Tis the season for sending Valentines and I want to blow a big kiss to the staff of The Bob Edwards Show. They signed on to a nice little company called XM Satellite Radio which decided it wanted to merge with its rival Sirius Satellite Radio. They spent the next eighteen long months sweating out the process demanded by the Federal Communications Commission. What if the merger failed? Would we still have a show? What if the merger succeeded? Would our new bosses appreciate our show? The merger was finally approved and it turned out that our new bosses did indeed like what we do. We survived and thrived. But the merger process was costly and put the newly merged company in a bind.
As I’m writing this, Sirius XM is on the verge of being sold, being taken over, or going bankrupt. Being a one time business management major, I’m absolutely riveted by my company’s odyssey—it’s a fascinating business story. So why aren’t we covering it? I’ll be extremely frank about this–we don’t cover it because we want to remain a part of the family. Everything is in flux right now—when it gets resolved, we’ll report how it turns out. The important point I want to make is that all of this turmoil is very stress-inducing. We are trying to create programs of solid journalism and broadcasting art in a tumultuous and uncertain atmosphere. My producers are people with mortgages, marriages, leases, car loans, relationships, children, obligations, responsibilities and bills to pay. It’s not easy to produce beautiful radio under the best of circumstances—in THESE times, it’s a real challenge. We lost a producer on the day that Sirius and XM announced they would merge. Since that day–two years ago—the staff has hung together and endured all the uncertainty, remaining committed to putting out the best show we can. Not one of them scrambled for the relative security of other venues. We have had two sets of bosses in the past year and it could turn out that we’ll have a third. No matter, for we’ll salute and pledge our loyalty to whoever’s in charge. How that evolves is out of our control and way above our pay grade. Besides,we ten ultimatly dedicate ourselves to listeners—and in the satellite radio world, listeners deserve even MORE respect because you’re paying cold, hard cash to listen to us. So whatever happens, we hope we’ll still be there for you. I just want to take this opportunity to thank my brothers and sisters for overcoming two years of stress and continuing to turn out absolutely fabulous radio programs to which I’m delighted to attach my name.
And–once again–they are—
Steve Lickteig
Dan Bloom
Chad Campbell
Andy Danyo
Ed McNulty
Cristy Meiners
Ariana Pekary
Geoffrey Redick
Shelley Tillman
and me
Bob
I listen to XM for programming that I cannot find on commercial stations – which are shows like the Bob Edwards show. This also includes those stations which occasional carry music which is seldom heard on commercial stations – like Folk, Blues, Jazz and Bluegrass – though I can find it on NRP and stations like WXPN in Philly. I like XM and do not want to lose it, but I am at the same time not that surprised to see its future is in question. When not listening to Bob E, or one of the other news shows, I find myself flipping stations trying to find something unique which to listen. XM, with a few exceptions, does not have a personality – its like walking into a large mall that has everything but nothing unique. I don’t want to lose XM, but I would like to see it evolve into something more creative. And Bob – I came here through Twitter.
The best Christmas present I ever got was the year I had one item on my list. I called it "Bob In A Box" and it was an XM radio receiver for my car. Whether it was Morning Edition or the Bob Edwards show, I needed my daily dose of Vitamin B and I still do. The thought that Bob’s show could be a victim of this horrible economy is unthinkable, because this is when we need him the most.
Best wishes to the staff of the show. I pray that you get good news and that you get it soon.
To Bob and the rest of the staff — we completely understand why you cannot get involved in discussing the companies’ problems, and I don’t think any of us out here expect that of you.
As everyone knows by now, I subscribed to XM Satellite Radio solely for The Bob Edwards Show back in September of 2004 (I was listening when 133 originally came on-the-sat, and naturally heard the first BES the following October). Along with other subscribers, I’ve suffered through falling sound quality, price increases, gutted programming, and confused uncertainty.
Unfortunately, the upcoming price increases and uncertainty about what will happen in the next few days (the $175-mil debt payment is due Feb. 17th, IIRC) is taking its toll on me, too…while I refuse to do without The Bob Edwards Show and will hang on to the show by my fingernails as the company goes over the cliff if necessary, the rest of the service has deteriorated so much that I am planning on cutting back on my subscriptions and so the amount of money I will be paying to Sirius XM. Which is exactly what the company does not need right now. And frankly, having talked to other subscribers, I know I’m not alone.
This entire situation is a d*mned shame, and I am particularly sorry that a bunch of really fine people have to go through the constant upheavals – I’ve come to know and admire many people on the show’s staff over the years, and cannot imagine what this is doing to them. And for Bob to need to deal with this after what happened five years ago is unacceptable. But at the same time, all of the "warm-fuzzies" XM generated are long-gone…and I sincerely hope there are some back-channel contingency discussions going on to salvage at least the weekend show should the once-promising satellite radio industry finally implode under the weight of the gross mismanagement evident over the past few years.
These are definitely tough times. I, like a previous commenter, subscribed to XM primarily because of the Bob Edwards Show. I listen every day without fail. I really do hope things work out for Sirius XM and thus for the Bob Edwards team. If not, and you all have to find a new home, I will be one of the many devoted listeners following you wherever you go.
I bought my XM Radio and subscribed because I missed hearing you every day on the radio, Bob, and you and your fabulous crew haven’t disappointed me yet. I hope the team stays together and keeps bringing out quality radio for as long as possible.
Cheers to you all.
BTW, I came here from Twitter.
The daily hour of appointment radio you & your staff craft is one of the few remaining reasons I keep my XM subscription (3 of them actually).
I hope whatever happens, you all get to continue doing what you do so well, for as long as you want.
I for my part plan to keep subscribing for as long as the management continues to give me compelling reasons to do so.
May we all weather these tumultuous times… and thanks to you all.
Bob,
The long term value in Sirius XM comes from exactly what you do. With music options such as Pandora, iTunes, etc,etc, the only real differentiator for a Network such as Sirius is in access, talk and aggregation of programs like CNBC, CNN etc. The music to me is an added benefit. Keep it up!