# Too many commercials



## wipeout

I pay monthly for this radio service because I hate all of the commercials on free radio yet try listening to NFL Radio or ESPN and it is commercials constantly. Drives me nuts.


----------



## skidog

They advertise comercial free music, the rest of the channels you're screwed. I feel your pain.


----------



## sNEIRBO

wipeout said:


> I pay monthly for this radio service because I hate all of the commercials on free radio yet try listening to NFL Radio or ESPN and it is commercials constantly. Drives me nuts.


Isn't ESPN just mirroring their cable channel on Sirius? Are they the same commercials they're broadcasting on their cable channel? Or are they adding in commercials?


----------



## TNGTony

I thought it was ESPN Radio. That is something different. There is a local ESPN radio station with a transmitter not more than a mile from my house. 

See ya
Tony


----------



## Geronimo

ESPN has been syndicating radio programming fo years. I assume that is the EPN radio channel.


----------



## Richard King

Most of the talk channels are simply over the air broadcasts being transmitted by satellite. Sirius has the right to insert some of their own ads, but most of the national ads are still there.


----------



## RedskinsForever

NFL not NEARLY as bad as ESPN.


----------



## Steve Mehs

Where do people get the notion satellite radio is commercial free all around? Both providers are very good at mentioning it’s only the music channels that are commercial free.


----------



## sNEIRBO

Steve Mehs said:


> Where do people get the notion satellite radio is commercial free all around? Both providers are very good at mentioning it's only the music channels that are commercial free.


I heard during the week that XM had started adding commercials to their music channels. I only have Sirius so I don't know for sure if that is true. Can any one confirm that??


----------



## deraz

I believe that XM has commercials on music channels that are programmed by (un)Clear Channel.


----------



## wipeout

I know it is only music that is commercial free. I understand they need to have commercials on the talk stations. It just seems that they have too many for a pay service. Just my opinion and nothing more.


----------



## TNGTony

Like was mentioned earlier, all the radio services on Sirius and XM do nothing more than rebroadcast the same feed that is on the OTA radio stations. The shows that XM and Sirius get have the commercials in them when they get them. There are commercial "avails" on these feeds where XM and Sirius can insert their own commercials, but if they don't then there are commercials already (or bumper music) on the feed to fill in the time.

It's essentially the same thing as anyone complaining about Dish or their cable company having too many commercials for a pay service on a cable or satellite TV channel like TNT or TBS or even a local channel! It aint the cable or satellite company that's inserting the commercials.

I'm not arguing that there are too many commercials. I agree with that. But the people to complain to are not the distributers of the channel...it's the content providers!

See ya
Tony


----------



## Steve Mehs

sNEIRBO said:


> I heard during the week that XM had started adding commercials to their music channels. I only have Sirius so I don't know for sure if that is true. Can any one confirm that??


XM has four music channels with commercials due to losing in court against Clear Channel this past Spring. Clear Channel programs four of the music channels and the courts ruled they have a right to add commercials if they wish. In response XM set up in house clones of each CC station, and has blacked listed them by removing those four channels from XM Radio Online, XM Canada and XM on DirecTV. During an early deal way back when Clear Channel was guaranteed a certain amount of bandwidth, the deal expires in 2008. XM had 69 commercial free music channels before the ruling and they have 69 commercial free music channels after. I have the CC stations blocked, so for me, XM is 100% commercial free.


----------



## Richard King

http://dai.investor.reuters.com/Article.aspx?docid=9925&target=companyoftheday&src=DAI


> Music aside, this doesn't seem like the last word on XM's airing of commercials, which contributed 4.4 percent of revenue in the second quarter....
> 
> stating the company's desire to "Develop Content that is appealing to Advertisers" with a sub-point stating "10% of Revenue by 2010 with unique opportunities."...
> 
> At Sirius, advertising contributed 5.4 percent of revenue in the second quarter. On its Aug. 1 analyst conference call, management said, with respect to advertising sales, that "the department continues to carefully ramp up its staffing as we progress toward our long-term goal of having ad sales approach 10 percent of our overall revenue."...
> 
> It appears that commercials are very much on the satellite radio agenda. And presently, it looks like non-music programming is the main focus for these endeavors.


----------



## Paul Secic

wipeout said:


> I pay monthly for this radio service because I hate all of the commercials on free radio yet try listening to NFL Radio or ESPN and it is commercials constantly. Drives me nuts.


I like ads over silence any day!


----------



## Mike D-CO5

I hear commercials on the top 21, 22 all top 40 pop stations. NO difference now between XM and the radio now. I hear no commercials on the decades channels. Still pisses me off that they add commercials . Why do I need them if I pay a subscription not to listen to them? That was one of the main reasons why I went with Xm in the first place. The fact that they didn't have commercials back a couple of years ago.


