[ovrtaxt]

I still haven't taken the plunge into satellite radio, Just waiting for the market to develop a bit, I guess.

[ovrtaxt]

Even odder, just as NAB is fighting XM and Sirius over local content, many of the stations NAB represents are turning away from localized programming, running cheaper, syndicated content from parent companies like ClearChannel and Infinity.

I hate that. Now, deregulation is a good thing, giving corporations the ability to own as many stations as they want. But their use of the NAB lobby to stifle smaller companies is totally unethical. Apparently, they're playing both sides of the issue. Very low class.

[speedy]

I had my first experience with XM radio a few months ago when it was included in a rental car I was driving. It was great -- radio the way it used to be before the accountants ran it -- obscure songs, lots of variety, no ads. I highly recommend it.

[VOA]

Hmmm...I'm gonna' have to look into an XM or Sirius subscription.
That might be a nice way to strike a blow against the NAB.

Is there anything such as a Walkman-style personal XM/Sirius receiver available?
Or are XM/Sirius users pretty well restricted to use in vehicles or home?

[VeniVidiVici]

I still haven't taken the plunge into satellite radio

Nor have I. But it's worthless to get a car with a radio anymore. Nothing but ads. Though my latest car has a cd player which I use quite often.

[Bosco]

I'd seriously consider XM radio if Limbaugh was on one of the services. Rush talked about it a couple weeks ago on his program, and there were business/contract reasons why he said he couldn't - i.e. the distribution channels are at each other's throats.

So, I have Rush 24x7 and it works fine for me.

[TopDog2]

XM has over 2 million subscribers and Sirius has (I think) over 300,000. I subscribe to XM, but have had rentals with Sirius. Obviously, I like XM better than Sirius, but they are both so far above what is offered on AM and FM that I would never be without satellite radio.

Both services offer commercial-free music and there is something for everyones musical tastes. Like Opera? There is a channel that plays only opera. Like Reggae? XM has an all reggae channel. Like folk music? XM has an all folk music channel. Like rap? Are you nuts??? ;-)

Sirius plays more of the songs you might recognize, while XM goes deeper into an artists catalog. Both have numerous news and talk channels (those do have some commercials) such as Fox News, CNN, ABC News, BBC, etc.

IMHO, you can't go wrong with either service.

[freedumb2003]

you'd have no FOX News, no Comedy Central, and no HBO

Since there would be no CNN this would be a zero loss.

[speedy]

I forgot to mention -- you can get a free three-day trial of XM radio off of its website -- I think it's just xmradio.com, but whatever, a quick google will get you there. Not as good as listening on the radio, because you can't switch stations as quickly, so that part gets annoying. But it will give you an idea of what they are playing.

[LS]

I love my XM radio. Wouldn't leave home without it. (But I own stock in Sirius, mainly because I was too late to get in on XM).

[secretagent]

More recently, traditional broadcasters were given huge swaths of spectrum (the invisible grid over which radio, TV, and cellular signals travel) for the development of High Definition TV — for free.

Welfare for the well connected.

[The Great RJ]

Another alternative is Internet Radio--there are many streaming broadcasts of various kinds of music--many commercial free.

The broadcasters, like the recording industry better wise up. People do not want to listen to the homogenized no talent pap played on top 40 radio and will willingly seek other alternatives. Does anyone seriously want to listen to Madonna's latest trash or Britanny's no talent bubblegum pop or howling DJ's with mindless contests and trash talk?

[atomicpossum]

So the FCC can censor 1st Amendment content? I find it hard to believe that the authority to license transmissions gave them the power to prohibit you from saying "traffic on the I-9 is jammed up from Farkle Street to Garvle Boulevard." It seems to me there's a speech limitation here.

[StockAyatollah]

Even odder, just as NAB is fighting XM and Sirius over local content, many of the stations NAB represents are turning away from localized programming, running cheaper, syndicated content from parent companies like ClearChannel and Infinity.

These Clearchannel stations clog the air waves with zero-depth. ex-DJ nitwit, talk show hosts like Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck. What ever happened to local talk shows?

[doc30]

I've had XM radio for almost 2 years now and I can't live without it. The morning FM radio in my area is all fluff-talk with maybe 2 or 3 songs an hour! And half the talk is syndicated! XM is continuous music - no DJ or commercials. THey also carry the audio feed from Fox News. It was great to hear O'Reilly and H&C when I was in Canada where no-one knew who they were (except now I have the reputation of being a right wing nut for listening to Fox). THe local broadcasters are now running commercials about how many people dropped satellite radio becasue the FM and AM was better. To me, this is a sound of desperation for the traditional broadcasters.

[FreedomPoster]

Trust me. It's worth it. Go talk to anyone who's got it. They'll tell you the same.

[Joe Hadenuf]

I'd rather listen to silence, than pay for radio....

[this_ol_patriot]

Don't take my XM, right now on the Decades they are running the greatest hits of the 20th century, they started on Thursday with 1930, music, news of the day, sports of the day and other happenings during the year, they are somewhere in 1945 now and won't switch to the 50's until Monday morning. It won't end till 1999 sometime near the end of the July.

I'm amazed at the recordings they dug up. Rudy Vallee, Eddy Duchin (war hero) Harry James, The Dorseys, Goodman, Artie Shaw, Bing before he was hot, Kate Smith, early, early Sinatra with Dorsey before he was hot, the war music, polkas, Welk , theme songs, Mills Brothers, Duke, Ella, Bob Hope singing his them from a 30's recording. It's all here. OMG this is fun.

Since we got XM about a month ago it's been on 24/7 at the house and it's not only "old" music. Deep album cuts, disco, real jazz, smooth jazz, fusion, funk jazz, the blues, bluegrass, newgrass, classical, full symphonies, full operas and lots of symphonic pops, crooners, loungers, pop rock, everything, all for 10 bucks a month.

Who needs local programming except for weather and news?

[WhiteGuy]

If / When Howard Stern is forced off the air,

The satellite radio world will blossom overnight.

[Merdoug]

Good! I hope those broadcast stations go down the tube! They're all owned by one or two companies and they have cut-out any competition. They repeat their station names ceaselessly! I'm sure everyone around the county gets the same endless repeating, since "Clearchannel", etc, own everything.

[Libertina]

I read an article here on FR that said current US radio programs play as many as 25 minutes of ads in a 1 hour show. LOTS of interruptions. Europe, so I have heard, places its commericals at half hour intervals, not breaking up the programs as much. How many minutes of ads in 1 hour, though, I don't know.