XM Silences Opie and Anthony???

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  • mammasan
    mammasan Posts: 5,656
    gue_barium wrote:
    Howard Stern has talent?

    Loads of it.
    "When one gets in bed with government, one must expect the diseases it spreads." - Ron Paul
  • bgivens33
    bgivens33 Posts: 290
    pearljammerbeck wrote:
    Then they shouldn't promote "uncensored talk." The ironic thing is that XM's decision is costing them money because fans of the show are cancelling their subscriptions in support of the show. They rely on subscribers for their income, not advertisers, so why piss off the fans of one of their most popular programs?

    XM's decision had nothing to do with the content of the show. If it did, they would have cut the segment out of the replays (which they have done in the past). This was done because Al Sharpton waddled out in front of some news cameras and spewed his bullshit and XM was afraid of the big bad wolf. They caved in to pressure from people who had no leverage over them at all. The FCC doesn't give a shit if there was a controversial segment on the XM portion of the Opie and Anthony show. They have far more valid reasons than that for not approving the merger with Sirius.

    The bottom line is that they are making a business decision. They weighed the lost subscriptions vs. a lawsuit and went with the latter. It all boils down to money, and if you don't think someone like Al Sharpton(or Jesse) has leverage... I'd take a good long look at the Imus situation. Though, not completely parallel, but it is close. I think people should focus their anger towards those two... not XM. This is CLEARLY not a "moral" stance against questionable programming, it's all about the dollar.
  • norm
    norm Posts: 31,146
    Listeners shocked by XM hosts' suspension
    Many cancel the service. Some suspect a proposed merger with Sirius is a factor in the punishment.
    By Jim Puzzanghera and Amy Kaufman, Times Staff Writers
    May 17, 2007

    WASHINGTON — Satellite radio bills itself as the Wild West of the airwaves, an uncensored outpost beyond the reach of federal regulators where expletives fly with impunity and the banter can get as raunchy as at a strip club.

    But the decision this week by XM Satellite Radio to suspend shock jocks Opie and Anthony for 30 days for crude sexual comments about First Lady Laura Bush, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Queen Elizabeth II has listeners wondering whether there's a new sheriff in town.

    Some XM listeners were outraged — not at the comments but at XM's reaction.

    "I signed up for XM because it's uncensored. I like these guys because they are so unfiltered," said Placentia resident Paul Hebert, who canceled his $12.95 monthly XM subscription Tuesday in protest.

    He wasn't alone. Hundreds of angry subscribers have flooded XM's operators with calls to cancel since the suspension was announced Tuesday. About 60 listeners smashed their XM receivers Wednesday outside the WFNY-FM studios in New York, where Gregg "Opie" Hughes and Anthony Cumia continued to air their tamer, over-the-air broadcast for CBS Radio.

    "The reaction is mind-blowing," said Ryan Saghir of North Branford, Conn., who runs a blog about satellite radio called Orbitcast. "One of the main attractors to satellite radio is the unregulated content. Once you take away that … you're going to have some upset subscribers."

    But industry observers said XM might have been more worried about offending federal regulators, who can block the company's proposed merger with its only rival, Sirius Satellite Radio, than staying true to its slogan, "Beyond AM. Beyond FM. XM."

    Sensitivities have been heightened in Washington since the controversy over veteran shock jock Don Imus' racially offensive comments about the Rutgers University women's basketball team, which led to his firing last month by CBS Radio.

    "It's hard to read anything into it other than that they're catering to federal officials," said William Kidd, a media analyst with Wedbush Morgan Securities in Los Angeles.

    XM spokesman Nathaniel Brown would not comment on whether the pending merger was a factor in the suspension and would not say how many people had canceled their subscriptions. XM has suspended on-air personalities before, he said, but none with as high a profile as Hughes and Cumia.

