Starting today Air America Radio (AAR) is replacing The Al Franken Show with Thom Hartmann. Thom’s first AAR show is 12 Noon to 3:00 pm Eastern today, Monday, February 19, 2007.
Unfortunately, and as promised, XM Radio is no longer carrying the entire Air America Radio (AAR) line-up. Starting today, XM Radio Channel 167 is preempting AAR and substituting Ed Schultz for Thom Hartmann.
XM Radio tried this once before when they preempted the first two hours of the Randi Rhodes Show with Ed Schultz. Finally after receiving so many complaints from subscribers that wanted to hear the entire AAR lineup and not have it preempted by anyone, including Ed Schultz, XM Radio moved Ed Schultz to Channel 165 (which is where he really belongs), and restored the entire Randi Rhodes show.
XM Radio subscribers that would rather hear Thom Hartmann than Ed Schultz need to make their wishes known. If XM Radio gets enough complaints, there is a chance that they might do the same thing as they did before and move Ed Schultz to another channel and once again carry the entire AAR lineup.
To express our wishes, all of us that prefer Thom Hartmann, the thinking man’s talk show host, need to contact XM Radio XM Radio. Here is the contact information:
Corporate Mailing Address:
XM Programming Center and Corporate Headquarters
1500 Eckington Place, NE
Washington, DC 20002
Corporate Phone Numbers:
Phone: 202-380-4000
Fax: 202-380-4500
Listener Care: 800-XM-RADIO (800-967-2346)
To talk to a live person, call the Listener Care number, 800-967-2346, and when the voice menu comes on hit 0# (Zero - Pound) and you should be taken to a live Customer Service Rep (CSR).
Please be polite. It is not the CSR’s fault that XM Radio management made the decision, but as firmly as possible please let the CSR know that you are an XM subscriber, and that you listen to Air America Radio, and that you want XM to carry the entire Air America Radio lineup, including the Thom Hartmann show, and for them to NOT preempt the Air America Radio schedule by carrying Ed Schultz in the 12:00 Noon to 3:00 pm Eastern time slot.
One other way to contact XM Radio is to send an email to one of the program directors for whom I found an email address, Don Wicklin, don.wicklin AT xmradio.com.
How To Listen Online
The last thing a business needs is for its customers to learn that they do not need the business. For those of us that subscribe to XM Radio primarily to listen to Air America Radio and have access to computers, we do not need XM Radio. The entire AAR lineup is streamed online and can be easily accessed at http://www.airamerica.com/ and clicking on "Click to LISTEN LIVE."
You have your choice of Real Player or Windows Media Player.
Sirus and XM On Verge Of Merge
By the way, it will probably not do much good to threaten to change to Sirus Radio. It appears that XM and Sirus will merge. According the The New York Post New York Post it appears that Sirius and XM are expected to announce the long-awaited merger today.
February 19, 2007 -- Satellite radio operators Sirius and XM are expected to announce their long-awaited merger today, according to a source familiar with the deal.
The two sides were locked in negotiations over the weekend trying to hammer out a final agreement with an eye toward going public with the merger today in Washington, D.C., where XM is based, this source said.
So much for competition and consumer protection.
Talks were still going on at press time and the deal could fall apart at any time. With antitrust issues of paramount importance, this source said lawyers for both companies were working overtime to fine-tune the language of the agreement and frame the discussion around the deal itself and not regulatory concerns.
It looks like a case of the hog going to the trough one more time.
The transaction is expected to be structured as a merger of equals, but given Sirius' higher enterprise value, shareholders in the Mel Karmazin-led firm will likely come away with a larger percentage of a combined company.
And, if we think Air America Radio is important to either, look at who they tout:
Combining Sirius and XM would result in a single satellite radio operator with more than 12 million total subscribers. A deal would also marry Sirius content, such as Howard Stern, Frank Sinatra and Nascar with XM's Oprah Winfrey, Bob Dylan and Major League Baseball.
So much for competition.
Take action. Contact XM Radio right now! With my luck, this diary might not last long, so take action as soon as possible.