Stern And Sirius Are Taking Over Satellite Radio.

Howard Stern, the self proclaimed ?King of all media?, could also be referred to as the ?King of Fines by the FCC?. In past few decades Stern has been find countless amounts of times and costing stations that carry his program nearly $3 million dollars in penalties compliments of the FCC.

Stern, now 52, left his estimated 12 million loyal viewers for freer air waves, and a 5 year, $500 million contract to join Sirius Satellite Radio (The best Radio on Radio). The commercial free, censor free Satellite Radio was an easy way for Stern to take his off color humor elsewhere, and no longer have to deal with the commissioner of the FCC waiting for him to make an explicit comment or an act of indecency on his program.

Currently, the satellite radio market has two players, Sirius and XM. At the end of September 2005 Sirius had about 2.2 million subscribers, while XM boasted over 5 million. While both were looking to land high profile talent to take them into the land of profitability, landed Howard Stern. The King of all media, in essence is the $500 million dollar gamble for investors of Sirius Satellite Radio.

As, neither Sirius or XM have profited one cent to date, both plan to break even within the next few years. With Sirius paying Stern a $100 million annual contract, and a one time $225 million bonus in Sirius stock in 2006, Sirius suffered an enormous first quarter loss. Stern used his last few months of airtime with CBS Radio to promote his future destination, attracting over 1.1 million new subscribers, in the 4th quarter of 2005, which of course prompted a breach of contract lawsuit.

Now, almost a year after signing Stern, Sirius Satellite has about 5.1 million subscribers and even with slower retail sales from a year ago, Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin, anticipates year-end subscriber-ship will increase to 6.3 million. This would represent 80% - 85% year over year subscriber growth, which may lead to the company?s first quarter of positive free cash flow, after capital expenditures, this 4th quarter of 2006.

His critics said that Sirius was crazy for paying Stern all that money, however, the way Sirius? subscriber base as expanded, and their costs per subscriber has decreased, if not a merger in the future, don?t be surprised to see Sirius take over as the industry leader in the next few years.

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Is Sirius Satellite Radio Better Than XM Radio?

Many years ago, people didn?t have televisions. Many read the papers to get the news or listened to the radio. Just as satellite television has entered American homes, another thing has also been developed that is called satellite radio.

What is satellite radio? This piece of hardware allows the individual to listen to favorite recording artists and shows instead of watching it on television. Given that the United States is a vast place and there are various stations in each state, this also allows the user to listen to one back home hundreds of miles away.

Currently, there are two main players competing head on in the market. The first is called Sirius while the other is XM radio. Which of the two is better? This question depends on whom the individual will ask but both are doing quite well and more customers are signing up.

Sirius is the first to ever provide commercial free programming on all its music channels and has a wide array of accessories for customers to buy. This is despite that fact that XM radio launched a few months in advance.

The subscription fee of Sirius a little pricey compared to XM radio. When people want the best things in life, money maybe an obstacle. So the deciding factor will be what the hardware has to offer.

Satellite radio has been around for almost 5 years. Since this is considered to be the ?in thing? in the market, both companies have tied up with the major car manufacturers to have this installed in their vehicles. This is the same thing Ipod is doing so the owner can listen to the favorite tunes while on the road.

Sirius has 65 channels that feature sports, news and other programs aside from music. This includes exclusive coverage of special events such as the NFL. XM radio on the other hand has NASCAR and Fox news. It has 68 channels which is 3 more than what the other is offering to the consumer.

The accessories used by Sirius satellite radio allows the person to listen to this at home or in the car. One of the basic accessories it uses is the Sanyo CRSR-10 Plug and Play system that will cost about $149.99. Those who are not satisfied can have this upgraded-which will cost from $250 to $2,000.

XM radio on the other hand uses the Delphi XM Roady Receiver. This will cost an individual somewhere between $30 to $400, but those who choose to get a monthly subscription will only have to pay $12.95 per month.

Both the models being offered by Sirius and XM radio are easy to install. The person will just have to pay a small fee as a service charge when enlisting the help of a customer representative when this is being done.

Customers can buy the unit in a store or order this online. It is not only ordinary individuals who are very interested in this product since there are also other models for commercial use that are being broadcasted in public access systems of hotels and other retail establishments

Is Sirius satellite radio better then that XM radio? Given that both companies have different things to offer, this really depends on the tastes of the customer.

If you're looking for a Sirius portable satellite radio buyers guide you should visit http://TopSatelliteDeals.com where you'll find great satellite entertainment deals and some helpful information.

