Comedian Sebastian Maniscalco is facing backlash from other comedians who claim his acquisition of SiriusXM’s Raw Comedy channel is hurting promising talent, as he previously reported Deadline. Many established comedians, including Patton Oswalt and Margaret Cho, have posted videos online calling on Maniscalco to continue Raw Comedy’s legacy by highlighting newer comedians on his channel, rather than focusing primarily on better-known ones.
The widespread criticism comes as Stand Up for Standup, a nonprofit that provides resources to comedians in need, released a report about the channel’s alienation of emerging talent, who rely not only on the visibility they receive by appearing on the station, but also on the royalties they earn from SiriusXM. The organization says that since March, spins on Maniscalco’s channels have dwindled from a broader network of more than 800 comics to a much smaller pool of 275 artists, largely skewed toward celebrities.
“We believe this shift, both in the overall number of performers enjoying plays on Channel 102, and in the shift in distribution among all those getting effects, favoring the former, is bad for comedians and bad for the future of comedy,” says Stand Up for Standup.
“There are a lot of up-and-coming comedians who rely on the money and checks they get from Sirius,” Oswalt says in an Instagram video. “But 500 of them have been kicked out of Sirius… You can easily reverse this decision. Get those young comedians back on the Sirius channel. Let them get those checks.” Many other comedians, including Liz Miele, Kyle Kinane and Michelle Wolf, have also criticized Maniscalco.
In a statement to DeadlineSiriusXM says Maniscalco’s channel “introduced a new creative direction and ever-evolving programming mix for the channel,” adding that “SiriusXM continues to invest in comedians more than any other audio platform.” Neither SiriusXM nor Maniscalco representatives immediately responded. The edgeRequest for comments.
