XM and Sirius Merge: But What About Opie and Anthony?
Yesterday on Howard Stern’s show, Mel Karmazin talked about the future for a merged satellite radio company. While he didn’t say Opie and Anthony’s names directly, he might as well have. The topic of conversation turned to satellite radio programs that are on both regular radio and satellite radio. And the only show to make that move from satellite back to free radio is Opie and Anthony. It wasn’t really all that cryptic a conversation. Karmazin went on to say that he did not understand the need or benefit of having satellite talent shared with the competition at free radio.
So what does that mean for Opie and Anthony and their future in a merged satellite world?
First and foremost, it appears that if Karmazin has his way the deal that O&A have with CBS will not likely be renewed. Karmazin has always been a lock-step partner with Howard Stern, and it is readily apparent from the Stern soundbytes yesterday that Stern wants Opie and Anthony off of free radio. Certainly if the deal is good enough, Karmazin (a historically brilliant businessman) will find a way to follow the money, even if it means striking a deal with CBS.
Let’s assume that he doesn’t renew the deal with CBS. Does this mean awful things for Opie and Anthony? Not necessarily. If Karmazin turns down a deal with CBS, that means that he will be counting on being able to monetize O&A’s channel to a greater extent than the fees that CBS is paying to have them do three hours in the morning every day.
Let me try and paint a picture of what I think the future should be. And this assumes that the combined company can overcome the technical hurdles that they face going forward in combining services.
Opie and Anthony should keep their channel, and Howard can keep both of his. Nothing else has to change. If Karmazin wants to pull O&A off of free radio it will be his perogative as the new CEO. One thing that is certain, though, is that O&A are one of the most valuable assets to XM today. There is no reason why they wouldn’t be just as valuable as an asset to the combined company in the future. Mel and Howard may be buddies, and they may agree on a lot of things, but Mel also has to remain buddies with all the shareholders of the combined deal. That will include a large bloc of people who were shareholders of XM. Even Sirius shareholders will be looking to maximize value of the whole company. A strategy of maximizing the value of the company should never include alienating a large portion of the audience of one of the merging parts.
That should mean two things. Opie and Anthony will be able to do their show as they wish on their own channel handling their own programming. Opie and Anthony aren’t as valuable an asset when they are handcuffed, but that doesn’t meant that O&A aren’t capable of seeing the big picture of a combined satellite future.
The quote from yesterday’s O&A show that is most instructive is from Greg “Opie” Hughes when he said,
“Mel knows if Howard leaves us alone, we leave him alone. Mel has always known that, but the problem was when Mel gave us the gag order, Howard was still able to say whatever the hell he wanted about us. That is where the real issue was.”
This is as close to a concession as I have ever heard from Opie and Anthony. They obviously feel that they are somewhat backed into a corner, with the man who fired them previously, Mel Karmazin, at the helm of this new company. Their stance, when reduced to a single sentence, is “We have no problem respecting the new company and the new situation as long as we are shown the respect that we feel that we have earned.”
I guess we will find out whether Karmazin feels that they have earned that respect if and when the merger is approved and as the consolidation begins. As one of the top assets on the XM platform, and after re-starting their careers from ground zero, Opie and Anthony have done well to make the argument. The bottom line is that I don’t think Mel Karmazin wants to find out just how many subscribers are tied directly to O&A by counting them as they walk out the door, so expect a compromise of some kind. It is the best thing for the company and its shareholders.
And as funny as it may seem, as a beneficiary of stock success, it would be the best thing for Howard Stern.
No Deals Yet As Cavs Approach Deadline
The Cleveland Cavaliers have been talked about a lot this season as the trade deadline approaches. Unfortunately the Cavs have had a tough time getting anything done. They haven’t had the right mix of players to unload, and they don’t want to part with certain pieces of the puzzle. Further complicating matters is that the Cavs gave away (and I do mean GAVE AWAY) their first round pick for this season to the Boston Celtics when they got Jiri Welsch in the 04-05 season.
I need to change the subject before I start to get angry about Jiri Welsch and Jim Paxson all over again.
Anyway, the Cavs have had a tough road to haul trying to get access to available point guards like Mike James, Jason Kidd, or Mike Bibby. But now, rumor has it that the Cavs might possibly have the inside track on Mike Bibby by utilizing a third team. The Kings would get Mike James, the Cavs would get Mike Bibby, and the Cavs would give up Drew Gooden and possibly more because Gooden doesn’t make nearly as much money as is owed to Bibby.
So that is where it stands now. I have stated before, and I will say it again (especially after last night’s spectacular game-winning rebound/dunk) that the only two untouchable players on the Cavs’ roster are LeBron James and Anderson Varejao.
And yes, that means you too Larry Hughes. Hughes has played much better of late, but at more than $13 million per year, he just doesn’t do enough to justify his price. Also not to mention the fact that getting rid of Hughes would mean the Cavs have enough flexibility to sign up and comers Varejao and Sasha Pavlovic.
