I was a major Sirius Satellite Radio supporter for a couple of years. I thought the programming was remarkable and worth every penny they charged. I would even tell friends, and I didn't want Sirius to know this, that I would have happily paid them twice as much to keep it.
I will be cancelling my subscription next month.
The main reason I chose Sirius over XM was because I'm a big NBA fan, and when I was on the road to comedy gigs, I could listen to every game being played, often ten or 12 games per night. Add to that the great blues, jazz and eclectic music channels, comedy, news, Howard Stern and more, and I was one happy listener.
And then it all changed...for the worse. The FCC and other government agencies, who were all but ignoring the merger request of Sirius and Satellite, finally got tired of explaining how major banks and oil companies could be merged in less time and with less hassle than two satellite radio stations. And the merger happened.
But the merger doesn't mean they merged their programming. Apparently they use completely different satellite systems and they can't be combined for a few more years or some such nonsense. However, if you want some select channels (their selection, not yours) from the other satellite radio company added to your radio, it can be done...for another $6.95 per month. Hey wait, I thought you couldn't combine them.
Then, without any notice (at least none that reached me), they started making major changes to their existing line-ups. I understood combining some of the music channels. No sense having the same basic music programming on Sirius that you have on a similar XM channel. But some of the changes ruffled my feathers, and apparently upset a lot of other listeners.
The first, and most painful for me, was completely taking away the NBA from Sirius and putting it on XM. Excuse me. That's why I chose Sirius.
So I called to complain. And a very nice, heavily accented gentleman kindly told me that he's gotten all kinds of complaints about that very issue and that he'd note my displeasure. Note my displeasure? In that note, did he indicate that they should turn on the channels that I paid for? No!
Then, to make matters even worse, they now want another four bucks to allow me to listen to my free online account. So let's recap: 1) I have to pay them for my regular service which no longer includes the channels that I want, 2) they want me to pay additional money to get the channels which should be included in my regular subscription, 3) they want me to pay even more money if I plan to continue listen ocassionally online, and 4) they don't seem to really care.
Goodbye Sirius. Hello exciting, free music and news talk. Check back for information on Slacker, Slacker Mobile, Orb, and other great, free entertainment options.
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