HOS on XM Satellite Radio : R.I.P.

It's official: Hearts of Space has been dropped by Sirius/XM Satellite Radio.

We've been on XM since the very beginning of the service in 2001, the result of a decision by XM's original Program Director, the legendary LEE ABRAMS. Lee appreciated our taste and our careful approach to program creation. Lee was a music guy from the old school who genuinely loved and appreciated all kinds of music. During his tenure, XM clearly had best music channels in the business.

Lee quit XM in 2006; shortly after, XM merged with Sirius Satellite Radio to create Sirius/XM, and Sirius took over control of programming. From our original home on "AudioVisions" channel 103 under the caring, professional stewardship of RUSS DAVIS, HOS was moved to the new "Spa" channel 72. Russ was unceremoniously fired and others took over programming the Spa and Jazz channels.

Sirius has a completely different, mainstream/star-oriented programming philosophy, which led to them paying Howard Stern over half a billion-with-a-B dollars to move there, more emphasis on sports and other mass-audience channels, and a de-emphasis on their music channels, especially the "niche" channels like Spa. Note to niche music listeners: they're just not into you.

To be clear, being on XM was never a big financial thing for us. In the beginning they paid us less than small market public radio stations, which we didn't think was possible. In 2004 we signed a deal for $2000 a year for 7 shows a week, or $5.50 a show. We were able to negotiate a little more some years, but it was still minimal.

Our contract came up for renewal this year on March 31st. Despite repeated attempts to contact them, we never heard anything about renewal or renegotiation, and the show simply disappeared from the Spa channel on April 1st when the contract expired. When we finally got a hold of someone in their legal department on April 6th, the stated reason was that "Sirius has a policy of not carrying programming that is available elsewhere."

That's obviously corporate bullspin, since they carry major league baseball, basketball, the New York Philharmonic, and many other kinds of programming that are indeed available elsewhere. The real reason is that they just don't care about small audiences for niche music genres. They'd prefer to pay Howard Stern $100 Million a year to (theoretically) pull in the numbers. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be working: Sirius has "serious" financial problems and its stock is down to under $1 a share.

With 7 or 8 shows a week, over the years many new spacefans have discovered Hearts of Space on XM. They're a communicative bunch: from farmers to long haul truckers to grandmothers in Maine, we've received email from thousands of them, and we expect to hear from many more in the wake of the drop.

We're sad to lose our satellite radio listeners, and we encourage you to join us online. For a limited time, we're offering a special "transition" discount for XM subscribers to get them used to listening on-demand anytime they like, rather than on XM's broadcast schedule! Please email XM@hos.com for details.

:: SH

Comments

[Doug Downs]

I just bought a Ford Escape that has Sirius built into the radio. I get 6 months free before I have to subscribe, imagine my disappointment when I found out that HOS was no longer available with their service. I can't imagine this will continue to be the case indefinitely... Sirius / Ford - get with the program, or I have a useless button on my dashboard!

[frederick]

ya glade i found out i was looking for u on the sirius. summer promo coulnd not find where u were. just will SKIP SIRIUS!!!

[Kevin]

I share your loss by having a service in your new car that is missing HOS. Now imagine 2002 when we paid $400 plus to have a receiver put in our cars. Worked well coast to coast for years. Talking to Sirius is less fulfilling than talking to my pet rock. It's a numbers game and you don't count. Me neither. It will get better, but not soon and never permanently. Maybe WiMax.

[John]

Maybe FOX will buy Sirius/XM and totally turn it to crap. I wouldn't listen to Howard Stern if my life depended on it. He's the poster boy for what's going wrong with the U.S.

[Trixie]

Thanks for the info, especially the $ amounts which add important perspective on how truly devalued variety and quality are; I've been wondering for years what the story was.

My blog is not work safe/my boobs and stuff on it SO DON'T CLICK ON THE LINKS IF BOOBS OFFEND YOU, but here are a couple of posts I wrote about it (I'm sorry I can't help making fun of your HOS acronym, but other than that I think they're good testimonials):

How our hearts (including our dog's) broke when they killed Audio Visions: http://www.tastytrixie.com/bodily-functions/tru-spa/

Upon subscribing yesterday:
http://www.tastytrixie.com/addiction/proud-hos-com-subscriber/

[guild wars 2 gold]

The real reason is that they just don't care about small audiences for niche music genres.

