Category Archives: Satellite Radio - Page 2

The U.S. History of Satellite Radio

Posted by on April 18, 2011 No comments

The satellite radio industry is dominated by two major players – Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio. Both companies charge a monthly fee for their services, but service payment plans often change to attract more customers. For example, starting in 2005 Sirius offers a $500 fee that is valid for the lifetime of the equipment. Sirius offers 65 music channels, without any commercials and traffic and weather reports for most of the major US cities. On the other hand, some of XM Radio’s channels did contain some commercials, but in much smaller quantities than those found on terrestrial radio channels. Today, XM has 67 commercial-free music channels, 21 channels with detailed traffic and weather information, 39 channels of news, entertainment and sports and an amazing number of 23 play-by-play sports channels. XM Satellite Radio Inc. owns the most impressive digital radio equipment and facilities, boasting over 82 end to end broadcasting studios. Sirius Satellite Radio is located in the heart of New York City with a huge recording studio. Sirius Satellite Radio has an impressive library of over 2 million music tracks.

Sirius Satellite Radio

Sirius Satellite Radio is one of the two main providers of digital radio broadcasting in the United States and it shares this important market with XM Radio. While you would think that XM and Sirius are 100% rivals, you will be surprised to find out that both companies are working together on a joint program in order to develop a receiver for both of their broadcast frequencies. Sirius uses three geosynchronous satellites that pass over the United States territory at regular time intervals and transmit the data alternatively. The Sirius satellite network is also located in a position that offers better line of sight – this means that transmission interruptions caused by trees, mountains or any other landscape form are less likely to happen. Sirius announced that the number of subscribers to their services goes beyond the 4 million count

XM Satellite Radio Inc

XM Satellite Radio Inc. began broadcasting in 2001 and has seen a continuous development ever since. The digital radio used by XM Satellite Radio Inc. is encoded using the CT-aacPlus technology which is broadcast in a 128kb/sec format that is high in fidelity and is similar to CD quality. XM Satellite Radio Inc uses two Boeing HS-702 satellites which are constantly orbiting the Earth at a height of 22 300 miles. IN order to minimize transmission ad reception loss, XM Satellite Radio installed terrestrial transmitters in most major cities in places where loss of signal is more likely to take place (tunnels, high building areas). XM radio claims to have an impressive number of over 6 million subscribers.

Working with the automobile industry

Both satellite radio providers saw a huge market in the car industry, so they began negotiating with al major car manufacturers to convince them to offer their services and equipment as standard or optional on the vehicles they produce. Some of the auto manufacturers that have either XM or Sirius satellite radio installed from the factory are: BMW, MINI, Rolls-Royce, Chrysler, Dodge, Mercedes-Benz, Jeep, Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Volvo, Land Rover, Jaguar, Mazda ,GM, Cadillac, Buick, GMC, Vauxhall, Saab, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Nissan, Infiniti, Porsche, Lexus, Scion and Audi – to name just a few. Sirius has managed to get exclusivity from major car manufacturers such as Audi or VW2007 through 2012. IT was a major success for Sirius as Audi and VW previously also offered XM radio services and equipment on their vehicles. After conquering the vehicle industry both manufacturers tried to move the success of satellite radio into the homes of consumers by creating some trendy portable satellite radio receivers. XM satellite radio created the XM2go(tm) line of “walkman-like” receivers and Sirius developed a variety of portable devices, such as the Kenwood Portable Satellite Radio Tuner, Here2Anywhere and the Sirius S50. More attempts are being made for introducing satellite radio in the homes of conservative media consumers.

Satellite Radio: The Key to its Success

Posted by on April 17, 2011 No comments

The entertainment industry is one of the most dynamic and attractive ones, and satellite radio has recently captured a large share of it. Audio entertainment products are highly popular today and there is a wide variety of choices when it comes to having good music in your car: regular CD players, car CD players with storage space or MP3 players. When it comes to radio however, there is an even bigger divide – you can listen to or go with one of the new satellite radio offers. The popularity of satellite radio broadcasting has gone sky-high in the past years mostly because it has some exciting benefits that commercial FM/AM programming simply cannot offer. Analog radio stations are not able to broadcast the full range of sounds available through digital satellite radio and this has a noticeable impact on sound quality. Digital radio programs are broadcast through a satellite – this means that users don’t have to switch radio stations every time they get out of a certain geographical area, as the signal is countrywide. Traditional to FM and AM broadcasts have different forms of noise disturbances – satellite radio eliminates this problem as the quality is very close to that of the original tracks it is playing.