    It's not the first time a skit has landed the two shock jocks in trouble. CBS Radio, then known as Infinity Broadcasting, fired them in 2002 for broadcasting two listeners apparently having sex in New York's St. Patrick's Cathedral. The Federal Communications Commission fined Infinity $357,000 for the stunt.

    XM, which does not fall under the FCC's indecency rules because it is a pay service, hired Hughes and Cumia in 2004. Their program, "The Opie & Anthony Show," airs from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. on XM and 24 CBS radio affiliates, which picked the duo back up last year.

    It continues until about 11 a.m. only on XM, a segment that the show's website touts as "uncut, uncensored and totally filthy."

    On May 9, the XM portion of the show aired a skit featuring a character called Homeless Charlie, who graphically described having sex with Bush, Rice and the queen. Hughes and Cumia played along, laughing and asking questions.

    XM issued a statement condemning the comments, and Cumia and Hughes apologized on the air Friday.

    On Monday's show, Hughes and Cumia complained about "dumb rules" and an "umbrella of morality and decency" that led Imus and some other hosts to get fired. XM officials suspended the pair Tuesday, saying the comments "put into question whether they appreciate the seriousness of the matter."

    Satellite radio followers said the suspension was unprecedented. Some XM listeners were stunned and angry when they heard about it.

    Ed L. Kelley of Wagoner, Okla., said he spent six hours on the phone Tuesday night trying to cancel. He's talking to an attorney about a class-action suit, saying that because "The Opie & Anthony Show" appears on one of XM's "explicit-language" channels, the company has violated its promise to deliver uncensored content.

    "These guys make me laugh and they make fun of everybody equally," Kelley said.

    Debbie Wolf, co-founder of People Against Censorship, called the suspension "outrageous" and organized the demonstration outside CBS Radio's studios. Christopher Lewis of Glenmoore, Penn., quickly registered http://www.cancelxm.com , and the message boards there and on other satellite radio sites have filled up with dozens of angry comments.

    "I will not support a company that has decided the one true reason they exist no longer matters," wrote one poster on Orbitcast.

    Howard Stern, who left traditional radio in 2004 after battling regulators, also weighed in from his new post at Sirius.

    "If you want free speech," he told his listeners Wednesday, "walk in a closet and talk to yourself."

    Kidd said the suspension could make it difficult for XM to attract edgy radio personalities who have viewed satellite as a haven for their outrageous acts.

    "This will probably be a decision that XM will have to live with and, I suspect, likely regret over time," he said.

    The suspension would be as surprising as HBO pulling "The Sopranos" for offensive content and will reverberate through the industry, said Tom Taylor, a former program director who edits the trade journal Inside Radio.

    "People in the satellite world have felt safe … until this week," he said.

    http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-shockradio17may17,1,2999850.story?coll=la-headlines-business&ctrack=1&cset=true
  • mammasan
    mammasan Posts: 5,656
    bgivens33 wrote:
    The bottom line is that they are making a business decision. They weighed the lost subscriptions vs. a lawsuit and went with the latter. It all boils down to money, and if you don't think someone like Al Sharpton(or Jesse) has leverage... I'd take a good long look at the Imus situation. Though, not completely parallel, but it is close. I think people should focus their anger towards those two... not XM. This is CLEARLY not a "moral" stance against questionable programming, it's all about the dollar.


    No they based their decision on money. they know that the approval of the XM Sirius merger is in Congress' hands right now and they don't want to jeapodize that. Once again the 1st Amendment takes a back seat to the almight dollar.
    "When one gets in bed with government, one must expect the diseases it spreads." - Ron Paul
  • brain of c
    brain of c Posts: 5,213
    mammasan wrote:
    No they based their decision on money. they know that the approval of the XM Sirius merger is in Congress' hands right now and they don't want to jeapodize that. Once again the 1st Amendment takes a back seat to the almight dollar.

    i'd do more than that for a dollar.......
    d'oh!!!!!!

    http://www.myspace.com/brain_of_c
  • bgivens33
    bgivens33 Posts: 290
    mammasan wrote:
    No they based their decision on money. they know that the approval of the XM Sirius merger is in Congress' hands right now and they don't want to jeapodize that. Once again the 1st Amendment takes a back seat to the almight dollar.

