Bubba’s Raw Deal – Stern Devalued
As SiriusBuzz readers are already aware (Sirius XM Makes The Biggest Mistake Of The New Year, and Bubba The Replay Love Sponge Speaks Out), the new deal with Bubba The Love Sponge is rubbing subscribers the wrong way. This deal brings a watered down Bubba that in Shock Jock terms amounts to sloppy seconds, as the show aired on Sirius XM Radio is a replay of Bubba’s morning drive show on terrestrial radio.
This new deal is wrong on so many levels, it makes even the most ardent satellite radio fans scratch their heads! Welcome To Extreme Entertainment Makeover, Satellite Radio Edition – Where programming changes happen before you realize it!
1. The type of deal was not disclosed to listeners. This is a slap across the face to subscribers, and shows little respect for the customer base. This move, coupled with the channel shuffle, and a few others are bad for a business that relies on consumers to pay for services. It comes off like a bait and switch, and no one appreciates that.
2. Bubba is a master at viral marketing. He knows how to rile up his fans, and they speak LOUDLY. The Bubba Army always goes to bat for Bubba, and right now that army feels like they were ambushed.
3. Bubba is a part of the Howard brand. This deal, structured to “save money”, effectively serves on a black mark in the “Is The Howard Deal Worth It” debate. We now have a major show and featured aspect of the Howard channels relegated to 1 live show per week and four replays of a watered down terrestrial show.
4. Sirius just lost all interaction with fans being able to call in and participate in the show. This show is recorded in the morning, and Sirius XM listeners do not get catch the show until afternoon drive. Today we were treated to discussion about terrestrial ratings, and who is the “King of Jocks” in Jacksonville! This is not at all topical for satellite radio fans who have come to expect more from satellite than they get on terrestrial. For many, Howard 101 just became non-priority channel.
5. As Bubba’s terrestrial deal expands, and now it will, the satellite radio audience will begin to tune out more and more. Sure the model has worked for Opie and Anthony, but at least they had a satellite radio portion each day. With the Bubba deal, fans will only get the “REAL SHOW” once per week.
6. Sirius XM just lost a huge selling point to the truckers out there. Mile after mile, these hard working cogs in the American machine have become satellite radio fans. Yes, commercial free music and a national footprint play a role, but it is also uncensored entertainment that differentiates satellite from terrestrial.
7. Advertisers who were once attracted to satellite because of the unique programming will now see the impact of less listeners on one of the channels that draws the most ad revenue. Bubba Live Reads are gone, and a pre-recorded ad does not have the same impact.
8. The “BEST OF” Sirius just lost value. Subscribers who just ponied up dollars for adding a year of “BEST OF” will be all over the net expressing yet another frustration with satellite radio. This is not a good piece of marketing, and I have a feeling this will become a major issue in the coming days, as the word continues to spread.
Now, to be fair, I do not know the terms Bubba was looking for. In my opinion, it could have perhaps rivaled Chris Mad Dog Russo money, but that is about the peak of what I think the show would have been seeking. Are things so bad at Sirius XM that a deal with Bubba could not make financial sense? Aren’t massive merger synergies happening that would allow original programming such as Bubba’s show to be retained? A move like this evokes a lot of questions at a time when the company needs to be instilling confidence. Set aside the consumer for a moment, and look at this from a lenders, or better yet, an investors perspective. This does not appear to be a confident move by the company. Particularly in the manner in which this news came out.
This piece would not be complete unless it was fair to Bubba and his crew as well. Yes, they signed the deal, but what choice did they really have? No one wants to work for less than they feel they are worth, or in tough economic times, slightly less. Bubba and the crew have a terrestrial radio deal that was growing, and a satellite deal that was apparently shrinking. Their loyalties are perhaps where they should have been. With the company that is giving the best deal (Cox). I can’t blame Bubba for this fiasco. It started a couple of years ago, and has snowballed ever since. Bubba, more than anything, wanted to do a satellite radio show. The deal offered by Cox was indeed lucrative, and he was placed in a position of having to do terrestrial. Now, once again, terrestrial radio is home for Bubba. His gig at Sirius XM has been demoted to part time. Like it or not, the Bubba Army just became the Bubba Florida National Guard by executive decision.
