Shaking up the XM Homeplate Lineup

[rexlocker]

I just read on the TexBall Blog that Mark Patrick's contract is not being renewed as part of the merger changes.

Like him or not, his pacing and insights steer the morning and keep the experts on track. I think this ia a serious mistake on management's part. Along w/ rumored cuts in music channel host lineups, this merger is going to be the reason I eliminate most if not all of the 5 radios I have activated.

[upisdown]

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN(?):

The reason I bought and subscribed to XM is because of Mark Patrick. I first heard him on WLS in Chicago. WLS only carried one hour of his program, MPOS or Mark Patrick on Sports, from the Fox Sports Radio network. Just that one hour I heard of his program hooked me. I would laugh my butt off. Then one day a caller mentioned that he was listening to the show on XM. I thought, Hmmm. So I got the XM so I could hear all 4 hours. Well FOX did not renew his contract and I was bummed. I sent Mark an Email and he mentioned that he was hired by XM to host a morning program on the new MLB station. I was SAVED.

Mark was the first voice you heard at the birth of the MLB Homeplate on XM. Mark Patrick is talented and will at the very least will make you smile....not a bad thing. I will miss him, I hope he pops up on another station I can hear, maybe on XM.

If staff must be cut it should be the last guy you hired, not the first.

The merger should have improved sattellite radio. Letting Mark Patrick go is not a improvement.

[TravKoolBreeze41]

This may be bad for Homeplate but I have this feeling that Mark Patrick will end up either at ESPN or the new MLB Network stating in January. I think he will make out well.

[kenkraly2004]

I sure hope Mark Patrick does'nt leave XM and MLB Home Plate. The Big Chair is one of my favortie MLB on XM Hosts. But if it is a end of a era it's been a great ride and Big Chair has had a lot of fun doing it.

[dnelms]

Mark's contract has indeed been one that has not been renewed. It's the new Sirius guys who are making these changes.

[XMikeD]

Letting go of Mark Patrick is a mind boggling move. I really enjoy the fact he's humorous, well spoken and very insightful. For the past few years I've been puzzled why XM couldn't surround his show with comparable talent (and elimimate the boring and dreadful Ronnie Lane, Kevin Kennedy and Rob Dibble). At this point I really hope the goons at Sirius don't let go of the talented Jeff Joyce, Chris Russell and Mike Farrand. Those three bring a lot of knowledge and passion to the airwaves despite filling smaller roles on the channel. What a shame...

[3david]

It would be a typical bone-headed move by the weasels at Sirius to let Mark Patrick go, and keep a no-talent blowhard like Rob Dibble.

Kind of like Bob Knight on ESPN. We see talented broadcasters out of work, and jock-types like Knight and Dibble, who treated the media like crap when they were active...and now they are the media. Unbelievable.

[rexlocker]

So now Chuck's Wilson's gone and TJ Rives steps in?
Rives was reviled in FLA when he worked local broadcast there, and his outster was heralded by lots of fans sick of his attitude and schtick.

What's next, Charlie Steiner given his walking papers so they can schlepp Mad Dog (aka Sick Puppy) over into the lineup?

[FitzXM]

Don't joke about it - at this point anything is possible. I was only able to put the radio on this afternoon for a few minutes and there was some other guy doing a show in Steiner's slot. It was not "The Beat". I fear the worst.

On the way home, I was actually glad to hear Dibble blabbing on about something, and Kennedy joining in..

I guess we all hate change - and maybe it's time to shake things up on 175. But they had some great folks on there, and now it seems like it's being re-staffed by a bunch of Sirius folks who don't seem to know what they are doing. We'll see.

Baseball is a great game - and the fans overcome whatever changes may happen on my favorite XM station...luckily Sirius can't mess with the game's broadcasters. So, my guys Mike Shannon and John Rooney will be back in the spring...just like Marty, Thom, Milo, Vin, Charly, Santo and all the rest...thank goodness for that!

[bg_nashville]

Losing The Beat would be terrible to say the least.

[bg_nashville]

[rexlocker]

This addresses a lot of the music side of the dial, but the dissatisfaction is substantial.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/rawfisher/2008/11/is_the_new_sirius_xm_the_begin.html

http://texball.blogspot.com/2008/11/what-does-my-xm-radio-say-801-am-cst.html

And interesting that you cannot cancel your subscription with acct management tools online. You MUST call in, and since phones are completely swamped, unless you can hold forever, you can't cancel.

[jthordsen]

I may be in the minority here, but I found MLB Home Plate in the morning as boring. Not only that, but during drivetime for me 8:30 central time, they were playing a taped replay, not even live!

I also like NHL hockey, and find Home Ice's morning show much more listenable and interesting.

Perhaps that is the direction they want to go?

[dabalaba13]

No doubt. BBTM is boring. The morning show on the hockey channel had energy.

[blumpkin]

Sorry, can't agree with you who like Mark Patrick. He's not only unfunny - he's an ass hat jerk and he's rude. He thinks he's the funniest man alive and that compounds the terribleness. I wish him will and I am excited to NOT hear him on Monday morning

I hope to god that the management now wises up and puts Holden Kushner on the morning show with Buck (if he was kept). Holden is not only ACTUALLY funny, he's nice and he's unique - he's got his own bit going on and it's not that re-hashed "big chair" crap.

We'll see how this all pans out, but as an avid baseball fan, I was VERY unimpressed with homeplate over the last 4 years. Looking forward to hopefully positive changes ahead.