Satellite radio thoughts

[Todd Wiedemann]

I'm close to jumping in to the satellite radio world.

Just soliciting general comments here ... XM v. Sirius, etc.

[Tom Snyder]

My next car will have XM...  With the exception of News/Talk, OTA radio in Milwaukee sucks.

[Todd Wiedemann]

[discussion mode]

Why XM, Tom ?? :wave:

[/discussion mode]

PS - have you seen this ??

[Kevin Arnold]

I'm a big XM fan, Todd. I have a unit and each of my sons do too. They do have a family plan.  I like the programming by decades, they really seem to have nailed it as to songs. No commercials helps too.  The real treasure is the more obscure channels. My personal favorite is "On the rocks" which is eclectic to say the least.  That roady is a good deal.

[Tom Snyder]

Why XM, Tom ??

I've wanted to get satellite radio for a awhile, and all the cars that I'm looking at for when my current lease expires are available with XM pre-installed.  

Hadn't really thought about it much, but now that I've spent a little time on both sites, here's my 2 cent's worth.

XM seems a bit "edgier."  Sirius seems more mainstream.

I'm a "name that tune in one note" guy when it comes to Classic rock, on just about every cut on every Underground Rock album from the Mid 60's to the Mid 70's and so XM's Deep Tracks seems pretty intriging... don't know if there's anything like that on Sirius...

The Jazz channels seem cooler on XM, too...

They also have two Contemporary Christian Music channels (my format of choice... both to listen to, as well as for my own Internet Radio station CCM Mix .

I guess it depends on your own musical preferences.

[Todd Wiedemann]

Alright. What's the deal with you OTA folks ??

As I look at the poll results, I'm intrigued.

Do you really think that Milwaukee radio is acceptable ?

Please, chime in here.

[oz]

I don't think Milwaukee radio is all that great - but I have enough reoccurring monthly entertainment bills. $10 or $12 per month seems ok, but when you add in cable, cell phone, TIVO, etc...

[Matt Heebner]

Oh I totally agree. I am not crazy at alll about Milwaukee radio but for $12 or so a month, I'd rather put a mega changer CD player in the car and swap out CD's every so often. Also I listen to alot of talk radio so music in the car is not always a top priority. I could however see the benefit of satellite radio if you did alot of driving in rural area's for work, or would go on long road trips. Then I could see it being worth it.


Matt

[JimmyBond]

I've had XM for about a month now and can't remember what life was like without it.  I listen to it all day at work (Downtown, no problem with the terrestrial repeaters), in the car (never had a dropout), and quite often at home during the night and weekends.

My musical taste is varied and XM is a savory treat.  I love flipping around, you never know what you'll hear on some of the stations.  (Deep Tracks, Special X, Cinemagic...)

I could have went with sirius, but XM had more programming that I thought I would like.  As far as the commercials, they are few and far between on the channels that actually have them.  (Which isn't many)

[Todd Wiedemann]

Excellent discussion, thanks.

Oz - I agree. I feel as though I'm being 'monthlied' to death. Therefore, in my feeble mind, I've rationalized by saying $120 for the Roady, $120 for a year of service, $10 for sign-up fee, so XM will cost me $250. Done deal. (until next year)

Matt - I see where you are coming from as well. For me, satellite radio (hopefully) will open doors. I have a large CD collection I rarely touch anymore. I've stopped buying CD's with having MP3's and DirecTV's Music Choice channels. The doors I'm speaking of are some of the less mainstream channels on the sat radio. I've probably never heard of most artists as my CD's (and MP3's) consist of Pink Floyd, ELP, Jethro Tull and Tangerine Dream. As far as talk radio goes, I listen to Tony Kornheiser, Jim Rome and Dan Patrick during the day. Rome isn't on sat radio, but the others are.

Jimmy - Any idea where the terrestrial repeaters are

[JimmyBond]

Originally posted by Todd Wiedemann

Jimmy - Any idea where the terrestrial repeaters are

Not a clue.  The unit tells you if you are recieving a sat or ter signal, but I can't tell where they are other than a general direction.  I get a signal as long as the anttena is pointed towards a windowed wall.

[lespaul91]

What a great thread!  I've had XM for almost a year and would never go back to listening to FM (unless I decide I like listening to the same 12 songs that happen to be popular).  Seems like most of the other comments in this thread have hit on the great benefits of XM.  

One additional comment/item that I particularly love....  For those that enjoy Steve Czaban's sports piece during the Bob & Brian show, you can listen to him from 6-9PM on Fox Sports radio on XM.  During my pre-XM days I was never able to find his show OTA, but possibly that has since changed.  In any case, I love sports talk radio and if I'm in my car during the evening I definitely am listening to Czaban.

~Adam

[Kevin Arnold]

That's a good point. They run Sean Hannity at 2pm on the ABC talk radio channel.  George Noory's show is run at night.

If you get the Delphi unit, getting the boom box is a good idea. It makes it very easy to listen anywhere.

[Matt Heebner]

Damn lespaul91, You might have just sold me on an XM unit. One thing  I would pay for is sports talk radio. There really isn't anything on when I am in the car except Steve "the homer" True, and I acn only take  just so much. I end up listening to 670 "The Score" out of Chicago.

Might have to look into satellite radio now. I just had to keep up with this thread didn't I. Sometimes it's cheaper to be blissfully ignorant.

Matt

[sdn10s]

Have had XM for over a year now and it's been that long since I've listened to local radio. As someone who drives 50,000 miles a year, I consider the $10.00 a month cost a bargain. How cool is it to be able to drive from Milwaukee to Minneapolis and listen to ESPN radio or whatever else you want the whole way?