SiriusXM Comedy Channel Overhaul Cuts Royalty Checks for Hundreds of Working Comedians

SiriusXM’s decision to fold its long-running Raw Dog Comedy channel into a new program hosted by Sebastian Maniscalco has wiped out a steady royalty income stream for hundreds of independent stand-up comedians, prompting pushback from performers who say the company gutted a rare source of stable pay for working artists.

In April, SiriusXM replaced Channel 99, Raw Dog Comedy, with “Sebastian Maniscalco’s Comedy Radio.” The comedy industry advocacy group Stand Up for Stand Up reports the channel’s active roster of featured comedians dropped 66% in the months that followed, from 812 in April to 275 by September, with more than three-quarters of all plays now going to just the top 50 comedians.

Comedians can earn roughly $15 per play when their recorded sets air on satellite radio. For performers removed from the rotation, that income simply disappeared.

Veteran comic Rich Vos, who has worked stand-up for 40 years and was among the 20 most-played comedians on the old channel, said the shake-up exposes a deeper problem: comedians have no union to protect them.

“Everything in life breaks down to money, numbers and money. That’s what it breaks down to,” Vos told Fox News Digital.

Vos said his own career is secure, but he spoke up for performers earlier in their careers who depend more heavily on the airplay.

“I had a great run with Sirius. I appreciate how much they played me, for how long they played me… but there’s a lot of comics that aren’t doing as well as I do. I’ve been around for over 40 years. So, there’s comics that have been doing it five, 10 years and it’s tougher for them. These are the comics that are really getting hurt by this,” he said.

Stand Up for Stand Up says the cuts have hit what it calls the “middle class of comedy” hardest — working performers who make a living on stage but aren’t famous and often live paycheck to paycheck.

Prominent comedians including Patton Oswalt and Michelle Wolf have publicly called on Maniscalco to restore airplay for the comedians who lost it. In an Instagram video directed at Maniscalco, Oswalt argued that today’s comedy landscape depends on new voices getting a foothold.

“The fact that you and I still get to tour and still get to work and still get to be as funny as we are is because comedy right now is so dynamic and has so many new, young voices that are coming up. But 500 of them have been booted off of Sirius,” Oswalt said. “I know you didn’t mean to do anything bad by doing it. You can easily reverse this decision. Get those young comedians back on the Sirius channel. Let them get those checks. Let them keep working.”

The revamped channel now leans heavily on established names such as Chris Rock, Jim Gaffigan, Jamie Foxx, Whitney Cummings and Kevin Hart, along with archival recordings from the late Joan Rivers and Bob Hope.

SiriusXM maintains the decision to end Raw Comedy predates Maniscalco’s involvement and was based on the channel’s performance.

“We have been listening to comedians speak out this week and want to clarify that our decision to end Raw Comedy was due to the channel’s underperformance and came prior to Sebastian joining the SiriusXM lineup,” the company said in a statement. “While the challenges facing working comedians are bigger than any one person or decision, we remain committed, as we have for more than two decades, to making SiriusXM a place where comedians at every stage of their careers can be heard.”

Vos pushed back on that explanation.

“I don’t know what underperformance [means]. Obviously, that means not enough people are listening to it. I just know funny is funny, and if that’s your channel is to play funny, then maybe your marketing strategy is wrong… But funny’s funny, and that’s basically what a comedy channel is about, being funny,” he said.

Maniscalco has also faced direct criticism over the changes. In an Instagram video posted Wednesday, he asked fellow comedians for patience while he builds out the channel’s lineup.

“This goes out to all my fellow comedians – I want to let you know that I heard you, I support you, I love you. I know how hard the grind is. Believe me, I’ve been there,” he said, adding that he had “nothing to do with removing Raw Comedy from SiriusXM.” “I just ask that you give me a little time, guys. I just got here and I need a little time to build out the channel. So I just want to let you know that I heard you and just give me some time and be patient and I think you’ll like the result. God bless everybody.”

In an earlier statement, SiriusXM described the shift as a creative evolution. “The launch of Sebastian Maniscalco’s Comedy Radio introduced a new creative direction and a regularly evolving programming mix for the channel, and SiriusXM continues to invest in comedians more than any other audio platform to deliver a wide range of comedy offerings across our channels,” the company said.