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stamplaw
June 8th, 2006, 07:30 PM
Jesus, this one document may explain what's wrong with XM. From the
Superstar days to the present, I believe Lee has violated the three
rules of radio programing.

Rule 1: Try not to believe your own bull----.
Rule 2: There are no exceptions to rule one.
Rule 3: Never forget rules one and two.

Good programmers realize the formula for success is simple. Your music
rotation, whatever your format, should be A-B-Oldie.

A; Current songs
B: Lesser current songs and recurrents
C: Oldies (Varied by time and tempo)
Remember your listeners can't hear your color chart and you may need to
make adjstments.

If you're looking for a golden rule there aren't any. But some simple
rules seem to transsend time and format. Less is more and more or less.
If your are playing too many songs, the important songs are not coming
up as often as they should. With fewer songs, more of the important
songs are heard during a given period. This is not cast in stone, Moses
was silent on this point.

Here are some other tips (not rules) that may help XM.
1. Don't try to prove you're cool. Be yourself.
2. Don't talk over the music, it drives people crazy. If you have to
talk over an intro, do it sparingly.
3. Try not to talk down to the audience. You do it alot.
4. Listen to your detractors, they may tell you what's wrong.
5. Try to avoid anything really stupid.
6. Nobody turns on a music station to hear a jock talk. Nobody.


For the most part, stations that play the most familiar music are the
most successful. In market after market this is true. It is real easy
to be the hippest guy in town, just play music nobody has ever heard.
Good programmers take care of the basics and the rest falls into place.
XM has a big enough canvas to offer variety, but at least some of the
channels should sound like they know what they are doing.

Let me tell you my prejudices: The first satellite receiver I purchaed
was XM. Almost at once I decided I made a mistake and bought a Sirius
Jam Box. I was about to cancel XM when it got Bob Edwards and baseball.


Recently I bought a new vehicle and have Sirius installed, but I also
have an XM2Go soft wired for baseball and Bob Edwards (and some other
things on XMPR 133).

On Sirius I listen to the Spectrum 18, it's a good Adult Alternative.
By comparison XM45 The Cafe is clueless. I listen to Blues 74 alot. The
blues on XM is awful. I also listen to NPR on Sirius.

The alternative-country on both systems are horrible and a disgrace.
Listen to the Music Choice "Americana" channel and get a clue.

I should like The Loft XM50, but I don't.

I want every channel on both systems to be good. That will justify the
$36 a month I spend on satellite radio.

My advice to XM: Get a bull---- detector.

All My Shrimp Was Dead and Gone
June 8th, 2006, 11:30 PM
What bull----.

A little presumption of you to be making recommendations to Abrams, I'd say.

Your post says little, except that it points out your lack of taste in
music. Which we already knew about.

The other thing it does is to explain, in no uncertain terms, why you like
Sirius. It is just like the crap you believe people want to hear on FM.

Xm's blues channel runs circles around the Sirius blues channel. Any day.
Sirius doesn't have a station that comes close to delivering the quality of
XM50.

David
June 9th, 2006, 08:00 AM
On Fri, 09 Jun 2006 04:57:38 GMT, "All My Shrimp Was Dead and Gone"
<DeadShrimp@NOMail.com> wrote:

>What bull----.
>
>A little presumption of you to be making recommendations to Abrams, I'd say.
>
>Your post says little, except that it points out your lack of taste in
>music. Which we already knew about.
>
>The other thing it does is to explain, in no uncertain terms, why you like
>Sirius. It is just like the crap you believe people want to hear on FM.
>
>Xm's blues channel runs circles around the Sirius blues channel. Any day.
>Sirius doesn't have a station that comes close to delivering the quality of
>XM50.
>
>
You really need to get out of this cult worship mindset and open your
eyes.

Abrams has a style that is 180 degrees from the one he used when he
was succesful. I think he's overcompensating because he is so hated
by so many people, to the point where XM is frequently playing pop
music trivial pursuit.

People want channels with the hits when they take that 25 minute ride
twice a day. They want something familiar to crank up. They don't
want to wade through a half hour of the Strawbs and Bloodrock.

All My Shrimp Was Dead and Gone
June 9th, 2006, 08:00 AM
>
> People want channels with the hits when they take that 25 minute ride
> twice a day. They want something familiar to crank up. They don't
> want to wade through a half hour of the Strawbs and Bloodrock.

XM's biggest content problem right now is they have moved too much toward
SIRI's FM-styled playlists. While they are still much better than SIRI's,
they need to get back on course. I think they will.

