A great discussion is taking place around my post about the rumored Satellite Recording iPod Thinking reader Ian responds to another comment:

Putting the ipod aside, satellite radio is far superior to broadcast radio in many
ways. How? For starters:

1. Superior programming -- there is not a city in this country that offers
as many music choices as XM or Sirius. Not one. XM and Sirius provide
over 60 music channels EACH with programming suited to virtually every
genre. I doubt your [FM] station can offer that.

2. Commercial-free programming. Dan, please don't tell me about your
occasional commercial-free weekend promos. We are talking 24/7
commercial-free MUSIC, and not the standard playlists that FM plays. Gone
are the days when you flip your FM dial and here the SAME song on different
stations.

3. Crystal clear music, coast-to-coast. It's nice to be able to get in my
car, put on an XM channel and NEVER have to change it when I drive outside
of the FM area. Yes, Dan, I can drive from Maine to Montana and listen to
the same station. Please, Dan, don't through HD radio at me -- that is
just the technology that you put down -- it doesn't change the CONTENT. FM
just cannot compete with satellite radio when it comes to content.

4. Traffic/Weather. Sure, I can hear traffic and weather on FM, but only
when THEY think it's important. What about Saturday afternoon? Does FM
report on traffic? Nope. Ah, but XM and Sirius do this. I can turn on my
city's station any time of the day, any day of the week and hear about
traffic problems before I become part of them. Can't do that on FM, can
you?

5. Cost. Yes, I pay $9.99/month for XM, and others pay more for Sirius.
FM is free. Well, we all know the old saying, you get what you pay for!
For less than the cost of a CD, I get access to 2 million songs covering a
multitude of genres. FM, I get the same old playlists.

6. Portability. I just picked up the XM MyFI. I can listen to live XM
radio, and I can record 5 hours of programming to take with me. Better
than FM? You have to ask.

Ian makes a great case for satellite radio. I do believe there will be a future for terrestrial broadcast radio but it will be very different than the corporate conglomerate radio we have today.

Check out the whole discussion here.

Comments

[leonard]

I returned my Sirius Sportstar after 2 weeks attempting to get a signal using the boombox. Techs say I have to install the antennae on the roof thus making the portability of the boombox obsolete.

The worse part is that SIRIUS charges $75 to cancel their subscription - talk about outragious rip-offs.