The Southern Ontario/WNY Radio-TV Forum » Sirius XM removes easy listening channel "Escape" from satellites

mojo55 · September 8, 2015 1:12 pm

I really miss the "Escape" channel on Sirius XM. They moved it to online only but that eliminates listening in the car..
Satellite radio should be providing music and audio services that are not available on terrestrial radio. There are so many rock channels on the satellites but they can't devote just one channel to easy listeming instrumentals. Many subscribers have complained to Sirius XM but to no avail. A facebook petition managed to collect about one thousand signatures. It's a shame that Sirius XM has a monopoly....obviously, they don't care about serving the needs of ALL their subscribers.

Radiowiz · September 8, 2015 5:57 pm

mojo55 wrote:
I really miss the "Escape" channel on Sirius XM. They moved it to online only but that eliminates listening in the car..
Satellite radio should be providing music and audio services that are not available on terrestrial radio. There are so many rock channels on the satellites but they can't devote just one channel to easy listeming instrumentals. Many subscribers have complained to Sirius XM but to no avail. A facebook petition managed to collect about one thousand signatures. It's a shame that Sirius XM has a monopoly....obviously, they don't care about serving the needs of ALL their subscribers.

Sounds like the Laptop is your friend. Bring that into the car and listen to that!

ig · September 8, 2015 10:58 pm

Or renew on an American credit card and get the entire package. .

brian451 · September 9, 2015 1:14 am

I worked for Sirius and I know the requirements for them to keep a station going is strong listenership. Most of the time the listership is stronger on internet listening then on regular radio. The 2 largest genres of music are the rock and pop genres. Easy listening and symphonic and opera are not strong for listeners. To broadcast on regular radio costs more then on internet. It's similar to terrestrial radio. Listeners need to be there consistently to allow them to be successful. To be honest I am actually surprised that Sirius has as many music stations as they do just because of the cost to operate. And the subscriber numbers they have without commercials and all the on air staff they have and the things they sponsor have made me wonder why they have all the stations and internet only stations that they do have.
I wouldn't actually be surprised if and when howard stern retires that a lot of subscribers leave and then a lot of stations disappear trying to save money

ig · September 9, 2015 11:19 am

As you're probably aware, the Canadian version of S/xM can only carry 10 channels for ever 1 Canadian channel they offer, so they have to pick and choose as to which channels from the US they make available. They drop US channels in favour of other US channels they think may appeal more to the listeners.

This is the entire channel lineup.

https://www.siriusxm.com/channellineup/

Keep in mind, Canada gets exactly the same pack of channels as Americans do. It's the CRTC that 'protects' Canada by limiting the number of US channels Canadians can recieve on a Canadian subscription. US Subscribers get the entire package, as well as the Canadian stuff.

There are also some military, traffic, weather, and other 'private' voice and data channels up there that only very specific radios, or subscribers with other packages can sign up for.

Maybe the CRTC's next move will be to force a-la-carte audio channel subscriptions .

the original hank · September 9, 2015 2:13 pm

i have the u.s. version (as well as the internet service too) and i never realized the escape channel existed. i would have to agree about the "supply and demand" point (when it comes to dedicating a satelitte channel). i'm sure placing as an option on their internet player is a lot less costly.

September 9, 2015 5:48 pm

I wish 'them' nothing but the worst. They set themselves up to fail. Too many stations in too few specific genres. Too many repeats. It gets old quickly. Agree. When Stern calls it a day...Toodles S/xm. I've tried. They've failed. Adios.

ig · September 9, 2015 11:29 pm

Old Codger wrote:
I wish 'them' nothing but the worst. They set themselves up to fail. Too many stations in too few specific genres. Too many repeats. It gets old quickly. Agree. When Stern calls it a day...Toodles S/xm. I've tried. They've failed. Adios.

In all fairness, they haven't and aren't failing.

But much like DAB the CRTC has certainly done their best to make sure it wasn't easy to make it work.

If Canada could have carried the entire channel package, plus the Canadian channels, I think it would be a far more popular service up here. The reality is the US doesn't like giving up bandwidth to keep the CRTC happy, each channel is worth a LOT of money. With the 10 to 1 mandate, the CRTC shanghaied the Canadian outfit. The US had to give up bandwidth in order for the Canadian company to offer more channels, so they did the best they could at hitting a 'break even' point. The CRTC decision reminded me of one of those Chinese finger traps. The harder you pull, the tighter they get.

