What a bunch of total BS!! for an excuse. If I do get Satellite Radio it will likely be XM even if they have some fewer channels. I wont touch anything the CBC has ownership of.

I predict Sirius Canada going under in the 1st 1-2 years

driving around all I see is XM billboard ads everywhere and almost every other commercial on the radio the last week is all XM this XM that ads

I have not heard or seen one thing from sirius yet

and with xm putting on opie and anthony and as they say taking the risk for their customers

and sirius too affraid to put on stern...

Sirius is being run by dumbasses in Canada and will not survive
I just dont get it

driving around all I see is XM billboard ads everywhere and almost every other commercial on the radio the last week is all XM this XM that ads

It seem to be the opposite here in Calgary. All I've heard on the radio is Sirius ads. Maybe they are marketing in different areas.

Does anybody else find it ironic that radio stations who were opposed to satellite radio are now more than happy to take ad revenue from them? :D

Interesting, I haven't heard any advertisements for Sirius on local Calgaru stations.
Perhaps that has something to do with the fact that I haven't listened to local radio in months :)

what baffles me about most of these "reports" is that they aren't complaining about the censorship in this country.

Sirius is a PAY service, we have ELECTED to listen to it. Much the same way we have ELECTED to watch the Playboy channel or other numerous adult featured stations.

It's weird reading these things as though it's a shot against Stern's popularity instead of the fact that ONCE AGAIN we are being limited in what we can see (Directv/HBO/ESPN,etc) and what we can hear... unreal.

With the election coming up, our only hope is that some party will take on this charge. The Alliance party in the past was pro-Directv, no idea what the stance on this stuff is now.

Actually, unless there have been more details released since last I checked, censorship has nothing to do with it (at least technically). The decision not to carry Stern was Sirius Canada's. I don't believe the CRTC actually ruled on whether or not Stern could be carried on SatRad. So it's not censorship; it's no current SatRad company offering Stern's programming, based on presumably business-related decision-making.

What a bunch of total BS!! for an excuse. If I do get Satellite Radio it will likely be XM even if they have some fewer channels. I wont touch anything the CBC has ownership of.

I agree, it's absolutely ridiculous that Howard Stern is banned in Canada. I think this decision will hurt Sirius Canada's sales and will be detrimental to the company in the long run.

Actually, unless there have been more details released since last I checked, censorship has nothing to do with it (at least technically). The decision not to carry Stern was Sirius Canada's. I don't believe the CRTC actually ruled on whether or not Stern could be carried on SatRad. So it's not censorship; it's no current SatRad company offering Stern's programming, based on presumably business-related decision-making.

Gary Slaight made these comments to the Toronto Sun about Stern and the CRTC...

"The CRTC, who we are licensed to, would eventually force us to take Stern down, because we have standards we have to abide by in this country when you own a broadcasting licence." (http://torontosun.com/News/Canada/2005/11/16/1309135-sun.html)

"When we applied for a licence, the CRTC pushed us about this," he said. "(Stern) was definitely a topic of conversation. We (Standard) are a big broadcaster and have to deal with the CRTC on other issues. And the CBC obviously has a cultural mandate to be concerned with." (http://torontosun.com/News/Canada/2005/11/16/1309135-sun.html)

Based on what Gary Slaight had to say the CRTC made its concerns about Howard Stern clear to Sirius Canada when the company was applying for a license.

The exclusion of Howard Stern from Sirius Canada doesn't seem to be based simply on business related decision making. Gary Slaight's comments indicate that Sirius Canada was pressured by the CRTC not to carry Stern. The CBC appears to have been a factor as well.

It's quite possible Sirius Canada will ask the CRTC if they could provide Stern as an extra premium channel like XM did with playboy. That way the radio would default to blocking Stern unless specifically enable by the subscriber. Nice way to generate extra revenue too !

Thanks to the management of Sirius Radio, I will not be subscribing to their service and saving $14.95 per month.

Bottomline:

NO HOWARD STERN = NO SUBSCRIPTION

Thanks to the management of Sirius Radio, I will not be subscribing to their service and saving $14.95 per month.

....I can't see myself paying over $200/yr + gear for Sirius...

....At home I mostly listen to CFOX Vancouver/Whistler, KZZU Spokane, Power 97 Winnipeg + Edge 102 Toronto on StarChoice.....or www.fnxradio.com from Boston

...In the 95 Celica we usually have the 6 CD changer crankin....for a break there's lot's of local Halifax news on Rogers new radio station www.news957.com or CBC Radio One

Just received my US Sirius home/car pkg from eBay, hooked it up this morning and subscribed to the US Service, and I'm listening to Howard 100 news as we speak!

The article in the Sun was the kicker for me... I had prepared to subscribe to the Canadian service but without Stern there was no way but grey!

An article in this morning's Vancouver Province by Mike

roberts states that Stern will be on the Canadian package Jan 01. I wonder what he knows,or doesn't know.

I don't believe the CRTC actually ruled on whether or not Stern could be carried on SatRad. So it's not censorship; it's no current SatRad company offering Stern's programming, based on presumably business-related decision-making.


It is indirect censorship. They "discussed" Stern, what do you think that means? So Sirius Canada chickened out or made this back room deal to get the approval in the first place. They "censored" themselves, same result, just achieved in a different manner. The elitist CBC snobs are very PC, they hate Stern. Once again people in government abusing their powers to influence corporate decisions that go contrary to our freedom to choose what we want to hear. These elitists are afraid of words, they are bleeding hearts that celebrate courage on remembrance day and then run for cover because the word "retard" offends them.

I see Directiv just nuked XM High Voltage. Must have been some complaints.

It is indirect censorship. They "discussed" Stern, what do you think that means? So Sirius Canada chickened out or made this back room deal to get the approval in the first place. They "censored" themselves, same result, just achieved in a different manner. The elitist CBC snobs are very PC, they hate Stern. Once again people in government abusing their powers to influence corporate decisions that go contrary to our freedom to choose what we want to hear. These elitists are afraid of words, they are bleeding hearts that celebrate courage on remembrance day and then run for cover because the word "retard" offends them.

I see it a DIRECT censorship .. rather than indirect.

Once again people in government abusing their powers to influence corporate decisions that go contrary to our freedom to choose what we want to hear.

This is a bit of a crock. It's at least a little sensationalized, don't you think? Sirius chose not to include Stern content on their Canadian lineup. They also (so I'm told) chose not to include American traffic and weather stations. Is this censorship? What if I travel a lot in the US and want access to these stations? Is my "freedom to choose what I want to hear" being limited?

Sirius chose not to include Stern content on their Canadian lineup.

Sirius Canada supposedly "chose" not to include Stern after the CRTC talked with the company and pushed Sirius Canada not to carry his programming. Gary Slaight told the Toronto Sun that this conversation occured during the same time that Sirius Canada applied for its license. Based on comments by Gary Slaight to the Toronto Sun it seems that the CRTC pressured Sirius Canada not to include Stern. The Toronto Sun article also, stated that the CBC wasn't keen on Stern either.

The Toronto Sun article also, stated that the CBC wasn't keen on Stern either.

Fine. The CBC is a co-owner (apparently) of Sirius Canada, and thus has the right to decide (or a say in the decision on) what services it wishes to offer.

Fine. The CBC is a co-owner (apparently) of Sirius Canada, and thus has the right to decide (or a say in the decision on) what services it wishes to offer.


PJ is way off base here.
This is without question a political and not business decision.
The CBC has long been a left leaning media outlet and bend over backwards for the party in power.