In the end, fans can not blame Bubba for this. Bubba has to run a business and support not only his family, but the families of his employees. This decision, in my opinion, rests on Sirius XM Radio. Someone somewhere in New York thought this was a good move. Time will tell, but I am betting that they will have second thoughts soon.
Position – Long Sirius XM
Did Sirius hold a gun to Bubba’s head and sign. No, That was Bubba. Did Sirius make Bubba act like a celebratory jackass on Friday and not give notice, no. Who’s fault was it…BUBBA FUCK BUBBA, we don’t need him
If you believe that, then why sign him at all? For Sirius XM this should have been an all or nothing deal.
This isn’t about the show, its about Sirius XM making another blunder.
Bubba is the one who made the choice to screw his fans.
1. He could have had his kids and sirius’s salary which Im sure was fair and been a part of a national audience.
HE CHOSE NOT TOO!
2. Sirius was helping its customers by giving into this jerk and paying him for a rebroadcast. Sirius should pay off his contract and say sorry, we aren’t going to air your show.
Why are we making such a big deal over this one slob. He’s a piece of garbage, and if we can save a few million by just rebroadcasting his crap then fine.
His show on cox will suck, and he doesn’t have the listeners to support a sirius show. He’ll come back begging in a few years, and we can sign him for half as much.
Sorry mario, but his show has a ton of fans, and he does more to market sirius than anyone else. While his show is not always my cup of tea, it does have a fan base.
The mistakes with this deal were numerous. Number One mistake is the bait and switch that happened. Not Good
Welcome to the merger boys and girls!!! You wanted it… And now you are getting exactly what you pined for. Where exclusive content providers no longer has two SDAR companies to play “carrot and stick” with. The merger threw The Carrot in the dumpster and now Mel is holding the stick. Bubba don’t like the deal. Too Bad!!! Cause there is no where else to go. Long live the Merger!!
You wrote:
>>Yes, commercial free music and a national footprint play a role, but it is also uncensored entertainment that differentiates satellite from terrestrial.<<
Really.. You don’t say??? You mean.. There is no effective competition for SDARS “national footprint” with “live uncensored entertainment”.
That can’t be true because everyone opined that there was sooooo much competition for SDARS.
However, the Number One mistake was subscribers and shareholders gullibility to believe that the merger was even remotely positive for the “public interests”. Everyone demanded the merger at Mel’s prodding, And now they got exactly what they asked for.
Enjoy it all!!!
And so it goes,
PCSTEL
Chalk another shyster move up for Melvin and Company.
mario: I wouldnt be so sure about that. When the channel ratings came out, Sirius 100 (Howards channel) was #1 and Sirius 101 (basically Bubba’s channel) was #2. I don’t know what else is on 101, but I think a large majority of the listening audience was probably Bubba’s.
If Sirius thought that Bubba fans would be happy with replays, they were dead wrong. If you thought the channel change fiasco brought some unhappy emails, wait until you see the lash-back from this one.
Romo: Give me a break. Sirius was playing the goodguy by rebroadcasting censored replays of Bubba’s show? No. That is pathetic. Put up or Shut up. Put up = pay Bubba what it takes to get him on, or shut up = cancel the show. Don’t rebroadcast. It looks stupid, it sounds stupid, and it IS stupid. I am not even a fan of shock jocks, and I certainly do not like Bubba from what I have heard of him, and I agree with Charles.
Bubba does nothing extra and still gets a paycheck from Sirius? Great deal for Bubba, stupid deal for Sirius. (Anyone see foreshadowing about how the Stern contract is going to go down in 2 years?)
It doesn’t seem to me that bubba was reasonable on his demands and sirius did the best they could. How many more millions would it have taken to get him to leave terrestrial? Probably wouldn’t have happened because he likely has a lot of fans he would have screwed there too, and the money wasn’t worth it to sirius.
After thinking more about it…I think the rebroadcast is fine, he only serves a few markets in terrestrial right? (i don’t know because ive never heard of this guy until howard promoted him)
If you think about it…the entire comedy channel is a rebroadcast of some comedy act.
