Sirius XM Programming Change

[ColonelPanic]

XM and Sirius subscribers recently found major changes in the programming they receive, merging content between the two entities... Channels were added, moved or deleted not to mention on-air personalities were let go, etc...What are your thoughts?

[zionzr2]

The Jury is still Out with me.I had XM to start and one of my favorite channels was 77 Audio Visions. Its great to fall asleep to relaxing. Looks like the equivient is now Channel 90.The 2 rock channels 46 and 49 I listen to changed names but the content is the same.

[ColonelPanic]

So far they've absolutely ruined it for me... It may be worth it for me to just cancel and buy a better car stereo that will play MP3's and control my iPod. I went back to CD's this morning because I couldn't find anything out of all of those channels to listen to. And the Sirius Left feed was cutting out every two seconds. I used to enjoy the jazz programming on Sirius, but now I can't tolerate what they're playing. And man, they took away my old school rap on backspin! The new 90's channel is a novelty for now, although censored... and Lithium seems censored now too, I don't recall that being the case previously.I know Sirius XM is hurting for cash, but this is no way for them to make money... judging by the buzz i've been reading on the internets, they're going to lose a lot of subs from disgruntled XM and Sirius fans alike. People once chose Sirius over XM or vice versa for a reason, now that the programming is the same those listeners are alienated. I have a feeling that Mel & Co. just contributed a massive amount of cash that would have been heading their way to Apple for iPods.

[KNINE]

I haven't noticed the difference. My favorite Sirius channels haven't changed. I used to have XM, but changed to Sirius because I liked their programming better. I'll have to check out the new line up and see if anything interests me before voting. You should check out the Patriot Channel C.P. I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

[ColonelPanic]

I'll admit, I had to tune into Patriot after the election, those guys sure were angry.

[KNINE]

Most of them were angry before the election too. LOL That's one of my stations. Sirius has two good old school style heavy metal stations that I really like. One is Buzz Saw. I forget the other. I also like the NFL station. My drive to work is an hour. I couldn't imagine the commute without Sirius.

[ColonelPanic]

Buzzsaw was pretty cool, but was replaced with XM's Boneyard. Not sure what the difference is with the two... it'll be a while before i can find out, it's all AC/DC until 1/15 (maybe.) Sirius doesn't exactly have a good record of telling the truth when they say the single artist channels are going away, like that 'limited time only' turned 3 or whatever years of rolling stones. heh

[18stars]

The addition of the Grateful Dead Channel to my XM was very much welcomed. All in all it looks like they did a nice job mixing the line ups. The number of rock options is better than it was just for XM.

[KNINE]

I didn't even realize Buzz Saw was changed to Boneyard. The music is still the same. Hair Nation is the other station I like. Sirius used to have a really good Christian rock station. They played a lot of hard stuff. Yes, there is hard Christian rock. Now they just play the mellow crap.

[phoenixls2]

Some of my Sirius channels changed, and one has disappeared! Still on the fence...

[ColonelPanic]

I think I just have to tell myself "at least I'm not being forced to listen to Clear Channel," then the programming is magically a thousand times better. After listening to it for a bit longer, I'm still not quite pleased with some of the changes but I guess I do need to be rational and acknowledge that it isn't the end of the world and things could be much worse.

[tnpartsguy]

I have both XM and Sirrius. I have XM at work, and Sirrius in the car. They took Fred, Ethel, and my fav Lucy off XM and replaced Lucy with Lithium....YUCK. However now both have the Coffee Shop (from Sirrius), so i'm ok....

[Kari]

They also both have Blue Collar Comedy now for those who like that kind of thing. I know my dad will be happy about that.

[ragingfish]

I've been continuously getting more and more fed up with XM and their crappy programming. I signed up back in 2003 and at the time loved it. But in the last 1-2 years the quality of the programming has gone down the sh***er, and I've been even MORE infuriated by the fact that I PAID for this service primarily for the lack of commercials, and now they've gone and put commercials on. (removed)????I'm trying to remain optimistic about the pulse replacing flight 26, as i know for the most part the pulse has been a far more preferential mix of music compared to flight 26, which for the most part, seemed to blend in with kiss, hit list, and top 20. It's getting increasingly harder to find a pop music station that spares me from the pain and irritation of that rap and R&B crap i can't stand. The only other bright spots are the springsteen station and octane, perhaps lithium. But frankly, they haven't yet had enough of a drastic change to make me say with 100% certainty when my prepaid sub ends next year that I will opt to stay with it.

[Kari]

I think you'll like The Pulse then...it used to be the "90s and now" thing on Sirius, but now we have 90s on 9 AND The Pulse, which I think is better because The Pulse played more new stuff than old stuff at times. They don't get into the rap/R&B thing either like Hits 1.Do you guys have Sirius Hits 1 now or is that the one thing they left the same?

[ragingfish]

Quote, originally posted by Kari »I think you'll like The Pulse then...it used to be the "90s and now" thing on Sirius, but now we have 90s on 9 AND The Pulse, which I think is better because The Pulse played more new stuff than old stuff at times. They don't get into the rap/R&B thing either like Hits 1.There are two food establishments in the shopping center i work at that i frequent, and both played the original pulse, pre-merger. I know back then, i thought it was awesome and it was the one thing that had me seriously (no pun intended...or is it?) considering jumping the XM ship in favor of the dog star. I'm hoping the merger and the version of the pulse now playing on XM will not change from "the original."Quote, originally posted by Kari »Do you guys have Sirius Hits 1 now or is that the one thing they left the same?No, don't have that, not sure if it'll eventually come or not. We used to have something called hitlist but that was basically kiss and 20 on 20 all over again, never played anything except crap i don't listen to. Now it's pop2k, which may or may not suck also, i have yet to listen to it. Here are the current changes:

[Kari]

Pop2K must be entirely new then because I assumed it was something that came from XM...it definitely wasn't on Sirius before.I haven't listened to The Pulse since the merge so I'm not sure if it's the same or different. I would assume it would stay the same since it kept the name and apparently the DJs. They don't really have a reason to change it since they now have 90s on 9 which takes care of what people on Sirius complained about...not having a true 90s channel.

[ChuckstrPT]

We miss Sirius 116 Kid Stuff.....the new kids place live, or something like that isn't cutting it for the 3 year old or the 5 year old...too much talk during the morning drive to school.....

[ColonelPanic]

I've heard parents complaining about that one... there's even a facebook group about it.

[mspalmer]

As an XM subscriber I'm actually kind of happy about it. None of my regular channels disappeared and I got 2 of the channels that I liked most from Sirius: E-Street Radio + The Coffee House. The Coffee House and The Loft are similar (thankfully they didn't get rid of The Loft) but the Coffee House has almost all acoustic music.

[awfavre]

Fred was my favorite channel. I loved the history of true alternative music. I got to hear stuff the pop stations wouldn’t play back when I was growing up in the 80s. The new channel (1st Wave) seems to be mostly early 80’s stuff – way too much Duran Duran-type music I heard over & over again on pop radio back in the day. Contrary to the description for the new channel, I haven’t heard any U2, The Smiths, or Depeche Mode on the new channel. Sigh.