KnoxHarrington
10-15-2008, 07:05 PM
You probably knew that there would be some layoffs and downsizing after the merger. It happens.
But it looks like the cuts are falling almost totally on XM's side, and the programmers for music channels are being gutted.
10/15 - More cuts at DC's XM today. Soul Street's Bobby Bennett and Leigh Hamilton, Raw's Mz Kitti, The City's DJ Xclusive and Lisa Ivery, Viva's Karla Rodriguez, and Aguila's Mad Mexican. Plus Ken Smith of '50s-On-5, Pat Clarke of '60s-On-6, XM America's Ray Knight, John Welch, and "Country Dan" Dixon, BK Kirkland of the Groove, plus Bill Evans, Brian Chamberlain, and Cathy Carter from XM Cafe. XM Gospel's Jay Bryant and Suite 62's Vic Clemens. Upwards of 80 have been led to the satrad unemployment gallows, so far, we hear.
(from DRCTV.com)
The rumor now is that on November 5th, the programming for XM and Sirius will basicaly be combined. That is, you basically have a Sirius radio now.
There's no word yet on the future of XM's headquarters building at New York and Florida avenues NE in NoMa, but it's hard to imagine that Sirius will hold on to an emptied-out building for long. Karmazin's plan, according to several radio industry news outlets, is to merge XM and Sirius programming into one stream on or around Nov. 5--directly in opposition to Karmazin's repeated and vehement promises to keep the two voices separate and distinct for some time to come.
Source: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/rawfisher/2008/10/washingtons_loss_xm_empties_ou.html
I was hoping that this would end up with a service that combined the best of both, that sort of came up with a new way that combined philosophies of the both. But it's clear this isn't a merger, it's a buyout.
I have always liked XM's music programming better than Sirius', so it's disappointing to hear that it's just going to become Sirius. It's becoming more and more true that I'm keeping my XM for the buddays, and that's pretty much it.
But it looks like the cuts are falling almost totally on XM's side, and the programmers for music channels are being gutted.
10/15 - More cuts at DC's XM today. Soul Street's Bobby Bennett and Leigh Hamilton, Raw's Mz Kitti, The City's DJ Xclusive and Lisa Ivery, Viva's Karla Rodriguez, and Aguila's Mad Mexican. Plus Ken Smith of '50s-On-5, Pat Clarke of '60s-On-6, XM America's Ray Knight, John Welch, and "Country Dan" Dixon, BK Kirkland of the Groove, plus Bill Evans, Brian Chamberlain, and Cathy Carter from XM Cafe. XM Gospel's Jay Bryant and Suite 62's Vic Clemens. Upwards of 80 have been led to the satrad unemployment gallows, so far, we hear.
(from DRCTV.com)
The rumor now is that on November 5th, the programming for XM and Sirius will basicaly be combined. That is, you basically have a Sirius radio now.
There's no word yet on the future of XM's headquarters building at New York and Florida avenues NE in NoMa, but it's hard to imagine that Sirius will hold on to an emptied-out building for long. Karmazin's plan, according to several radio industry news outlets, is to merge XM and Sirius programming into one stream on or around Nov. 5--directly in opposition to Karmazin's repeated and vehement promises to keep the two voices separate and distinct for some time to come.
Source: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/rawfisher/2008/10/washingtons_loss_xm_empties_ou.html
I was hoping that this would end up with a service that combined the best of both, that sort of came up with a new way that combined philosophies of the both. But it's clear this isn't a merger, it's a buyout.
I have always liked XM's music programming better than Sirius', so it's disappointing to hear that it's just going to become Sirius. It's becoming more and more true that I'm keeping my XM for the buddays, and that's pretty much it.