THE REAL RAW DEAL HERE IS IT IS CENSORED!!!!!
Tyler,
I know you’ve had Bubba on your show and on many occasions you have unjustifiably, in my opinion that is, spoken very highly of him and his crew. It seems either your friendship or taste for this kind of programming has made you think this dude was irreplaceble and Sirius XM should’ve kept him “happy” at any cost.
With all due respect, I, and most people I know who have heard Bubba, think of him and his crew as thugs. I really believe you’re way overestimating the number of his audience and his value to Sirius XM and its customers.
1. Bubba has never been on our show or contacted us.
2. Tyler has said on numerous occasions that the show isn’t always his cup of tea.
3. I had 8 phone calls within the first 30 minutes of the show today from people who knew I was at work but had to call me because they could not believe what they were hearing and were so disappointed that they were speechless(these people were friends and family no one from this site has my number).
4. Just because you don’t listen doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have a huge following. I don’t know a single person who doesn’t make fun of Kenny G yet he has gone platinum.
5. We are not overestimating, the numbers are clear, and now the reaction is clear.
Charles,
I am a big fan of SiriusBuzz and Tyler. But, the fact that you don’t know/recall/remember that Bubba was on the show with Tyler only a few months back, to be polite, is mind boggling. In addition, Bubba was able to generate only ONE SINGLE CALL and the rest of the calls were about the stock price — people didn’t even want to say hello to him. It’s funny that someone who supposedly has so many “followers” had only one caller who wanted to speak with!!! I guess I don’t need to remind you that all your phone lines for the radio show are usually busy and still Mr. Bubba only managed to get one caller to call him.
By the way, please try to at least listen to the tape of each radio show that is broadcast because your credibilty can come under attack for defending someone like Bubba and his show since you missed the kind of reception he got on your own/Tyler’s show.
I can verify that it was not Bubba on the show, but rather Brent Hatley, the executive producer. A few other items:
1. We could not publicize the fact that Brent was on the show beforehand. If it was known, his appearance would have likely been shut down.
2. Sirius Buzz radio is geared to investors, and most listeners want to speak about the equity. The stock was taking a beating, and that was what was primarily on peoples minds.
3. I do not listen to the Bubba Show on a daily basis. In fact, I have at times been highly critical of Bubba. I have also expressed that I enjoy Jay Thomas, who goes head to head with Bubba.
4. I have had sporadic communication with Bubba and Brent.
It was not Bubba, it was his executive producer Brent Hatley. What is mind boggling is that you would go out of your way to try and slam me without getting your facts straight.
Feel free to apologize.
We only got one call because to be frank, we don’t get that many listeners to begin with and the people who come here are not hardcore Bubba fans AND there was VERY short notice of there even being a show that day.
Just because his fans are not here doesn’t mean they do not exist. Just look around the net at all of the fan sites.
You know what the #1 search term and source of traffic was for SiriusBuzz.com in the month of Decmeber? “bubba the love sponge contract” which is strange because according to you… he has no fans and no one should care.
You can be in denial all you want… Kenny G still went platinum.
I don’t think I am wrong but if I am, here it is, I do apologize. I still need to ask Tyler to confirm it though.
Having said that, are you still willing to back an earlier claim of “Bubba has never been on our show or contacted us?” If yes, it’d be ridiculous, wouldn’t it? It would be like, let’s say for sake of the argument, saying that Bush never contacted you even though his personal counsel has been involved in daily and numerous conversations with you. I am starting to question your motives for supporting/defending Bubba so wholeheartedly!? Believe me, there’s a motive and it ain’t defending the Sirius Xm’s customers because I can guarantee you that 99.99% of them don’t give a rat’s a$$ about Bubba.
I was the one who interviewed him on that show (for the most part) but you can confirm with Tyler if you like.
Yes, I am willing to back that claim. I have never been involved with him or his staff or anyone from Sirius on a daily, weekly, or even monthly basis. If you knew how “in the dark” this site was from Sirius XM you would be surprised (which is another thing that should make you question the Sirius XM management).
