Am Eye the only one mad about Sirius' shady move with the NBA???

[3rdEyeVision]

Hate for my intro to this forum to be a rant, but......


...Eye checked around the forum and Eye saw no mention of the shady move Sirius pulled with the NBA as part of this merger!!!

They have made the NBA part of the "Best of XM" add-on package but um, excuse me....as a Sirius subscriber, Eye previously was receiving the NBA. So now, Eye have to pay an extra monthly fee (per radio, according to their Customer Service) if Eye want the NBA???

That's some major bull!!!

If they had separated all of the sports packages out as a premium-type add-on, that would have been a little more understandable (if not particularly customer friendly), but to tell me that Eye have to pay extra for a service Eye previously received because it is now exclusively available in what is an otherwise WEAK handful of channels that are being made available from XM is an insult.

Add to that, the lack of communication regarding ANY of the lineup changes (save the commercials for the "Best Of XM" package touting the inclusion of NBA coverage, which just adds injury to the aforementioned insult) and Eye have to say, things are looking rather bleak for the post-merger future.

Needless to say, they will not get the extra $$$ from me, just on general principle...and if they keep pulling stunts like this, Eye will be living in an all-MP3 world!!! Sat radio will be just as dead to me as terrestrial radio.:no:

 

[DAB]

Well number one the NBA moved to XM even before the merger happened. So if the merger had not taken place it would have then been exclusive to XM. So, what you are proposing was that they somehow did a backroom deal to scam you out of $4.00 per month. I don't buy it!

These companies were both continuing as if they merger would not take place. Sirius apparently decided spending money on NBA was not worth it to them. So XM picked it up, even though they were nearly broke too. The over spending both of these companies have done is what created this mess.

 

[3rdEyeVision]

From all accounts, the NBA didn't move to XM....the current deal with NBA was announced late last month, well after the merger. If Sirius dropped the NBA prior to that, it was not publicized, nor communicated by the company to it's subscribers and it would have had to have happened AFTER this past season ended (June 08), as they broadcast the entire season.

What more than likely occurred is that the original contract they had with the NBA was up after last season and when they resigned with NBA, they positioned the channel in that package to generate more revenue. Very opportunistic on their part if you ask me. The merger was being worked on long before it was approved. This was a strategic move. A very customer unfriendly one...for Sirius subscribers at least.

 

[DAB]

From all of what accounts? The channel was removed off SIRIUS in the middle of the summer, because I remember there being threads about this. Nothing official from SIRIUS, but they rarely make announcements when they don't renew a contract, it just goes away, which was the case.

It sounds to me like you are making a lot of assumptions with little evidence. The NBA was dropped well before the merger was approved. But hey believe whatever you want, but again I don't buy it.

I will give you that SIRIUS has terrible customer service, they don't really do announcements in the way they should, this has been this way for 7 years that I've been a subscriber. Just like the upcoming channel changes which is suppose to happen Wednesday there is still no official announcements. This is par for the course.

However, I do think NBA was dropped prior to them knowing rather the merger would be approved or not. I mean months and months prior. So I don't think you're accurate in your assumptions.

 

[riskybzns]

DAB is correct, and if you look on the main page of SBS there is a post dated 6-24 about the nba being missing from sirius.
anyways, eye'm glad to see them go! i wouldn't even give a penny to listen or watch an nba game.
now with that said, what's with the whole "eye" crap?

 

[3rdEyeVision]

From all of what accounts? The channel was removed off SIRIUS in the middle of the summer, because I remember there being threads about this. Nothing official from SIRIUS, but they rarely make announcements when they don't renew a contract, it just goes away, which was the case.

It sounds to me like you are making a lot of assumptions with little evidence. The NBA was dropped well before the merger was approved. But hey believe whatever you want, but again I don't buy it.

I will give you that SIRIUS has terrible customer service, they don't really do announcements in the way they should, this has been this way for 7 years that I've been a subscriber. Just like the upcoming channel changes which is suppose to happen Wednesday there is still no official announcements. This is par for the course.

However, I do think NBA was dropped prior to them knowing rather the merger would be approved or not. I mean months and months prior. So I don't think you're accurate in your assumptions.

The merger was (officially) announced in Feb. 2007, it was (officially) completed July 29th of this year....the NBA season ended in June of this year...as did the existing contract with Sirius.

Let's go with your logic and say that both companies operated as if they would remain separate right up until the day the merge was officially completed, with no strategic planning for the possibility of a consolidated product (which would be insane...no company worth it's salt is going to operate that short-sightedly)....

....the time line here indicates that there was little more than a month between the expiration of the old NBA deal and the "official" announcement of the merge.

The current deal with the NBA was officially announced via a press release from SiriusXM on Oct. 27th of this year...a mere couple of weeks ago. There is no such press release regarding Sirius dropping the NBA (which would have been a fairly high profile transaction, not like dropping a regular music channel...so Eye don't buy that they just dropped it and there was no press coverage)

Contrary to what your argument seems to suggest, the facts support my position...if you prefer to base your opinion on forum chatter, so be it.

But if you really want broad assumptions, try these on for size....

First...none of these decisions were made last minute, not the NBA deal, let alone the merge itself...all this crap was being strategically mapped out well in advance of the "official" announcement of any of it...this is a major corporation with a combined subscriber base of over 17 million with a revenue stream in the BILLIONS...EVERYTHING is calculated...

Second...Eye would venture a guess and say that some of the people putting some of this "insider information" (read: rumor) are people who WANT misinformation out there...or at the very least, are not going to be hard pressed to correct any misconceptions that might help them in the long run (as in the case of this particular issue...where there is this "internet buzz" stating that the NBA was being dropped by Sirius, so when they pull the trigger it will make it easier to convince people that this was how it was going down all along, even though none of the concerned parties ever ACTUALLY stated any of this previously)

Bottom line...while I'm being slightly facetious about some of this, it's really not all that clandestine...it's pretty standard corporate operating procedure...probably a necessary evil...but it still sucks for the customer and Eye think we all agree that their arrogant attitude toward their captive, alternativeless subscriber base is kinda crappy.