    I just said it was all about the dollar... did you not read that part? And as someone pointed out earlier... the FCC has plenty of reasons to not let the deal go through, I highly doubt they even care about a couple of radio dj's. This has nothing to do with the 1st amendment.
  • mammasan
    mammasan Posts: 5,656
    bgivens33 wrote:
    I just said it was all about the dollar... did you not read that part? And as someone pointed out earlier... the FCC has plenty of reasons to not let the deal go through, I highly doubt they even care about a couple of radio dj's. This has nothing to do with the 1st amendment.

    Sorry I sort of just glanced over your post. I think the 1st amendment comes into play here because satellite radio was always advertising as being a free for all. A place where you didn't have to watch what you said and where free to express yourself as you see fit.
    "When one gets in bed with government, one must expect the diseases it spreads." - Ron Paul
  • bgivens33
    bgivens33 Posts: 290
    edit:

    Private businesses don't have to offer free speech. They are not bound to the same bill of rights as the Government is. You don't have the right to bring a gun to work do you? False advertising... maybe, but not 1st amendment.
  • mammasan
    mammasan Posts: 5,656
    bgivens33 wrote:
    A mother tells a kid not to talk.... 1st amendment
    Your boss asks everyone to be quiet in a meeting.... 1st amendment
    You get to asked to leave at a library for talking to loud... 1st amendment

    Do you see how absurd that sounds?? As an employer, I can demand certain things out of my employees, and not violate their free speech. O and A are welcome to say whatever they want, just not while XM is footing the bill. You truly must understand that.

    That is why I edited it.
    "When one gets in bed with government, one must expect the diseases it spreads." - Ron Paul
  • mammasan
    mammasan Posts: 5,656
    bgivens33 wrote:
    O and A are welcome to say whatever they want, just not while XM is footing the bill. You truly must understand that.

    But XM is not the only ones footing the bill, the suscribers are footing the bill as well and as long as they found nothing wrong with the statement I don't see any grounds for the suspension.
    "When one gets in bed with government, one must expect the diseases it spreads." - Ron Paul
  • ECM
    ECM Posts: 1,687
    mammasan wrote:
    This self censorship is getting way out of hand. I think it's time for the people to actually start standing up to this. People with XM should start flooding XM's customer service lines with calls to reinstate them or they will cancel their subscriptions. As for terristerial radio we need to use the same actions as the PC brigade and start boycotting advertisers for caving in to these people.

    Here is a fucking tip for the PC brigade. If you don't like what a radio host is saying change the fucking station. I used to get abit miffed when I would here people like O'Reilly and Limbuagh talk about the over the top pc mentality of this nation. After recent events I'm starting to think that they where right.

    I heard on another radio show that wait times to get a hold of the XM customer service went from 30 mins to 1 hour 15 since and quite a few people have dropped the service....

    And it looks like their stock took about a 10% hit after they did it.....
    http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=XMSR&t=5d

    What sucks this is being associated to "liberals".... which now equals Democrat in media..... calling it..... President McCain.... ug and ug.....
    wishlistfoundation.org
  • mammasan
    mammasan Posts: 5,656
    Evil Closet Monkey wrote:
    I heard on another radio show that wait times to get a hold of the XM customer service went from 30 mins to 1 hour 15 since and quite a few people have dropped the service....

    And it looks like their stock took about a 10% hit after they did it.....
    http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=XMSR&t=5d

    What sucks this is being associated to "liberals".... which now equals Democrat in media..... calling it..... President McCain.... ug and ug.....


