Satellite radio

[gollygee]

We are researching this. We're leaning toward Sirius even though it's a little more expensive. The biggest reason is that they have a second leftie talk station. Also, they have a GLBT station, and even though we're straight we like supporting companies that make choices like that.

I live in a pretty small market area and there aren't any good radio stations IMO. Also, we only have right-wing talk shows and my husband loves talk radio. He currently listens to Air America online for the most part.

I'm more interested in the music, though I like listening to talk radio sometimes too.

Is it worth the money to pay for radio programming? And is it worth the extra cost to get Sirius instead of XM?

Is the Sirius left talk radio channel good?

Thanks for any recommendations!

[roseBudd]

1. I have Sirius, you can also listen to it on your computer if you have an

account. I like Faction 28, rock, hip hop and punk

[gollygee]

6. Oh, that's important

My husband wants to be able to listen to it online at work if we get it. So that is definitely worth considering. Thanks :)

[sbj405]

36. Only the music channels are available online.

Not the talk or sports, but most of that is available elsewhere (AAR, NPR, PRI, etc) and with 60 channels of music, there's still plenty.

[proud2BlibKansan]

38. How do you do that?

I have Sirius and I had no idea I could do this.

[Burma Jones]

2. I like the XM Music Stations

but I never considered Sirius, I got the XM hardware as a Christmas Gift year before last.......

[gollygee]

13. It would have been cool to get that as a Christmas present!

They both look good - I guess that's why it's a hard choice.

[Beware the Beast Man]

3. First off, ******CLEAR CHANNEL DOES NOT OWN XM!!!****

With that said, I'd go with Sirius. AAR uncut, NFL (if that's your thing), and Stern in 2006 (ditto). I have heard that the musical selection is better on XM, though, and it is lower in price, both for the service and the equipment. CC does own 2% interest in XM, though, so if that sticks in your craw, go with Sirius.

On Edit- I bought an XM Radio for my wife last Xmas, and we love it. I'll never go back to that dreck on commercial radio.

[gollygee]

12. Lower price does make a difference

We aren't rich. . . we're debating how big a deal the differnce in price is. If you look at it one way, it's only $3 a month, but if you look at it another way $3 is a huge percentage of the cost.

[Beware the Beast Man]

17. Yes, and you pay in quarterly installments

That's another thing to consider.

[OhioBlue]

4. We have Sirius and really like it

Stern is going to program 3 channels when he moves. I know a lot of people don't care for him, but I have a feeling some of the programs created with the move will be great.

[gollygee]

10. Three channels?

I hadn't heard that.

I wonder what he'll do with three channels?

I don't like Howard Stern but Mr. Gee does.

[OhioBlue]

20. I didn't like Stern either but my bf did

then when Stern went off on his Bush bashing, i started listening. Now I am hooked. I love it most when they just go back and forth teasing each other. He also isn't afraid to ask questions like MSM is - granted a lot of the time it resorts to sex - but he asks some really good questions too.

[Green Mountain Dem]

5. I have had ....

XM for about six months and although I am happy with the programming, I wish I had gone with Sirius for different reasons. I am not keen that ClearChannel are partners in XM and they do not broadcast all of Randi Rhodes on AAR. Stern went with Sirius and I don't listen to his show all that much...it still is a statement. I love satellite radio as I am in a very rural area and it's great when you are on the road. Hope this helps!

[gollygee]

8. We love Randi Rhodes

I don't like Howard Stern but my husband does.

More points for Sirius :)

[Twist_U_Up]

7. I have been researching myself

I like Sirius and most of the stations and in a year Howard will be on there ripping Bush I`m sure...
But XM has a neat portable that will hold up to 5 hrs of content from their programming. I like that

My dilema is that I want Sirious but want 5 hour playback too.

I`m on the road more that 4 hours a day and working during Howies show. Being able to record his show would be the cats ass.

I called Sirius and they told me they don`t have that option in the works.

So looks like I go with ............still not sure

maybe I`ll wait awhile and see if they come out with anything within the year.

[gollygee]

9. Hmm that's interesting

I don't know if we'd use the record feature. Maybe - we love our tivo and that would be similar.

I'll have to talk to Mr. Gee about that one.

[Maat]

14. I've had Sirius for a year .... and really love it.

I enjoy Sirius Left as much as I enjoy Air America. I like listening to Ed Schultz for awhile. There's Lynne Samuels, and the Young Turks, and Thom Hartmann.

They replay everything, so not having a record feature hasn't bothered me.

I like BuzzSaw for the classic hard rock fan.

Also, I like having Air America 24/7 (and its news - at least its news was there - haven't checked for a couple of weeks -been on vacation).

Howard Stern urged that Sirius bring over a guy as CEO. His name begins with a K. I checked him out, and he is a big Democrat. I believe that this new Sirius CEO and Stern are willing to fight for balance and free speech. That is certainly a factor.

[Twist_U_Up]

18. Yea Mel Karmison

Howie and Him are tight.

I wonder if theyll replay Howies show ? is that common practice for sirius ?

[Maat]

22. Yes.

Never encountered a show that was not re-played (usually at a more convenient time for me - e.g. after the kid is asleep).

