Sirius XM is doomed

At 10:00 a.m. today I changed the channel on my Sirius radio to channel 122 to listen to the Dan Patrick Show. It wasn’t on. At first I thought I had selected the wrong channel. Instead of it being the Dan Patrick Show, it was the sports show that’s normally on channel 123. I made sure I was on channel 122 and then switched over to channel 123. It was the same show. Both channels were simulcasting the same sports show.

I decided to call Sirius Customer Service. After sitting on hold for a couple of minutes, I was connected to someone and I explained the problem. He put me on hold. When he came back on the line, he informed me that the Dan Patrick Show was on channel 122.

I again explained to him that was why I was calling. For some reason, channels 122 and 123 were simulcasting the same content. After some hemming and hawing, he put me on hold again. When he came back to the line, he told me that “they” often reschedule programing to facilitate live sporting events and the Sirius schedule is subject to change.

I asked him who “they” was. He said he didn’t know.

I asked to speak to his supervisor. He said that wouldn’t be possible. I asked him why. He told me his supervisor was busy. I again asked to speak to his supervisor. He put me on hold. After a few minutes, he told me that his supervisor told him to tell me to call their programing department. I once more asked to speak to his supervisor. After even more hemming and hawing, he put me on hold. A few minutes later, someone came on the line who was obviously from India. He said his name was “Barry”.

I had to give him my account number and my address. After I did that, I once again explained the problem. He told me that I would need to call their programing department.

I went ahead and called the telephone number he gave me. It took me to an automated service that gave channel lineups. When it asked me for the channel I wanted, I entered 1-2-2. It informed me that channel does not exist.

Though I didn’t learn why channels 122 and 123 were broadcasting the same content, I learned a lot about Sirius XM. It’s screwed. It’s massively in debt and unlike traditional terrestrial radio, it relies on subscribers, not advertisers, to generate revenue. The problem is, they are treating their subscribers like crap and I don’t think they even know it.

Has Sirius XM CEO Mel Karmazin ever tried calling his own customer service? I doubt it.