    A few of my friends cancelled their suscription. They had XM because of O&A, because it was uncensored. TIf they are going to be censored know my friends figured they can listen to them for free on terrestrial radio for that.
    "When one gets in bed with government, one must expect the diseases it spreads." - Ron Paul
  • pearljammerbeck
    pearljammerbeck Posts: 70
    There was nothing aired during the broadcast of that show that was grounds for a lawsuit. A homeless guy saying he wants to fuck Condi Rice and the Queen is not grounds for a suit (and he did say "fuck," not "rape). If that was the case, George Carlin would have been sued for saying he wouldn't fuck Marilyn Quayle with a stolen dick. That's more offensive than saying you would fuck somebody, don't you think?

    The difference between this situation and th Imus situation in terms of Sharpton's leverage is that terrestrial radio has to answer to advertisers (or at least feel certain that they can replace any companies who stop running ads). XM has very few advertisers, and the ads running on the Virus are mainly companies that sell sex toys, porn DVDs, dick enlargment cream, and retractable patio awnings that may or may not have a discount (Harry just refuses to say!). XM does not rely on them for their revenue. They are mostly just a way to make a little money during the breaks the hosts need to piss and eat. XM's revenue comes from subscribers. Ironically, at least 2 companies have pulled their ads from XM because of the suspension (Nashville Coffee and mafialife.com, if anyone cares), so if XM was dependant upon advertisers as much as terrestrial radio, their decision actually cost them money in that regard, too.
    bgivens33 wrote:
    The bottom line is that they are making a business decision. They weighed the lost subscriptions vs. a lawsuit and went with the latter. It all boils down to money, and if you don't think someone like Al Sharpton(or Jesse) has leverage... I'd take a good long look at the Imus situation. Though, not completely parallel, but it is close. I think people should focus their anger towards those two... not XM. This is CLEARLY not a "moral" stance against questionable programming, it's all about the dollar.
  • Boosk
    Boosk Posts: 29
    pearljammerbeck wrote:
    There was nothing aired during the broadcast of that show that was grounds for a lawsuit. A homeless guy saying he wants to fuck Condi Rice and the Queen is not grounds for a suit (and he did say "fuck," not "rape). If that was the case, George Carlin would have been sued for saying he wouldn't fuck Marilyn Quayle with a stolen dick. That's more offensive than saying you would fuck somebody, don't you think?

    The difference between this situation and th Imus situation in terms of Sharpton's leverage is that terrestrial radio has to answer to advertisers (or at least feel certain that they can replace any companies who stop running ads). XM has very few advertisers, and the ads running on the Virus are mainly companies that sell sex toys, porn DVDs, dick enlargment cream, and retractable patio awnings that may or may not have a discount (Harry just refuses to say!). XM does not rely on them for their revenue. They are mostly just a way to make a little money during the breaks the hosts need to piss and eat. XM's revenue comes from subscribers. Ironically, at least 2 companies have pulled their ads from XM because of the suspension (Nashville Coffee and mafialife.com, if anyone cares), so if XM was dependant upon advertisers as much as terrestrial radio, their decision actually cost them money in that regard, too.

    Adam and Eve (sex toys, porn DVDs, etc) has also said they will pull their advertising if they're not back on the air by next week
    A little nonsense now and then, relished by the wisest men
  • pearljammerbeck
    pearljammerbeck Posts: 70
    Cool. For once advertisers are taking the side of the on-air talent instead of caving in to people who never heard the actual broadcast yet somehow can claim to have been offended by what was aired.
    Boosk wrote:
    Adam and Eve (sex toys, porn DVDs, etc) has also said they will pull their advertising if they're not back on the air by next week
  • bgivens33
    bgivens33 Posts: 290
    pearljammerbeck wrote:
    There was nothing aired during the broadcast of that show that was grounds for a lawsuit. A homeless guy saying he wants to fuck Condi Rice and the Queen is not grounds for a suit (and he did say "fuck," not "rape). If that was the case, George Carlin would have been sued for saying he wouldn't fuck Marilyn Quayle with a stolen dick. That's more offensive than saying you would fuck somebody, don't you think?

