XM Radio made a HUGE mistake!

I am ashamed of XM Satalite Radio
I am a loyal listener and subscriber of XM Satalite radio. I enjoy several of their music channels but today I am ashamed of XM Satalite Radio!

Recently, XM suspended one of their programs because of an incident involving "shock jock" radio hosts OPIE and ANTHONY who are well known for saying or doing things that may offend people. The un-censored version of the "Opie and Anthony" show was suspended from the XM lineup for 30 days while a syndicated "censored" edition of the show is still available on radio stations that carry the show around the country.


NEWS ARTICLE ONE

NEWS ARTICLE TWO

What happened was someone on the Opie and Anthony show spoke of various fantasies including one of raping United States Secretary of State Condelezza Rice. It was a deplorable incident indeed and one that should not be a surprise when you consider that the radio hosts were fired in August 2002 by the former WNEW-FM 102.7 in New York City over a highly publicized incident where they staged a stunt involving two people allegedly having sexual intercourse in a vestibule within the sacred St. Patrick's Cathedral.

When Opie and Anthony was fired, their listeners revolted and the radio station's ratings suffered so badly that the station's format and name has changed a few times since. So it's clear that Opie and Anthony has plenty of loyal fans.

XM Satalite Radio signed Opie and Anthony to have an uncensored radio program in response to the success of rival Sirrus Satalite Radio having Howard Stern on their lineup. Like Stern, Opie & Anthony were given many hours for a live morning show and repeats on a dedicated channel available 24 hours a day. Because of the adult content, XM offers to block the channel upon request.

NOTE: Howard Stern on Sirrius Satalite Radio requires an additional subscription fee. XM's talk channels do have commercials.

Recently, XM radio recieved a backlash that I consider to be simular to the recent Don Imus situation. Meaning those who expressed their being "offended" by the latest Opie & Anthony incident were more likely people who NEVER listened to the show or ever heard of them until someone TOLD them what happened and that they should be "offended" by it.

There were calls for the dismissal of Opie and Anthony by a few conservative types though they were nowhere near as loud as those who protested the "nappy headed ho's" incident on the former Don Imus Show. Opie and Anthony apologized for the incident and most considered their apology good enough to end the controversy. But then XM suspended the program.

Now, Opie and Anthony's FANS and even sponsors of XM's programing have revolted in great anger over the suspension. Over 20,000 subscribers have CANCELLED their XM accounts and many sponsors whos commercials were heard on some XM channels have pulled their sponsorsip.

I can't blame any of the people who are angry about Opie and Anthony's suspension. If I were a fan I probably would have reacted the same way. One of the major reasons why we subscribe to satalite radio is for the alternative to what we consider to be the restrictive selection and poor quality of broadcast radio. Just like when people started paying for cable and satalite television over having "rabbit ears" on top of the TV set. We want and enjoy more options even those options that are more "adult" in nature.

I feel funny referring to Opie and Anthony as either "mature" or even "adult" as their programing and probably their fans could hardly be considered either. But that is a matter of individual taste in programing content. I still support the idea of freedom of speech no matter how stupid or inappropiate I may feel that it is. I support the option to choose whether or not I will listen to it. With so many channels I can tell you that one channel I never heard was the very channel that Opie & Anthony was on. It's not something I would intentionally choose to listen to. And I feel that XM made a huge mistake in taking that option away from the Opie & Anthony fans.

Oh by the way, of those who were "offended" by the fantasy of raping Condelezza Rice as heard on Opie & Anthony, I haven't heard a single word from any of the BLACK voices who assumed the feeling of being offended when someone called a group of mostly Black female basketball players "nappy headed ho's".

Al Sharpton, Jessie Jackson, Tavis Smiley, Tom Joyner, Michael Baisden, actress Sheryl Lee Ralph (alumus of Rutgers University) and so many other Black or African-American public names I could mention....NONE of them had a damned thing so say about this "disrespect" of a woman who happens to be Black...Condelezza Rice.

I haven't heard any calls of "racism" either although Al Sharpton was busy saying something that offended the Mormons. Yes, he was in the hot seat for a little while in recent weeks for opening his big mouth again.

Sadly I also haven't heard any comments from anyone calling the Opie & Anthony incident disrespectful toward women to speak of any fantasy of rape. I heard not a damn thing from those people who were pissing their panties over the Don Imus incident and later celebrated his firing from both the TV and radio networks. All this despite the fact that 99% of those who protested and celebrated either never heard of Don Imus prior to the incident or never listened to his show anyway. I'm sure most of them never heard of Opie and Anthony either. Maybe that's the excuse for not saying anything to defend Ms. Rice.

Or could it be that the same black folks who protested loudly at Don Imus probably felt Condelezza Rice didn't deserve any respect because she is part of a Republican adminstration. They talk about her like a dog anyway.

Now which is the more "offensive", calling someone a "nappy headed ho" or fantasizing about raping a woman? Which is the more violent? Which one really is the more harmful. You know the answers to this. If you even bothered to read this far, you just might be using your brain. (I hope)

I think in both the Don Imus and the Opie & Anthony incidents, we have shared elements of HYPROCRACY and CENSORSHIP. We still have this very weak problem of not being able to turn away from the things we dislike or feel offense to. People want to control options and content. Public figures are already controlling most people's minds. People are too lazy to think and decide for themselves. And in the Opie & Anthony case, people were willing to PAY for what they enjoy. The subscribers were making THEIR choices and suddenly not getting what they feel they paid for. As a subscriber, I pay for Opie & Anthony too. But they are part of the package. My reason for subscribing to XM was based on music options as many have their own reasons for subscribing.

I say TO EACH THEIR OWN and I don't blame O&A's fans one bit for cancelling their XM accounts.

If XM ever screws with my favorate Sunday morning programing on channel 64 "The Groove" then I'll smash my reciever too. ( Don't mess with my music!)

Shame on you XM!

And more importantly, shame on all hyprocrates! Too many to list and they are too stupid to understand anyway.