Who is defending Bubba? I have openly said that Sirius XM has screwed the pooch totally and that if they can not deliver this show uncensored that they should not deliver it at all. How is me saying that Sirius XM should cancel the show defending Bubba?
You can not guarantee that 99.99% don’t care because it simply not true. There are posts and forums all over the net with pages and pages of threads talking about just what happened today alone.
You think Howard hand picked him because he wouldn’t bring in an audience? Again, the most searched for term in Dec 2008 for Siriusbuzz was “bubba the love sponge contract”… people care man.
Orbitcast post on the Fall 2007 Arbitron Numbers: http://www.orbitcast.com/archi.....ill-1.html
I was mistaken earlier, when I said Howard 101 (Bubba’s channel) was second in the Sirius ratings. It was actually 3rd, with a CUME of 501,000 unique listeners ( and an average of 33,200 listeners at any given time. For comparision sake, Howard 100 had 97,600 listeners at any given time, and Opie and Anthony (The Virus) had 18,500. Also remember, this was before the merger.
I have to disagree with you guys. I think some people will be angry, some will complain. But, so long as he is on Sirius XM, not many will cancel their subs. Not everyone lives in Florida. Not everyone is in his terrestrial listening audience. You may get some that deep fry their receivers or shoot the reciver out of a homemade cannon, but a watered-down Bubba is better for some of these people than nothing at all.
Maybe he took the deal, knowing that once things got better, his contract would improve. If Stern is serious about retiring, that is a lot of cashflow opening up down the road.
Sirius, F’s up again… and you guys come off defending Sirius?? The ONLY thing Sirius has going for them is content. And they are starting to lose that.
Tyler, you must be nuts. Bubba admitted he hated working the long hours and was causing him health and family problems. Can’t you read? And then you blame Sirius when you have no idea what kind of figure Bubba was floating to get out of this job. I used to appreciate your opinion Tyler…But now you have become a nutcase like Brandon. Use your head Moron…You have no idea what went on in negotiations. Mels job is to get this ship profitable,,, Not meet someones possibly outrageous demands.
Kenster….
1. If you read back in articles I have written, I long ago stated that the hours would take a toll on Bubba.
2. While I do not know the figures floated, I do have a general idea if the neighborhood he was looking fopr on his last deal.
3. I blame Sirius for pulling a virtual bait and switch on listeners. Very poor execution of the deal. Had they announced that the deal was radio replays in December, I would not have taken the stance I am taking. It is one thing to announce a reduced deal beforehand….it is an entirely differing matter to know that listeners had expectations of things continuing as normal, only to learn in the 11th hour that the deal differed.
4. Mel’s job is to supervise and manage the company, not to put his hand in every deal. I can appreciate that, but be upfront about the situation rather than get into the pickle they are in now.
5. You criticize me for “having no idea what the terms of the deal are”, then say that Bubba had “outrageous demands”. Having known some details of the second Bubba deal via decent sources, I can not picture Bubba having asked for anything above what Chris Russo got. Is that outrageous? It depends on what you consider too much.
If you feel the need to call me a moron or nutcase, that is fine. My biggest problem here is how subscribers found out, and the perception that it leaves on others. Sorry, but it was handled in a piss poor way.
Tyler,
Don’t listen to what the minority of viewers think. I am glad we have sirius buzz and don’t have to deal with the yahoo or MSN boards. I know these same fools would be lost if you decided one day to say the hell with this and shut down the site. I am for one glad and will take the good and the bad
With that note you are in the media and not everyone will agree.
Keep up the good work!
Bubba is the trouble maker, not Mel. Mel has a company to run.
If Bubba wants more money he has to earn it. He has to get more paying subscribers. He has to do cross marketing like a movie star pumping their dog movie. Wake up people, reality bites.
For those old enough, remember when Reggie Jackson went to the Yankees. He sold himself and justified his pay with attendance
increases, not by just doing the same job, like today’s Yankees.
Mel has all the numbers swirling around Sirius, including the financial terms requested and granted to Bubba. You do not know anything about this! There are at least 10 million subscribers who could care less about Bubba…..Right?
