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Attention Sirius Radio Listeners

By Jeralyn, Section Media
Posted on Mon Apr 25, 2005 at 07:34:53 PM EST
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I have been receiving e-mails from people telling me that Sirius radio has a liberal talk station it identifies as "TalkLeft." When I checked the Sirus website, I saw it lists its liberal talk station as "Sirius Left" , which is fine. But now I get another email that says in Kansas City, on station 143, the display clearly reads "TALKLEFT SIRIUS CHANNEL 143."

I don't get Sirius, so can anyone let me know if this is accurate? Sirus should not be appropriating TalkLeft's name.

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    Attention Sirius Radio Listeners | 21 comments (21 topical)
    Re: Attention Sirius Radio Listeners (none / 0) (#1)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Apr 25, 2005 at 07:58:44 PM EST
    I have Sirius, and I do listen to Channel 143 occasionally. But Sirius itself is consistent with calling the station "Sirius Left," as I can recall. There is also "Sirius Right," and "Sirius Patriot," and a less political "center" channel as well. CS

    Re: Attention Sirius Radio Listeners (none / 0) (#2)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Apr 25, 2005 at 08:01:54 PM EST
    I have seen it, as of 3 weeks ago it was TalkLeft. It should be noted that the only competitor for Sirius is XM Radio...XM is heavily invested in by News Corp and Murdoch himself appears on the Board of Directors. Sirius has been struggling to keep up; let's keep that in mind when directing our angst towards sat radio carriers.

    Re: Attention Sirius Radio Listeners (none / 0) (#3)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Apr 25, 2005 at 08:20:20 PM EST
    Sue these guys!!!!! I was driving a rental car today with Sirius radio when I saw the "Talkleft" clearly as station #143. I naturally tuned in hoping to hear Jeralyn advocating the overthrow of something.....only to hear some jerk spouting off about some boring issue!

    Re: Attention Sirius Radio Listeners (none / 0) (#4)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Apr 25, 2005 at 08:56:50 PM EST
    i have sirius in rhode island and it is labeled sirius left liberal talk channel 143

    Re: Attention Sirius Radio Listeners (none / 0) (#5)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Apr 25, 2005 at 09:44:39 PM EST
    XM is heavily invested in by News Corp and Murdoch himself appears on the Board of Directors. Meanwhile: XM is now the exclusive satellite radio network for Air America.

    Re: Attention Sirius Radio Listeners (none / 0) (#6)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Apr 25, 2005 at 10:20:59 PM EST
    I have XM and it's called Talk Left

    Re: Attention Sirius Radio Listeners (none / 0) (#7)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Apr 25, 2005 at 10:50:00 PM EST
    On XM Radio, channel 167 is called "America Left". On Sirius, channel 143 is called "Sirius Left". It took me about half a minute to visit the two websites to verify this information for myself. But if y'all want to rely on your hazy memories instead, feel free.

    Re: Attention Sirius Radio Listeners (none / 0) (#8)
    by Linkmeister on Mon Apr 25, 2005 at 11:22:05 PM EST
    Sherlock, take note that Jeralyn herself checked the website and agrees with you. But I submit that some radio hosts have been known to create shorthand descriptions of programs, and that may be what's happened here.

    Re: Attention Sirius Radio Listeners (none / 0) (#9)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Apr 25, 2005 at 11:27:57 PM EST
    What seems to be happening, as I noted, is that while "Sirius Left" appears on the website, "TalkLeft" appears on some radio display screens. As Mickey noted, he saw "talkleft" on the radio display and tuned in, thinking he was going to hear me, speaking for TalkLeft, and didn't. That's where it's unfair to TalkLeft and me.

    Re: Attention Sirius Radio Listeners (none / 0) (#10)
    by Andreas on Tue Apr 26, 2005 at 04:06:16 AM EST
    Maybe it makes sense to send them a friendly mail and ask for an explanation.

    Re: Attention Sirius Radio Listeners (none / 0) (#11)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Apr 26, 2005 at 06:11:07 AM EST
    TL, get Sirius! (Sorry, couldn't resist...)

    Re: Attention Sirius Radio Listeners (none / 0) (#12)
    by Peter G on Tue Apr 26, 2005 at 06:31:15 AM EST
    Hey, JM: How about we write them a "lawyer letter" to defend your common law trademark, pointing out that if they don't satisfy you, you will have no choice but to take legal action to defend your intellectual property, and then agree to settle for their giving you and TChris a daily show? You could be the Ron Kuby of satellite radio!

