[whd23]

I believe XM uses a geosynchronous satellite while Sirius has three satellites that are not geosynchronous. This means that if you're in a location that doesn't get XM reception it's not going to work period, whereas outage locations for Sirius change as the satellites move across the horizon.

As to why urban areas may provide better Sirius reception it may be that Sirius has a bigger terrestrial repeater network. (That's a guess, not a fact).

[Squantos]

I did not know that....Thanks for the info !

I do know in such a major disaster such as we saw in NOLA region the folks that had either or XM / Sirius we're well informed from the TV Noooze shows and what XM calls Channel 247 as in 24 & 7, their emergency channel. They usually just report storms and such around the nation but during the recent hurricanes they had very good info with out all the Whorealdo Inc lookie at meeeee BS that seems to come with the noooze these days.

I don't have the sirius so can't say if they have the same setup but I know Sat Radio is a good source of information during good times and bad . Add such as the 247 channel with the other channels and it's a great little source be it either brand IMO.....

Stay safe !