An Open Letter to Hugh Panero
Last week, I sent a “Thank You” letter to Hugh Panero, the CEO of XM Satellite Radio. I also copied the letter to various folks at NPR - no, of course I don’t expect it to do any good, I only wanted them to know that 1) six months down the road, some of us haven’t forgotten how badly they are managing the network, and 2) there are more and more alternatives to their network.
I enclose it here to make it a matter of public record.
To: Hugh Panero
Subject: A Thank You…
Cc: (Ken Stern), (Kevin Klose), (Jay Kernis), (Ellen McDonnell),
(Mark Handley), (Ellen Rocco), ombudsman@npr.org
Mr. Panero;
As a newly-minted XM Radio subscriber, I am writing to thank you for XM
Channel 133, XMPR, and the upcoming “The Bob Edwards Show.”
Like thousands of others, I have taken the moneys which would in other
years have gone to various NPR member stations around the country and instead
used those funds to purchase an XM radio and subscription, specifically to
listen to XMPR and Mr. Edward’s show. That the BBC World Service, C-SPAN
Radio, and other news and talk channels are also available is nothing more
than a pleasant bonus.
It is my sincere hope that “The Bob Edwards Show,” which proves once again
how out-of-touch the NPR execs who believe Mr. Edwards to be nothing but, “a
footnote” really are, is only the first of many exclusive-to-XM self-produced
(or produced in cooperation with your current partners) programs; there are
many of us who are hungry for alternatives to the current climate in on-air
public radio of pandering for ratings by using the tired old “Barbie-And-Ken”
happy-talk short-attention-span nonsense we are routinely subjected to by our
local television newscasts. My wish for XMPR is that it rises above the
current low standard and actually provides listeners with what _we_ want, not
what some small group of misguided executives deign to give to us.
Charlie Summers