    Re: Attention Sirius Radio Listeners (none / 0) (#13)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Apr 26, 2005 at 06:49:25 AM EST
    I have Sirius radio and have had it since August 2004. There is a TALK LEFT, TALK RIGHT and a TALK CENTER. mine does not have Sirius Left on the station.

    Re: Attention Sirius Radio Listeners (none / 0) (#14)
    by roy on Tue Apr 26, 2005 at 08:25:29 AM EST
    Are you sure Sirius appropriated your name, and not the other way around? You started your blog June 15, 2002. You had the domain registered for a while before that, but how was it used? Sirius started broadcasting July 1, 2002, and probably advertised for a while before that. I don't know if their Talk Left was part of that hypothetical advertising. If they advertised for more than two weeks before launch, and you didn't do anything with "TalkLeft.com", then I think you shouldn't complain.

    Re: Attention Sirius Radio Listeners (none / 0) (#15)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Apr 26, 2005 at 08:53:49 AM EST
    TalkLeft began in January, 2000 as a daily news and opinion source. It was converted to a weblog in June, 2002. Here's how it looked back then.

    Re: Attention Sirius Radio Listeners (none / 0) (#16)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Apr 26, 2005 at 09:32:24 AM EST
    Have you trademarked TalkLeft? And would its use for a radio station be considered infringing? Remember that the Washington Post's lawyers told Josh Marshall they would be happy to fight it out over "Talking Points Memo". Cranky

    Re: Attention Sirius Radio Listeners (none / 0) (#17)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Apr 26, 2005 at 04:26:40 PM EST
    Wacko: Meanwhile: XM is now the exclusive satellite radio network for Air America. Why not? I'm sure that Rupert and pals would love nothing more than for our media to abandon all sense of restraint. If bias were to be completely pervasive across all mediums, the less prepared you are, the less able you will be to adequately parse the garbage from the information: Societal control via educational access inequity through the restriction of the free flow of ideas/information. You think blogs is an adequate counterbalance? How much "evidence" written here (by TL or commenters) is acquired first hand? I don't care if 80, 90, or 95 percent of them just want to "focus" our minds on buying marketed products - the simple fact that they have that kind of control over the medium is too great a risk for abuse of power. It's also contrary to the idea of competitive markets - a requirement for classical capitalism. All the government has to do is trust bust and keep it busted up. Why don't they? I for one am sick of not having an option to obtain entertainment programming without supporting my own oppression (i.e. Rupert Murdoch's evil propaganda empire). I want everything he's involved with line item deleted from my bill. The fact that there is no way that I can accomplish that should tell you something about our society.

    Re: Attention Sirius Radio Listeners (none / 0) (#18)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Wed Apr 27, 2005 at 07:14:31 AM EST
    Yesterday, I was in a friends car who has Sirius. Instinctively I grabbed the control and scanned through the channels. Indeed, there is a channel called "TalkLeft"

    Re: Attention Sirius Radio Listeners (none / 0) (#19)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Wed Apr 27, 2005 at 01:48:53 PM EST
    Posted by Tampa Student: " I for one am sick of not having an option to obtain entertainment programming without supporting my own oppression" Good luck. Discussions of a possible merger of XM and Sirius are rampant. Murdoch just purchased Directtv (sat tv), and already the lineup is changing. In the late 80s and 90s the buyouts and conglomerations were 'quiet,' and the outlets were left the same. But then when it came time to roll out the largest propaganda effort in modern times, the 'front-ends' of Monopoly Media were quickly thrown into gear by a concerted, paid-for, psyop attack on our freedoms. Unwinding the Murdoch python from our necks is not going to be easy. Air America is a tick on that anaconda. They are hosted by that other rightwing mogul-media Clear Channel in several locations. It is unavoidable, vulnerable, frightening, and WRONG on several levels -- it would have been best not to fall asleep while the python was wrapping our legs.

    Re: Attention Sirius Radio Listeners (none / 0) (#20)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Wed Apr 27, 2005 at 04:18:21 PM EST
    Clear Channel has a huge share of the Tampa marketplace in radio and billboards. Their Conservative bias isn't just detectable on AM - they're quite open about it every single morning on the #1 rated "pop" channel in Tampa. Tampa-based Syndicated moron "M.J." spent all of 2003 ranting about "Liberal Pantywaists" in between Coca-Cola ads and Britney Spears songs. Conservative Ethnocentrism and intolerance, brought to you by Corporate Manufactured Pop Icons.

    Re: Attention Sirius Radio Listeners (none / 0) (#21)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Fri Apr 29, 2005 at 06:18:06 AM EST
    I have sirius, in North Carolina, and the description of channel 143 in the upper left hand corner says "TalkLeft"

    Attention Sirius Radio Listeners | 21 comments (21 topical)