Satellite radio - XM or Sirius?

[morgan180]

willie,

i enjoy howard stern. in fact don't think his act has been stale. i do think he's been limited in what he's been able to do lately and am excited to see him with no restriction. i like his interviews, his general overall malaise and his weird world.

but i digress - everyone is free to enjoy whatever they like.

[surfinillini]

[ QUOTE ]
willie,

i enjoy howard stern. in fact don't think his act has been stale. i do think he's been limited in what he's been able to do lately and am excited to see him with no restriction. i like his interviews, his general overall malaise and his weird world.

but i digress - everyone is free to enjoy whatever they like.

[/ QUOTE ]

yea...what celebreties go on O & E, stern is an icon, O & E are just copycats...are you a MANCOW fan 2?

[KneeCo]

Wow. People are actually eager to pay for the radio.

It's just sad.

[surfinillini]

[ QUOTE ]
Wow. People are actually eager to pay for the radio.

It's just sad.

[/ QUOTE ]

wow, do you have cable tv, that was never supposed to draw people, OMFG you're going to PAY for TV, the horror...

[KneeCo]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Wow. People are actually eager to pay for the radio.

It's just sad.

[/ QUOTE ]

wow, do you have cable tv, that was never supposed to draw people, OMFG you're going to PAY for TV, the horror...

[/ QUOTE ]

There's a big difference.
This doesn't really apply to people who want to get sat. radio for the sports and/or the talk shows, but for other people (the majority) who will be getting it for "Hundreds of stations of CD quality music!!" it is very sad. Singles are ads (for albums, concerts, movies, whatever).

The fact that radio stations even get away with "another block of non-stop music after this commercial break" is sad, but that happened and there's no turning back the clock, I would hope it wouldn't get too much worse though, and when I see these things selling like hot cakes, I see that it did.

[sublime]

[ QUOTE ]
Wow. People are actually eager to pay for the radio.

It's just sad.

[/ QUOTE ]

i thought the same until i actually set mine up and listened to it for a few days. its WELL worth paying for. the cable TV to regular TV comparison is spot on.

Here is something else to think about before buying, you may not care about this but I do:

XM is owned by ClearChannel. ClearChannel is a HUGE world wide media network that owns like 70% of the radio stations around the country. They are the reason why you can drive clear across the country and listen to the same 12 songs over and over. I personally have a problem with them because they farked up the radio industry as a career choice for me, its a story for another time. Basically CC is considered by many as "evil"

Sirius is independently owned.

Meh, some people don’t give a crap about this, but just thought I'd throw it out.

I think XM counts clear channel as an investor, I am not sure what %. Also, both products are largely owned by public share holders.

XMs Xmas channels are great. They have 5 and they are all distinct.

They started XM. See press release below. CC name is not all over XM but it's presence is felt at the stations.


Rest of release here
[ QUOTE ]
CLEAR CHANNEL, DIRECTV, GENERAL MOTORS & A PRIVATE INVESTMENT GROUP TAKE COMBINED $250 MILLION STAKE IN XM SATELLITE RADIO

Strategic Alliance to Pursue $2 Billion Emerging Satellite Radio Market XM Also Inks Exclusive Agreement to Provide Service in GM Vehicles

National, June 08, 1999 -- Clear Channel Communications Inc.; DIRECTV, Inc., a unit of Hughes Electronics Corporation; The General Motors Corporation; and a private investment group comprised of Columbia Capital, Telcom Ventures L.L.C., and Madison Dearborn Partners hit the accelerator on the emerging satellite radio market by making a $250 million combined investment commitment in XM Satellite Radio Inc. The announcement was made today by Hugh Panero, President and CEO of XM.

XM is a revolutionary new band of radio that will capitalize on direct satellite-to-receiver broadcasting technology to provide listeners in the car and at home with up to 100 channels of music, news, and entertainment available coast-to-coast with digital-quality sound. C.E. Unterberg, Towbin recently estimated the market for satellite radio to be over $2 billion by 2005.

"XM is thrilled to announce this dream-team alliance with General Motors, DIRECTV, and Clear Channel, the largest car manufacturer, the largest direct broadcast satellite company, and one of the largest and most profitable radio groups in the United States," said Hugh Panero, "as well as entrepreneurial investors like Columbia Capital, Telcom Ventures and Madison Dearborn Partners with their vast experience in the telecommunications sector."

"Our business is delivering satellite digital radio primarily to the car where most radio listening is done, and these companies with their respective expertise in the automotive, direct broadcast satellite, telecommunications, and radio businesses give new meaning to the term strategic partner," Panero added.

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[willie]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
willie,

i enjoy howard stern. in fact don't think his act has been stale. i do think he's been limited in what he's been able to do lately and am excited to see him with no restriction. i like his interviews, his general overall malaise and his weird world.

but i digress - everyone is free to enjoy whatever they like.

[/ QUOTE ]

yea...what celebreties go on O & E, stern is an icon, O & E are just copycats...are you a MANCOW fan 2?

[/ QUOTE ]

nah i don't like mancow, i think that opie and anthony were pushing edges that howard didn't even conceive could be reached via radio before they had the cord pulled on them.

taking a busload of bums to an upclass LI mall and setting them loose w/ 100 bucks apiece?

a sex in public contest w/ different points for different locations and the winning couple taking a prize (this is where the st patrick's cathedral incident occurred)- other spots of interest- macy's in a clothes rack, and in front of yankee stadium (2 pt conversion if you go w/ SIIHP)

and countless other acts, they were funny and still are amazing....to each his own though

i just felt the same way you did for a while- straight howard guy but i got tired of him falling back on tight restrictions being the main reason that his show failed to push any new edges.



ron and fez are on xm too [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]


and a quick analogy for calling them copycats....eh- it'd be like saying anyone who did standup was impersonating the original.

there are different ways to attack different material and each can be decent. howard is an egomaniac though to think that he is the originator of all things funny on the radio.