[Beware the Beast Man]

11. That's the trouble.

XM offers a wider array of equipment. Until Sirius comes up with a product that's comparable to the Roady, I'm sticking with XM.

[Maat]

15. They have come out with new units.

Check 'em out. Just hit the stores.

[Wheaty]

39. Here is a new one

They've got a new one coming out soon...looks to be about the same size as a Roady

[OhioBlue]

23. I think when Howard goes to Sirius

it will be 24/7 and replay his shows.

[truebrit71]

16. Go with Sirius...XM = Clear Channel

Regardless of how small an ownership ( 2%) CC has in XM it should be enough to keep you away from supporting them...

Sirius is the way to go. Better long-term prospects, they carry AAR full-time, and there is going to be a huge amount of interest once Howard Stern comes aboard.

(In the interests of full disclosure I should add that I own Sirius stock)

[Maat]

19. Also, it is not the % ownership that is important.

It is whether or not it is a controlling interest. I'm researching whether or not that is the largest ownership block or not. I'm betting that it is. Whoever is the controller shareholder basically gets to appoint the Board of Directors (who basically do what the controlling shareholder wants).

I'm leery of XM for that reason.

[kwassa]

30. I see ...

Trubrit
"Regardless of how small an ownership ( 2%) CC has in XM it should be enough to keep you away from supporting them..."

Pretty absurdly small percentage.

"Sirius is the way to go. Better long-term prospects, they carry AAR full-time, and there is going to be a huge amount of interest once Howard Stern comes aboard."

Five years from now? By offering him his huge salary, they hobble their own ability to compete. Besides, Stern sucks. Why pay to listen to him ????

"(In the interests of full disclosure I should add that I own Sirius stock)"

Not surprising.

[Maat]

33. Well, no offense, but I would like to respond.

1) It does not matter that Clear Channel's share is only 2%. It might be a controlling interest, in which case they will determine who is on the Board of Directors.

2) Howard Stern is scheduled to come on board I believe at the end of this year, not in five years.

3) While I personally do not enjoy his show, due to his sexual talk that I, personally am not particularly fond of, he is committed to free speech. That could come in handy should pressure be brought to bear on the hosts heard on Sirius. He is financially independent, and would tend not to be scared of a fight. He also has been burned by BushCo, and that tends to mean that he would stick up for the right to dissent against this administration.

[kwassa]

40. Offense not taken ....

You can't control a corporation without having more than 50% of the voting stock, so Clear Channels 2% is very far away from control.

[kwassa]

21. I love my XM Satellite radio ...

We've had XM for about seven months, it came with our new car and I would never go back to conventional radio. I don't listen to talk radio, usually the vast number of music channels with absolutely no commercials. They do have a variety of talk channels, including Air America, and the new channel with the old morning guy from All Things Considered, Bob whatsiname. I usually listen to NPR for news.

Musically, I listen to the channels that play blues, real jazz, fusion jazz, latin jazz, world music, afropop, classical, soul oldies, funk oldies .... and there are about ten rock channels, hiphop, etc., etc. Lotsa pop channels.

[Shopaholic]

24. Me too.

They've got most of the Air America line-up, plus NPR. And the BBC World News, and all kinds of great music channels. I don't know how I lived without it before.

[roseBudd]

25. Has anyone figured out if you can record satellete radio on your PC

while you are listening to it, and then burn CDs with your favorite songs?

[roseBudd]

26. Has anyone figured out if you can record satellete radio on your PC

while you are listening to it, and then burn CDs with your favorite songs?

[kwassa]

28. "Has anyone figured out if you can record satellete radio on your PC"

Why not? XM is available over the Internet, so there should be no problem with it.

[roseBudd]

32. I mean what software do you use? I found a program called Loop

as soon as you launch it, it starts recording. It also shows you how much disk space it is using and I watched it climb really high in just a couple minutes.

[sbj405]

35. My bf (the computer geek) looked at it when we first got Sirius

He said that the quality of stream probably wasn't good enough to record. That being said we never actually tried it.

[Lex]

27. ONLY Sirius carries Air America's programming in FULL & has

another entirely different progressive/liberal talk channel.

No percentage of Sirius is owned by Clear Channel AT ALL.


Those facts pushed me to buying Sirius and I love it.

[Patiod]

29. I want Sirius, but I wish they carried MLB

Our reception of the only radio channel that carries the Phils is awful.

Not that I'm a big fan or anything.

[Flammable Materials]

31. The Sirius LGBT station is great ... even if you're straight!

The programming is a real joy to listen to.

Also, if you have Dish Network and the second-tier basic package, you get all the Sirius music channels included free.

[Maat]

34. I just got DISH, Flammable Materials.

In fairness, I only get the Sirius music channels on DISH. In order to listen to the talk radio, I have to use the Sirius radio/receiver unit. But that is O.K., because I need that for my car.

[proud2BlibKansan]

37. I love Sirius

AAR is great. And it's on 24/7.

As for the expense, you can pay 2 years ahead for Sirius and it's only $8 a month.

Sirius left seems good but I usually listen to AAR, which is AWESOME. Randi Rhodes rocks!

[SKKY]

41. I really want to get Satellite Radio. I mean desperately....

...but I'm moving to Spain in a few months, and it would do me no good over there.