XM & Sirius Satellite Radio

Mr_Shiftright

I think their collapse is just around the corner. All the bad signs are there.

nippononly

One of the evenings last week there was a piece on the news about how Sirius' primary source of new subscribers had been people buying new cars that came with sat radio and 90 free days subscription. Well it seems that since auto sales have fallen off a cliff, so have new Sirius subscriptions.

In addition we have the fact that they were almost a no-show at the electronics show in Vegas this year, after a number of years of large splashy displays, and the fact that they were talking bankruptcy prior to the 40% buyout that occurred last month.

I would agree with you that yes, all the signs are there.

Mr_Shiftright

They are also on a couple of financial news websites' "death watch", along with Rite-Aide and Krispy Kreme.

It's too bad. I was a Sirius subscriber for a long time until I sold the car and didn't get another SAT radio. I really enjoyed the programming and thought the concept viable. But I guess the 'ol iPod killed it.

nippononly

Speaking hypothetically, I would think that the iPod and sat radio could coexist peacefully. They kind of go after different listeners right? One is recorded and the other is live. Certainly for talk radio, news, stuff like that the iPod wouldn't be a substitute.

I think the big problem is that most people are actually fairly satisified with their local (free) broadcast stations, especially when the option is (pay) sat radio. For instance, I would have figured HD radio to be dead right out of the gate, and yet it is hanging in there with a tenacity that surprises me. Most of the stations in my area are now broadcasting several different programs at once on HD frequencies, and more are joining the trend every day.

And HD radio, of course, is also free after the one-time cost of buying the receiver.

Mr_Shiftright

There are also podcasts, don't forget.

And Sirius should never have put advertising spots in their broadcasts. That started to tick me off. My whole rationale for subscribing was to escape the endless, mindless, relentless horrifying radio ads.

stever

Afaik, it's still legal to rip record live radio off your computer and time-shift it for playing later.

Mr_Shiftright

Can you do that for instance on pandora.com as a substitute for certain SAT radio channels?

stever

I'm not familiar with Pandora, but apparently you can rip their streams too. link

Mr_Shiftright

pandora is great. One reason I didn't have Sirius home radio.

drtravel

XM - Sirius called me today to renew and I asked for the $77 a year deal. Said they didn't do that anymore so I said fine and hung up. I called them a few minutes later and talked to another rep who gave me the $77 a year deal without any hassles. Took all of five minutes.

upstatedoc

Yes, yes, yes...see above. Hopefully they will still continue to operate thru the life of my subscription. Post #1583

imidazol97

Has anyone experience or a link for converting an XM GM Equinox to a Sirius car? A friend wants to convert theirs.

stever

Guess not. Different receiver required?

Sounds like the $77 a year retention special is working again (or still). And I saw a report where someone called Sirius/XM to cancel their service and they were offered a 5 month renewal for $19.99.

If you forget to then cancel, you'll be back on the $12 a month deal. .

nitewriter

This is true - both were offered to me today after I cancelled last week - (I called about an invoice) - I took the year - I was considering the opposite of this thread - converting from sirius to xm since my other car (Acura TL) has XM built-in, and I was trying to consolidate to one account (which the merger should have already taken care of

Steven

imidazol97

Converting.

What I found.

If the car came equipped with XM, there's a small box that can be switched for one set up for Sirius frequencies. It's about $100 or along with cables if the radio were XM ready but didn't already have cables.

http://www.tss-radio.com/sirius-connect-sirgm1-p-228.html

At first the friends didn't want to just pay $5 extra for the Sirius addon to XM. But that's what she ended up doing. They get Howard Stern just fine along with a few certain music channels that Sirius has that XM didn't.