So, I can end this with one question.
Tyler, Newman, and Charles, do you think Mel is stupid?
Nope. I do not think Mel is stupid. However, the decision to handle this deal the way it was handled was a poor decision in my opinion. It smacks of bait and switch, and has left a lot of room for fodder.
If you are a Bubba fan, why not just got to btls.com or one of his Floriday affiliate stations websites and stream him for free? Granted, it isn’t the uncensored show for Friday afternoons, but you can get Bubba free 80% of the time then and cancel your Sirius susbscription. I’ve been furious at the programming changes on some of the music channels, and to me with this move there isn’t a reason for me to continue to be a subscriber.
People, this is about the SURVIVAL of the company right now–The funds arent there at this point–Debt issues and intregration of the companies have to come to fruition first before they can sign him and others–Whats the point of having him and others if the company is no longer in business–and we cant listen to ANYONE–Id like to do more with my business too, and it would help my bottom line, but i have a budget and its been cut for 2009+
When Howard is up in 2 years, he will have an opportunity to cash in, and having a larger following will bring subs to Sirius then, like Howard did–on a much smaller scale that is–You dont think if times/finances were different that this outcome would be different?
The bottom line is that Sirius mislead its subscribers. Can Mel be trusted? Remember my SUPPOSE post?
Your suppose post was a poor choice for a post. It was based on allegations that deal with illeagal activity on the part of the person that claims to have wire tapped a conversation, or has theoretically heard such conversations. As I stated earlier. If would advise you to back away from your “Suppose” posting.
If Mel can’t pay Bubba…. then I’m guessing he can’t pay his bond holders either. This is NOT good. Sirius is sinking.
This is exactly one of the problems with how this deal was handled. It was as if they were hiding from the type of deal they cut. They would have been better off to be up front about the deal.
Look up “suppose” in the dictionary. It could also means hypothetical. Never the less, Mel, the board and Blalock CANNOT be trusted. Whether I heard the conversations, read about the conversations or was verbally told about the conversations does not give you the right to label me a bad guy. Prove to me that those conversations did not happen.
I am well aware of the definition of suppose. However, your initial comment was written in such a way that you were inferring that you had heard these alleged conversations.
That being said, I am not accusing you of being a bad guy. I am trying to give you some common sense advice. Whether you heard them, read about them, or were verbally told about them (If they exist) is a position that you would not want to be in, because if they exist, they will have been obtained outside the law, or distributed outside the law.
If you read about them where did you read it?
If you heard them, who played them for you?
If someone told you about them, who told you?
These questions are rhetorical. I would advise that you A) consider very carefully discussing this subject. B) Do not believe something such as this that has been said to you without verifying it for yourself first hand. C)consider very strongly simply dropping your “suppose” track altogether.
Water down/less content… More ticked off subscribers.. more cancellations. less customer adds… less revenue generated for a company that has yet to turn a profit. Not sure how you all still see this in a positive light. And how about the way Sirius handled this… not even informing subscribers. nice…
Howard said this morning if you don’t like it cancel…so I did. The funniest part was the customer serice rep claimed she didn’t know the Bubba show was a terrestrial replay. Still long, hopeing to get some kind of opportunity to recover some funds before the BK…Oh what am I saying, Mathews said there wasn’t even a REMOTE chance of a chapter 11…he’s funnier than the customer service rep. I know don’t let the door bla bla bla…
Brandon’s right. No chance for chapter 11. At this rate they will be filing for chapter 7, liquidation of assets. No chance for any kind of survival with watered-down censored content.
SiriusXMInvestor – your opinion is biased because you made a bad investment. It’s not Sirius’ fault that you make bad investments just like it’s not Sirius’ fault that Bubba agreed to the deal. It’s called individual responsibility…..maybe you should learn it. Of course, with the new administration coming in, individual responsibility is throw out the door.
It’s it wonderful that most of Obama’s stimulus is geared toward poor families…seriously those that make less than 12.5K or even as low as 5K!
At this point Sirius can’t afford any more cancellations and/or negative press.