Satellite radio - looking for recommendations

I'm thinking about getting a satellite radio (sirius etc)

anyone have one? how's the service? pros/cons? which service do you use?

Pros:

Sirius - has every NFL and College Football game as well as basketball, pretty good selection of
music, Martha and Howard Stern stations (if you're into that stuff)
XM - has all the MLB games, pretty good selection of music as well, has AirAmerica

Cons:

Sirius - lost AirAmerica, Sirius Left lacks in substance, only Stephanie Miller and possibly
Bill Press are worthy, however SM is taped delay
XM - limited in their extracurriculum programming (i.e. Howard Stern)


If I had to pick one, I'd go w/ Sirius due to AirAmerica which I love. However I can't deny the sporting selection of Sirius. Hope this helps.

that I like about their sports coverage - college football in particular - is that they broadcast most games on 2 stations - home broadcasting for each team.

I have had SIRIUS since the beginning - doubt I will ever cancel it. I love being able to travel the country (actually took my stuff to Canada as well) and have the same hundred plus stations.

The have a lot of news networks from all over the world broadcast in english. Not like talk radio here, actual news with a different perspective and no Washington propaganda. Radio Prague, Radio Sweden, Radio Netherlands, Canada, Russia, BBC, etc. I used to have to fight with my shortwave radio to listen to these stations and I'm not much of a computer streaming guy. Sirius was the perfect setup for me. Also, I don't know if they still offer it but I got the lifetime subscription for $500.

I like it because I like a wide variety of music. I only listen to music in the car so I can sing at the top of my lungs.

I don't have any experience with XM, but I have a friend who loves it. I think it depends on the content you are looking for.

-- no progressive talk radio in my area. AM stations all carry oxy-rush and others of his ilk

-- at home we are too far in the woods for a broadband connection, and cable for the internet is waaaaay more than we can afford, so we stay with dial-up. To listen to streaming radio on the computer means I have to be in the room with the computer, it ties up the telephone line, and dial-up 'stutters' with streaming anything

-- I can get streams at work, but who know how long before the "internet cops" block those sites on me.

basically, I'm looking for some way to get progressive talk shows at home, work and in the car.

I'm not into sports, so really don't care how many sport shows a particular service carries.

As far as music goes - I like classical, there's only 1 NPR station in the area that carries it.

And I've been very happy with it. I am a Howard Stern fan but that isn't why I purchased it, in fact I made the conscious decision that I was Not going to pay just for Howard.

However, it became clear that sat radio is where the cutting edge has moved to in talk both political and humor. And though I'm not a big music listener my wife is and she says she can barely stand to listen to terrestrial radio now.

She looked into the music choices on XM and Sirius and found Sirius better fit her tastes which are 80's and alternative.

Once I decided to go with Sat radio I choose Sirius because of Stern, NPR, PRI, BBC and at the time Air America. They no longer have Air America or PRI. But there are still 2 NPR channels, and in addition to BBC there is CBC and other international news.

I don't typically listen to Talk Left so I can't say anything about it's quality.

I will say their customer service leaves a bit to be desired. But you can also listen Online and I don't have any reception issues.

I'm very happy over all.

since I'm not familiar with it. XM has AAR programs, including Sam Seder, Rachel Maddow, Al Franken, The Young Turks (eww), and a few interesting weekend shows. They also have all kinds of music, and you can also get Bob Edwards, who got sacked from NPR. The reception is good (sometimes you lose it on the car radio if you are in a parking garage). No complaints.

Sirius has more of the "popular" songs is the best way I can explain it. If you turn to your favorite channel, you'll hear something you're familiar with. Sometimes the channels get a little too repetitive, but I do like hearing stuff that I enjoy. They do have some great choices for news as well. It really stunk when they lost Air America, but they have Stephanie and now Mike Malloy is starting next Monday, so it's getting better. I also enjoy listening to the NFL on Sundays when I have to be out and about.

XM on the other hand seemed more attuned to newer music and a younger crowd. The stations have a deeper play list, but for me, less stations that I'd be interested in. The focus seems to be more on "Pop" music which I have no interest in.

Overall, the cost is pretty much the same and the quality to me is pretty much the same. The Sirius radio seems to keep a connection better than the XM radio that I used. Sometimes, very rarely, the XM unit would go out in particularly woody areas and the Sirius unit seemed to always have a lock on the signal. I think you'll be happy either way and the way the cost of the equipment has gone down, you could potentially try both out and see for yourself. The XM unit I got was 20 dollars for example.

The chairman of Sirius keeps floating that idea in the business news. Both services have huge debt right now, partly due to the fierce competition between them.

I use XM, I mostly listen to music on it, as I use NPR for news. Air America Radio was on XM, though I don't listen to it.