8/31/2008 9:08:55 PM

I sent a nastygram to the email address provided. Thank you Mr. Bell!

I advised xm radio that if the channel gets preemted again, I am canceling my xm subscription. I can use the funds to subscribe to radio spirits and stream / download shows. It will take the fun out of the surprises when listening to xm164, but so be it. I listen when I want to, on my schedule, the way I choose, not when they decide to let me listen.

This is a very bad sign of things to come with the sirius / xm merger.

Cam Hamilton

8/31/2008 11:21:37 PM

I also sent my "dissatisfaction" to XM Programming.. I told them that although I was a college football fan I still wanted my 164.. I told them there were plenty of other places to see/hear the games.. What I also said was that the sole reason we have 2 subscriptions to XM is for 164.. EVERYONE NEEDS TO DO THIS.. Let them know we noticed and we were not happy!!

Cheri

8/31/2008 11:32:07 PM

I also emailed my protest to the powers that be. Please Greg, know that my/our frustration is not with you. You do an outstanding job. I feel like you are a member of the family, and we stick together. I'm recording the shows so I won't miss a thing. I guess once you find a gem like 164, it's hard to give it up, even for a few hours.

Frank

9/1/2008 3:15:06 AM

Well Said Greg. If we only lose 6 hours it is not the end of the world. Long Live OTR 164.


Bill From NY

Bill Moran

9/1/2008 4:51:14 AM

it happened last year but on the comdey channel also ch 162 and 161 are

already off the air all weekend

put the games on there

and what will happen when xm and sirius become one

and do you know the start date of that greg

charles from nj

9/1/2008 9:06:58 AM

I also have 2 XM radio's and they are always on channel 164. I drive truck over the road and that is the only channel that makes the time pass. I have it on 24 hours a day while I am in the truck. I will be sending a email to the powers that be also. Keep up the good work Greg, you have a dream job that makes alot of people happy.

Curt Ramsey

9/1/2008 10:51:09 AM

You did a great job explaining this situation, thanks. Channel 163 is already off the air on weekends, along with 161 and 162 as a previous comment stated. It doesn't make sense. Love your channel, Greg, please keep up the great work.

Jay

9/1/2008 11:55:29 AM

It doesn't bother me . I also listen to Ch.163 for modern radio drama and it is off all weekend

Rick

9/1/2008 4:46:01 PM

Thank you for the info, Greg. Will do. I have already sent one email to the general email address. I agree with Jay.
Donna

Donna

9/1/2008 6:11:41 PM

I knew this was going to happen because of Greg's advanced warnings. I may have listened as I went to sleep because football can do that to me (so can baseball). You can "pretend" Radio Classics is playing a classic game! But what I didn't like was getting a canned msg saying "this station is on hiatus in order to make room for music and sports programming." If you're going to put the station on hiatus, then play the game. If the station wasn't going to air a game, then it should have played the channel rather than that canned msg. By the time I awoke in the middle of the night (3 AM, I believe) the channel was up and running. So I can sacrifice (offer it up as we Catholics say) one day a week; it's only 1 day a week and only until New Year's Day so it's OK. I don't like it but I have tapes, CDs and besides, I usually am looking at TV or napping in the afternoon and I'm asleep at night. Go to Radio Spirits and load up on tapes or CDs or for you younger folks, sign on to the IPOD or MP3 or whatever that system is and listen online to that company's offerings --- they're really VERY GOOD.

Rosemary

9/1/2008 7:12:48 PM

Well Said Rosemary, I also am Catholic and you gave me a chuckle when I read the part about making a sacrifice. I feel better about it now, LOL.

Bill from NY

William Moran

9/2/2008 2:32:50 AM

Greg:
I realize you can only do what you can do. There is so much more on XM I enjoy besides OTR. Baseball, Hockey, Laugh USA 151, some of the oldies and country channels..This will pass eventually..

Tim Lones

9/2/2008 7:12:16 AM

I realize there is nothing you can do about this, Greg. I am just really tired of having them add stuff, when they don't have room. Now that the stupid merger has gone through, I would have thought there would be *more* bandwidth. I'm just getting really fed up with XM, to be honest. I subscribed primarily because of Sonic and Radio Classics. And I don't even mind the fact that, even though I pay a subscription fee (well, two), I listen to ads on those channels. But I'm tired of everyone thinking sports are the end-all and be-all of life. Television shows get canceled for sporting events, and now my beloved Radio Classics. Even though the website says it will only be "The channels subject to preemption include The Weather Channel - XM 125, America Right - XM 166, America Left - XM 167, and The Power - XM 169."

