Some Opie and Anthony fans are pretty upset with the suspension of the duo by the satellite radio provider. Some subscribers are hammering, sawing, blowtorching and smashing their XM radios. Here’s a roundup of several of such videos. Warning: several contain bad language. I have to admit the videos are entertaining.

Death by hammer:

Joe cancels his account and smashes his XM radio with a hammer.

This started on a Greg “Opie” Hughes and Anthony Cumia broadcast May 9 with a radio bit. A character they call Homeless Charlie, fantasized about having violent sex with Laura Bush, Condoleezza Rice and Queen Elizabeth II. The bit was quite raunchy with a lot of what many would consider bad language.

XM execs were not happy. “We deplore the comments made on ‘Opie & Anthony Show,”‘ XM spokesman Nathaniel Brown told The Associated Press. But he did not say whether XM planned to take disciplinary action.

Opie and Anthony did apologize, “We apologize to the public officials for comments that we made on our XM show on May 9th. We take very seriously the responsibility that comes with our creative freedom and regret any offense that this segment has caused,” they said. But then they called on their competitors most notably, Howard Stern to join them in defense of the right of shock jocks everywhere.

“Are you with us or against us?” they asked, referencing such recently fired radio talkers as Don Imus and “JV and Elvis.” Then they told listeners that while they didn’t have the FCC restricting their language, they still must follow XM’s “dumb rules.” That apparently was too much for XM to take.

XM Satellite Radio suspended “The Opie & Anthony Show” for 30 days, though the pair will still do their program on CBS Radio, where speech codes are far more stringent than they are on pay radio.

Opie & Anthony’s Homeless Charlie bit came at a particularly really touchy time, as XM is trying to get permission to merge with Sirius Satellite Radio. Some on Wall Street predicted last week that XM eventually would have to punish Opie & Anthony if for no other reason than to curry favor among lawmakers, who are deciding whether to give the proposed merger the thumbs up.

There are some activists already calling for the sanctioning of Rush Limbaugh for his “Barack the Magic Negro” parody song sung to the tune of “Puff the Magic Dragon.” The song quotes from a Los Angeles Times opinion piece that called Barack Obama a “magic negro” for his ability to attract voters of all races.

I am not a listener of Opie and Anthony, nor do I subscribe to either XM or Sirius. I tried both and it was not for me. But I can understand the outrage of some of these people as satellite radio sells itself on uncensored content and this what these subscribers paid for.

Opie and Anthony most certainly were not reading the environment to understand the issues with XM seeking approval from the FCC to merge with Sirius Satellite Radio. XM and Sirius don’t want any regulation. But up for congressional hearings and the merger is a close call, any and all issues right now are important for the survival of satellite radio.

I am not big on any form of censorship. I believe if you do not like sometime, turn it off. As XM has the right to hire and fire who they like. The subscribers have the right to cancel. Seems that XM is making canceling harder than it should be. Maybe making their subscribers more upset and leading to more smashed XM radios.

As XM subscribers react, it will be interesting to see how many actually cancel and how it affects satellite radio.

Death by blowtorch:

Death by saw:

Death by shovel:

Death by hand:

Death by vise:

Death by fire:

Brooklyn speaks to India:

Some XM Radio subscribers protesting the Opie and Anthony suspension have claimed they called to cancel their service. Hang up the phone thinking they’ve canceled. After calling back to verify, it turns out they’ve only been given a 1-6 month credit. If this is true, that is NOT cool XM.

Some subscribers also claimed that after being transferred to the cancellation department, they were hung up while on hold waiting for them to pick up. Maybe XM hired AOL’s old retention specialists.

If you want to cancel your XM service you need to call XM again and verify the cancellation. Otherwise you may be in for a surprise in a few months when XM monthly charges show up again. My advice is call your credit card company and cancel XM there also.

Maybe we can ask Vincent Ferrari to call XM to cancel!

Update: Seems there is a big difference between last month’s dismissal of Don Imus at CBS and this week’s suspension of The Opie & Anthony Show on XM Satellite Radio. While the firing of Imus was done mostly to appease angry sponsors, it is the XM sponsors that are bolting in response to the censoring of the station’s morning-show stars. See more on this.

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