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Radio Revolutions: XM & Sirius Satellite Gary V. Joseph The heat is on as two rivals stand ground for bragging supremacy in the satellite communications business. Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio are fairly new alternatives for enjoying your tunes and favorite talk shows while on the go; or at home. Supposedly, satellite was deemed to be the next radio revolution when first introduced in 2002. The educational process has been slow, but without a doubt the services provided by both are more than just an enjoyment, it’s now a necessity. Have you ever rushed to the car without your selection of CD’s or mix tapes? Maybe you jumped into a friend’s vehicle and they so happened to be a fan of techno opposed to your Brazilian likings. Perhaps if they were keen on XM and Sirius they would have allowed you to flip the channel once or twice. Then again they would have had more techno options at their disposal. Why so? Because satellite radio offers jukebox-like tuning for the assembly of music genres. Let’s go inside the numbers. Sirius uses three satellites to provide 100 streams of coast-to-coast tuning for $12.95 a month. Of the 100, 61 are commercial-free music channels and the remaining are talk radio shows including sports, comedy and news. XM has one powerful satellite to broadcast the country for a $9.99 monthly subscription. XM is backed by powerhouse General Motors; can be found on 44 GM models, has 68 commercial-free music channels, and boasts a subscriber base over 1.3 million. Sirius is still playing catch up in that respect. Both offer friendlier rates if you sign longer deals. For example, Sirius has a lifetime subscription fee of $499.99 (the life of your radio unit that is). If your new vehicle is not equipped with satellite radio then you can purchase a separate unit from either Best Buy or Circuit City. We think the world of the $119.99 portable Delphi XM Roady, the model we’re currently toying with. It’s small, light and can be easily transported from one vehicle to the next. On the contrary, both Sirius home/car units - the $99.95 Kenwood KTC-H2A1 and Audiovox SIR-PNP2 - are out of touch. For one, they are big, bulky and require too many set-up wires. Cords were dangling all over the place! Then, there is nowhere to store the equipment when leaving the vehicle, providing an easy target for glass-breaking thugs. When our publisher, Kimatni, took the Kenwood inside his crib for some enjoyment he was fairly disappointed. Come to find out, the Satellite signal did not reach his Silver Spring, MD neighborhood. After calling Kenwood and Sirius he was told to drill a hole in the wall (to run the all-weather antenna outside) and seal it up with silicone. The tech must have had too much to drink before coming to work because he was completely bugging. Enough is enough we thought. Luckily we test drive vehicles and able to thoroughly evaluate the Sirius service while in the new Dodge Durango and Magnum. Maybe we need to get our hands on that sweet-looking JVC KT-SR1000. I love being able to jump from station to station and catch a song I would not have heard otherwise, especially when you catch an old hit that’s rocking. Albeit, both vendors need to expand their urban programming a little further. If I’m paying a monthly fee, then I want to exploit more than 10% of the selections. There are far more pop, rock, country, and electric choices than hip hop and R&B. And if you listen to any given station long enough – as we did while hustling from Maryland to Houston for Super Bowl – then you are bound to hear songs repeated. In addition, their Reggae channels need diversification also. I’m from Grenada if you’re wondering. There’s a big difference between Winston Rodney and Sean Paul. To keep mixing between culture and dancehall is frustrating to the ears. But if you’re into southern crunk then you won’t have any quarrels because XM and Sirius must have employed DJ’s from the dirty south. When comparing berries to berries, XM has the stronger signal and hotter radios, but Sirius gives you more flavor and channels in the R&B, reggae and rap department. Either or, satellite is far greater than lugging around a bag of CD’s. Log onto www.xmradio.com and www.sirius.com for more info.