Just very very frustrating. I've already been upset about the merger (sorry, but once again the FCC has forgotten who it is supposed to be serving), and ... argh... I'm getting incoherent.

E

9/2/2008 3:55:04 PM

To clarify the situation a bit more, if XM tried carrying everything they offer at once on their limited bandwith, their audio sound would sound horrible on just about all the channels (correct me if I'm wrong, Greg)..So, they have to balance things out occasionally so the sound is acceptqable..

Tim Lones

9/2/2008 4:41:14 PM

I realize I am probably in the minority here, but does XM/Sirius REALLY need 75+ channels for music? Seriously, I never understood the need and would be surprised if some of the "stranger" music genre channels get anywhere close in listenership to 164.

Greg, are there "Neilsen" type ratings available on channel by channel basis?

If the numbers justify it, and 164 is one of the least listened to, then none of us really has a leg to stand on when it comes to decisions like this. I am going to begin building my own library of OTR; and XM/Sirius can take a hike once I have created it large enough.

Radically Independent,
Jeff

Jeff Foreman

9/2/2008 8:00:19 PM

Interesting. Begs several more questions, but perhaps this is not the best forum for it.

Jeff Foreman

9/4/2008 12:25:29 AM

I have no arguments with 75 or more music channels --- just as there are a myriad of people, so too there are all kinds of music for them. Some people (like me) like classical music. Some like country (me, too). My dad likes (and grew up with) the music of the 40s. I have friends who grew up with music of the 50s. I grew up with music of the 60s, 70s and 80s (I still have 45s!!). People younger than I grew up with music of the 90s and 00s. I can't understand nor do I appreciate heavy metal, hip hop or rap but there certainly is an audience for them. There's also an audience for comedy - clean and dirty, for liberal talk shows, for conservative talks shows, for books on the air, for entertainment news and religious music. And whe the merger is complete, I pray to GOD it will include EWTN because I can't get Catholic radio ANYWHERE except for online. I don't even object to sports- as long as it doesn't interfere with what I want to hear. It could be a whole lot worse - sports could dominate radio as it does TV. You can't get away from football, baseball, basketball and ice hockey on TV. I hope XM/Sirius doesn't go that route - and if it does, then keep all the sports shows on all the sports stations. It has to be hard for XM/Sirius to try to please everyone. It's doing a wonderful job especially since it has Old Time Radio. I like the idea of having OTR Westerns, OTR Mysteries, OTR Comedies, OTR Detectives, etc., but then poor old Greg wold NEVER get home to see his wife and daughters. He'll come through the door one day and they'll say, "who are you?"
I'll offer up the college football games - they're only from now until January. It'll be a long autumn but even I'll listen to the only college football game that matters to me -- the army-NAVY game (guess who I'm rooting for?!)

Rosemary

9/4/2008 12:59:13 AM

Bravo Rosemary.

Bill Moran

9/4/2008 1:28:40 AM

I agree Rosemary:
XM is and always has been about choice. Ive been hoked on OTR for over 25 years. Time was, you could hear plenty of OTR on the regular AM/FM Radio dial, from WCAU-1210 Philadelphia, WBBM and WMAQ Chicago with Chuck Schaden, When Radio Was (still going with Greg), Victor Ives, and others..Problem was, In Ohio, stations tend to fade in and out.One reason I love XM is I can hear good (and bad) OTR crystal clear..While Other than When Radio Was, there is no OTR on the regular radio dial..

Tim Lones

9/19/2008 2:34:59 AM

I have to agree about sport being "the be all end all" Some of us would rather hear nothing , more than sports. OTR 164 is awessome I really hope that

Ray F Potter

9/19/2008 2:35:31 AM

management gets this message

Ray F Potter

9/21/2008 3:44:19 PM

We sent our thoughts to XM programming... a little late, but I'm sure it will help add to the mass of their complaints.

Keep up the great work Greg! We love listening to you and all your great trivia!

Laura Maier

9/29/2008 8:07:06 PM

I love your old time radio classics and I HATE sports. There are hundreds of other channels they can broadcast sports on. I do not appreciate the fact that there is only one old tyme radio station and at least 50 sports stations on XM. PUT THE SPORTS ON THE SPORTS STATIONS>>>Leave the old tyme radio station alone!

Joe Parker