By the bye -- after finally getting some cheques for work long done, and performing the annual rite of mammon-workship known as "Holiday Shopping" (That's right, evildoers: Holiday Shopping-- bwaaaahahhaha hahahaha) I treated myself by buying and signing up for XMRadio (which just made its debut here in Canada.)
It's brilliant.
But the Canadian website is terrible. You want any info, you have to go to the U.S. site.
It's kind of like listening to the Ipod of someone who's musical taste is just like yours -- but they know lots of different bands.
For those of us exiled to work from home, alone -- Satellite Radio is the shiznit.
5 comments:
For me, the Bob Dylan DJ show would be worth it. Maybe he will play some of those rare albums from the collection he stole as a teenager from (Dave Van Ronk or Tony Glover?). I'd like to ask him on air if he ever gave them back. :)
I checked out Howard Stern, too bad he is not only on another satellite service, he is banned from Sirius Canada.
He's actually not banned -- the CRTC complained when he was on terrestrial radio, but this situation is remarkably different. You're talking about a proprietary technology that you have to pay for. The "kids could hear it" defense isn't a defense, since stations with adult content can be blocked.
In this case I think it's just timidity on the part of the Sirius Canada partners. They'll eventually have to put him on.
XM Canada has Opie and Anthony, who if anything, are worse than Stern.
At least Stern's smart.
Well, yes it's true the situation is fluid. But as of now Canada is a "Stern-Free Zone". Too bad, after hearing some snippets on talk shows I 'd like to listen to a few broadcasts.
...
"Dec 17. Canada will remain a Stern-free zone. A spokesman for Sirius Canada yesterday said the situation with Stern has not changed: "He is not part of our initial lineup."
Gary Slaight of Standard Broadcasting, one of the owners of Sirius Canada, told the Sun last month that it is unlikely Stern's new U.S. Sirius show will ever be picked up here because of anticipated grief from federal broadcast regulators.
Yet rumours persist the provider might do an about-face. The standard "no-comment" from Sirius Canada on that score is "we will continue to review our channel lineup."
This is what bugs me a lot about Canadian outlets. They BS incessantly. And no one ever tries to be accountable.
I have a friend who did legal work for the CRTC and she told me in no uncertain terms that blaming the CRTC in this case is sheer smokescreen.
The closest analogue is Pay TV. They show Hardcore Porn on TMN now.
Someone at Standard or CBC, Sirius Canada's other partner, either doesn't like Stern, is nervous about using them to promote the image...(If you're selling CBC I'm not sure they would want to be overshadowed or associated with Stern) or they haven't completed negotiations.
As you've picked up, if it wasn't a regulatory problem, why would they back off from the never-say-never brigade?
It's a standard "don't blame us" strategy - but it's pretty poor work from a marketing standpoint. Stern is the draw. It's pretty silly that XM can announce Bob Dylan, and the Canadian partners of Sirius are falling all over themselves to not be in the same room as Stern.
Typical Canadian timidity.
Hey, didja ever give "Sugarland" a listen? If not, there's no reason not to find a country station and settle in for a spell, they'll play them soon...
... Sugarland won an award from XM, ya see. ;)
Details are available on their website:http://www.sugarlandmusic.com/start.asp
You can listen to their songs there too, my favorite is "Baby Girl".
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