Sirius offered XM convert box on their site but I found it first from a third party site.

explorerx4

sirius subscription.
i like it, although i have only listened to it for a couple or hours or so, it is in the wifemobile.
it cuts out going into the garage, which i find annoying.

carnaught

if they (XM) still give a discount, or $7.99/mo,. for a second or more radios in an account?

tallman1

So... what do you all think of the new $1.98 "U.S. Music Royalty Fee” Sirius XM will start charging in a few days? I love this question and answer on their website. No fee increase.... lol

11. Is this fee consistent with SIRIUS XM's merger commitment not to raise prices for three years?
Yes. This fee is consistent with our commitment not to raise the base price of specific service plans for three years after the merger. The FCC decision approving the merger between SIRIUS and XM permits the companies beginning July 29, 2009 to pass through to subscribers any increases in music royalties since March 20, 2007, the day the companies first asked the FCC to approve the merger. The U.S. Music Royalty Fee implements this FCC decision.

explorerx4

from it's initial 6 month subscription for 2 years. i asked my wife if she still wanted it and she said yes. it was about $300.

michaellno

We just let ours lapse on the wife's VUE. She got a new iPod that will hold 4,000 songs and she just plugs that in for her commute.

If she doesn't want to pull out the AUX cable, she's still got a 6-CD changer loaded with music for her to listen to. Her commute is about 20 minutes one-way, so it would take a while for her to listen to all the music.

The only thing I miss with the iPod compared to XM is that the artist and song info is not displayed on the head unit.

tallman1

Of course, SIRIUS XM, is more than just music. I find myself listening to a lot of talk radio, sports, news, etc. Lots of variety in music too. I rarely buy music anymore so my monthly fee isn't really an add on.

michaellno

Of course, SIRIUS XM, is more than just music.

Agreed, but you wouldn't know that with what we listened to.

I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times we listened to non-music channels on XM ... usually on a road trip.

colloquor

I would concur. Although I spend a lot of time on Channel 6 ('60s music), I do like to listen to the BBC, and other non-music channels. Personally, I think Satellite radio for the car is one of the best technological products ever invented. The subscription price is down in the noise for most people. I'd much rather listen to SIRIUS XM than to spend the time downloading, and paying for, tunes into an iPod.

stever

Or didn't lose so much at least. Their $11 million 3rd quarter loss has been applauded as a "great quarter". C4C was good for them.

"One of the most important drivers for Sirius is auto sales. Most new satellite-radio subscribers are car buyers who get a free year. That most likely benefited Sirius during the third quarter due to the so-called cash-for-clunkers program, which spurred car sales."

Satellite Radio -- You Can't Be Sirius?

carnaught

Recently I came off the three month trial period for XM on my new Infiniti. I started ne service and prepaid for the year.

Sirius/XM are offering a $100 gift Visa card as a promo for new serrvice.. Despite the fact I've met all the criteria for the card I was told that the new service started had to be with an after-market XM radio, not one pre-installed in the car. In no place on the promo's agreement on their website, or even the fine print, does it mention that condition link.

I then called back a couple of hours later. This time I was placed on hold twice, switched to a superior who had me on hold another 3-4 times then after a long period of "hold" told me she couldn't answer why I wouldn't qualify and would call me back at the phone number they have on file for me. That was two hours ago and I'm still waiting for (and not expecting) the call.

My wife says this is a "loss leader" but as far as I'm concerned, this seems like a sham or fraud.

I'll update you for those who are interested.

stever

I had Sirius-XM in a rental car the last week and used it a lot (~1700 miles of road tripping).

After 5 days, I found the playlists getting repetitive a bit. There was nothing that I found that was eclectic like the college radio stations I listen to on net radio. Mostly it seemed to be "Top 40" kind of stuff. I like the unplugged station a lot (51?), but even it got old after a while.

Turns out there was a USB port in the rental, but I didn't take a stick with me.

bvdj84

I have had my current lease for about 2yrs now and it has XM. I love have this! I listen to it just about every trip I take. I also have a cd changer and ipod hook up. Even then, I still find myself just wanting XM to play the music for me.

The only major complaint about it, would be the commercials being played. I find this hard to swallow, because I am paying for it!! It is not a lot, but it does seem to be more frequent. I have called about it, and have yet to get a real answer on why I am paying for a service that has ads. I do understand that some stations are not 100% commercial free. But, I would not call their service 100% free of commercials. I do think their ads are slightly misleading. Sorta of an example of giving a company an inch and they take a mile right? Sorta pushing the limit. Seems to be the general theme of companys these days. Offer less, but still charge the same. I shouldn't have to listen to prostate commercials!!

Also, I do notice some repetition, but I like the fact they play other songs too! that you normally don't hear. Such as a new cd, they will not only play the new released song, but other songs from the cd. Thereby getting

However with that said.... I still love it. Vacations, trips, it is so nice to have. At night I like to listen to the news or talk radio. I will trade my lease yet again this year and plan to have this option in my next car!! But, I think it is standard now in most cars.