Going On A Long Trip - Satellite Radio Is A Must

If you are thinking of taking a car trip you absolutely must have a satellite radio for your vehicle. With a satellite radio you won't have to spend hours of your trip trying to find a new radio station. Instead, you will be able to keep the same station on during your whole trip.

Both of the major satellite systems offer hundreds of themed stations so if you like listening to sports or listening to kids music you will be able to find the right station for you. Sirius and XM Radio use separate radio frequencies to transmit their music throughout the country. No matter which service you choose you are sure to have uninterrupted music for your whole trip.

One problem that many people are having is that each service provider has specific programs that are only available to their subscribers. One offers baseball coverage while the other offers football coverage. One is more broadcasting based while the other is more programming based. Many customers liked aspects of both services and just could not decide on which one was best for them. For these customers Interoperable Technologies was started.

Interoperable Technologies is a joint venture between Sirius Radio and XM Radio. Their goal is to offer customers a new programming product that will combine all the best features of both services. Customers will have to pay a little bit more than the usual satellite radio price but the higher price is well worth it for individuals who really enjoy having satellite radio in their vehicle.

In their research Interoperable technologies has found many clients that are willing to pay a higher monthly fee to get both services. But customers are also a little leery about if this is every going to actually happen, because right now the whole thing is still in the developmental stage and no combined service is yet available to the general public.

Satellite radio is a great new way of listening to music and enjoying the variety of channels that are available anywhere in the country. You are no longer confined to the local radio channels; instead you can browse music stations based on their themes. By browsing this way you can find the exact type of music to fit any mood you are in.

You don't have to be taking a road trip to enjoy satellite radio stations. Anyone who has a vehicle will find that these radio services are a great way to get the most out of their radios, no matter what kind of trip they are taking. Even driving to the grocery store is more fun with a satellite radio system in your vehicle.

Gregg Hall is an author living in Navarre Beach, Florida. Find more about this as well as a car parts and accessories at www.caraccessoriesplus.com

How Satellite Radio Gives You Nearly Limitless Choices

Satellite radio is a great product for anyone who does not like one specific type of music. With satellite radio you can choose from hundreds of stations and never get bored with your options. You can listen to rock, dance, reggae, and jazz. If you are interested in sporting events you will find a variety of different sports covered through the two major satellite radio companies.

If you own a satellite radio you do not have to worry about changing radio stations every couple hundred miles like you would have to do with a regular radio station. With a satellite system you can listen to your favorite music while traveling from one side of the United States all the way over to the other side.

A big plus to using satellite radio is all the extras you get with each song. As you listen you will see song titles and the artist's names scroll across your receiver. This is great for all of us that can never remember the name of a song, even though we have heard it several dozen times.

In the past radio hosts and musicians were censored by the radio stations that played their songs or talk shows. But with satellite radio censorship is no longer an issue. Because the programming is very descriptively separated into categories, only people who want to listen to a station will tune into that station. This provides a great way for individuals that enjoy free thinking talk shows and musicians an uninterrupted way of supporting their favorite stars.

Many people argue that they do not want to pay for music when they can listen to it for free over the regular radio stations. But are our regular radio stations really free? Is wasting 15 minutes of your time listening to commercials really a good way to spend your time. Most of us don't think about all the time we waste on commercials during our daily commute into work. With satellite radio you don't have to be bothered with commercials, instead you can listen to your favorite channel uninterrupted for your entire journey.

Satellite radio does require a minimal monthly fee, but this fee is extremely understandable when you consider all the extras that are included in the satellite radio systems. Subscribers are even going to soon be able to see videos using their satellite systems.

Satellite radio is a vastly expanding business that will only grow in the years to come. You don't have to worry about satellite radio being some kind of fad that is going to go away. Satellite radio is here to stay so you should definitely consider giving it a try.

Gregg Hall is an author living in Navarre Beach, Florida. Find more about this as well as a car accessories at www.caraccessoriesplus.com

How Do XM And Sirius Satellite Radio Compare?

If you want to take advantage of the satellite radio boom which is picking up steam with almost every passing day, you only have two major choices if you live in the US, either XM or Sirius. Both providers offer high quality, digital programming with over 100 channels to listen to so you can never run out of something good on the radio.