[One24]

My subscription just ran out and I don't think I'm going to renew. It just seems like too much money for the service. If the payment was about a third it would be worth it.

[DjDeeZe]

So that's what happened to you on Sirius! My wife and I discovered HOS years ago on XM Audio Visions, it WAS a wonderful channel.

So glad you have the app now. :-)

BTW Steven, I think you have the most pleasant voice I have ever heard on radio. (I was a DJ for over 17 years)

Peace,
(:-DeeZe

PS: Steven, I think that you have the most ple

[Chris]

FOX? OK?

Another past event regarding pulling music away from a small audience is Echoes which is funded by Public Broadcasting, NPR. Now, NPR gets plenty of funding so pulling the stations out of the southern california area is BS.

[Stephen Hill]

Sorry, Chris, but you are conflating several unrelated events and inaccurate information in this comment.

Our colleages at ECHOES are not "funded by NPR." They support themselves from several sources, including grants, station fees from syndication, and direct fees from users for their web service and other saleable products like their series of live recording CDs. Like HOS, Echoes is *carried* by public radio stations and *distributed* to them via the NPR satellite system, for which we both pay substantial distribution fees.

NPR (the network) receives some public funding via the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), but raises the majority of its money from its member stations, from underwriting fees, and from foundation grants and its endowment.

The situation in Southern California (KCET pulling out of the PBS public television network and going independent) has nothing to do with any of the above.

As a general comment, we are living through a period of intense, disruptive change in all media, and public media will continue to be affected by it. Whether that turns out to be a good thing for small audiences in the long run remains to be seen, but so far it has helped provide many new options and services. The HOS and ECHOES online services are two examples of this.

:: SH

[Bionic-Hearing-Aid]

Wow, that really is terrible. Do you think that there is anyway that you guys could possibly get back on XM again?

[Stephen Hill]

Not unless the entire current management is replaced. Even then it would be a longshot.

Frankly, getting HOS online is a much better option: easier, cheaper, and much more comprehensive.

:: SH

[Guy Pigg]

I can relate to the XM/Sirrus mess quite well. I too was a subscriber for a few years to XM prior to the merger. I had only a few favorite channels that since were dropped or were severly affected by this. My philosophy is that I can hear the same old repeateable music everyday for free on terestrial radio. Which by the way I tend to listen to very little with the exception of talk radio. I read your interviews about your take on web broadcasting and its future which I am very much in agreement. The nitch audiance is outthere be it small. I am part of it because of my unusual music tastes that I either don't have off terestrial broadcasting or were spoiled into realization at one time from other stations in different markets. Keep up the work Steve. I will be here for as long as I can afford it and have means to the availability of the show. Now, anybody looking for some used sat radio equipment?

[Stephen Hill]

Thanks for your comments, Guy, much appreciated. I have some used satellite radio equipment myself;-)

[One24]

XM was finished because android phone and iphones. Now we have pandora and everyone can get free music just by pluging their iphone into their car aux input.

[One24]

Posted by: Doug Downs
"get with the program, or I have a useless button on my dashboard!"

;-) I have dozens of useless buttons on my dashboard.

[Peter]

Back in 2001, when XM came out, I was very impressed and excited. Around 2004, I finally had it via DirecTV, and fell in love with Beyond Jazz. I also appreciated the fact that HOS was carried, though I always listened to HOS via radio station KCHO. I no longer have DirecTV, and considered XM until I discovered that Sirius/XM no longer has the material I would be interested in, namely Beyond Jazz. Thankfully Beyond Jazz's Russ Davis now has an Internet stream similar to hos.com, at russdavismoja.com. No point supporting soulless corporations, when we can directly support the DJs and artists that we care about! Sirius/XM may very well fade away, not realizing they killed themselves by alienating the very people who would support the concept of niche programming.