The announcement was not an immediate lightning rod, Deadline reports, but an online dialogue around the change has since gained steam. Comics including Patton Oswalt and Michelle Wolf have posted Instagram videos addressed directly to Maniscalco, and Deadline reports Liz Miele and Greg Stone have done the same, urging him to reincorporate the working comics who were dropped from the channel's rotation.

Stand Up for Standup, a nonprofit advocacy group, published a report on the channel's shift away from emerging talent. The Verge reports the group says spins on the channel dropped from a pool of more than 800 comics in March to about 275 artists, skewed heavily toward celebrities. Miele says the channel now plays mostly famous names like Joan Rivers, Johnny Carson, Bob Hope and Norm Macdonald.

The money at issue is small but, comics say, vital. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Stand Up for Standup says comics earned $15 in royalties per spin of their set on the channel — "passive royalty earnings" that support careers built on the road. Miele called the loss of that income "devastating," saying working-class comics with no safety net depend on the checks to survive, per Deadline. Stone told fans they may soon see favorite comics "pumping gas, waiting tables" instead of on stage. The Verge notes the channel offered not just royalties but visibility for comics audiences had never heard of before.

Neither SiriusXM nor Maniscalco has reversed course. The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline and The Verge all reached out to Maniscalco's team for comment without an immediate response. A SiriusXM spokesperson told the outlets that the launch of Maniscalco's Comedy Radio "introduced a new creative direction and a regularly evolving programming mix," and that the company "continues to invest in comedians more than any other audio platform." Deadline reports sources close to SiriusXM acknowledged the legitimacy of comics' concerns but said the rebrand was viewed as necessary because the old channel wasn't meeting listenership expectations; the company has not released channel-level audience data, and it remains unclear how much control Maniscalco has over individual selections.