But what are the differences between the two services? It makes sense to figure that out in advance and make the right decision for you, as the equipment that you buy that enables you to receive the signal from one of the providers, cannot be used with the other provider if you decide that you want to make a change for some reason. So that means that examining the programming options from both XM and Sirius is an important step in the buying process, as it will be very expensive if you decide to change after the equipment has been purchased.

In actuality though, there are more similarities between the two providers than there are differences, especially in the field of music. Each has over 60 channels of music to tune into including all of the major generes like pop, hip-hop, blues, all kinds of rock, country, jazz, classical, as well as dance music and music by the decades (70s, 80s, 90s, etc.) So in this area, either one will no doubt provide you with all the music programming that you could ever need.

The differences in programming start to show up in the talk radio and sports radio sections though. In sports, XM broadcasts baseball games and Nascar, whereas Sirius has committed to more overall sports programming including all NFL footbal games, most NBA games, NHL, and Nascar. So if you are a sports fan, the differences can be important in this area.

In talk radio, one of the biggest draws for Sirius is Howard Stern. Of course, his radio show has been very popular for many years and has lots of listeners, so if he is a favorite of yours, you can only find him on Sirius. But there are other talk shows available as well, although Sirius tends to attract more celebrity talk shows hosted by the likes of Martha Stewart, Jimmy Buffet, and more. One other advantage in the talk area, is that Sirius also carries NPR, which has a wide fan base as well. The list is constantly changing though, so check the latest channel lineup to see what talk channels are being offered at this point.

Both services offer always-on, everywhere service that is available no matter where you live in the US, and the equipment for receiving each service is pretty extensive, with XM maybe having a slight edge in the portability field.

So look over the channel lineups carefully, choose your provider and enjoy the next step in high quality, digital entertainment.

Find out more about sirius satellite radio and portable satellite radio at the Satellite Radio Review.

XM vs Sirius Satellite Radio

So you want to switch to satellite radio, but you aren't sure with which service to go with? Two of the biggest names in satellite radio today, XM and Sirius, both offer a large variety of music stations that you would never hear on regular commercial radio. And most of the music channels, for both services, are commercial free. Of course, nothing is truely free. Both Sirius and XM charge you a service fee to listen to their music channels - someone has to pay for those satellites!

So you want to switch to satellite radio, but you aren't sure with which service to go with? Two of the biggest names in satellite radio today, XM and Sirius, both offer a large variety of music stations that you would never hear on regular commercial radio. And most of the music channels, for both services, are commercial free. Of course, nothing is truely free. Both Sirius and XM charge you a service fee to listen to their music channels - someone has to pay for those satellites!

So what is the difference between Sirius and XM?

First of all, Sirius and XM both offer the same commercial-free music service broadcasted via satellites. Sirius offers 120 channels, or feeds, of music, sports, and entertainment programming. For this service, Sirius charges a flat monthly subscription fee of $12.95 for residents of the continental US. XM currently charges, on the other hand, has 122 channels broadcasting similar content (68 of which are music channels), and charge a slightly smaller monthly fee: $9.95. XM currently has the largest share in the satellite marked with 2 million customers.

So why does Sirius charge more? Sirius claims to have superior sound quality thanks to their statistical multiplexing technology, which provides additional bandwidth across all SIRIUS streams. This is supposed to increase overall sound quality and resolution. There has been little feedback however, to verify whether or not this system really enhances sound quality to a noticeable degree. In addition, Sirius is offering free audio feeds through the internet to its paying customers, something XM charges a couple dollars a month extra for. So if you plan on listening to the radio via the net often, you can expect to pay about the same no matter which company you go with. Sirius also claims to have 24 hour customer service - something XM radio has yet to fully achieve. Oh, and one more thing. Sirius has 2 NPR channels, for you NPR fans out there: NPR Now and NPR Talk. Pretty cool.

So does that mean Sirius is better? Well, that depends. XM has some neat stuff too, like a bunch of cool XM Satellite Radio receivers and displays. They also have the biggest broadcasting network right now, and are probably the most likely to expand services significantly in the near future. Overall, they are just about equal, and you are better off going with either of these services than any other.

This Sirius vs XM satellite radio review was brought to you by SciNet Science and Technology Search Engine. SciNet is not affiliated with or specifically endorses Sirius or XM satellite radio. Please consult the XM and Sirius product information and configurations before you purchase either device or service. It is also a good idea to seek other product review and information as necessary.

Bradley James is a senior editor at SciNet.cc, a website containing many helpful consumer electronics review articles. For more information on XM and Sirius satellite radio technology, please visit our XM vs Sirius satellite radio webpage.