XM Vs Sirius

Satelite radio has become very popular since it was first introduced. Many people are starting to prefer satelite radio instead of regular AM/FM radio because satelite radio has no commercials and has more content to choose from. The only problem is which satelite radio service should you choose? There are currently two services for satelite radio: XM and Sirius. Each of them have advantages and disadvantages.

XM radio costs $12.95 a month. They offer many different subscription plans with 1-5 year packages. XM has about 4 million subscribers. They have over 150 digital channels. They have 67 channels of commercial free music. They offer channels for all kinds of music from 60s bluegrass music to heavy metal. They also have a variety of talk and comedy channels as well as channels for MTV and VH1. The MTV and VH1 channels offer programs like The Real World, MTV news, and VH1’s Storytellers. They offer traffic and weather in 21 major markets with coverage that goes on 24/7. XM also has a deal with the MLB for every team all season long. XM is the official satelite radio service of Major League Baseball and broadcast all the games played. XM also has two NASCAR channels. They also offer play by play of ACC, PAC-10, and Big Ten football. They also have men’s and women’s basketball games. They cover over 30 colleges and universities. Opie and Anthony also have a show on XM after they were kicked off regular radio because of their raunchy content but on XM they can be as raunchy as they want.

Sirius radio also costs $12.95 a month. Sirius offers about 120 channels of content. Sirius has 65 music channels which are all commercial free. They have 55 channels of sports, news, and other programming. They don’t have Opie and Anthony but they have another great shock jock joining them in 2006. Howard Stern will be moving his radio show to Sirius starting January 2006. I know many people who are buying Sirius just because of Howard Stern but Sirius offers much more than just Howard Stern. Sirius has deals with the NHL, NBA, and the NFL to broadcast all their games. All subscribers can listen online for free. Their traffic and weather channels update every four minutes in 20 major markets. You can get Sirius installed in your car, in your home or a portable radio which can plug into a car kit or a boombox and allow you to listen to Sirius wherever you go. Sirius also has a channel for National Public Radio.

So which is the better service? Well that depends on the person buying. Both services offer different content. Both companies offer a variety of music and buyers should look at what type of music channels each service offers before buying. The products are reasonably priced. Audio recievers for the services are available for less than a hundred dollars. Both cost $12.95 a month and both services offer discounts on packages of 3 months or more. XM has more channels than XM but Sirius has more diversity with their channels. What it really comes down to is what kind of content are you looking to listen to? Research what type of content both companies offer and make your descision based on that. Satelite radio is so much better than regular radio and the $12.95 a month is worth it. 30 years ago people would never think of paying for TV channels but now everybody has cable. Satelite radio is going to be the same way.