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SiriusXM is partnering with Pantheon Media to launch Basic! The original SXM Podcast explores the glory days of cable television, celebrating an era in pop culture.
Basic! is hosted by media veteran Doug Herzog and TV critic Jen Chaney who take a look at cable television and the impact networks like MTV, Comedy Central, FX and ESPN had on the television landscape with groundbreaking, innovative programming.
“As a career cable weasel, I’m thrilled to bring the secret history of basic cable to ears everywhere,” said Herzog. “It never had the same respect of network television, HBO or even the streamers who threatened to make it obsolete. But with a chip on its shoulder, it managed to change the TV landscape forever.”
“With streaming options proliferating by the minute — seriously, two new platforms were launched in the time it took me to say the beginning of this sentence — it seems like a perfect time to revisit the early years of basic cable and track its evolution and impact on the TV we watch today,” said Chaney. “This podcast will be fun, conversational and, hopefully, educational. With Basic! in the world, hopefully no child will ever have to wonder again who Beavis or Butthead was.”