I'm curious, I did radio once upon a time and with the advent of Satellite radio, and the probability of Satellite radio coming stocked in every new vehicle, I can't help but wonder how FM radio will compete against something with as many options as Sirius or XM. I suscribe to Sirius and haven't listened to FM radio since I bought it. Isn't it likely that there are 5 million people who have done the same and don't even bother with FM radio? And if so, will radio go the way of the VCR in 5-10 years?

Just curious...

Being a relatively new Sirius subscriber (not quite 2 months), I can say that it's *g-r-e-a-t* to hear Howard again, and everything else that satellite radio offers.

However, having said that, there's nothing like the "local take" on news, weather and traffic. I find myself doing 5-minute hourly checks 'round the AM dial just to see what I may have missed.

Satellite radio, as good as it is, will have to devise "true localization" for listening areas. If they can't do that, local radio ain't going anywhere anytime soon.

I agree. If you could get the corporate suits to stop screwing it up, free radio's strength will always be local content. Yes it's expensive, but look at TV. They do local news just because they know it keep viewers tuning in. Kind of a loss leader.

I don't believe the local news is a loss leader. It's the only programming where local stations sell 100% of the available commercial time, and at local rates (which is significantly higher than network rates.) They only get a few spots in network and syndicated programming. And local TV is cutting jobs and marketing just as radio does. More press-release-puff-piece stories provided by the subject of the stories, more reporters doing double or triple duty on Portland, Seattle, and mid-market stations, more stories recycled 5-6 times in a week with no attempt to freshen even the live-read intro.

I hear that Sat. Radio isn't in Stereo.

It's not.

Now that is a bit of interesting news, can somebody else confirm this?

HD radio on FM has more chances in hell than AM HD (which is barely out of the womb at this point) of taking on satellite. Something I wouldn't have said a few years ago.

But here's why I don't say that much anyway; radio still has the same people in charge, which means the same ideas, values and ability.

Which really means satellite will grow slowly as radio continues to stagnate and sink slowly while having more listeners than satellite.

Pretty picture!

Dynamic, exciting, rockin' future!

Sirius...stereo?
I just checked with headphones, and I hear stereo on most channels. If Stereo is somehow re-created its foolin' me.
I tried Classical, Popular 50's 60's 70's 80's music, OTR and some talk channels. 50's music, OTR and talk channels seem to be mono.

Jr_tech is correct.... most of the music channels are in stereo, the talk channels and some oldies (or semi-oldies) are mono. At least to these ears.

Most songs recorded before 1958 were in mono.

I checked out Sirius at the beginning of the year, and even the Oldies channel that included the '50s was in stereo, when the particular song being played was available in stereo. There was a period around 1956 when jukeboxes went stereo, and a lot of stereo 45s were being produced for jukebox usage, so the studio masters were being recorded in stereo. So, there certainly is stereo from the '50s available, though admittedly not plentyful.

There were rumours more recently that it would change, but, when I was testing, Sirius used a variable bit rate that optimized minute-by-minute based on the program material on each channel. Talk shows and mono recordings got lower bit rate mono. Stereo music got higher bit rates.

does the higher bit rate affect reception in weak reception areas?? Or am I completely off the mark how sat radio reception is processed?

Mikekolb....you mention Howard Stern. He sounds really good and you can hear how relaxed he is. It makes for a better show. Besides the fact he doesn't talk about how he will crush his competition.....I do like listening to him and though I also has a sirius subscription, I still listen to Radio because of the local content. Regardless of how bad or good the talent can be. Hey they other day when weather was getting pretty nasty who did I turn to? Local radio!

The bit rate and encoding/decoding systems equates to, or determines the audio quality. The more samples (higher bit rate) per second the closer to the original is produced, just like CD sampling, etc.

Sat radio, just like any other Digital radio (or TV) mmedium is usually there or not. On or Off. If you can get a signal above a specific threshold, it works beautifully. If you are in a marginal area it will either be there or it will be gone. Sometimes, with XM you can hear the decoder's struggle to recreate the signal, because they use a (redundant) time shifted data stream to compensate for when you duck behind a building or under an overpass you will still hear the programming. Depending on the circumstances, this can work very well, sometimes not.

But I have found it to overall, be very reliable.

And for over two years now, my medium of choice.

thanks!