----------



## Steve Mehs

Wow another thing I don't understand why others don't under stand. Uh read my other post 3 posts above. Kiss (21) and Mix (22) are two of the Clear Channel stations, Nashville (11) and Sunny (24) being the other two, check out Flight 26 on channel 26 and XM Hitlist on channel 30 for commercial free equivalents. Channel 20 is not a Clear Channel station and doesn't have commercials. And for the one millionth time, XM DID NOT ADD COMMERCIALS ON THEIR OWN FREE WILL, THEY WERE FORCED TO. 4 out of the 73 music channels have commercials due to a court decision, it's the end of the world.


----------



## Mike D-CO5

STeve why are you so defensive about Xm adding commercials? Do you own stock are do you work for them? I pay 12.99 a month to have "commercial free" radio . They advertised this when I first got it 2 or 3 years ago. I do not appreciate having to constantly change my stations every time one of them comes on. On 21 and 22 they both run commercials at the same time. 

I own a dish dvr 622 so I don't have to watch commercials on tv and I wish I didn't have to worry about them on my sat radio. I hate all commercials - unless they are movie trailers or tv show trailers I might want to watch.

So I won't listen to those channels anymore to avoid the commerical crap.


----------



## Richard King

> So I won't listen to those channels anymore to avoid the commerical crap.


You have found the best solution.


----------



## deraz

Mike,

Why are you so offensive? Neither XM or Sirius advertise that they have NO commericals. You are paying $13/month to have "less commercial" radio NOT "commerical free" radio.


----------



## Steve Mehs

> STeve why are you so defensive about Xm adding commercials? Do you own stock are do you work for them? I pay 12.99 a month to have "commercial free" radio . They advertised this when I first got it 2 or 3 years ago.


No I don't work for XM, it would be nice if I did though and I don't own stock. What don't you get about they were forced to add commercials? XM did not add the commercials by their own free will. If you want to blame someone for the commercials on XM, don't blame XM themselves but blame Clear Channel or the court that made the ruling, not XM as they had nothing to do with the decision and tried to fight it, but they lost. And again, XM had commercials on the music channels since day 1, but removed them around the same time as when subscription price went from $9.99 to $12.95, which was Spring '05. They had commercials on about half of it's music channels. Channels 7, 8, 11, 13, 20, 21, 22, 24, 25, 26, 27, 29, 31, 32, 41, 42, 43, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 72, 81, 82, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 100, and 102 all had commercials, this due to XMs own free will.

On the back of the brochure it says, "36 Channels 100% Commercial Free". Now there's 69 channels 100% commercial free, I really don't see what the problem is and in two years when the contract expires expect those 4 channels to be removed all together, but also most likely so with Fox Sports Radio, and all the talk content on Extreme 152 and Talk Radio 165.

I am on the offence about it because you think it's XM that's behind this, when their not, they fought it and unfortunately they lost, but they have done everything they possibly can to blacklist these four channels. Do I like that they have commercials and have to waste bandwidth on duplicate channels? No. Do I like the bad PR this gets? No. Do I like explaining this to those that don't understand why they think XM has changed for those worse when in reality they haven't. No. But what other choice do they have?



> So I won't listen to those channels anymore to avoid the commerical crap.


Good! Like I said above, there's channels 26 and 30, listen to them. If you really want to go farther, be proactive and call up XM and have channels 11, 21, 22 & 24 blocked from your account as quite a few of us have already done. This ensures: that

1)	You will not accidentally stumble upon commercial ridden stations
2)	I'm sure XM has some way of tell how many people block which channels they are, if they see a large number of subscribers have those 4 channels blocked that will speak volumes in showing them we reject commercials, if they ever decide to add them back for real.

It's a painless process and takes all of 5 minutes to do. All radios on your account must be powered on in order for them to get the signal to block the channels.


----------



## dpd146

deraz said:


> Mike,
> 
> Why are you so offensive? Neither XM or Sirius advertise that they have NO commericals. You are paying $13/month to have "less commercial" radio NOT "commerical free" radio.


Sirius quotes on their website 100% commercial free music and XM says " the most" commercial free music channels.

I guess people think that means no commercials across the board.


----------



## zman977

dpd146 said:


> Sirius quotes on their website 100% commercial free music and XM says " the most" commercial free music channels.
> 
> I guess people think that means no commercials across the board.


People need to read what is written and not what they want to see.


----------



## dpd146

zman977 said:


> People need to read what is written and not what they want to see.


I think you're right, chicks want me and dudes want to be me.