Not looking for a fight, just venting a little...figured that this was a place where Eye might find a sympathetic ear...but it's cool if not everyone shares my opinion. That's what makes this country great!

 

[TX WJ]

I can't stand to watch NBA games until the playoffs let alone listen to the games.

I would be glad to pay $4.95 to get Sports like, NFL, NHL, MLB, NASCAR, NCAA.

Make it $9.95 for just Music and New/Talk.

 

[klingon_master]

I can't stand to watch NBA games until the playoffs let alone listen to the games.

I would be glad to pay $4.95 to get Sports like, NFL, NHL, MLB, NASCAR, NCAA.

Make it $9.95 for just Music and New/Talk.

If they had service for $9.95 with music, some of the news/talk/entertainment channels and the basic sports channels like Fox sports Radio and ESPN radio would be nice. I'm not usually listening to the NBA or watching it that much except when the playoffs roll around.

Why should I have to pay an extra $4 a month just to get a service that offers music, news, and the sports channels? Some people could probably do fine with the basic sports radio channels and not need all those play by play channels. Why should they make you play an additional $4 just cause you want NBA but since its now Part of XM and not your Sirius Radio your using.

 

[riskybzns]

yes it might have been officially announced that they were wanting to merge, but there was no guarantee the doj or fcc was going to approve it. they can't just sit on things and wait. what if the doj or fcc still hadn't decided by now. the nba would have started and a contract would have have needed to be in place by now anyways.

 

[3rdEyeVision]

...what if the doj or fcc still hadn't decided by now. ...

...fact is, it didn't work out that way...they DID get it done, WELL before the new NBA season....and I'm still waiting for Sirius (or anybody else for that matter) to show me where it was ever officially stated that the NBA was no longer being carried by Sirius.

 

[TX WJ]

The NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, NCAA, and NASCAR are all high visability sports that cost big bucks to get the rights to. I think that those of us that want them should be the ones to pay for them.

 

[Manco]

Well the cynic in me agrees, that if Sirius thinks that the Merger is likely to go, that moving NBA to XM is a financial benefit because even if you quit Sirius to get XM, you still send a check to the same company. Then they can get all the Sirius people that really need NBA to sign up for the "best of XM" package giving them more revenue at the same time exposing a whole new audience to the NBA.

Yeah I don't put it past them, but I doubt we will ever know.

 

[riskybzns]

fact is, they couldn't sit on it and wait to see if it did. get over it, if your not happy about it why don't you cancel your subscription and try filing a class action lawsuit.
where the hell is artie when you need him. and answer my question, what's with the "eye" crap?

 

[SISO]

Yes, eye'm also mad.

 

[Manco]

Yes, eye'm also mad.

LOL, I was wondering as I read the orginal post why he would use "eye" for "I". Usually you substitute when it requires less typing such as u for you or 2 for too

 

[riskybzns]

i was thinking the same thing, but hell, i've almost given up on trying to understand some people's way of thinking. lol

 

[DAB]

Well the cynic in me agrees, that if Sirius thinks that the Merger is likely to go, that moving NBA to XM is a financial benefit because even if you quit Sirius to get XM, you still send a check to the same company. Then they can get all the Sirius people that really need NBA to sign up for the "best of XM" package giving them more revenue at the same time exposing a whole new audience to the NBA.

Yeah I don't put it past them, but I doubt we will ever know.

Well as someone that is very cynical when it comes to Sirius and their management team. The fact is that had this not been approved and it was very close, then they would have basically just given up the NBA on a hope and a prayer. I don't think you take the risk, they could have still offered a sports tier and charged more for it even if had been under SIRIUS. Rather than get in a bidding war which they could not afford they just let XM have it.

Did it cross their minds that if the merger went through it would be a win win, I don't think anyone can say, but that is likely. But was this a real calculated effort on thier part to scam subscribers. I don't buy it because Sirius Management don't strike me as being that savvy. If they did then kudos to them, but I think it just played out this way and in the end YES they did benefit, but only by chance and approval of the FCC.

 

[klingon_master]

...fact is, it didn't work out that way...they DID get it done, WELL before the new NBA season....and I'm still waiting for Sirius (or anybody else for that matter) to show me where it was ever officially stated that the NBA was no longer being carried by Sirius.

I don't really care so much about the NBA but I don't want to have to pay extra to just get the sports. Why can't they just give us the sports with the music and news rather than make us pay the extra in which we might not even want some of those extra channels. If they took the $9.99 Music Plan and added a few extra News Channels plus Fox Sports Radio and ESPN radio that would be nice. I don't want to spend an extra $4 month because i'm not using the radio to listen to live sports games anyways.

 

[TX WJ]

I don't really care so much about the NBA but I don't want to have to pay extra to just get the sports. Why can't they just give us the sports with the music and news rather than make us pay the extra in which we might not even want some of those extra channels. If they took the $9.99 Music Plan and added a few extra News Channels plus Fox Sports Radio and ESPN radio that would be nice. I don't want to spend an extra $4 month because i'm not using the radio to listen to live sports games anyways.

The channels that I think should be in the Sports pack are MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL, Nascar and the NCAA. ESPN, Fox Sports, Sporting News radio would be part of the news / talk that would come with Muisic.

I just think that the people that want the coverage should pay for it, then again I bet that those leagues would want their coverage to be part of the basic package.

 

[gilpdawg]

Eye thank thes iz a waist ov tyme. :rofl: