I bought XM radio service just before Christmas (December 2003), so my
experience is not even a year long. However, in my case, getting XM
changed my radio listening habits around 98%.

The *only* time I have my radio on (regular) FM is Saturday mornings
at 10:00am for NPR's Car Talk. With that exception, my XM is always
in use. Once XM adds channel 133 in September (Public Radio stuff) I
may not even need to do that.

If you take n=100 meaning the time that I am listening to the XM
signal, I would guess about 40% of the time I am listening to XM talk
stations (usually CSPAN or the comedy channels, occasionally CNBC and
CNN, every now and then Fox). The remaining 60% is music, and that
varies based on my mood and the time of day.

Absolutely the #1 selling point for me was reception *everywhere*.
MountAINS OF Pennsylvania, coast of North Carolina, never any fadeouts
or other reception issues. (Well, I shouldn't say NEVER. On some
roads, like the Pa. TUrnpike where there are hills right next to the
road, the satellite can't see the antenna and I get occasional
dropout. But almost perfect, and far better than AM or FM.

Since PBS went commercial, I get more for my $10/month on XM than I
ever did with a membership to a public radio station.
--
Ted Koppel

"Ted Koppel" wrote in message
...
I bought XM radio service just before Christmas (December 2003), so my
experience is not even a year long. However, in my case, getting XM
changed my radio listening habits around 98%.

The *only* time I have my radio on (regular) FM is Saturday mornings
at 10:00am for NPR's Car Talk. With that exception, my XM is always
in use. Once XM adds channel 133 in September (Public Radio stuff) I
may not even need to do that.

If you take n=100 meaning the time that I am listening to the XM
signal, I would guess about 40% of the time I am listening to XM talk
stations (usually CSPAN or the comedy channels, occasionally CNBC and
CNN, every now and then Fox). The remaining 60% is music, and that
varies based on my mood and the time of day.

Absolutely the #1 selling point for me was reception *everywhere*.
MountAINS OF Pennsylvania, coast of North Carolina, never any fadeouts
or other reception issues. (Well, I shouldn't say NEVER. On some
roads, like the Pa. TUrnpike where there are hills right next to the
road, the satellite can't see the antenna and I get occasional
dropout. But almost perfect, and far better than AM or FM.

Since PBS went commercial, I get more for my $10/month on XM than I
ever did with a membership to a public radio station.
--
Ted Koppel


For god's sake DONT tell the NAB about that! They are still running around
telling everyone that satellite radio is just a fad, its going away and cant
succeed. Meanwhile, back at the IBOC ranch they are STILL trying to get it
to work and sound good. Plans to destroy the AM broadcast dial is still in
the works. This is the NAB's answer to a fad that wont be around smile
Meanwhile....XM, Siruis and Worldspace continue to get new customers. More
and more channels get added, the choice gets better. Car units, home
units,Computer units. Around the corner are "Walkman" style radios, armband
holders for XM's Roadie. It will be easy to listen to satellite radio
everywhere.
Here is whats going away....Multipath distortion,commercials,stupid
DJ's,commercials,stale traffic reports,commercials,dumb contests,
commercials and did I mention commercials?

EAT **** NAB!!!! hear the driving public, were tired of your manhandling of
the radio offerings. The satellite providers are giving us what we want.
Programming, news,talk,traffic,weather,comedy,albums,all genre of music
WHERE we want, WHEN we want it and how we want it and its here NOW and
getting better all the time.
As far as IBOC goes, GO SUCK AN EGG, yep...it will take off just like AM
STEREO (another failure). KISS OFF NAB! you have trashed the public listener
way too long, we now have a choice and will exercise it. Oh sure! you will
have holdouts that wont pay for radio. Remember when they wouldnt pay for
television too?
Other "Fads" that wouldnt make it either...Color TV....Microwave
Oven...Cable TV..personal computer (who the hell would even need one).

"Rupert P Buttsnort" wrote in message
...

For god's sake DONT tell the NAB about that! They are still running around
telling everyone that satellite radio is just a fad, its going away and
cant
succeed.

No, they are not. The only thing the NAB has asked is that both satellite
providers fulfil on the promise and the license taht stipulate that there
will be no localization of channels.

Most NAB members realize that satellite has a very good position along side
radio, TV, cable, X-Boxes and microwave ovens as part of the mix of products
available to Americans. There have always been a percentage of Americans who
don't listen to radio (about 5%) and listen lightly (5%) who seek something
other than the fare on terrestrial radio. Reggae in Minneapolis, Classical
in Prescott, Hip Hop in Fargo, Salsa in Des Moines... things that a
nationally significant group want, but which group is insignificant on the
local level.

Satellite complements terrrestrial radio, and it will be a long time before
it competes.

Meanwhile, back at the IBOC ranch they are STILL trying to get it
to work and sound good.

It's working and sounding good on about 400 stations now. And there are over
2000 more committed to adding it in the next few years. Factories are
working overtime to produce the new transmitters and antennas, and orders
are backloged.

Plans to destroy the AM broadcast dial is still in
the works. This is the NAB's answer to a fad that wont be around smile

IBOC was not the NAB's idea. It was invented by a private company, and
invested in by a group of broadcasters.

Meanwhile....XM, Siruis and Worldspace continue to get new customers.

Worldspace is nearly bankrupt, and does not serve the Americas at all.

XM has 2 million subscribers nationally after just short of three years of
marketing. 2 million is less than the cume of one news station in New York
City. One station has more listeners than all the subscribers to XM. Sirius
is so far behind the dust has settled between them and XM, too.

More
and more channels get added, the choice gets better. Car units, home
units,Computer units. Around the corner are "Walkman" style radios,
armband
holders for XM's Roadie. It will be easy to listen to satellite radio
everywhere.

No, it won't. The satellite signal does not work well on hand held devices
that are in motion, and in office reception is, at best, tricky. I know. I
had 6 units in a building 2 misles form a repeater, and they hardly ever
worked.

Here is whats going away....Multipath distortion,commercials,stupid
DJ's,commercials,stale traffic reports,commercials,dumb contests,
commercials and did I mention commercial

Well, how 'botu this: 95% of Americans listen to land based radio weekly.


EAT **** NAB!!!! hear the driving public, were tired of your manhandling
of
the radio offerings.

The NAB is a trade association. It does not dictate programming, commercial
policy or music. Market forces do that.

The satellite providers are giving us what we want.

That, then, is why only 1 out of every 150 Americans has it, and evne those
people listen to twice as much land based radio as XM or Sirius?

Programming, news,talk,traffic,weather,comedy,albums,all genre of music
WHERE we want, WHEN we want it and how we want it and its here NOW and
getting better all the time.

Great. Go listen some more.

As far as IBOC goes, GO SUCK AN EGG, yep...it will take off just like AM
STEREO (another failure).

AM stereo was too late to market, when no one cared about AM. IBOC is dual
band, digital and has the backing of thousands of stations and dozens
ofreceiver manufacturers.

KISS OFF NAB! you have trashed the public listener
way too long, we now have a choice and will exercise it. Oh sure! you will
have holdouts that wont pay for radio. Remember when they wouldnt pay for
television too?

Cable stated when the average person had 3 TV choices or less, often with
snow and static. LA has 87 commercial radio choices. There is no comparison.

Other "Fads" that wouldnt make it either...Color TV....Microwave
Oven...Cable TV..personal computer (who the hell would even need one).

IBOC.

Radio today has as much per-person weekly listening as it had the year
before the TV freeze was lifted, when less than 43% of Americans could
receive one TV signal. We have had the transistor, TV, color TV, CATV,
Cable, video games, the Internet, and lots of other entertainment sources.
Radio is very resilient.

"David Eduardo" wrote in message ...

Satellite complements terrrestrial radio, and it will be a long time before
it competes.

Meanwhile, back at the IBOC ranch they are STILL trying to get it
to work and sound good.

It's working and sounding good on about 400 stations now. And there are over
2000 more committed to adding it in the next few years. Factories are
working overtime to produce the new transmitters and antennas, and orders
are backloged.

[...]

XM has 2 million subscribers nationally after just short of three years of
marketing. 2 million is less than the cume of one news station in New York
City. One station has more listeners than all the subscribers to XM. Sirius
is so far behind the dust has settled between them and XM, too.

More
and more channels get added, the choice gets better. Car units, home
units,Computer units. Around the corner are "Walkman" style radios,
armband
holders for XM's Roadie. It will be easy to listen to satellite radio
everywhere.

No, it won't. The satellite signal does not work well on hand held devices
that are in motion, and in office reception is, at best, tricky. I know. I
had 6 units in a building 2 misles form a repeater, and they hardly ever
worked.

Here is whats going away....Multipath distortion,commercials,stupid
DJ's,commercials,stale traffic reports,commercials,dumb contests,
commercials and did I mention commercial

Well, how 'botu this: 95% of Americans listen to land based radio weekly.

[...]

The NAB is a trade association. It does not dictate programming, commercial
policy or music. Market forces do that.

The satellite providers are giving us what we want.

That, then, is why only 1 out of every 150 Americans has it, and evne those
people listen to twice as much land based radio as XM or Sirius?

[...]

Cable stated when the average person had 3 TV choices or less, often with
snow and static. LA has 87 commercial radio choices. There is no comparison.

[...]

Radio today has as much per-person weekly listening as it had the year
before the TV freeze was lifted, when less than 43% of Americans could
receive one TV signal. We have had the transistor, TV, color TV, CATV,
Cable, video games, the Internet, and lots of other entertainment sources.
Radio is very resilient.


From the point of view of a consumer: The only time my wife and I
don't listen to XM radio is when we're in my car, which doesn't have
it yet. When we're in her car, it's pretty much constant XM. We're
remedying my lack of XM as soon as the XM-Direct aftermarket box comes
out. We were able to find an Alpine box for her car. Until I read this
thread, I'd never heard of IBOC. I still don't know what it is. I've
seen and heard many ads for XM and Sirius, though.

Radio is definitely not going away, but it is going satellite. You may
have scores of commercial radio choices in LA, NYC, Chicago, Dallas,
or Miami, but you don't in Knoxville, TN, Overland Park, KS, Portland,
OR, or most of the rest of the country. 95% of the country listens to
land-based radio weekly, but much less than 1% of the country
currently has XM. I don't know what the subscriber figures are for
Sirius, but both are going up. Just about every week at work someone
asks me about XM and ends up getting it. If the weather suddenly
changes or traffic is snarled, I may switch to a local station and
wait through the commercials, hoping that they'll tell me about it.
They do tend to get things a little quicker than the Boston-area XM
traffic and weather channel.

2 million XM subscribers in under 3 years?!? Wow! Cable TV started in
1948 and it didn't hit 2 million subscribers in the U.S. until it had
been around for about 20 years. The creation of HBO in 1972 probably
helped the skyrocket in subscribers to 15 million by the end of the
1970s. I wonder what the flood of cheap XM receivers that's recently
started will do to XM market penetration. Instead of $250 or more for
an XM receiver that the first 2 million subscribers paid, now we're
looking at $50-$100. You, yourself, say that you have or had six XM
receivers at the same time!

People pay for cable and satellite TV, even with all of the
commercials. Stating that satellite radio has no chance against
terrestrial broadcast is starting to have the same level of "wisdom"
that "GET A HORSE!" once had.

One event that may spark an increase in satellite radio use in the Miami, FL
area is the decision of WKAT, "Classical 1360", to broadcast infomercials
during the morning hours. The fact that there is classical music on AM radio
shows the limited choice of music on FM.

My only question is that after a 2 year period of XM and Sirius, why hasn't
the cost of receiving equipment come down?

"Blue Cat" wrote in message
...

My only question is that after a 2 year period of XM and Sirius, why hasn't
the cost of receiving equipment come down?

What makes you think it hasn't? My first Sirius receiver, the Jensen, was
almost $300 with the antenna. Audiovox in 2003 was about $150 complete, and
XMPCR this year $50 complete.

In a year or two I expect XM to be integrated in PCs and DVDs, licensed as a
product differentiator the way MP3 capability is today.

For those who haven't been following the web boards, XMPCR has been
withdrawn in the past week or two and is now going for over $300 on EBay.
Believed to relate to software someone wrote to capture the analog output on PC
as MP3. That kind of software is everywhere of course, but this program crossed
a line by breaking the captured audio into smaller MP3 files with title and
artist fixed into each one, a huge problem for XM and RIAA.

Jerome

"Blue Cat" wrote in message
...

My only question is that after a 2 year period of XM and Sirius, why
hasn't
the cost of receiving equipment come down?

The way I count, it has dropped to about 1/2 or 1/3 what it was 3 years ago
when XM signed on. (Unless you got one of the Friends & Family deals back
then or ....) In any case the price is considerably subsidized from what I
hear - in both XM and Sirius cases.