Technology and content

Because satellite radio uses such high tech instruments (satellites, small portable receivers) many still perceive it as unapproachable and prefer to stick with traditional radio. Most young people, however, can’t wait to get their hands on the latest in technological advancements, so satellite radio is perfect for this age group. The price you had to pay for satellite radio one or two years ago was a bit high for many who decide to enjoy traditional, commercial radio stations instead, as they are free. Today however, for a subscription of around $12 per month, you can receive dozens of excellent news, sports and music radio channels. And the best thing is that they are commercial free. In many ways, satellite radio became popular following the idea of DirecTV’s success – the difference was made through superior broadcast quality, excellent geographical coverage and content. This is in fact the main issue satellite radio broadcasters and terrestrial radio stations are looking at – high quality content is actually the most flexible field where subscribers or listeners can be won or lost. In order to get valuable radio content, many satellite radio offers were made to popular media topics. MLB broadcasts, for example, might be broadcast exclusively on satellite radio stations. Although this is still an assumption, chances are that more and more popular US topics will be exclusively available on different satellite radio programs, whether they are from Sirius, XM Radio or from some new broadcasters that will join the market.

It all comes down to what the consumer wants

And it’s true – it does come to that. Some laughed at the idea of paying for radio – for as long as we have known, radio programs were free. However, the satellite radio industry only followed in the footsteps of cable TV – although all Americans can receive free programs with UHF and VHF antennas, over 80% are willing to pay monthly subscription fees. With $9.95/month for XM and $12.95/month for Sirius, accessibility to satellite radio broadcasts is high and anyone can afford to subscribe. And the truth is that satellite radios have proved, once again, that sometimes a consumer is ready to pay for something they used to get for free as long as the commercials are eliminated. In many cases, out of an hour of radio broadcasting, around 12-15 minutes are commercials – people don’t want such interruptions in their radio programs. Both Sirius and XM Radio knew this when they launched their paid subscription services and they were right, as each company has millions of subscribers today. The satellite radio craze got even larger when it met the auto manufacturing industry – today almost all major manufacturers offer satellite radio receivers as standard or optional with each of their models.

Satellite Radio for the Uninitiated

Posted by on April 16, 2011 1 comment

Satellite radio is often considered one of the biggest improvements in broadcasting since the introduction of the FM band. Satellite radio is also called subscription radio or pay-radio because it is only available trough subscription to one of the satellite radio providing companies. Satellite radio follows a concept similar to cable television by providing a very wide range of programs which are not available in the traditional FM or AM format for a fee.   

Satellite radio uses satellites to deliver radio programs to subscribers. The radio signal is broadcasted from Earth based stations to communicational satellites, which then redirect the signal to satellite radio receivers. The radio signal is broadcasted by communication satellites to a much larger area than traditional terrestrial radio antennas. For example, satellite radio is available al across the continental area of the United States. Satellite radio is available now in most parts of the world trough services provided by companies like WorldSpace (in Europe, Asia and Africa), Sirius and XM Radio (in North America). The radio signal you receive using satellite radio is digital, which means that it is always clear and static-free, which is one of the great advantages of satellite radio. Another great thing about satellite radio is that it is almost completely commercial-free.  

To begin listening to satellite radio you will need the actual satellite radio (also known as tuner or receiver), a satellite radio antenna (which is often incorporated in the satellite radio) and a subscription to the service you choose. There are several types of satellite radio from which you can choose. One of them is the dedicated car or home radio, which play trough your car or home stereo. A second option is the plug-and-play radio, which can be used in your car, as well as in your home by paying a single subscription. Your third option is the portable radio, which has rechargeable battery, a built-in antenna and you can listen to it wherever you go using headphones. The radio signals offered by different satellite radio companies are proprietary, which means that you will need different hardware for receiving, decoding and playback, depending on your subscription. Each satellite radio receiver has its own serial number called Radio ID. When you get your subscription, you will also get an activation code for your receiver. Besides the actual radio programs, satellite radio transmits metadata that contains the name of the artist, the title of the song or program, as well as the name of the channel. This makes it easier for you to decide which channel to listen to and which program to choose.   

Satellite radio services provide the subscriber with more than 100 programs that vary in content from rock and jazz to rap and classical music. But satellite radio’s utility reaches far beyond listening to your favorite music without the interruption of those annoying commercials. Satellite radio also offers exclusive sports programs, cultural and educational shows, news and talk-shows. Some of the celebrities that have moved their shows from free radio to satellite radio include Howard Stern, Opie and Anthony, Bob Edwards and Martha Stewart. Unlike terrestrial radio, satellite radio is not affected by bad weather or even calamities.  

At first, many people wondered why they should pay for radio if they can get it free. However, satellite radio attracts more and more people every year due to its great advantages: no commercials, extensive reach, theme programs and exceptional quality of sound.