    The difference between this situation and th Imus situation in terms of Sharpton's leverage is that terrestrial radio has to answer to advertisers (or at least feel certain that they can replace any companies who stop running ads). XM has very few advertisers, and the ads running on the Virus are mainly companies that sell sex toys, porn DVDs, dick enlargment cream, and retractable patio awnings that may or may not have a discount (Harry just refuses to say!). XM does not rely on them for their revenue. They are mostly just a way to make a little money during the breaks the hosts need to piss and eat. XM's revenue comes from subscribers. Ironically, at least 2 companies have pulled their ads from XM because of the suspension (Nashville Coffee and mafialife.com, if anyone cares), so if XM was dependant upon advertisers as much as terrestrial radio, their decision actually cost them money in that regard, too.

    Then why would they do it?? Business generally don't make decisions that they know will loose them money. For the most part I agree with you... all I'm saying is that XM must have felt the pressure somewhere. It all comes down to money and they made a decision based on that. It's not as if they taking a "moral" stance. It just doesn't add up they way you put it. 1- not going to get sued 2. will loose subscriptions 3. will loose sponsors.... so let's do it!
    I don't buy it.
  • mammasan
    mammasan Posts: 5,656
    bgivens33 wrote:
    Then why would they do it?? Business generally don't make decisions that they know will loose them money. For the most part I agree with you... all I'm saying is that XM must have felt the pressure somewhere. It all comes down to money and they made a decision based on that. It's not as if they taking a "moral" stance. It just doesn't add up they way you put it. 1- not going to get sued 2. will loose subscriptions 3. will loose sponsors.... so let's do it!
    I don't buy it.

    First I don't think they expected such a negative reaction to the suspension. They figured listeners would be upset, but probably never thought they would cancel their suscription and have advertisers threatening to pull out. Second the reason why they suspended O&A, at least in my opinion, is because they didn't want to take the chance of derailing the merger with Sirius.
    "When one gets in bed with government, one must expect the diseases it spreads." - Ron Paul
  • Heatherj43
    Heatherj43 Posts: 1,254
    I love O and A. I only listen to them while they are on regualr radio cuz I don't have XM. But, I know they were under the impression that during the breaks on their regular show and just after they would be on XM and not censored. I would be pissed if I paid to get XM to hear that part of their show and it was censored.
    I hope they win against the idiots that be. Someone here mentioned that XM has rights as businessmen, well so do O and A. They likely have a contract and we will see if they were allowed the uncensorship in the contract. I will bet they were.
    Save room for dessert!
  • Dustin51
    Dustin51 Posts: 222
    azwyldcats wrote:
    Who? Oh yeah, Howard Stern imitators without talent and Jim Norton a D level comedian. Zero. Point. Zero.


    Haha...Don Imus... HAS no ratings. All courses incomplete. Opie and Anthony... ZERO POINT ZERO.

    Stern is the best ever. O&A probably asked to be suspended so they could get some press.
    Be excellent to each other
  • Pacomc79
    Pacomc79 Posts: 9,404
    XM is smart in this case, superceding the FCC potentially getting involved and fucking the whole freedom thing up for everybody. Don't think they can't or won't do it.

    give them and inch and they take a mile. They are the stupidest pair ever in morning radio. Self sensorship/self control/ adequate guidance from the production staff.... would have prevented this. They unfortunately are stupid enough to wreck it for everyone. XM is doing the right thing for it's business, if Opie and Anthony want to go back to being easily fired for that on terresterial radio fine, that's their option.


    Next step, overturning the retarded communications act of 1996 which gives us our current state of media in deregulation. IE everything sounds exactly the same because it's all the same people in the same building broadcasting everywhere.

    Nice job Congress.
    My Girlfriend said to me..."How many guitars do you need?" and I replied...."How many pairs of shoes do you need?" She got really quiet.

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