Being the techno-hip libertarian guy that Mike is , the subject of satellite radio has popped up from time to time here on For christmas, the wife bought me a SIRIUS system and I just love it. No issue about economics has me hotter than the potential blocking of the SIRIUS/XM merger. While I created a thread on that, I'd like to go on a different stream of thought.

NPR-the future of satellite radio

USA TODAY article-digital radio emerges into the future.

University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business article on satellite radio

Businessweek.com-the future of radio

Questions for debate:

1.)Is satellite radio the wave of the future or will it fizzle out?

2.)Do you prefer satellite or terrestial radio?, why do you feel the way that you do?

3.)What could SIRIUS/XM do to gain your business?

The benefit is you can drive for hours and listen to your favorite programs without interruption or searching for stations.

This is a tremendous advantage to anyone who travels.

WotF. People said no one would pay for TV either. Cable companies and satellite companies seem to be doing really well. In a medium of content.... content is king.
I never listen to "regular radio" anymore. Even if I listen to a syndicated broadcast I listen to it on Satellite. I <3 my Sirius!
They already have it. 4 times over. Both my cars, my house and my office have units.

For me, XM has replaced CDs more than terrestrial radio, I haven't played a CD in years. I still listen to KCRW, my local NPR station on FM but for music, we just pick a genre and let XM do the programming. If I'm in the mood for a particular artist, I can setup my Roady to automatically switch to any channel playing them.

I have it included with DirecTV plus 2 paid XM receivers, one in the car and one that moves around the house.

They already have my business, but they could lose it if an alternative with better sound quality became available, XM is fine for the car but suffers on the "big" system compared to CD or FM. So, I'd say quality/bandwidth is the key to expanding beyond just the automobile market.

I believe it's the future. No FCC, commercial-free music, political talk, news, etc. It really is the whole package; I can't see people wanting any more from radio nor can I see them getting as much from [yawn] terrestrial radio, which seems so 20th Century.

Satellite. For a few reasons. A: It's refreshing to hear filthy language on the radio. B: I would have to listen for roughly one year on conventional radio to hear more than 3 blues songs. In addition, because channels are divided by genre, I am able to hear more than just the typical, overplayed classics [I know, Sweet Home Chicago is a gem...but please, I'm begging you play something else]; whereas on conventional radio, if and when I do hear the blues, it's BB King, Eric Clapton and Muddy Waters ad nauseam.

Sirius has my business due in large part to the aforementioned blues channel in addition to having decent political talk and news programming.

CP