So Who Needs XM/Sirius? Is Satellite Radio Obsolete?

[Anderton]

Seriously. I used to depend on it, but now it's pretty much useless (although I still see a major use for it in cars). The last holdout was being able to catch Armin Van Buuren's "State of Trance" on Area 51, but now it's on Digitally Imported every Thursday at 19:00 GMT, or 2PM EST anyway. Granted the time isn't very convenient, but I figure I can always upgrade to premium for better fidelity, and do time-shfit recording. (I think TuneIn.com lets you record shows if you're a premium subscriber...maybe DI will do that at some point.)

Anyway, are any of you still listening to satellite radio, and if so, what are you getting out of it you can't get elsewhere? I keep getting these renewal notices ("Don't miss out! Come back to XM! Only $25 for six months and we'll even let you date our daughter and throw in a free vacation on St. Barts!") but I just can't seem to find the motivation to cough up the $25 and see what they're up to these days.

Besides, isn't their satellite hitting end of life soon? I think they only last ten years or something like that.

[MrKnobs]

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Anderton wrote:

 

Seriously. I used to depend on it, but now it's pretty much useless (although I still see a major use for it in cars). The last holdout was being able to catch Armin Van Buuren's "State of Trance" on Area 51, but now it's on

Digitally Imported

every Thursday at 19:00 GMT, or 2PM EST anyway. Granted the time isn't very convenient, but I figure I can always upgrade to premium for better fidelity, and do time-shfit recording. (I think TuneIn.com lets you record shows if you're a premium subscriber...maybe DI will do that at some point.)

 

Anyway, are any of you still listening to satellite radio, and if so, what are you getting out of it you can't get elsewhere? I keep getting these renewal notices ("Don't miss out! Come back to XM! Only $25 for six months and we'll even let you date our daughter and throw in a free vacation on St. Barts!") but I just can't seem to find the motivation to cough up the $25 and see what they're up to these days.

 

Besides, isn't their satellite hitting end of life soon? I think they only last ten years or something like that.

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Their stock is doing very well.

Terry D.

[Anderton]

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MrKnobs wrote:

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Anderton wrote:

 

Seriously. I used to depend on it, but now it's pretty much useless (although I still see a major use for it in cars). The last holdout was being able to catch Armin Van Buuren's "State of Trance" on Area 51, but now it's on

Digitally Imported

every Thursday at 19:00 GMT, or 2PM EST anyway. Granted the time isn't very convenient, but I figure I can always upgrade to premium for better fidelity, and do time-shfit recording. (I think TuneIn.com lets you record shows if you're a premium subscriber...maybe DI will do that at some point.)

 

Anyway, are any of you still listening to satellite radio, and if so, what are you getting out of it you can't get elsewhere? I keep getting these renewal notices ("Don't miss out! Come back to XM! Only $25 for six months and we'll even let you date our daughter and throw in a free vacation on St. Barts!") but I just can't seem to find the motivation to cough up the $25 and see what they're up to these days.

 

Besides, isn't their satellite hitting end of life soon? I think they only last ten years or something like that.

---

 

 

Their stock is doing very well.

 

Terry D.

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Why? What am I missing?

[Ernest Buckley]

I like it when it comes free with my cars for the first 6 months but aside from that, I have yet to extend the service. Considering the bulk of my listening is NPR and sports, and we have some pretty good stations here in NYC, I don`t see the need to purchase additional radio.

[MikeRivers]

 

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Anderton wrote:

 

 

Seriously. I used to depend on it, but now it's pretty much useless (although I still see a major use for it in cars). Besides, isn't their satellite hitting end of life soon? I think they only last ten years or something like that.

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Aren't cars the major radio market these days? Don't we all listen to our computers at home?

I don't subscribe to a satellite radio service for a couple of reasons, the main one being my same complaint with terrestrial radio - that there just isn't that much that I want to listen to. Second is the cost - the subscription, which isn't all that much - on par with what I donate to public and community stations that I listen to over the Internet. And then there's the cost (again, pretty trivial) of the receiver, and the kludge to get it integrated with the car radio. 

If I had Internet access in the car, I'd listen in the car the same way as I do at home. I know it's possible but not cheap enough yet. At home, I still have a few broadcast stations I can listen to and if I don't get fired up, at least don't get annoyed listening to them. It's more of a problem on a long road trip, but I solve that problem by recording some shows and playing them (via kludge) in the car.

[philbo]

I can't imagine paying a subscription for radio.  Not gonna happen...

When I don't listen to the radio, I generally listen to my cell phone in the car (it connects to an Aux line in on the car stereo).  Either my own collection, or I pick something from the 'Tune-In Radio' app on my cell phone when I'm too lazy to load it with new music. 

 

Most of the time I listen to KUNI or KCCK (both are public stations in my area that play (mostly) exceptional music.

[Rabid]

I remember when XM first came out. The big draw for me was the variety of stations and the ability to listen to music that I could not access over the airwaves. Now the unique stations like Taj Mahal and Luna are long gone. I don

[MikeRivers]

About half the time these days when I rent a car it has satellite radio that works. I don't usually bother with it around town (I can usually find an acceptable real radio station), but if I'm driving for an hour or more, I'll scan around and see if there's anything that catches my ear. It's like cable TV in hotel rooms (I don't have cable at home) - 100 or more "stations" and it's rare that one will interest me. 

On the sound quality thing, I'm usually not very picky, but on a drive between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, I put on the bluegrass channel. It just didn't sound right. When I stopped for lunch, I connected my MP3 player to the line input jack on the radio, cranked up a Bluegrass Country show that I had recorded from their Internet stream, and heard many of the same songs that they were playing on XM. My dinky $15 player playing a 128 kbps MP3 file recorded from an Internet stream sounded much better. That's not very encouraging.

 

[Opus Antics]

I find it good to have in the car.  The regular radio plays all the same thing over and over and over and over.  At least satellite gives me more options to find something I want to hear or...gasp...something new.

 

Outside of the car, I have no use for it.

[sailorman]

I've had XM for 5 years or so.   I use it in my car on longer trips, 'round town, I try to listen to the 2 non-commercial FM stations, but not for long.   I listen to XM in my workshop from the time I turn on the lights until I turn them off.   And on my sailboat, I often have it on from the time I get up until I go to bed.   There are enough stations where I like the music selected by the "DJ" to keep me happy, and I tend to like what they select.   And having shows by Dylan, Petty and some of the others is a real plus.   Blues station is great.   It's the first that I've listened much to 'radio' in 20 years.   I do a limited amount of online listening, but doesn't fit my needs.   My only complaint is the difficulty of reception in my wooded yard where my shop is;   antenna doesn't like trees.