To me, the art of comedy is unapologetic. The way I determine if I like a comedian is by his/her "grit" - Many comedians with tremendous talent have failed to reach a meteoric level of success because of their inability to adjust their act to work within the spectrum of what is acceptable comedy and what is offensive. Some may call it stubborn, but I think there is something to say about guys like Jim Norton that tend to write material that other comedians would appreciate, not what would make them famous. Obviously, there are exceptions (see Louis CK) Opie and Anthony follow the same trend. They don't really care if you don't think they are funny because if you don't, you shouldn't be listening to their show anyway. In my opinion, Opie and Anthony could have easily been as popular or more popular than Stern. But, to do so, they would have to smile at people they despise or be interested in people they personally disagree with. In that sense, there is something incredibly pure about this show: they connect and converse with individuals that they believe in and respect. (Or at least respect enough to hear out)

In closing, I bring this up to try to explain why management of siriusxm will never understand the nature of the show or its fans. Opie and Anthony, much like their friends of the show, O&A are comedians that don't care if you laugh - they care if their friends laugh.