I've no idea what percentage of Canadian subscribers have US subscriptions, but I'd be surprised if it isn't close to double digits, especially among the largest (paying) audience, truckers. That's a considerable chunk of lost revenue.

FM DXer · September 10, 2015 12:29 am

I am another with the US XM. For a few reasons. I considered the Candian service to be a scam since it offered less channels for a higher cost. I spend a good deal of time in the Los Angeles area in the winter, and channel 140 has decent traffic updates. Channel 149, La Mezcla (used to be) an excellent channel until it disappeared to be "replaced" with Pitbull on 4 which is utter crap in comparison. Also, Channel 11, KIIS 102,7 has a great Friday night mix show, but throughout the rest of the week is essentially bubble gum pop, along with Channel 12, Z-100. They really seem to like moving things around, and trying new channels. Now there is Channel 31 "Yacht Rock".

September 11, 2015 8:30 am

Ig...I beg to differ. I'm demanding. They fail me. And they have umpteen ways to get it right. No...I think once Stern leaves they'll start dropping 'choices' like flies. Folks I talk to get it free when they purchase their new wheels. When that original 'agreement' runs out...they don't renew.

So...at least S/xm can still give it away. But THAT doesn't ensure listenership.

Radiowiz · September 11, 2015 12:30 pm

Old Codger wrote:
So...at least S/xm can still give it away. But THAT doesn't ensure listenership.

Perhaps it might also depend on what it's used for:

http://investor.siriusxm.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=855681

September 11, 2015 2:03 pm

There's one oldies show on Sirius-XM that I'm hooked on -- former Big-8 rocker Pat St. John's 1-5pm (ET) show in 60s on 6. You never know what songs you're going to hear or what zany things he'll come up with.

Dale Patterson · September 11, 2015 7:01 pm

maybo wrote:
There's one oldies show on Sirius-XM that I'm hooked on -- former Big-8 rocker Pat St. John's 1-5pm (ET) show in 60s on 6. You never know what songs you're going to hear or what zany things he'll come up with.

Pat is great but I just wish they'd go deeper into the playlists on the other weekday shows. Lou Simon's "60s Satellite Survey" is another great place to hear the deeper cuts, as is Peter Noone's "Something Good" show (lots of British releases not normally heard on this side of the pond).

September 11, 2015 9:04 pm

maybo wrote:
There's one oldies show on Sirius-XM that I'm hooked on -- former Big-8 rocker Pat St. John's 1-5pm (ET) show in 60s on 6. You never know what songs you're going to hear or what zany things he'll come up with.

"Da da da Daaaa...I'm lookin' at Maybo!!!"...Cream...1967

September 13, 2015 12:03 pm

Old Codger wrote:
"Da da da Daaaa...I'm lookin' at Maybo!!!"...Cream...1967

I KNEW that was you, OC...

tvguy · September 16, 2015 9:51 pm

Escape is back. From XM's facebook site:"Many listeners let us know their passion for Escape when we removed it from the channel lineup. We got the message: there is no substitute for the instrumental melodies on Escape. Our listeners’ enthusiasm is amazing to hear, and it made our decision to bring back Escape an easy one."

September 18, 2015 11:04 pm

It's instrumentals. They SHOULD have been speechless.

djwildbill · September 24, 2015 12:51 pm

I bought the US vsn in 2005 using my Cdn credit card. That was a few years prior to Canada getting on board.
ESCAPE is available on Internet as well as the iPhone/android app. There are actually several internet stations that SiriusXM carry that aren't available on the radio vsn. There are also some "radio" stations that aren't available on the internet too.

It's actually cool being able to access the two biggest US top 40 stations - 102.7 Kiss FM Los Angeles and Z100 New York - both iHeart radio stations

If you want ESCAPE, bring your iPhone and plug in to the aux on your car radio and listen through the app. Only thing about listening on a smart phone is the mbs are increasing as you listen. Do mobile phone companies offer an unlimited data?