Burning Out The Content

Ah, reminiscing about the days of old…is something that should be left for old material. This week the gang is on vacation, and in their place we have the “Sirius So Far” special, hosted by Tim Sabien. This special showcases the best moments since the Stern show has been on Sirius Satellite Radio. To call this special a waste of space is an overstatement. All the content played in the special is gold, that’s not the problem. The problem is that as a loyal listener, I’m given the same choices EVERY vacation week. Last vacation they spent a whole week replaying the History Of Howard. Not such a bad idea, as some have not yet heard this special.(It only aired for one other week). But the Sirius So Far special is different. I heard all of these shows the first time they aired. Then I heard them on the replay. A few days later, I turned on Howard TV and saw the same content a third time. At the end of each year, the staff, and fans, picked their favorite moments. So I heard these same clips 4-6 times already. Then they replay these “favorite moments” specials. Now we’re looking at 7-8 times per clip. Following that, Howard TV ran  “penny preview” and “Best Moments of the Year” specials. So before this week’s special, I heard this content 10 or more times!

When the show began at Sirius, one thing Howard was concerned with was “content burnout,” (Playing one bit or segment too many times). So now as I sit here listening to the Richard Christy waxing segment for the 11th time, I wonder what went wrong. They seemed to have quite a programming department a few months ago, but now Tim Sabien is all but dried up. There is NO excuse for not airing a new Master Tape Theater each week, but for the past 2 months, it has been nothing but repeats. There have been no new Mammary Lane segments, those don’t require much effort.

From my correspondance with Tim Sabien and his people, I learned that the tapes team has devoted all energy to the new History Of Howard special. Although that didn’t seem to stop them from making an entry for the Bababooey song parody contest, a project demanding more effort than cueing a tape for Master Tape Theater (especially since the catalog they have a digital catalog).

Tim Sabien needs to clean up his act quickly and get his people in line, or else a large number of fans will eventually call for him to be fired. Best Of The Week is a lazy excuse to get out of Master Tape Theater. Don’t let Tim Sabien get away with this. Call Sirius Employee Directory at 212-584-5100 and ask for Tim Sabien. Tell him you won’t take any more Best of The Week, and that you want Master Tape Theater back on the air with new episodes. Let your voice be heard on the show by dialing 888-9-Asshole when they come back from vacation and telling them the same. As paying subscribers, it’s our right to have the content that was promised to us.
UPDATE: Thanks to Cameltoe for letting me know that you can also email Sirius and let them know you want MTT back using this link.