Comments on: Sirius-XM merger won't save satellite radio

Hard-core sports fans will pay $12.95 per month for radio. Hard-core music fans won't.

[RadicalEd]

Wow!!! After reading your article I have decided that you have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. Now I have read some of the posts from people and I do agree with some of them. As far as content, I have heard more new music on Sirius than I would have ever heard on regular AM/FM radio. Several channels are locked into the stereo of my car and I cringe at the thought of not driving my car on a trip or even to the Taco Bell 10 blocks away. Another of your points you talked about was the DJ's talking too much. I think I heard one particular female DJ on a rock station on Sirius talk maybe 2 times in a sixty minute period. SIXTY MINUTE PERIOD!!!! TWO TIMES!!!! That must mean she had to talk for probably 10-15 seconds each time. So, if you can keep up with the math here, 30 seconds out of 60 MINUTES does not equal talking all the time. Last, the price you pay for this service. Do you have a TV? Do you have cable? Do you have HDTV? These are services you pay for. If people didn't want to subscribe to any satellite radio service then how would the combined listeners for both Sirius and XM be around the 13 Million mark? Wow, I guess the service is so bad that they must be brainwashed into paying $13/month US. I mean come on...$13/month?!?!? So you can't go to McDonald's and order the Big Mac Meal twice a month because you had to pay for your commercial-free and interruption-free radio. Radio in the form of XM/Sirius is the future and if you could pull your head out of the NAB long enough, you would hear it too.

[ipwn007]

I got my XM radio this past May and I've loved it every day since then.

The programming is amazing. There is a ton of variety, and despite what you've said, they don't exactly play the same crap as terrestrial radio, especially on the XL stations.

The XM DJ's usually talk in only short spurts, either to provide you with quality information (about the upcoming artists), or at other times they are just hilarious (again especially on the XL stations).

Beyond the variety of music (by the way, I've learned of a ton of new bands via XM), there is great talk radio. My favorite is Leo Laporte's The Tech Guy (one of the reasons I went with XM). The comedy stations make any drive seem much shorter, and the amount of sports programming is amazing.

The sound quality is great, and I picked up a home kit so I can move my receiver from my car to my home and vice versa painlessly. I absolutely love it and think satellite radio is on the rise.

[jeepinls]

I'd like to start bystating the "oh so obvious", Matt you are clueless about sat radio!!
I
have had Sirius since '02 and no way would I return to the days of black and white tv ,washing my clothes on a rock in the river or terr radio. I live out in the sticks where music choices are minimal, mostly country (not in my Jeep) or the 2-3 'rock' stations which are run by very tight----'d people that don't want a true assortment.. Those are the music sources with approx 20 songs that are played to death, of course you have 3-4 commercials in between. You get the 1st glimpses of brand new bands, that normally you would only have access to if living in a metro area. Many of these bands are either newly signed or not even signed yet. Also you have awsome comedy channels, with a few to choose from, depending on who may listening with you. You also have sports, weather, talk radio ect.. As far as the "pain to set up" any big box store can install and set up if you aren't feeling up to the task. So Matt, please choose to pass up an assignment if you are unfamiliar and/or unwilling to learn about the subject.

[EZnTn]

Matt, somebody hijacked your blog.
While Sat radio has a few, very few shortcomings, its got the vast majority of terrestrial stations beat hands down. There are a very finite number of land based stations I'd love to hear added, and the Sat programing could be expanded, that's hopefully to be a product from this merger.
But to degrade Sat compared to landbased .. someone should take your keyboard away

[jsl4980]

I've been a Sirius customer for years and I love it. The sound quality is fine. The internet streaming is great. Having great extra programming like Howard Stern, Bubba the Love Sponge, and all the comedians is more entertainment than any internet streaming websites can offer. The sports stations are also great.

[woolieb]

Not sure I get the purpose of this article. My satellite radio sounds incredible, as good as my Zune does when plugged in. The selection from both carriers is second to none and I greatly look forward to them merging. Right now, I have Sirius and my wife has XM in her car. We switch vehicles sometimes so we can listen to the different offerings. The one thing I will agree with is that the "mainstream" stations do play it safe but you have such a wide range of offerings you can get away from that very easily. You also seem to put a lot on the $12.95 per month. That is 12 to 24 songs if downloaded legally so why is $12.95 unlimited listening a rip-off in your eyes?

[howclever]

This is journalism? You have a crappy car with a crappy connection and only use one of the two services offered, therefore the whole system will fail? Seriously? I can't speak to Sirius's selection but XM has quite a few stations that play music that isn't mainstream and would never be found on basic FM radio.

