Comics Accuse Siriusxm Of Booting Middle-class Comedians Amid Rebrand
A comedy radio channel on SiriusXM called “Raw Dog Comedy” rebranded earlier this year to Sebastian Maniscalco’s Comedy Radio, and no one thought much of it at first. But a strategy shift following the change has reportedly pushed hundreds of middle-class and early-career standups out of the rotation, cutting off a vital source of income from royalties.
What happened: The roster of comics getting airtime on the channel has shrunk by 66% since it changed hands, dropping from 812 comics in April to 275 in September, according to estimates from nonprofit Stand Up for Standup:
- The group also says that the channel didn’t decrease overall airtime—it just replaced smaller, working-class comedians with mega-famous ones like Joan Rivers, Bob Hope, and Kevin Hart.
- Comedians like Patton Oswalt and Gianmarco Soresi have called on Maniscalco to change the programming back to support smaller acts.
Maniscalco hasn’t responded to requests for comment. SiriusXM said in a statement that the relaunch “introduced a new creative direction” for the channel.
You can still make money from the radio? For a lot of comics who might not be household names, the SiriusXM channel was a reliable source of monthly income, who already have to navigate new challenges like their material getting lifted to sell OnlyFans subscriptions.—MM
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