Both of my leased cars right now have the service. First time having it, and never thought that I would keep it, but both drivers of the cars love it now!

mobjack

Has anyone been able to successfully install Sirius satellite radio in the new 4Runner? Unfortunately XM is standard on all the 2010 models and they are not capable of interacting with Sirius. As of right now, there are no standard adapter kits that allow for a post-factory receiver installation.
I've heard of some users hooking in the Stiletto, but even then the FM transponder to the deck doesn't sound as great as the direct hard wiring.
Thanks for any help.

stickguy

does it really matter that much anymore? With all the merged stations, and the available packages, i thought you could pretty much get anything on either equipment set up?

Might have to pay extra, but likely cheaper than replacing all of the hardware in the truck!

mobjack

You'd think that was the case, but the merger pretty much only covered the financial side of it. There's still a significant difference in channel line up, too. Who knows why, but I don't have the power to force XM to broadcast the Sirius channels I want. In a nutshell, the Sirius satellites send signals to their receivers and XM sends its one satellite signal to its receivers. The receivers being issued in new Toyotas now will only play XM. There is no crossover, you're stuck with XM only. That's why I'm asking for a solution other than having to buy a new receiver. I imagine it's like a cellphone that could be for lack of a better word "hacked" where only a chip can be changed or maybe a transponder or something.

jackcob

My Hyundai Sante Fe came with the XM radio and I like it very much and have been using it for over 2 years. However, last week my battery ran down for some reason and I had to get a jump start. Now everything is fine, but my XM radio doesn't work.
When I have my radio on and switch to XM, I get a notice "Not Ready" and it immediately switches to the AM or FM station I was using.
XM resent the signal to me, but that doesn't work because the basic Channel 1 is not active and XM tells me it is a car and radio problem.
The Hyundai dealer hasn't run into this and advised they would have to dig into the radio itself and it could cost me from $92 to ?????
Anyone have any ideas???

biancar

I just bought a new Volvo that came with Sirius radio. We have a free six months' subscription.

I notice that the Sirius band doesn't sound as "full" as the regular FM. It seems a bit tinny. Do others notice that?

Also, do they shorten the songs? I was listening to the '60's oldies station. I'm old enough to remember those '60's songs when they came out. Sirius is definitely shortening songs from the 3 minutes or so that was usual to something around 2 minutes. Why do they do this? If I want to listen to a certain era's songs, I want to hear them as they were, not in some edited version.

nippononly

I also noticed that Sirius sounded very tinny, it's one of the reasons I dumped my subscription.

cdnpinhead

conserves bandwidth at the expense of sound quality. For talk it doesn't matter much, but for music even I can hear the difference, and I'm no audiophile.

awahoo

I have had my Sonata Limited since 2/26/10. XM radio worked fine until about 10 days ago, when I cut radio on and got message "xm loading". It never loaded and I could not access XM radio.. I COULD access AM/FM and CD. I called XM radio and they refreshed signal, however it came back on a fraction of a second BEFORE she refreshed signal so I don't think the refresh actually corrected problem. This happened again yesterday and the refresh did not help. After about an hour, when I cut car on, XM radio was o.k.

Tech support suggested I contact dealer to see if new software available or dealer could "ping" the radio. Don't understand this.

Anyone else have this problem? I love the xm radio and plan to renew when my 3 month trial ends. However, if this is a persistent problem, maybe I will not renew.
Any help on this would be appreciated.

tallman1

Remember when we were discussing the imminent death of Satellite radio???...along with all the financial experts.

cdnpinhead

not talking about anything at all. I guess that's progress.

If it weren't for Opie/Anthony & Ron/Fez I would have probably already cancelled my XM. Playing back recorded podcasts provides at least as much entertainment for zero cost, at least for me.

roho1

I called yesterday and cancelled. Since I bought my new car with a 3 month XM trial they have had my account all screwed up.