Dr. Droo
June 9th, 2006, 08:00 AM
All My Shrimp Was Dead and Gone wrote:
> XM's biggest content problem right now is they have moved too much toward
> SIRI's FM-styled playlists. While they are still much better than SIRI's,
> they need to get back on course. I think they will.

Send in a resume to XM if you feel you can do better. You can replace
Eric the Midget as Executive VP of Programming.

--D

All My Shrimp Was Dead and Gone
June 9th, 2006, 08:59 AM
>
> Send in a resume to XM if you feel you can do better. You can replace
> Eric the Midget as Executive VP of Programming.

No, I think that was Stamplaw claiming he could do better than Lee Abrams
LOL.

I do not believe ELO is the problem.

Dr. Droo
June 9th, 2006, 09:00 AM
All My Shrimp Was Dead and Gone wrote:
> No, I think that was Stamplaw claiming he could do better than Lee Abrams
> LOL.
>
> I do not believe ELO is the problem.

He should send in a resume too then. I think he was copy-pasting
someone elses comment on Lee's blog however. That was the impression I
was under anyway.

--D

David
June 9th, 2006, 10:30 AM
On 9 Jun 2006 07:34:14 -0700, "Dr. Droo" <drdroo@gmail.com> wrote:

>All My Shrimp Was Dead and Gone wrote:
>> No, I think that was Stamplaw claiming he could do better than Lee Abrams
>> LOL.
>>
>> I do not believe ELO is the problem.
>
>He should send in a resume too then. I think he was copy-pasting
>someone elses comment on Lee's blog however. That was the impression I
>was under anyway.
>
>--D
>
Nothing wrong with Abrams that nice big of acid wouldn't go a long way
toward curing.

Every programming exec should be forced to take acid once a month and
listen to their own stations.

All My Shrimp Was Dead and Gone
June 9th, 2006, 10:30 AM
>
> He should send in a resume too then. I think he was copy-pasting
> someone elses comment on Lee's blog however. That was the impression I
> was under anyway.

Nope. He didn't credit anyone with it at least. And it sounds like him.

GS
June 9th, 2006, 06:30 PM
You mean SOME people like that...

Many that left typical, commercial, crap FM radio want more.

I grew tired of the repetition on traditional FM radio. Sirius is for
folks (presumably like you) that like bubble gum traditional "top
hits" crapola...

XM fortunately offers some channels is for folks that want a bit more
depth.

Different strokes for different folks.

GS




On Fri, 09 Jun 2006 13:31:06 GMT, David <rickets@knac.com> wrote:


>People want channels with the hits when they take that 25 minute ride
>twice a day. They want something familiar to crank up. They don't
>want to wade through a half hour of the Strawbs and Bloodrock.

David
June 9th, 2006, 07:30 PM
On Fri, 09 Jun 2006 16:36:49 -0700, GS <GS@nospam.net> wrote:

>You mean SOME people like that...
>
>Many that left typical, commercial, crap FM radio want more.
>
>I grew tired of the repetition on traditional FM radio. Sirius is for
>folks (presumably like you) that like bubble gum traditional "top
>hits" crapola...
>
> XM fortunately offers some channels is for folks that want a bit more
>depth.
>
>Different strokes for different folks.
>
Sirius has eclectic channels and more hits-driven ones. They
obviously are resonating better with the great unwashed or XM wouldn't
be emulating them.

BaJoRi
June 9th, 2006, 08:30 PM
"David" <rickets@knac.com> wrote in message
news:dh5k82987ro3sc6vv6io3ofclj85sn8c3t@4ax.com...
> On Fri, 09 Jun 2006 16:36:49 -0700, GS <GS@nospam.net> wrote:
>
>>You mean SOME people like that...
>>
>>Many that left typical, commercial, crap FM radio want more.
>>
>>I grew tired of the repetition on traditional FM radio. Sirius is for
>>folks (presumably like you) that like bubble gum traditional "top
>>hits" crapola...
>>
>> XM fortunately offers some channels is for folks that want a bit more
>>depth.
>>
>>Different strokes for different folks.
>>
> Sirius has eclectic channels and more hits-driven ones. They
> obviously are resonating better with the great unwashed or XM wouldn't
> be emulating them.
>

The problem with Sirius is that there is too much repetition, making them
nearly as bad as traditional radio. I really wish they would become more
diverse, at least on the stations to which I wish to listen.