XM- A Quickly Sinking ship (1 Viewer)

[Mark Starratt]

Ron,

Wow, I must say that isn't what I would expect from any business wanting to establish a good reputation. I'm not sure what they're thinking by sending a blank CD. I find it very difficult to believe that it was an "accident". I worked for a small marketing company a few years ago, and this type of behavior was, unfortunately, the norm. It was the reason I left the company even though I had no job prospects at that time. So I can understand why the experience left a bitter taste in your mouth.

I will probably keep my subscription going until the end of the summer, but will probably end it permanently then. The reason is that even though I've only had the service for 3 days, it just isn't worth even 50 cents a day. With an extensive CD collection, all converted to 192 kbps MP3 and playable on my car deck or on my iPod connection, satellite radio really only offers me talk radio.

I have been a member with HTF for 4 years now, and I'll close by saying that this is without a doubt, the best discussion board on the Internet. I have learned many things here that have been invaluable when it comes to electronic entertainment. So even when (or if) I do suspend my SR service, I'll be watching this forum to keep up with how this medium is doing. Thanks for your response, Ron.

 

[Paul McElligott]

I actually ask myself, "When is Howard Stern going to do something, anything new?"

 

[Ernie Estrella]

Funny. I ask myself, "When is he going to stop me from laughing?" Guy's doing the best show he's done since I've been listening (15+ years) and he makes me feel like $13 is a steal a month.

 

[Jeff Gatie]

Ditto, and I've been listening for almost 20 years. Never thought his laidback, casual, nobody to fight against persona would work, but the best radio he's done since the move is when he's not talking about the CBS lawsuit. Artie is great uncensored like Jackie never could have been and the bits are better than ever. Makes me realize that on Free FM, he's was just mailing it in (but still better than anything else out there).

 

[Rob Lutter]

But guys... XM has 30 minutes of Oprah per week! And the most exciting sport to listen over the radio: Major League Baseball!

Seriously (ha), what does Sirius have to offer? Howard Stern? The NFL? NASCAR starting in 2007? Better comedy and classic rock channels? The Playboy Channel?

I mean seriously... XM has Opie and Anthony exclusively! Oh wait...

 

[Jeff Gatie]

Actually, MLB coverage (and a true Punk channel) almost made me go to XM before Howard chose Sirius. Baseball is actually better over the radio than any other sport, IMO. It's the only sport I can listen to sitting by the pool with the radio on. The pace makes it easier to follow aurally rather than visually because the play-by-play guy has time in between pitches to describe what's going on.

 

[Al.Anderson]

I originally went with Sirius becuase of the added cost for XM's internet access. But since I absolutely hate Stern and love radio baseball - the switch to XM was easy after they updated their internet policy.

 

[Ernie Estrella]

Baseball is great on radio. But THere's more drama with basketball. Especially in the 4th quarter. I'm yelling at my Sirius receiver with each possession. Plus, baseball is a LONG season and I'd rather watch a game in person. I can still pull in Cleveland Indians games here in Detroit with the antenna of WTAM so I don't need XM for that. That's not enough to get my money. Stern, NFL Radio, NBA, Raw Dog, Playboy, and the music stations (to which I have been thoroughly satsified with) are enough to get mine though.

 

[Jeff_CusBlues]

I love the baseball on XM. I can hear all the Reds games and any other game I want. I don't mind that only the home feed is available. I love Marty Brennaman but I can listen to the opposing announcer too. I agree that baseball is great over the radio. And as far as the classic rock on Sirius, I couldn't put up with the repetitive playlists. I am a classic rock person and Deep Tracks, Top Tracks and Big Tracks do it for me. I also listen to the news channels, Mix (why isn't this on XMOnline) and Soul Street.

 

[Kyle McCabe]

I'm an XM guy, too. Although, I must admit, I'm mostly an XM guy because I got a free receiver. At any rate, I've had the luxury to compare both.

Obviously, they both have their pros and cons, but here is my only beef: COMPRESSION. Granted, most of the music that enjoy on XM radio isn't restrained by dynamics in frequency, so I'm guessing that it varies by channel?

The Bluegrass, Alternative, Talk, and Sports channels all seem to have great clarity and more-than-acceptable frequency range. But in all honesty, I hardly bother to listen to any of the Metal or Hard Rock stations simply because they pale in comparison to CD-quality due to their over-compression. I've noticed that Sirius has a slight edge in that regard.

Hopefully, XM will recognize this as a turn-off to potential AND existing subscribers and do something about it.

ETA: I forgot to mention another thing that I love about XM over Sirius. Sirius seems to have as much DJ talk as FM, while I can't even think of the last time I heard the voice of an XM DJ. More music and less talk is definitely one of the better reasons for my XM subscription.

 

[Ernie Estrella]

I think it really depends on what station you listen to. Some shows are driven by the DJ, but I listen to three electronic stations and a few rock stations on Sirius and I barely even know they exist. But I wouldn't make a generalization of Sirius on it. I don't mind some DJ talk, it's nice to know that there's a person behind the programming, I just don't want to hear someone walk all over the intro and outro of a song. It's the commercials I can't stand.

 

[TonyD]

i have both.
i like stern, dont care for opie and anthony.

i listen to xm for the music.
although they just removed one of my favorite channels to put the brutal liquid metal back.
i also think xm has more interesting talk.
plus baseball.
that for me is more inportant then just about anything sirius has to offer.

as i said, i listen to sirius for stern and the only music channel i use there is
the vault.

jam channel would be exactly what i want but there is way too much fish, greatful dead and a bunch of groups i never heard of.

the most important and deciding factor for which service i listen to the most,
only heard on xm.
Chickenman

 

[TheLongshot]

To be honest, I've never noticed.

Jason