----------



## Sitre Magana

wipeout said:


> I pay monthly for this radio service because I hate all of the commercials on free radio yet try listening to NFL Radio or ESPN and it is commercials constantly. Drives me nuts.


You're just going have to get used to it. Soon, all the channels including the music channels will have commercials, both XM and Sirius, just like regular radio. A long time ago, cable television was commercial free to get people to used to paying for something they can get for free. As soon as it was proven to be successful, they added commercials back in.


----------



## Richard King

> Soon, all the channels including the music channels will have commercials, both XM and Sirius, just like regular radio


On what do you base this fabrication?


----------



## Sitre Magana

Richard King said:


> On what do you base this fabrication?


cable tv and the internet. Cable TV was originally commerical free and in 1994 spam and spyware and pop ups were unheard of. Then, everybody and their mothers got cable television and the Internet and the rest is history.

I was never a fan of the radio. Not even for free or commercial free. It doesn't make sense to pay 12.95 a month. I can use that 12.95 a month and buy tapes and CDs. I already have 5,200 tapes and 100 CDs. My music collection will grow while you are still p aying 12.95 a month to listen to the same old chicago songs. I can hear just the music I like, and not some D.J. talking over it nor do I have to put up with Donna Summer played to death.:nono2:

Way back in the early ninties, I listened to FM at work until I got so sick of all-4-one's I Swear and Joshua Kadison's beautiful in my eyes. I shut off the radio and brought in my Glen Houston tapes and never turned the radio back on even to this day.

The last time I bought a new truck, i had the stereo customized. It came with an am/fm radio, so I took it out and went to Radio shack and got a system with a cassette and CD changer and a 1200 watt amplifier

Radio is good for news and sports and traffic but not for music. On buses, on campuses, at schools and at the mall you'll see just about everybody wearing an Ipod and only a few people actually using stilettos and Innos and Myfis.


----------



## Richard King

> Cable TV was originally commerical free


Ummm.... no, it wasn't. Cable originated as a way to rebroadcast distant networks in small communities in the far reaches of a DMA. They didn't cut the commercials from any of the networks, as I suspect that would have been frowned upon by the networks. There were no basics at that time. HBO came along and piggybacked for an additional fee (no commercial movies). When basic channels came along most had commercials, notable exceptions were American Movie Classics and Brovo which later added commercials. Satellite radio music is going along more on the HBO marketing plan, not the basic cable plan. Where they are simply rebroadcasting existing programming (talk shows, etc.) they are also rebroadcasting commercials and inserting their own where they have the rights to do so.


----------



## Steve Mehs

Richard King said:


> On what do you base this fabrication?


Don't pay any attention to him. This troll posts the same drivel at XMFan, Sirius Backstage and God knows how many other sites.


----------



## Richard King

I noticed. I did a Google of his name and found several places where he is posting the same thing. He better behave here though. I don't mind a civil conversation or debate, but, after the first post he's on thin ice.


----------



## Sirius Parker

Sitre Magana said:


> cable tv and the internet. Cable TV was originally commerical free and in 1994 spam and spyware and pop ups were unheard of. Then, everybody and their mothers got cable television and the Internet and the rest is history.




I had cable T.V. for twenty years before getting Directv and even I don't remember anything being "commercial free" except for HBO.


----------



## agreer

skidog said:


> They advertise comercial free music, .


and that is a lie too -- I got my Sirius Friday, the damn music channels have crappy DJs that keep pitching the whole "give a gift get a month" thing! I expected something like Music Choice, commercial free, DJ free, stupid station ID stinger free...but I get this...and Raw Dog and BlueColler have as many commercials as Bob and Tom, my usual morning drive fare, so what is the point?


----------



## Steve Mehs

Raw Dog and the rest are talk/entertainment stations not music, when talking about lack of commercials, the satellite radio industry is very specific to say 'Commercial Free Music'. Talk/Entertainment stations are fare game for commercials and have never been promoted as being commercial free. 

And no, the DJ chatter is not a commercial, informing listeners about the happenings at Sirius are not commercials, ‘Music News’ segments are not commercials. Sirius is 100% Commercial Free Music and that is the plain simple truth, nothing to lie about. Sirius and XM are satellite radio services, programmed with feeling, not lifeless digital jukebox services like Music Choice, DMX and Muzak. Sometimes I feel like one over the other, Sirius does have some more annoying DJs then XM, Kayla on Classic Rewind, Madison, and that fruitcup on The Beat. I can’t stand any of those three. Jose on Hard Attack is pretty cool though and Spirit and Revolution are DJ free. Quite a few of the XM stations are on autopilot 24/7 or have DJs a few hours of the day with only music and a station ID played a 2 or 3 times an hour. Sometimes I want DJ chatter, sometimes I don’t, depends on how I feel which is when I switch between XM and Sirius or if I’m at home I’ll put on Music Choice.

