If You Want To Express An Opinion On enLighten

Granted, this is the third straight post on the situation, but I consider it to be extremely important.  It has been stated that the folks at Sirius/XM are basically ignoring emails to the customercare address and most definitely ignoring Facebook.  The only thing they are paying attention to are letters primarily, followed by phone calls.  However, I think emails sent directly to the powers that be, instead of the easily ignored generic email address, would probably carry more weight.  So here are the pertinent addresses/phone numbers/email addresses.  Please take the time to address this situation.  Only a massive response has a chance of causing Sirius/XM to reconsider.  Like the old saying goes, “the squeaky wheel gets the grease.”

Mr. Mel Karmazin, CEO
1221 Avenue of the Americas, 36th Floor; New York, NY 10020
mkarmazin@siriusradio.com

Mr. Scott A. Greenstein, President of Programming
1221 Avenue of the Americas, 36th Floor; New York, NY 10020
sgreenstein@siriusradio.com

Phone (Corporate): (212) 584-5100 (ask for Programming, h/t Norm)

Phone (Sirius): 1-888-539-7474

Phone (XM): 1-800-XM-RADIO or 1-877-291-5304

Other contacts can be found on this comment on my original post.  Again, please take the time to contact them directly.

Update On The Status Of Enlighten

Sirius/XM has confirmed that enLighten is moving to an online only format.  It will be removed from both their over the air formats (car radios) and from the Dish Network service.  This is quite a blow to SG as a genre.  From Daniel Mount’s blog, and also in the comments on my previous post, here is the pertinent contact information for the company to voice your displeasure.  I highly recommend doing just that.  I will be emailing them as well.

• Phone (Sirius): 1-888-539-7474
• Phone (XM): 1-800-XM-RADIO or 1-877-291-5304
• Email: customercare@siriusxm.com
• Mail: Mr. Scott A. Greenstein; President, Programming; Sirius XM Radio; 1221 Avenue of the Americas, 36th Floor; New York, NY 10020
• Mail: Mr. Mel Karmazin; CEO; Sirius XM Radio; 1221 Avenue of the Americas, 36th Floor; New York, NY 10020

Is enLighten enDangered?

DBM broke the story last night that enLighten is rumored to be removed from the Sirius/XM over the air lineup on May 4.  The station would be available as an online-only station.  I hope that this isn’t the case, as I quite frequently listen to the station via Dish Network, especially while getting ready for church on Sunday mornings.  There is no official word from the folks at enLighten as of yet, only a “watch this space” type message promising further details later.  For what it is worth, there is a Facebook group that has been started to try and save the station’s broadcast status.

SG’s Big Night At The Doves

Southern Gospel had a pretty big night at the Dove Awards Wednesday night.  You can see all the winners in the SG related categories here, but in the biggest surprise, Jason Crabb took home the overall Song of the Year for “Sometimes I Cry.”  This the first time since the Blackwood Brothers took home the award in 1977 for “Learning to Lean” that a Southern Gospel song has won the award.  While there have been several since with SG connections (The Imperials  “Praise the Lord” in 1981, Michael English “In Christ Alone” in 1994, for example) this is a pretty big win for SG.  Congratulations to Jason and writer Gerald Crabb!  Hopefully this is the start of a trend.

Prayer Requested For Randy Perry

Randy Perry (brother of Libbi Perry Stuffle and former member of The Perrys) will be facing open heart surgery possibly as early as today.  Please keep the Perry family in your prayers.

SG News and Notes

A couple of things have come down the pipe over the past couple days…

• The Absolutely Gospel Awards were presented a couple nights ago.  You can find a list of the winners here.  I saw on Twitter that there was a particularly moving tribute paid to Susan Unthank, which was very much deserved.  On a lighter note, by all accounts Madison “The Awkward” Easter and Devin “Socks” McGlamery did a fine job hosting the ceremony!
• Liberty Quartet, in a video post on Daniel Mount’s blog, announced the departure of long time lead vocalist Dan Gilbert.

Anything else caught your attention this week?

Brian Free’s Mom Passes Away

Brian Free posted the following on the BFA Facebook page.  Please be in prayer for the Free family as this follows so closely on the heels of his Dad’s passing back in the fall.

At 9:45 pm est. time tonight, my precious Mom went home to be with Jesus.  She’s up in heaven with my Dad.  She took her last breath with a smile on her face.  She must have seen the face of Jesus as he welcomed her home.  Thank you all for your prayers and posts.  Keep my family in your prayers.  Brian