After the 3 month trial expired I wasn't going to keep it but they offered 5 months for $19.95. Like a fool I agreed. Actually that's $19.95 + $3.08 royalty fees _$ 3.18 tax = $26.23. The same day my account shows they billed $17.01 xmro. Then I was charged $5.68 late fee in Sept.(tax on the late fee!) for what? In October they charged me 3 times $12.95 +1.98+2.03 = 16.95 x3 =$50.88! I called and they said it was a mistake and would credit my card $50.00. They couldn't do a credit over $50 I was told. I never saw the credit show up in Credit card so I called and was told they gave me a credit in my XM account. Bastards stole my money so it was only spendable with them.

My 5 month deal was set to end in December and I was going to let it drop.
I found out they automatically charged my credit card for another quarter without my knowing it.

That was it for me. I had them remove my CC # and canceled the service when the quarterly charge ran out.

We'll see if they follow thru with this or screw it up even more. I have a bad feeling about this.

Warning, never give them your credit card unless you want the service for life.

stever

Is there some reason your credit card company won't dispute the charges for you?

roho1

I never got to that point but from now on that is the way I will deal with them if they persist. They are on notice to cancel the account and never use my CC again.

Now that I think of it can I ask my credit card company to black list any future charges from XM?

stever

I don't know why not. From the story you posted, I don't know why the credit card company wouldn't backcharge the $50. Who needs a credit from a vendor you're fighting with?

ledzepplin

Just installed sirius in my auto. I am a newbie to satellites. I am really upset that I did not get what I expected. All I really listen to is classic rock and classical music. I figured with all the channels on the mostly music package that I would be awash in rock and classic.

Wrong: the customer service dept told me that classic rock is on 3 channels-14,15 and 16. I listened off and on the each channel today and honestly, I couldn't recognize most of the songs and the ones I did recognize I didn't want to hear. I was listening in pre-satellite days to 104.3 here in NY and it was great -only too many commercials.

There are two supposedly classic music channels 79 and 80. On 79 they play classical music (light) but only sections of works. You listen to 12 minutes of Brahms and then you switch to something else!

If you don't think people enjoy entire classical works then don't put pieces on! Ch.80 is symphony hall. I had this on all day also and heard nothing
that I would enjoy. It should be called "unknown symphony hall".

I am lucky I have monthly service. I can cancel without penalty, Maybe I'll
start my own band.

Mr_Shiftright

You might do better to stream Pandora through your system using your smartphone if you have one. This is what I do and the sound is not perhaps something for the real audiophile, but it certainly passes the time pleasantly for me----and it's free!

I think SAT radio does a better job for talk, sports, and certain very well defined forms of music. But "classic rock" is so broad a field, you can stick just about anything in it.

I didn't know about them chopping up the classical music. That's insanely dumb. Maybe they are trying to cater to Americans' gerbil-like attention span rather than trying to improve it?

tallman1

I couldn't recognize most of the songs and the ones I did recognize I didn't want to hear.

It's funny but there are some stretches where I feel like you do and other times when I love every song I hear. I guess it would be impossible to play everything that everyone likes at one time. You may need to give it a few weeks.

I find that Classic Vinyl fits my taste more (I have XM but I think it is on Sirius 14). You might also want to sample the decades channels, although there is quite a mixture there.

One of my new favorite channels is The Bridge (Sirius 33, XM 27). It's a little mellower than the other classic stations.

ledzepplin

I fear you are right about the classical station. I am returning the pioneer radio and the sirius receiver. CD's r lookin real good at this point. Thanks.

vehicula

I own a new 2011 Toyota Camry Hybrid that came with a 3-month trial of XM radio. I hate the idea of paying for radio. Is it possible to receive HD radio with the XM radio receiver/antenna in my car?

vehicula

The answer, as I have now learned, is No.

stever

"Just a quick public service announcement here. Tomorrow, Sirius and XM will be reorganizing channels to something more sane (who thought it was a good idea to have country music mucking up the low station IDs??) well ordered, and standardized between the two brands. The new order goes; Hits, Rock, hip hop, dance, country, etc...News and Politics occupy spots 112 - 128."

Sirius XM Satellite Radio Channel Reorganization

stickguy

this happened yesterday. Good news is, the radio was smart enough to know, so all my car presets still worked (same station on the same button, even though it is a new station #). I thought I was going to have to reprogram them all.

stever

Heh, that would have irritated a lot of subscribers. Play some Coffeehouse for me.