XM and Sirius create listening experiences, Music Choice and DMX are more or less for background noise.


----------



## agreer

Steve Mehs said:


> Raw Dog and the rest are talk/entertainment stations not music, when talking about lack of commercials, the satellite radio industry is very specific to say 'Commercial Free Music'. Talk/Entertainment stations are fare game for commercials and have never been promoted as being commercial free.
> 
> And no, the DJ chatter is not a commercial, informing listeners about the happenings at Sirius are not commercials, 'Music News' segments are not commercials. Sirius is 100% Commercial Free Music and that is the plain simple truth, nothing to lie about. Sirius and XM are satellite radio services, programmed with feeling, not lifeless digital jukebox services like Music Choice, DMX and Muzak. Sometimes I feel like one over the other, Sirius does have some more annoying DJs then XM, Kayla on Classic Rewind, Madison, and that fruitcup on The Beat. I can't stand any of those three. Jose on Hard Attack is pretty cool though and Spirit and Revolution are DJ free. Quite a few of the XM stations are on autopilot 24/7 or have DJs a few hours of the day with only music and a station ID played a 2 or 3 times an hour. Sometimes I want DJ chatter, sometimes I don't, depends on how I feel which is when I switch between XM and Sirius or if I'm at home I'll put on Music Choice.
> 
> XM and Sirius create listening experiences, Music Choice and DMX are more or less for background noise.


when you tell me of a special deal, other content availible and whatnot, you are most certainly advertising..

I and many others are also in the wrong here, assuming that subscribtion baced and commercial free music meant the same thing as the music choice/DMX digital cable channels...no BS, just the JAMS


----------



## Steve Mehs

This debate is as old as the day satellite radio first launched. In my opinion, self promotions are not commercials or advertising. Advertising to me is paid spots from third parties, not 'For Christmas music turn to Sirius 2'.

There's commercial free and then there’s interruption free. No where does XM or Sirius advertise being interruption free. If you take a look at specific channel pages for each service the on air personalities are listed. Sirius and XM never tried to tell any one they're interruption free or mislead anyone. Any assumptions made by anyone are due to lack of research. Again these are radio services, MC and DMX are not. If cable and satellite providers weren’t interested in artificially inflating channel counts, most people would have no idea the B2B automated music services even exist.


----------



## oldave

agreer said:


> and that is a lie too -- I got my Sirius Friday, the damn music channels have crappy DJs that keep pitching the whole "give a gift get a month" thing! I expected something like Music Choice, commercial free, DJ free, stupid station ID stinger free...but I get this...and Raw Dog and BlueColler have as many commercials as Bob and Tom, my usual morning drive fare, so what is the point?


If you want commercial free, DJ free, get an iPod. What you're asking for is to *pay* a monthly fee for a jukebox, which you could readily get by ripping your CDs to an iPod.


----------



## oldave

Steve Mehs said:


> In my opinion, self promotions are not commercials or advertising. Advertising to me is paid spots from third parties, not 'For Christmas music turn to Sirius 2'.


It's also the legal definition of a "commercial," though public service announcements and station promotional announcements are generically thought of by the great unwashed as "commercials."

Neither satellite service airs paid advertising on their music channels (except, I hear, but don't know first hand, some XM channels that are programmed by Clear Channel).

I listen to the country channels quite a bit and learn quite a bit from the "music news" segments, too.

I agree with others, if I want a jukebox, E* has the Muzak channels, or I have CD players, or I have a lot of mp3s in the computer along with Winamp (yeah, yeah, it works, why change?)

I sure wouldn't pay $13/month for a jukebox with nothing else on it (hey, I got Sirius for one main reason only: Tony Stewart Live... just to put the period on the quintessential bumpkin image I'm sure I've evoked by mentioning I listen to the country channels).


----------



## Richard King

I am with XM now and I miss the talk and variety of music on Sirius' Underground Garage. I haven't found a replacement for it, in either the variety of talent manning the mics or the interesting history and perspective that they bring to the music.


----------



## oldave

Richard King said:


> I am with XM now and I miss the talk and variety of music on Sirius' Underground Garage. I haven't found a replacement for it, in either the variety of talent manning the mics or the interesting history and perspective that they bring to the music.


The hardest part about history and perspective in a classics format is that you can only tell the stories so many times before they become like the music... repetitive (not to toot my horn, but I've done those formats, so I'm not just talkin' through my hat). I realize Underground Garage isn't a strictly classics format.. but even there, the stories can get old.

Truly being interesting and informative takes a LOT of work, and most jocks just don't wanna go there.


----------

