What is Satellite Radio
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| This graphic illustrates how the xm radio system works Sirius |
Satellite radio is just what it's name suggests, radio service that uses satellites circling earth to broadcast it's programming that Offers numerous, coast- to coast radio channels in digital-quality sound.
programming includes commercial-free music, plus your favorite sports, exclusive talk and entertainment, comedy, news, traffic, weather and more.
There's no downloading or managing play lists. Satellite radio also includes additional services for your car, like infotainment and traffic in 1992, the federal communications commission (FCC) allocated a satellite spectrum ( the "S" band, 2.3 GHz) for the broadcasting of satellite- based digital audio radio service (DARS).
It eventually granted two licenses, one to Sirius satellite radio (formerly CD radio) and one to XM satellite radio (Formerly American Mobile Radio Corporation). The world's biggest satellite radio provider, l world space, is available in Europe and several other countries but not in the United States, there are to big pluses for satellite radio listeners. First, every channel, whether it's on XM or Sirius, is largely commercial-free, which should appeal to radio listeners tired of having advertisements screamed into their ears while they sit in traffic. Most music channels have no advertising at all. Second, no matter where you are in the continental united states, you get the same reception as long as the skies are relatively clear. Unlike traditional radio, wich loses reception once you're too far away from a certain station, satellites ensure you receive a signal no matter where you are in America. A driver could trek all the way from New York City to los Angeles and never have to change the channel.
What's the difference between Sirius and XM?
XM and Sirius started as two separate satellite radio providers. Even though the companies have now merged into Sirius XM, there is still some XM-and Sirius-specific programming. For example, Major League Baseball games are available only on the XM network. But, with the Sirius or XM premier programming package, you get almost every channel Sirius XM has to offer. Both have more than 65 channels of commercial-free music, more than 40 channels of news, sports, and entertainment, as well as traffic and weather channels for most major metropolitan areas.
The advantages of satellite radio
You can hear every team and every game from every major sport - no matter where you live, with 24/7 talk channels for each on the biggest leagues. Extras include driver feeds during NASCAR races the NFL draft, a full-time fantasy sports channel and more. One of the great advantages of satellite radio is the fact that the programs are not interrupted by commercials. This is because the provider's income comes from advertisers. Satellite radio services offer around 70 programs of commercial fee music channels each and you have a great variety of choices, from mainstream rock, hip-hop and dance music to folk music, opera, and blues.
Ease of Use
This is just now becoming an issue in audio entertainment. In particular this is the case in the car. Sirius XM is as easy to use as an AM/FM radio. For the average person, that is a HUGE advantage over i Tunes, Slacker, Pandora, etc. People do not want to take the time to plug something in, load an app, and figure out which play list they want to hear. There are people who's idea of a cell phone is for phone calls. Going beyond that simply is not an options for these people they have not even attempted texting yet. This is more a generational issue though.
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