and got 'best of' added right
> away. There is so much to Satellite radio that you can't even think
> about getting anywhere else.

Jan 12 10:39 PM

[BigVinnie:]

LOL I ahd to give you a positive comment for that one!


On Jan 12 06:38 PM relmor wrote:

> Hey everyone, how are we all doing today? I have a story for you
> all...
> I was at the bank checking my new account, and this dasterdly little
> chap told me I had overdrawn my funds by 1.2 billion dollars...O
> my, I said, and cupped my hand to my mouth...No wonder my account
> balance was so low I thought.....

Jan 12 10:44 PM

[Kabin:]

Im a news hound and love to listen to talk radio. I have some music channels I like, but talk is were its at for me. In todays world there is a 24/7 news cycle and podcasts just cant keep up. Yes, WiFi devices are available, but they are worthless in the car. Not to mention the website which lets you stream audio at no additional charge. I get consistent, clean and current programming anywhere I go. SiriusXM and Ipods dont compare imo.

Jan 12 10:50 PM

[tech man:]

The bottome line is that sat rad is here to stay. the future of terr,rad is going down hill fast. don't believe what your hear about siri,xm, it is here to stay. trust me doing research pays off. sick with me and you will be rewarded with a great pay day. don't listen to the complainers, last fight for terr rad. losing battle, don't listen to the same old bashers of sad radio, believe me it is here to stay. t.m.

Jan 12 11:27 PM

[lmaze:]

Happy New year to SL and Cos and to Rel and to everyone else who makes this board so interesting. I'm glad I found all of you and I hope that 2009 brings to each of you and to your families good health and and incrased share price.

I've been out of action for a while having fractured my wrist in a couple of places snowboarding at Stratton Mountain in Vermont during Christmas. I went airborne and landed on my wrist, and hurt my shoulder as well. the nurses at the Carlos Otis clinic at Stratton were wonderful and were very busy as bodies were hitting the slopes I was not alone with my trauma. Kids were getting hurt and being brought in on a regular basis and these girls never lost their professionalism..

I'm just getting into the swing of things now and have been following your thoughts, and will be able to add my comments also since I'm able to type again, I just have to take it slow. I've been buying SiriusXM again for many reasons and I will discuss them with you all in later posts.

Anway just wanted to let you know that each of you were in my thoughts and congrats to Cos on being a grandfather!

And I know about the skiing and snowboarding thing too! I did ski for about 35 years all over the world, but about six years ago I became very bored with the whole thing and I was ready to go to Florida to play golf but my wife loves our place in Vermont and our friends there so she suggested that I switch to snowboarding and it is so much fun. I love being with the kids and being a part of the snowboarding scene, especially at the US Open snowboarding Championships held at Stratton in March.

It was my first serious injury and I'm sure won't be the last. I've been hurt more by the Stock price of SiriusXM to worry about this.

LMAZE

Jan 14 07:51 AM

[still sirius:]

killer

would you please let us know when you are going to buy so that we can sell and pick up more shares after the price drops! How's the dog doing?

Jan 14 04:52 PM

[User 340261:]

Here is the plain truth, the bubba show sucks, it is a Howard Stern wanna be show and they are not orginal just stole things that howard did years ago. Now I like millions of others purchased my radio for Howard, and that show has been terrible as of late, he is just whining about this and that, and really as he's getting older he sounds more and more like IMUS. lol I wouldnt listen to bubba if it was the only thing on my radio, whether I paid or it was free. This company is mis-managed, and really doesnt have a clue what the people want. Maybe its time to switch to the martha channel or Opera ONE.... ok just my opinions

Jan 19 11:59 AM