Next time, cnet, save some money and just have a random guy off the street write your articles. It would be just as credible as this one.

[blndee217]

I couldn't disagree with you more. I love my XM and rarely ever listen to local radio anymore. I can't imagine not having my XM. Sorry you had a crappy connection with your Sirius experience but maybe you should upgrade.

[gladman911]

Ipod doesn't have Stern.

'nuff said.

[uranym]

Do you work for the NAB? Seriously, do you? I have had Sirius for three years now and have a hard time breaking away from it. Terrestrial Radio never did that to me, there is so much to listen too, I can't fit it all in. The clarity is to the likes of Hi-Def vs. Standard Def. And there is no compare when you drive from Harrisburg to New York City over 160 miles and NEVER need to change the station. I listen at work all day, on the drive to and from, and when I am working around the house it is on. I hear bands I have never heard before and rare cuts from favorite artists. In my opinion only someone tied to the corporate monopoly know as the NAB could think Satellite wasn't one of the greatest inventions of our time.
The future is always changing, we're already in the air and you're still stuck on the ground.
P.S. I can stream Sirius through my cell phone and literally hear it anywhere even 30 miles out on a biking trail.

[hammerwalk]

I have to disagree complety with Matt here. I got Sirius almost 2 years ago for Christmas and I have not listened to local radio since! You really should have a poll to back up what you say when you think that most music fans think that its not worth the 12.95 a month! The DJs add character to what ever channel they are hosting, and can say what ever is on their mind with out worrying about the paid advertisers and the fat boss sitting in the office listening to everything they say.

There is a plethora of channels and genres to browse through. And it definitely saves the mind when on road trips. You have everything from Hip-Hop, to old radio shows from way back in the day plus all the news and talk shows you could ever want.

The only downside I had with Sirius was the Hockey coverage, XM had all the glory for the Stanly Cup, but that has been the ONLY problem I have ever had.

As far as the installation, I take it that you are not one to step back and spend the extra 30min or less to install the radio. I had mine installed in no time with 95% of the cables hidden (I am very asthetic whith my cables and installation of hardware) with practically no tools. I also got the portable boom box for my model of radio, and it has been a life saver. (It even runs on 8 D batteries)

As far as the quality, its better than radio, thats for sure, and I believe that the music is streamed at 128k, are you sure you didnt listen to the internet stream and then write this article, because that is streamed at 32k, but still beats local radio when you are in a pinch.

I have turned over 15 people over to Sirius, even some leaving XM for it, and I am thanked almost daily.

Next time you want to bash a great deal, imho, you should have some hard core data to back up what you are talking about. Dont blame the quality on a below par connection setup such as what you had.

A very happy Sirius subscriber,

Phillip

[hammerwalk]

Oh yeah, one more thing... OCTANE 20 and LITHIUM 24 ROCK!!!

[hammerwalk]

Oh yeah, one more thing... OCTANE 20 and LITHIUM 24 ROCK!!!

[chippydoodydoody]

We received a free year of Sirius when we purchased our new vehicle. Since then, I rarely listen to terrestrial radio...IN THAT VEHICLE. We also have Dish Network, which with our subscription comes the Sirius stations that are in our vehicle. I swore that I would never go back to terrestrial, but now that it is time to re-subscribe, I can't justify spending money on a per month basis, just to listen to the radio when driving, especially when we are getting the same stations by spending money on our satellite TV. I haven't done the math, but I don't spend a lot of time in the car. I will miss stations such as Hard Attack, and Octane. Concerning bandwidth, I don't know how much is available on a satellite link, but if they crank out at 256kbps, with all those stations, that is quite a bit. Hmm.

[drke]

Satellite radio is awfully expensive for what it is. I get a better selection of jazz, reggae, blues, and free form through my local public radio station, KUNM. Better news as well. The problem with sattelite radio is that lots of the content is an endless loop that people get hooked on. I agree that most all of the mainstream broadcast radio sucks (thank-you Clear Channel). Satellite radio is not the answer - in several years you will be trying to explain what it was to you kids - and they'll think you'r joking.

[bilflash]

Matt, d-u-d-e, what are you smokin? Sirius rocks !

Music, great talk (Mike Church is off the charts educating the befuddled fools who know nothing of this great country's founding ideals), kick ass sporting events, and some darn good comedy. What more do you want?? NO, how much freekin spare time do you have??? Good grief..

I love my Sirius and I get virtually perfect reception provided i'm not in my cave.