Sirius

I don’t like broadcast radio. Too many commercials. In an hour of listening, you hear 6 to 10 songs, and it’s difficult to find a channel that plays music you listen to that comes in clearly. I’m an adult, I don’t need my songs changed. Radio versions of songs sometimes play with entire verses removed. For example, Semi Charmed Life by Third Eye Blind has an entire section of the song edited out.

For more than 20 years, I have maintained a SiriusXM account. I liked it because it played uncensored songs. The big draw for them was Howard Stern, but I never found him to be entertaining in the least. I think I listened to his show twice. Here is how his show typically goes:

• Stern: Here is my guest, Miss Cherry Forever. Hi Cherry. Nice tits.
• Cherry: Thanks.
• Stern: Can I see them.
• Cherry: Sure.
• Stern: Oh, those are awesome.

Stupid. It’s radio, I can’t see them or her, so why do I care about this juvenile conversation? The dude is more than 70 years old, and isn’t entertaining at all. It’s like listening to your grandfather hit on a 20 year old. Creepy and childish.

For music, I started listening to iHeart radio through their app and using Android Auto in the car a few years ago. The only reason I maintained a subscription was because I liked the talk radio on the Patriot channel. That channel was good, but many shows I enjoyed have been removed.

• The Mike Church show was one I enjoyed. They replaced it with Breitbart news, which is a complete snooze fest. It’s like listening to Conservative NPR and is frankly boring.
• There is Sean Hannity, but that guy comes across as a phony to me, and his show is just pandering.
• I used to find Mark Levin entertaining, but haven’t listened to his show in years.
• Stacy on the Right is the DEI version that lets the channel have a black woman on the air.
• The only show I enjoy now is The Wilkow Majority.

Sirius was $4 a month when I began listening. Then it went to $9. Now, because we have two cars, it is costing over $50 a month. My cable TV provider doesn’t charge me for each TV, neither does Netflix or any other company. I just can’t justify $50 a month to hear Andrew Wilkow. He was the only reason I stayed with Sirius for the past few years, and I just don’t want to keep on doing it at that cost.

So for the first time since about 2003 or so, I am without satellite radio. When I called to cancel, they tried to get me to stay at a monthly rate of $18 per car plus an extra fee for Internet listening. If anyone from SiriusXM happens to read this:

Your service is not so different from a hundred other streaming services. There is iHeart radio, Amazon music, Pandora, and a plethora of others. None of them charge $50 a month. You either have to offer real value over what those services offer, or you have to charge less. It’s not just you- I also dropped my Amazon music subscription, and they were charging me only $17 per month.