Patrice O'Neal tribute on SiriusXM

I haven’t covered the programming on SiriusXM satellite radio very much – it’s an exclusive service and I don’t know how many readers get it, but I recently added it to my media diet (after cutting the cord from Time Warner cable, but that’s another column. Or two.) .

But I want to make note of something exclusive that was just available there this week. Comedian Patrice O’Neal’s death at 41 inspired a lot of tributes and memories being recalled online on Twitter, Facebook and elsewhere, but the only place to hear volumes of O’Neal’s appearances was on the Opie & Anthony Channel on SiriusXM. The station replayed his appearances on the O&A show and SiriusXM’s “Unmasked” show, and O&A gathered an all-star roster of comedians to share memories of him Wednesday, including Louis C.K., Amy Schumer, Jim Florentine, Robert Kelly, Colin Quinn, Bill Burr, and Jim Norton.

O’Neal hadn’t quite broken through to the level of Dane Cook before his passing, but he was definitely still on the rise, and deserves the tributes. SiriusXM and Opie & Anthony should be commended for doing what ought to be done on even broader outlets.