OT: Sirius or XM?, What do you like? Options

[Qarl]

Satellite stocks have gone through the roof lately.

XM Satellite Radio has about 3 million subscribers - stock is up about 100% in a year

Sirius just hit 800,000 subscribers. Stock is up about 100% in a month

For those that have it answer the following...

1. XM or Sirius?
2. Pros
3. Cons

[AZ914]

Qarl,

I just made this decision about 5 months ago.

Bottom line, either one is WAY better than FM so you cannot lose. Generally, you should pick one based on the programming.

SIRIUS: More TALK channels, NFL, NBA, NHL, Howard Stern in 2006

XM: Just signed MLB, NASCAR, Opie & Anthony

Music: The type and # of music channels is about the same.

There are 3 differences that I am aware of:

1.
- Sirius is more hits based. So, if you are like me and listen to the modern hard rock channels, you will hear repeats daily. Some people HATE this, other people think its fine because they like the music.
- XM is less hits based. Their playlists go very deep. Some people love this, other people hate it because they seem to play crap that nobody wants to hear in order to avoid repeats.

2.
- Sirius has DJs (SJ's-sattelite jockeys) - They sometimes talk between songs, sometimes they don't. DJs provide info about the songs, bands, other things. Some people love this for info, other people hate it & just want the music.
- XM doesn't have much in the way of DJs... Therefore a little more time playing music.

3.
- Sirius costs $12.95 a month and includes everything. You can purchase a year at a time to save a months subscription. Once you are a subscriber, you can listen thru the internet for free.
- XM costs $9.95 a month but they charge extra for certain programming. Equipment generally costs just a bit more. Extra for internet listening.


Personally, I have SIRIUS. I am addicted to it. I cannot stand to listen to FM for more than about 10 minutes anymore due to all the commercials... Neither service is perfect, but either way you go, its well worth the $!

Each service has a 'fan' website. If you cruise XMFAN.COM or SIRIUSBACKSTAGE.COM you can get some good info. BEWARE however that there are a lot of people out there that are not objective, they only like what they have... F'ing 'mine is better' mentality.

Good luck! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)