Wednesday, September 3, 2014

SiriusXM, Eddie Sotelo Part Company

Eddie Sotelo
An "amicable" parting of SiriusXM and Eddie "Pioln" Sotelo was announced Tuesday afternoon.

According to SisiusXM, both sides “have mutually agreed to end their relationship.”

Last Summer the popular Hispanic radio personality left his prior employer, Univision Communications Inc., under a cloud of sexual harassment allegations. That didn't deter Sirius XM Holding from hiring him or making him the cornerstone of a lengthy free trial targeted at Hispanic listeners that ran from October of last year until February 15, 2014. At the end of the trial, the Hispanic themed package of programs was available at a base subscription price of $5.99 per month.

Did Sirius make a mistake in focusing on Piolin? There is an old saying, "there is no such thing as bad publicity." Piolin has certainly had his share of bad publicity. First, six former employees of Piolin's show were considering filing a sexual harassment lawsuit. During discussions with Piolin's attorney, the group's lawyers were asked to come up with a figure that would make the suit go away.

Following those discussions, Piolin's attorneys filed a suit against the group in late August claiming they were attempting to extort $4.9 million. In October, the group's attorney filed a motion to dismiss the Piolin suit. By March of this year, Piolin's suit was dismissed, and in June the judge ordered Piolin pay the group's $100,000 in legal fees.

According to Seeking Alpha,  the success of the Hispanic trial and $5.99 plan remains a mystery to investors and analysts.

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