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| Anthony Cumia |
Kline writes Satellite radio once provided programming that couldn't easily be duplicated easily elsewhere. Today, he states there's little to set it apart from its free competition. Taking away a host like Cumia only accentuates the fact that most of what SiriusXM sells subscriptions to is not exclusive content.
SiriusXM likely now faces a challenge to its continuing relevancy, even if it holds onto the handful of personalities it has exclusive rights to who bring in subscribers. That cupboard could become even emptier if Cumia's former co-hosts Greg "Opie" Hughes and Jim Norton follow him out the door when their contracts expire in October. Things would get far worse if Howard Stern -- the No. 1 subscription driver for SiriusXM -- retires or moves to another broadcast home when his deal ends in a year and a half. Firing Cumia for an off-air Twitter rant that might just accelerate the sinking of this ship.
An ever increasing number of people can easily stream content over a smartphone and it won't be long until nearly everyone can simply plug in or connect over Bluetooth. That will kill any advantage SiriusXM has in music.
The vast majority of talk fans have been drawn in for Stern and/or Opie & Anthony. That is clearly reflected in the fact that Stern is paid somewhere between $80 million and $100 million a year (though that number has never been confirmed) while Cumia and Hughes each had contracts paying around $3 million annually. Only Christopher "Mad Dog" Russo and maybe Dr. Laura Schlessinger make anywhere close to seven figures working for SiriusXM as talk show hosts and most make far less than that.
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Looks like internet radio is about to get bigger.
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Sirius XM is garbage. Bring back Anthony, and show Opie and Jimmy some respect.
ReplyDeleteI have SiriusXM in my car, but when I am around a place with Wi-Fi, I generally use Pandora. If it comes to a point where I can get WiFi in the car, I will likely cancel my SXM subscription. SXM still has some hold, but in the next 2 years, the "coolness" factor of having a satellite radio will be similar to that of owning a Sony Discman
ReplyDeleteWith Howard Stern doing less and less each week I cancelled my subscription months ago and have learned to live without it quite easily.
ReplyDeleteSince the merger and then the takeover by Liberty Media, satellite radio has canceled a lot of quality programming. BBC1, Book Radio and now Classical Pops in addition to some shows that had a following and were unique, like Cosmo. We are left with Martha, Dr Laura, and Oprah all of which are not relevant to the younger female listeners.
ReplyDeleteI'd disagree with this assessment. Streaming over cellphones or loading up mp3s is a hassle when you're looking for entertainment in your car. Until someone comes out with an in-dash system for cars with Internet content that works as seamlessly as a radio, I don't see the market going away for it overnight - the commercial-free and specialty music channels are the advantage SiriusXM has over its main competitor, terrestrial radio.
ReplyDeleteI will pay for radio when they pry my over the air radio out of my cold dead fingers. :) Seriously, WHY would anyone pay for radio content, or allow internet tracking to take place so you and your data can be tracked and sold to someone else's benefit? People really are a lot like sheep.
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