On local regular radio they're running an anti-satellite radio spot. The gist is:

- big investment in equipment
- two cars = two separate accounts
- fades in and out and forget it if you're driving in, say, Chicago (skyscrapers)
- potty mouth 24/7 on satellite radio so watch out if you have kids
- every month tens of thousands of satellite radio subscribers end their accounts

So that's their opinion. What's yours?

Edited to add: I should tell you about the radio where I live. We're out in the boonies. We get: NPR, an oldies station, several religious stations, two Top 40 stations, two country stations, one heavy metal station, one light rock (all Phil Collins all the time).

I've heard that radio spot too. The idea of satellite radio intrigues me. If I were someone who did a lot of driving (salesman, trucker) I think it would be a great way to listen to music without having to retune stations when I drove out of range.

I don't have any incentive to buy it right now and really don't see the benefit of no ads to be great enough to make the investment. I'm not that familiar with the programming that is available, but I can see how it might provide a venue for newer artists to get more exposure. That's one of the reasons I like listening to the radio.

On local regular radio they're running an anti-satellite radio spot. This reminds me of the cable co. ads against satellite TV. In those ads, their claims are outright lies. I would not be surprised to find the same here. I do not (yet) have satellite radio, but I expect to sooner rather than later. The lure of commercial-free music will be too much to resist as OTA radio becomes more and more commercial-filled.

Dish Network carries the Sirius radio stations that are available on satellite radio. And since I just got Dish Network I get satellite radio at home now. We have an all '80s station...'nuff said. I love it.

(Although I won't be making the investment for my car.)

And since I just got Dish Network I get satellite radio at home now.



D'oh! (picture me smacking forehead) We get Dish Network, too. I plain forgot about the music! There's even a Hawaiian music channel.

Alright, so I'm covered at home. But I really am tempted to get it in the Jeep.

DirecTV has equivalent commercial-free music channels (from Music Choice (http://www.musicchoice.com/)) and we often have either the 40s or 80s New Wave channel on at home. I was also talking about radio for the car in my earlier post.

The funny thing is that when we lived in SoCal, I had no problem contributing to KCRW and whatever the public radio classical station was there. I enjoyed listening to them since they didn't have commercials (though I'd abandon them for a week every other month for their pledge drives). Here in the Bay Area we seem to have one major public radio station that I can't pick up in my car, no non-commercial classical at all (and KDFC, the commercial classical station, is totally overrun with ads), and nothing approaching the interesting content of KCRW.

Anyway, I guess my point is that you should evaluate the pros and cons of satellite radio yourself, based on independent reviews (check Consumer Reports and audiophile magazines) and test it out yourself in the store. Don't let the OTA broadcasters obvious self-interest sway you.

This reminds me of the cable co. ads against satellite TV. In those ads, their claims are outright lies.

I am very strongly opinionated against cable companies and very happily send my subscription fees to CEO Charlie at Dish TV. Those commercials drive/drove me crazy. When I did the research between the two, the cable company was charging me outrageous "rental" fees for outdated equipment and would not upgrade when I asked them to. When we switched to Dish, we got to choose which classy equipment we purchased and figured out how long it would take to cost the equivalent of rental fees. We surpassed that time and the equipment is still great, although we did upgrade to get a DVR last month, but that was long after the satellite "paid" for itself.

We don't really have that comparison with regular radio but those cable versus satellite spots are just so misleading, IMO. Now, the satellite company's version is much better, but I already admitted my extreme bias :)

Adrienne

I was watching a discussion of satellite radio on tv. They said that within the next year a service will be available with the satellite radio which will produce maps and color code the streets to show how fast the traffic is currently moving. You could tell when the streets are backed up, which would be great here as traffic backups have become too frequent.

I have XM Radio, and have been quite happy with it. Especially on long drives in areas without service, but I also have a dock for use in the home, which is great.

As far as the negatives:

Yeah, you do have an initial outlay, but I think it's down to a little over $100. Since I can use it both in the car and at home, it gets a lot of use.

If you have two units, you do get a price break on the second unit, so it's not as expensive, but it's a little more.

Fade outs I've never really experienced, unless I stop under a large underpass for a few seconds. (Driving under it is fine.) This is in Phoenix, where it's quite flat. But they do have transponders in the larger cities to help with drop outs. (Then again, some FM stations I listen to have the same problem.)

For 'potty mouth', you can call XM and have them block out the channels with bad language, if you wish. Wish you could do that with Howard Stern. :rolleyes:

I think they're exaggerating the 'thousands' that drop their accounts every month. XM just had their millionth subscriber, so they're doing pretty good.

The gist of the FM broadcaster's problem is that XM just recently started broadcasting traffic & weather for the major cities, so the last reason to listen to FM is gone. The traffic/weather is great, as it's constantly updated.

I don't listen to regular radio anymore.. Too many commercials and too few choices. XM Rules.

We have Sirius in my Dad's car. We love it. We actually get Audio from cable channels like CNN and Discovery. Its crystal clear, and the only drop outs we have is in a little tiny area by my school for some reason. Everywhere else (downtown, in parking garages, etc) is perfectly fine.

The July issue of Consumer Reports has a 1/2 page article (page 9) about satellite radio. It does provide the web sites of the two main providers: Sirius (http://www.sirius.com) and XM (http://www.xmradio.com)

I think the amount of negative advertising aimed at it should be evidence of the perceived threat to the status quo (eg: methinks he protest too much...)

I got very fed up one day last year trying to find an FM station that was playing something I wanted to hear, and nearly every station was playing the same overplayed music. I went out and bought my XM radio that day and now you couldn't pay me to switch back.

I now have over 60 stations of music that fill whatever my particular listening desire is at that moment, and I have a wide taste in music so it comes in handy quite often. The fact that I don't listen to commercials is worth half the subscription cost alone.

Another thing that I love is tuning into the comedy stations while I am stuck in traffic. Rush hour goes by a whole lot faster when you are laughing your butt off.

And the constant 24/7 traffic and weather is a blessing as well. I know if I'll hit traffic within minutes, while FM listeners have to wait until the station decides to tell them. And even then, FM stations usually only give the highlights, where XM gives complete details and speeds.

And the reception is way better than most people think. There are thousands of ground repeaters to cover the dropout zones that happen in citys. I'm even able to get great reception in the M&F structure despite the thick layers of concrete.

I've turned most of my friends onto XM, and I know they won't be ending their subscriptions any time soon. 3894, those radio ads you hear are pure bunk.