XM & Sirius Satellite Radio

nippononly

This matches what I have heard - that XM has much better reception. That's why I'm hoping that if they merge Sirius will benefit from XM's better transmission network. While XM will benefit from Sirius's better offerings.

blane

"While XM will benefit from Sirius's better offerings"

In my limited experience listening to the dog in a friend's car, I haven't noticed anything better than XM. What do you consider better offerings?

nippononly

This comes from friends who I have had in my car who all have XM or know someone with XM and have commented that Sirius content is better. Whether it is or not, I am very satisfied with Sirius content. It is the signal with which I wish to pick a bone!

blane

Doggone, if I were you that would be one of my pet peeves too.

fintail

I have the same issue under trees here - lose the signal all the time. But the programming is excellent, I rarely use normal radio in the car anymore, not to mention the CD changer.

qbrozen

They are really for different people, so "better" is, of course, a relative term. I had both in my Accord for 3 months (because I was previously a sirius subscriber and 3 months of XM came free with my Accord) and found I really didn't like XM. At the time, the music stations were far more limited than Sirius. They seem to be geared more towards talk/news/sports, while Sirius is much more music. On paper, they look similar, but in reality they aren't.

My father went with XM because he likes oldies, country music, and talk radio, so it suits him better.

nitewriter

I have a similar situation, with my Acura TL. I have been using XM for 3 months now, and still prefer Sirius if I had to choose just one. (I'm listening to Sirius now in fact on my desktop, although XM's desktop player is better). (Kind of like asking which is better, HBO or Showtime? I like certain things on each.)

I am patiently waiting for the merger with the option to choose my favorites from each, music from sirius (love the coffee house) and talk from XM. I used to listen to Stern but don't really miss the whining chatter.

I reluctantly purchased the annual with XM (at the ~ $77 special) versus rewiring my car with the external Sirius player, more for convenience and appearance, and because I have several car trips planned this month (3 1/2 hr trip tonight).

What really bothers me the most though, is how there are still so many commercials on a subscription service.

nippononly

I REALLY REALLY hope that Sirius will not start to play commercials on all the channels once it merges with XM. I won't pay for that, I will end my subscription instead.

gagrice

I had XM in my 05 GMC PU. I liked the classical stations. The Christmas ones were also nice. I cannot get any integrated Sat radio in my new 2007 Sequoia with NAV. It sounds like I would be wasting my money if they are doing a lot of commercials now.

Does Sirius have good classical stations??

qbrozen

good point on the commercials, and one that I happily forgot once my free XM ended. The only channels on Sirius I sometimes listen to that have commercials are the comedy channels.

michaellno

When we bought my wife's 2008 Saturn VUE last August, she was particularly interested in the AUX jack so she plug her iPod in and listen to her music.

The VUE had XM equipped with the 3 month trial ... after finding a channel that she likes, she was hooked, since she didn't have to fiddle with the iPod and the cable. Was nice to listen to on a road trip to Utah last fall.

We reupped for a year at $77.

nippononly

You know, I honestly have never tried the classical list, just because I don't listen to that kind of music very often. It has a very broad selection of music sub-types in all the other lists, so I would imagine it has a good selection of classical too.

None of the Sirius channels I listen to regularly have any commercials at all, one of the biggest bonuses of sat radio to my way of thinking.

qbrozen

I am checking the online player for you now.

It has 3 classical stations:
Symphony Hall - Classical music by top orchestras and chamber music ensembles.
Metropolitan Opera Radio - no explanation needed.
Sirius Pops - Popular classical music favorites.

That's it.

Mr_Shiftright

There' a Sirius channel called Symphony that I like. I think it's 80.

gagrice

I want to integrate it with the NAV. So far Toyota is NO help. They told me I could when I bought it. Then I find that they used the aux jack for the rear entertainment DVD. I may disconnect the DVD as I will not likely let any kids sit in my back seat long enough to watch a movie.

blane

Of course, there are plenty of non-music channels that do have short commercial breaks.

rworrell

As a former XM subscriber forced into Sirius (only option from my car manufacturer), I have to jump in and clarify:

You're right, there are no commercials on XM music channels. I think the reason a lot of people are complaining about commercials on XM is because they don't know the history--XM had Clear Channel as an early supporter. About 18 months ago (rough guess), Clear Channel (the Satan of radio, if you ask me) insisted on adding commercials to the channels they program. XM then had to a) add additional channels with basically the same playlists but not commercials (wasting bandwidth) and b) denote which channels Clear Channel was commercializing by putting a "cm" (IIRC) next to each channel name.

When I had XM, I removed all of those channels from my channel line-up so as to avoid commercials. If you know to avoid the "cm" channels, there are no commercials on XM music channels.

If only there were some way to avoid all the ridiculous DJ chatter on Sirius, especially by the original MTV VJs. One thing I really miss from XM is that they would frequently play a bunch (10?) of songs in a row before you'd ever hear anyone talking. On Sirius, there are people talking after every 3 or 4 songs. I really hate it.

guss

I never understood the need for them on satellite radio. The name of the artist and song appears on the display, why would you need someone to tell you what's coming up.

