Last week, The New York Times Circuits Column reported on satellite radio systems provided by XM Satellite Radio and SIRIUS. David Pogue loves satellite radio, despite the fact that it’s another service with another monthly service fee:
The result is a strange, intriguing hybrid sound source. Thanks to the lack of ads and interruptions, satellite radio resembles a CD or an iPod – yet it has a limitless playlist. Because you can find forgotten gems, experimental music and eclectic programming, it resembles a college radio station – yet you never lose the signal as you drive.
What’s the difference between the services? SIRIUS is almost entirely commercial-free and has a fairly even balance between news/talk and music programming. XM has more commercials, although still substantially less than commercial over-the-air radio, and it more heavily weighted toward music. SIRIUS has also made contracts with several professional sports leagues (the NBA and NHL this season, the NFL beginning next season) to broadcast each game from coast-to-coast.
XM has a lot more subscribers at the moment and has a better choice of after-market receivers. It would seem that they have the subscriber growth momentum to make it in the long term. SIRIUS has been behind XM at every stage of its deployment, but, the deals it has made to cover sports may provide extra growth that XM may find difficult to duplicate.
I love to listen to news, talk, and sports programming on the radio, so I’d be leaning toward SIRIUS if I were getting into satellite radio at this time. But, I like the design of the SkyFi Receiver and Operation Gadget readers know that it’s hard for me to walk away from a neat gadget.