After comics launched a heartfelt campaign to restore a vital piece of the standup economy, its targets — Sebastian Maniscalcoand SiriusXM — seem largely unmoved.
The famed comic recently took over the satellite radio network’s Raw Comedy channel, which had provided a financial lifeline for working club comics by featuring their work on air, providing much-needed royalty checks.
However, ever since it became Maniscalco’s Comedy Radio in April, it has featured household-name comics, largely cutting the touring folks out of its programming.
On Monday, comics including Michelle Wolf, Margaret Cho, Dan Soder and Patton Oswalt took part in an online campaign on behalf of their lesser-known colleagues.
They begged Maniscalco — who broke records by selling out four nights at Madison Square Garden in 2024 — to put the rank-and-file back on the air.
Additionally, industry advocacy group Stand Up for Standup said that many comics who live paycheck-to-paycheck through SiriusXM satellite radio “spins” earn approximately $15 in royalties.
“The spins on Sebastian’s channel have drastically shifted from a wider pool of 800+ comedians enjoying spins … to a narrower pool of comedians getting plays per month,” the group explained in a statement.
“And of those few hundred who are getting spins, over 75% of the plays are going to the top 50 artists, which results in a concentration of wealth among the top echelon, which is largely made up of big-name celebrity comics.”
Others pointed out that many of those big names are dead, such as Joan Rivers and Norm Macdonald.
When Page Six reached out to Maniscalco’s rep for comment, they referred us to Sirius, which sent a statement that didn’t exactly suggest a rush to return to its role as a benefactor to comedy’s middle class.
“SiriusXM works together with our creative partners to program the best possible experience for our listeners,” a SiriusXM spokesperson told us in a statement.
“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.”
It sounds like road comics shouldn’t book any island vacations any time soon. Or Seamless.
The post Sebastian Maniscalco, SiriusXM seem unmoved by comics’ pay pleas appeared first on Page Six.