I too am annoyed at the commercials on XM, even if they are for their own channels. Actually I find the commercials for their other stations more annoying, if I wanted to know what's on their other stations I would look it up on their web page.

nj2pa2nc

We have both sirius and xm-Hubby loves his howard and I love bruce-on xm-it is willie and bluegrass-I find that we lose both xm and sirius in the same places-driving thru mountains and where there are alot of trees.

ocuihs

Took delivery '07 Honda Odyssey EX-L Res+Nav back in May07 with XM 90-day trial period. Planned to let it expired in Aug07. Then got a $4.99/month + taxes for 3 months until Nov07. Again I planned to let it expired.

In Feb08, XM sent me a 5"x7" postcard "special come back offer": $4.99/month + taxes for 3 months ------OR---------- Get 1/2 off for a full year.

I took advantage of the latter sweet deal about $6.50/month + taxes (regular $12.95/month + taxes) for a full year. Re-activation was waived.

nippononly

I must admit I kinda like the DJs on the channels I listen to. They never chatter on and on and they often provide useful information about the song opr the artist, or an upcoming show, or whatever.

If they talked half as much as the DJs on over-the-air radio, I wouldn't want anything to do with them.

stever

Their stocks prices are flat, no one really knows when the FCC will rule and no one knows how Sirius is going to be able to afford to retain Stern. Fortune and FMQB.

Car sales aren't exactly booming in the US either, and that's hurting their subscriber rate.

jgordo

Hey Gang,

I love the XM radio on the '07 accord and '06 GMC Denali I drive. XM added SEC football this year, and I LOVE that. I used to struggle to find the "local" station with football games, but not anymore! I can listen to my beloved Gamecocks all over the Southeast. The commercials are getting annoying, and I have noticed an increase in the last few months. The playlists are surprisingly similar, especially in the same genre. For example, you can listen to a song on 20, then when it finishes, turn to 26 or 30 and the same song is starting!!!! I could use a little more variety.

JG

nippononly

I read very recently that Sirius' fortunes had dramatically turned for the better in the last few months, partly BECAUSE of the increase in subscriptions in new cars. ?????

That was in the business section of the paper this week or last.

stever

Well, they got more subscribers than they had at this time last year (2+ million new ones is pretty dramatic I guess) and didn't lose as much money. (NY Times)

I haven't heard what the subscriber churn is lately.

Oh yeah, Stern cost them $500,000 for 5 years, and he's more than half way through his contract.

guss

I think you left 3 zero's off of Stern's contract. He signed for 500 million plus stock for 5 years. I know , incredible.

I love Stern, he one of the reasons I am keeping my XM(for now) and waiting for the merger, but nobody is worth that kind of money.

stever

I knew I should have spelled it out (don't tell Tidester :shades: ).

The sidekick is making more that 500k I bet. Subscribers were around 700,000 when Stern signed on and now they are over 8 million iirc. Hard to say how many are due to Howard though.

parviz

I thought Stern ws on Sirius. On what ch. do you get Stern on XM?

guss

He is on Sirrus. My wife likes XM alot,me, not as much.So I am waiting for the merger so that I do not have to pay for both services. With XM the first radio is $13.95/mo the secod is only $6.95.

upstatedoc

That's about the same deal I got when I renewed the XM subscription on my acura. They tried to charge me full price and had me jump through hoops to get the reduced rate. Now the Sirius trial in my VW is expiring and they apparently don't care that they just lost a customer because I wouldn't pay full price.

gagrice

Good for you. I let my XM expire. They finally saw it my way. Then I sold the truck. I cannot get satellite in my new Sequoia. Seems they have not figured out how to make it work with a NAV. I kind of miss it. I would not buy Sirius as long as they are wasting money on Stern.

tpe

I don't understand why the FCC is dragging it's feet on this merger. There are claims that it would be anti-competitive. That's nonsense as far as I'm concerned. Satellite radio is in competition with free, broadcast radio. This merger would allow them to consolidate their efforts and become more competitive. Interestingly enough one of the most vocal opponents to this merger is the group that represents the free, broadcast radio industry. Now if this merger really was bad for satellite radio customers you'd think that this group would be in favor of it.

This proposed merger is very similar to the merger between Dish and DirecTV that the FCC shot down several years ago. In this case the cable industry was adamently opposed to the merger. Making the same claims that it would be anti-competitive and bad for satellite TV customers. Again, if that was actually true the cable industry should have supported it.

stever

The National Association of Broadcastershas a website devoted soley to putting political pressure on the FCC to spike the merger. Lots of congresspeople are putting the pressure on too (wonder where their bread is buttered).

Radio is going the way of newspapers in one sense - I read my papers online now and I listen to net radio as much as or more than AM/FM. Satellites are a unique delivery system but it's ultimately just radio waves. I don't see how an XM-Sirius merger is going to stifle competition that way.

tpe

It's laughable. That website says a merged entity could raise fees, limit programming choices and be harmful to consumers. Again, if the National Association of Broadcasters really believes this then why are they opposing the merger? If I was a businessman and my competition wants to raise fees and provide a lesser product I'm all for it. The only plausible explanation is that the National Association of Broadcasters is worried that a merger might allow satellite radio to provide a better product while holding down fees. So while these broadcasters might pretend to be advocating for the consumer common sense says otherwise.

