How exactly does satillite radio work? And which is better: XM Radio or Sirius?

Question

How exactly does satillite radio work? And which is better: XM Radio or Sirius?

Answer 1

Its Really Cool How Satellite Radio Works, The Programming Comes From There Studios (Sirius- New York XM- Washington DC) Then It Gets Sent To The Satellites and then back to your radio!.

I've had both XM And Sirius, I like XM Better because they have deeper music play lists and MLB. Sirius on the other hand, you will hear more song repeats and more channel promos then XM. XM and Sirius have 69 Commercial Free Music Channels, that will fit your needs, from Rock, Pop, Oldies, R&B, Jazz, Blues, they have everything!  I recomemend XM, they are just overall better, Sirius Lacks many things, music programming is poor, and thats the reason I left Sirius.

When you subscribe you must have a XM or Sirius receiver to receive there programing, most radios come with car kits so it will work in your car, you can buy Home Kits and boom boxes for your radio as well. I highly recommend a portable satellite radio then you can have it in your home, car, and on the go with live reception!  When you become a subscriber, you can listen to there programming online for free at anytime.

Also, if you haven't heard any of there programming go to there website at http://www.xmradio.com and http://www.sirius.com

Answer 2

Satellite radio starts just like regular (terrestrial) radio. There is a studio, sometimes a DJ and the audio is produced and sent through processing equipment to a transmitter. Instead of the transmitter broadcasting from there out to you, it goes up. The signal is sent from the studios, in both cases; Sirius (from New York) and XM (from Washington, DC) to one of the satellites that hover over the Earth in a "geosynchronous orbit." That means they rotate with the earth to stay in the same place all the time relative to Earth. In the case of Sirius and XM, that's the US. XM also has a satellite that stays over Canada for XM-Canada listeners. WorldSpace has satellites that cover parts of Africa, the Middle East, India, China, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam and other SE Asian countries and Russia, etc.

The signal is picked up by the satellite, sorted so it will line up with the proper channel (for instance XM 150 is always the comedy channel), then sent back towards earth where it is picked up by the antenna on your car, in your home or on a portable unit.

Then the receiver (the radio) decides which channel you want to listen to and sends that channel to the speakers or headphones, etc.

Everyone has their own idea about which is better (that's why there's chocolate AND vanilla - because everyone has different taste). But in actuality, they are both pretty much the same with the exception of sports.

XM and Sirius, both public companies that you can buy stock in, are trying to merge. Both companies want this merger to save themselves. They have both spent LOTS of $$$ to set up their respective businesses and the subscription and advertising revenue hasn't come in as well as they'd hoped.

For instance, you should see the studios at XM in Washington - incredible! Every toy and gadget you could imagine. It's an engineer or DJ's playground... but very expensive!

Both fall under the authority of the FCC and FTC (among others). It is likely this merger will be allowed by the FCC (currently only one FCC commissioner is opposed). However the FTC may have a problem with the merger as they are concerned about a monopoly situation - though I wish they'd spend their resources on FPL, the Florida power company (but I digress).

The good news is that, if the merger is approved, the new company will be financially stronger than the two separate ones and the chances of you being able to enjoy satellite radio will be better under a stronger, merged single company.

One of the things promised by Sirius boss Mel Karmazin (who will undoubtedly end up as CEO of the merged company) is a special deal where you'd be able to select your favorite 50 stations from each service and only pay $6-$7 per month for that new plan. Or keep the full service for about $13 (what you are paying now). There will also be other deals. Plus, all the sports will be available, so you don't have to choose which service to get based on whether you like football or baseball - you'll have it all: pro and NCAA.

The merger would be a good deal for all involved - except maybe terrestrial radio and certain employees who would be let go - as one of the reasons for the merger would be to cut costs by taking advantage of the economies of scale it would provide, i.e. only one accounting department, sales dept., combining some of the channels that are virtually identical, etc.

Others who might not benefit are those seeking jobs in the industry as there would be fewer jobs available and only the best, most mature and most experienced would be hired.

Hope this helps clear the air. Good question. Most people just ask which to get, you asked a better more involved and smarter question. A star for you!

-a guy named duh

Answer 3

I've had both XM and Sirius. I liked XM comedy channels better, but went to Sirius when Stern came on board.

From what I hear, the two will be merging sometime soon anyway. Both are really fantastic compared to regular radio.

Answer 4

I live in the Detroit area as well & channel 95.5 is not a top 40 station, it's a CHR (Current Hits Radio) station.  If you listen to any other CHR station in any market it will sound exactly the same.

Here's a good link that give thorough info on how satellite works, the costs, channel selection, etc. http://www.topsatelliteradio.com/what-is...

Which is better is an opinion & mine is Sirius because of the music variety.  Though I could do without all the profanity.

Answer 5

SIRIUS is okay.

I live in Inkster, Michigan outside of Detroit, Michigan and SIRIUS radio stations are way better then Detroit Radio stations.

Detroit radio stations are terrible probably the worst in the whole country.

We have a Top 40 radio station, it's suppose to be a Top 40 radio station named Channel 955 FM which transmits at 95.5 MHZ in metro Detroit on FM, The station is really a Hip-Hop & R&B radio station, because they refuse to play a variety of music like Top 40 radio stations are suppose too, they refuse to play rock music and some pop music.

SIRIUS Top 40 channel Hits 1 is way better the Channel 955 which is 95.5 FM here in Detroit, Michigan.

Answer 6

I only know about serious.

There are many stations, rock, sport, roadhouse, pop, metal, soul, comedy, and yes, even playboy. Not 4 me but it is there. You just hit a button to turn it on/off. Hit the < and > buttons to scroll through the catagories of music, hit ^ and (down) to go through the stations. to goto that station, you hit the dog button. That is pretty much it.