JimT

Sirius Actually Beat the Street

The cost controls are all good, but the subscriber loss is worrisome. We should not overlook the effects of post-merger programming changes. In particular, the "decades" channels, which are the most popular, are running with tiny playlists. On most decades channels, only 600 tracks are in rotation, and half of those are on a lighter schedule, played about every other day. As an old radio hand, I know that this sounds great the first time you hear it, but those 300 songs in heavy play quickly burn out and wear out their welcome. You hear the same things every time you get in the car. It doesn't take long before you start losing listeners.

By comparison, the old XM had 2600 songs on comparable channels.

There have been many complaints about this, but it's hard to say how big a factor this is in the decision of some subscribers not to renew. It would not be hard to fix, by mixing in a few more varied items. It bears watching.

Who Comes First, The Customer or the Business Itself?

Tyler is right about the need to seek efficiency, but he misses an important point: Sirius XM has created a lot of _unnecessary_ ill will in its customer base. I did not cancel my 3 subscriptions, but I am extremely angry, personally, at Mel because I was treated very poorly. There was no advance notice beyond a vague happy talk email. I like a few of the changes, dislike many of them, but there was no effort whatsoever to seek my opinions and preferences. I understand that cost savings are needed, but if you treat your customers like garbage, sooner or later you will not have a business. Without a paying customer, there is no revenue at all, and there was no need to make so many customers so angry.

Who Comes First, The Customer or the Business Itself?

Tyler misses an important point. Sirius XM created a lot of _unnecessary_ ill will in its customer base. I did not cancel my 3 subscriptions, but I am extremely angry, personally, at Mel because I was treated so poorly. I understand the need for efficiency, I like some of the new changes, dislike many of them, but I am angry because I was not treated like a customer. There was no advance notice, there was no effort whatsoever to ask me about my preferences. It would not have cost much to treat us properly. Without paying customers, there is no revenue, and there was no reason to make so many of us so angry. If you treat your customers like garbage, sooner or later you will have no business at all.