My understanding is that the satellite radio companies have agreed to provisions that prevent them from raising fees for a specified amount of time. So if that really was the sticking point then it seems that it's no longer valid. Whether or not this merger gets approved will ultimately depend on which lobbying group wields the most influence. Another sad reflection on the way our government operates.

upstatedoc

Well, a customer service rep called me last night (around dinner time) with some "spectacular offers" on Sirius rates. I flat out told him that I have been paying $75 a year for XM and that was all I was willing to pay for Sirius. The best he could do was $115 a year. Am I being too much of a scrooge? :P

tallman1

Am I being too much of a scrooge?

If more people refuse to pay, they'd have to come down, right?? :shades:

Actually, if it is worth what you want to pay, then you fork over the bucks. If it is a luxury that you can live without, why pay for it at a price that isn't acceptable?

guss

My year subscription ran out on my XM and they would not renew it at the old price of 6.96/mo.,the best they would do is 9.95. I told them to cancel it,I'll be happy to get rid of all the wires.

stever

Justice Dept Approves XM-Sirius Deal (AP)

Well, the Department of Justice ok'd it. It's likely that the FCC will go along. The FCC may attach conditions to the deal though.

grutza

I let my 3 month trial expire and waited to get an offer. They sent 5 months for $20 and I passed. I waited a couple days and told them to reactivate it and I wanted 1 year for $77. They gave it no questions asked.

There are no more savings codes on the flyers.

I also asked to cancel another radio which is used infrequently. They transferred my call and the representative gave me 3 free months.

nippononly

Every time I hear something new about this deal, it seems to flip-flop: first it's a merger, then it's a Sirius buyout of XM. Which is it? Can those be the same thing?

If Sirius is buying out XM, then I assume that means we Sirius subscribers don't have to worry about drastic changes in the near future...

stever

I'm curious to see what happens to the subscription pricing in six months or a year and wonder if the good renewal deals people are currently getting when they tell the CSR they aren't renewing will disappear.

qbrozen

It might disappear from public knowledge, but it will never completely disappear as long as people are persistent. It costs them nothing to have extra subscribers, yet they lose money without them. So there is no reason why they won't continue to cut deals just to get money from you. It is just like the cell phone or cable companies. Threaten to leave and they will make a deal.

stever

Well, you won't be able to say you're switching to XM or Sirius.

I guess the magic words will be "I plan to buy an iPod or Sync, plug it in to the AUX, and listen to music that way."

qbrozen

haha.

well, ya know, FM ain't dead yet!

stever

Oh, that raises the next question.

Less reason for the merged company to avoid commercials?

If they start running more ads, maybe that'll encourage someone to come out with wireless internet that will work better in cars and we can listen to net radio. :shades:

nippononly

they introduce commercials to my favorite Sirius channels is my last day as a subscriber. Period.

upstatedoc

Does anyone really know what the merger will mean? All xm and sirius channels for one price? Reconfiguration of all xm and sirius channels? And what about the sweet deal w/ xm that I just inked ($77 for a year)?

robr2

Does anyone really know what the merger will mean?

Nobody really knows yet.

I'm guessing they will continue to offer both brands as they both have huge investments in what I understand to be non-compatible technologies for the infrastructure (satellites, repeaters, studios, et al), Further, they have millions of subscribers that have receivers capable of working with only one provider. I doubt they'll want to obsolete 50% of their or their subscribers equipment in fell swoop.

What will probably happen is that in the short term they will support both brands and eventually make a decision to stop selling one technology while supporting it with no investment in that technology. In other words, they may say that as of Dec 31, 2009 they will stop selling XM or Sirius receivers and will continue to broadcast XM or Sirius until Dec 31, 2012 and offer a special replacement unit to the customers affected.

ronsmith38

Was this XM or Sirius?

tpe

It might disappear from public knowledge, but it will never completely disappear as long as people are persistent. It costs them nothing to have extra subscribers,

I disagree. If these negotiated deals continue I think the public will only become more aware of them. I know that I've been an XM subscriber for over 3 years and it never occurred to me that I could get a lower price until I started reading this thread. So if these deals do become common knowledge they will have to be curtailed. While it doesn't cost XM or Sirius anything to have an extra subscriber from their perspective what they really care about is total revenue. They'd rather have 12 million subscribers paying $12.95/month than 16 million subscribers paying $7.95/month.

Now maybe the typical consumer will decide that there's no way they'll pay $12.95/month for satellite radio. If that's the case then satellite's subscriber base won't grow much. As far as I know there's nothing that would prevent them from eventually reducing their fees and supplementing their revenue through advertising. If I had to choose between minimal fee satellite radio with commercials and free, local, land based radio with commercials it would essentially be the same choice as paying for cable or satellite TV as opposed to receiving the free, over the air TV signals.

Satellite radio is superior to broadcast radio in the same ways that satellite TV is superior to over-the-air TV. So, as far as I'm concerned, it's here to stay. Whether or not their no-commercial business model pans out remains to be seen.