Bubba The Love Sponge

After all of the disappointment about Sirius XM’s renewal of the Bubba The Love Sponge and all of the aggravation expressed by fans and investors alike, I have decided to spend some time listening to the new show format. While nothing is perfect, Sirius XM does put together a good rendition of the Bubba show and the crew seems to have made the new schedule adjustment work towards putting on a good show. In many cases, you would be hard pressed to realize that the show is no longer live four days a week.

The hard work of Bubba, Brent, Manson, and others has paid off where it counts. With ratings! In Tampa, Bubba is now #1 in more key demos than ever before, and that includes women ages 25-54!

The Fall 2008 Arbitron radio ratings, which have just been released, show that for the fourth consecutive ratings period since returning to terrestrial radio, Bubba’s show is not just maintaining its top position in Tampa, but is adding new top rankings in more key demos.

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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.

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Just a few minutes ago Bubba The Love Sponge took the time to address his fans by posting for all to see on the forms of his own website btls.com. What he has said has done very little to ease the pain of his loyal fans as they continue to lash out at Sirius XM customer service and on forums across the net.

The following is what was recently posted (spelling errors included):

“Hello evefyone, and yes i have read the postings, i have recieved some phone calls, and i know you are upset. I knew this would happen. If there is one thing i know, its my audience and what they want and expect. i would like to address some issues here and now. i dont know if i can talk about these issues on air, so i will do my best to do it here

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Those who were excited about Bubba The Love Sponge returning to Sirius XM for his new two year deal, tuned in today only to be unbelievably disappointed. No longer will the LOYAL fans be able to hear Bubba’s raw and uncut radio show on Howard 101, instead, the once great show has been replaced by a replay of his watered down morning drive terrestrial radio broadcast.

After months of wondering, fans were finally assured that The Bubba The Love Sponge show would be returning to the Sirius XM airwaves January 5th by the likes of Scott Greenstien, Howard Stern, and Bubba himself. Why would not one of them mention something as important as the terms of this new deal? Looks like the joke is on us.

Why Sirius XM thinks that this is OK and that their subscribers will pay for non exclusive content that they can just as easily get for free is totally beyond me… let the call center storm begin. As a matter of fact, lets digg it, and make sure that the world knows that Sirius XM is now just replaying terrestrial radio.

Howard Stern called into the Bubba The Love Sponge show live to today to officially announce that Bubba will in fact be on board for 2 more years right along with him. Howard went on to say that he was “disturbed” that they had to go through so much stress and that he is excited that they will now be in it together through the final years of his contract.

Still no official word from Sirius XM but, it is nice to know that this will be a multi year deal and that both Bubba and his fans have one less thing to worry about moving forward.

UPDATE: Sirius XM finally put out an official press release but there were no additional details in the wordy document that you readers haven’t already learned here.

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The Bubba Army can all breathe easy today as a very credible inside source has given us the heads up that Bubba The Love Sponge will be staying on Howard 101, where he belongs. What was to be Bubba’s last show can be heard today on ch.101 starting at 10 am… I’m sure it will interesting to say the least.

There is no official word from Sirius XM yet so, you will have to stay tuned for details but, it is safe to say that management has officially avoided the next huge mistake.

UPDATE: Howard Stern called in to the show at just after 10 am to confirm that Bubba has signed a two year deal with Sirius XM.

No, I am not talking about Bubba’s waist line… I am referring to his terrestrial radio audience. In a time when many terrestrial radio stations are seeking formats that make business sense, Bubba The Love Sponge seems to have the answer. The terrestrial radio version of the Bubba The Love Sponge show is expanding into four new markets. This means that millions more can hear the antics of Bubba, Brent, Ned, Manson and Spice. The new markets will be added January 5, 2009. Additionally, the expansion could continue in the near future.

Bubba, who has coupled a terrestrial radio gig along with Sirius over the past year, will be adding stations in Miami, Orland, Richmond, and Ft. Meyers to his terrestrial radio resume. The terrestrial radio shows are separate from the Sirius show, which helps alleviate censorship concerns for all parties involved.

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Over the last couple of years, radio host Bubba The Love Sponge, with his cult like following, has become an afternoon fixture on Howard 101. With only 20 shows left on his contract this is a fixture that now more then ever Sirius should be looking to lock into a long term contract.

Like him or not, Bubba has the kind of show that puts subscriptions on the books and is personally the kind of guy who gets his team together to tour around the country grassroot promoting Sirius XM radio. With subscribers already screaming out in anger over the latest channel stir up, Sirius XM is on the verge of making a huge mistake if they choose to let Bubba go.

It seems clear that the decision makers at Sirius XM have no idea they kind of talent they have with Bubba. All anyone has to do is take a look at the number of websites that cover news about him, the number of users on the countless messages boards devoted to him, and then check out how he can move the numbers at Google like only a very few like Howard Stern can do. What more do they need?

It’s time for Sirius XM to step up to the plate or get ready for a backlash like nothing they have seen to date.