So that is the status as of right now. Hopefully the Cavs will continue to work the phones and possibly get themselves a new point guard before the end of the day. If it ends up being Mike Bibby, the rest of the Eastern Conference better watch out for a much better prepared Cleveland Cavaliers team as we head toward the playoffs.
The Cleveland Browns and Career-Threatening Injuries
I don’t know what it is about the Browns, but they seem to have their undue share of injuries which end up taking the careers of relatively young players. Last season, Gary Baxter had both of his knees explode on the same play. Dayleon McCutcheon was lost for the season after not recovering from his knee surgery. LeCharles Bentley’s patellar tendon exploded and as of yesterday, he has been ruled out of action for the second season since being signed to a huge free agent contract with the Browns.
I think maybe this will finally put the Browns’ unending uphill climb out of the basement in perspective. What other examples in the National Football League can you think of where a team signed players of the caliber of Gary Baxter and LeCharles Bentley only to lose both to career-threatening injuries. Said another way, you expect guys to perform at a pro-bowl level and all of a sudden your expectations have to be tempered to the point that it would be promising if they ever hit the practice field again.
How do you rebuild from catastrophes like this? Is it a curse? Is it just bad luck? Can you overcome it? How long until the fans just give up on this franchise?
CC Sabathia and Victor Martinez
This might be one of the best sights that these eyes have seen in a long time. People wonder why baseball is my favorite sport. I can’t really explain it, but I can tell you that the feelings I get when pitchers and catchers report are much different than anything I get when Browns training camp starts, or Cavs pre-season.
Weird Books
When you walk around a used book store in the middle of nowhere long enough, you never know what kinds of books you’ll find. My favorite in this group? 101 Things to Make With Human Skin.
“Wait. Was she a great big fast person?”
(By the way, these were joke book covers. The books inside were other books.)
After Walking in the Snow, Jenny is Sleepy
Marching through the snow of varying depths is apparently very tiring.
Small Jen vs Big Chautauqua Bell Tower
Jen looks small in any setting, but in this particular she is dwarfed by the Miller Bell Tower in Chautauqua and the giant snow piles that surround it.
Jenny Shoveling
When the motherf***ing plow doesn’t show up, what do you do? Take the day off of work and shovel even if you paid a $225 contract that should have covered the whole winter. The plow came yesterday at 6 PM and we haven’t seen the dude since. This picture was taken approximately 23 hours (and 2 feet of snow) later.
Lebron Isn’t Getting Calls Anymore
I know it sounds like a load after last season’s unnofficial rules where if you breathed near Lebron a foul was called. But, pay attention when I tell you that something is going on. Apparently Coach Mike Brown and the Cavs feel the same way too. Brown, a coach who is known for not showing too much emotion, has amassed three techs in the last few games. It probably isn’t all that coincidental that this realization coincides with games against the Miami Heat, where Dwyane Wade is still getting some serious foul-calling benefit of the doubt.
And apparently Mike Brown is now so sick and tired of the non-calls that he is shipping videos of offending circumstances to the league offices.
I say good for Mike Brown. Especially in the Heat game, Lebron was taking shots from lots of guys and not getting calls. This play, in particular, Lebron scores the layup, got hit in the face by Mourning and nothing was called.
Now don’t get me wrong. I really like the new rules about complaining about whistles. Even as a Clevelander, the Lebron face was starting to become infamous as he was whining more and more about every call. The new rules have reduced these moments almost to non-existence. But, there has to be a balance where a great player like Lebron can get some of these calls when he is blatantly hacked. Wade is still getting them, so I know the referrees are capable.
Should You Shut Down a Superstar?
The Cavaliers had a very complete win over the Lakers today 99-90. Lebron had a tough game, only scoring 18 points with 5 assists, 8 rebounds and 1 turnover in 38 minutes of play. The Lakers did a good job of shutting LeBron down all afternoon long, but Lebron did a good job of not forcing it and letting the action move to the Cavaliers other players.
And the other Cavaliers responded. Ilgauskas had 17 points and Sasha Pavlovic provided a huge lift adding 21 points in 28 minutes of action.
The game was interesting from the perspective that Kobe Bryant scored 36 points in the losing effort. The Cavaliers played good team defense with solid rotations all day which wasn’t good enough to keep Kobe from getting his, but it did shut down everyone else on the team. Radmanovic had 12 points and Lamar Odom had 11, but that wasn’t enough of a contribution to put the Lakers over the top.
Contrast that with the Cavaliers who put a combination of Larry Hughes and Eric Snow on Kobe for most of the game one on one, while playing regular defense to keep the rest of the Lakers team from doing too much damage. So the Cavs let the Lakers’ superstar get off, while the Lakers chose to shut down Lebron and give open jumpers and drives to Lebron’s supporting cast.
Sometimes you can pay too much attention to a superstar, apparently.
