Satellite Radio XM and Sirius
Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2008 1:45 pm
Saw some stuff on another thread and thought it might be interesting to share views on the general nature of satellite radio. XM and Sirius are the best known satellite radio operators in North America. Are there other satellite radio station operators in other countries -- or do these two dominate the international market too ?
Do Forumites have their preferences of stations, programs etc on these satellite broadcasters ?
What about the oft-discussed merger of XM and Sirius... how do RRF members see themselves as subscribers impacted.... less competition therefore prices go up ?
Myself, I have XM in my car and my wife's car came with Sirius. We do not have satellite radio in our home. We note that there are frequent "blackouts" or interrupted signals with Sirius, that we do not experience with XM. Am not sure if this has something to do with location of Sirius's satellite in orbit around the earth or other satellites getting in its way and blocking their signal ? Or do these frequent outages mean Sirius does not pay their bills on time to the aerospace company that put them in orbit ?
My favorite station is Deep Tracks 40 on XM... especially when they go digging into the vaults for obscure album tracks from my youth or old live broadcasts from King Biscuit flower hour.... or when they have special live performances of various artists on hand at XM studios. I think there is one DJ on Deep Tracks who starts off every one of his Saturday afternoon work shifts with the long version of Iron Butterfly's In-a-Gadda-da-Vida. Nice to know someone still bucks the system and plays the long version. I have listened to Tom Petty's Buried Treasure show a few times and the original celebrity guest DJ show, Bob Dylan's Theme Time radio.... the latter is not really a favorite of mine as Dylan gets into some pretty obscure themes for songs, from his vinyl collection acquired over the years, but he's a celebrity and can do what he pleases, right ? I also listen to Top Tracks 46, Big Tracks 49 and Bluesville 74 on the XM dial. The interesting thing about Deep Tracks is how deep they go into historical unearthing to bring some less then famous tunes to the airwaves.... how many other stations ever play the "Change of Address Jam" from the Blind Faith Deluxe edition ? Once in a while when switching back and forth on the XM band, you can hit both Deep Tracks and Top Tracks doing different cuts from Dark Side of the Moon at the same time.... like minds thinking alike with their DJs-Producers ?
On my wife's Sirius station, I listen often to Classic Vinyl and I think the other one is called Retread or something like that. Sirius has experimented in the past with certain stations formatted for just one band... like they once had a Who station, a Led Zep station and now a Stones station
The baby-boomer that I am, I must confess that I share the XM music airwaves listening with a dose of their news broadcasts too.... the XM Public Radio 133, BBC 131, Fox News 121 and CNN 122 stations and a Canadian news station too. Although in the last few weeks I have listened less and less to the news channels, as they are stuck in U.S. election-mania and I am sick of hearing the same politician’s voices making the same stump speeches and promising voters the world (with no explanation of whose taxes are going to pay for these grandiose give-away schemes !). Myself, I am not in favor of XM and Sirius merging, as prices will go up and choices will go down and I would hate to be stuck with Sirius's faulty satellite operation that has repeated outages, after experiencing the good strong signal from XM over the years.
In keeping with the idea of theme programs and dedicated format stations, I would like to see one of these satellite stations do recordings strictly featuring Rickenbacker artists... now that would be a great station !! Anyway, it would be interesting to learn other Forumites preferences and their views on the satellite radio phenomena’s impact on Rock and Roll. Any Forumites care to share favorite obscure tunes they have heard on XM or Sirius ?
Regards - Rich F.
Do Forumites have their preferences of stations, programs etc on these satellite broadcasters ?
What about the oft-discussed merger of XM and Sirius... how do RRF members see themselves as subscribers impacted.... less competition therefore prices go up ?
Myself, I have XM in my car and my wife's car came with Sirius. We do not have satellite radio in our home. We note that there are frequent "blackouts" or interrupted signals with Sirius, that we do not experience with XM. Am not sure if this has something to do with location of Sirius's satellite in orbit around the earth or other satellites getting in its way and blocking their signal ? Or do these frequent outages mean Sirius does not pay their bills on time to the aerospace company that put them in orbit ?
My favorite station is Deep Tracks 40 on XM... especially when they go digging into the vaults for obscure album tracks from my youth or old live broadcasts from King Biscuit flower hour.... or when they have special live performances of various artists on hand at XM studios. I think there is one DJ on Deep Tracks who starts off every one of his Saturday afternoon work shifts with the long version of Iron Butterfly's In-a-Gadda-da-Vida. Nice to know someone still bucks the system and plays the long version. I have listened to Tom Petty's Buried Treasure show a few times and the original celebrity guest DJ show, Bob Dylan's Theme Time radio.... the latter is not really a favorite of mine as Dylan gets into some pretty obscure themes for songs, from his vinyl collection acquired over the years, but he's a celebrity and can do what he pleases, right ? I also listen to Top Tracks 46, Big Tracks 49 and Bluesville 74 on the XM dial. The interesting thing about Deep Tracks is how deep they go into historical unearthing to bring some less then famous tunes to the airwaves.... how many other stations ever play the "Change of Address Jam" from the Blind Faith Deluxe edition ? Once in a while when switching back and forth on the XM band, you can hit both Deep Tracks and Top Tracks doing different cuts from Dark Side of the Moon at the same time.... like minds thinking alike with their DJs-Producers ?
On my wife's Sirius station, I listen often to Classic Vinyl and I think the other one is called Retread or something like that. Sirius has experimented in the past with certain stations formatted for just one band... like they once had a Who station, a Led Zep station and now a Stones station
The baby-boomer that I am, I must confess that I share the XM music airwaves listening with a dose of their news broadcasts too.... the XM Public Radio 133, BBC 131, Fox News 121 and CNN 122 stations and a Canadian news station too. Although in the last few weeks I have listened less and less to the news channels, as they are stuck in U.S. election-mania and I am sick of hearing the same politician’s voices making the same stump speeches and promising voters the world (with no explanation of whose taxes are going to pay for these grandiose give-away schemes !). Myself, I am not in favor of XM and Sirius merging, as prices will go up and choices will go down and I would hate to be stuck with Sirius's faulty satellite operation that has repeated outages, after experiencing the good strong signal from XM over the years.
In keeping with the idea of theme programs and dedicated format stations, I would like to see one of these satellite stations do recordings strictly featuring Rickenbacker artists... now that would be a great station !! Anyway, it would be interesting to learn other Forumites preferences and their views on the satellite radio phenomena’s impact on Rock and Roll. Any Forumites care to share favorite obscure tunes they have heard on XM or Sirius ?
Regards - Rich F.
