I've had my Sirius going on with my third subscription in a few months and have never had to pay to get another channel . I get them all no exclusive pay extra channels. Nobody said quickly neither. Big gamble? The guy is the most listened to talk show host ever ! The BS with the FCC cause Janet titty shot and dumbass people just made it so he would have to be on the SAT. What happened to BUBBA? FCC!

 

You act like Opie and Anthony are the best? I listened to their show when I carpooled with the dude every other day , cause he wanted to get his $2 worth. The show sucked in my opinion and he wasn't that impreesed either. I like Bubba better and he wasn't that great. ME being off on my info by x amount of months which was still recent would be cause I don't ride with the guy no more and don't care to ask about XM bs! Sirius has ton's of talk shows on there one of which you could put in the same category with Opie and Anthony called the Mike Church Show. And if you want to get like that about what did Sirius have like that , he was the first people to jump on the Sat. from Am/fm. Like I said each to their own but it seems like you are trying to pawn off your opinion based on info you have gotten from your research or interests . Whatever.

 

I don't think it is plain and simple anymore!LOL

 

Stern and the NFL deal are both multi-year deals. If what I find is accurate, Stern is $500 million over 5 years. The NFL was $220 million in cash and stock over 7 years. Most of the NFL deal cash is paid over the final two years of the deal.

Sirius won't have to cough up half a billion the day Stern goes live. The Sirius balance sheet shows $577 million on the books most recent quarter. Sirius claims they need about 1,000,000 subscribers (new?) to break even on the Stern deal. I think they can do get those subscribers.

Both companies are loosing big money and as an investment both are high risk. Either could easily go belly up or, more likely, be acquired by the likes of Clear Channel or some other conglomerate.

But wasn't the original question which service to go with, not which is the better investment? I bought my Sirius receiver a week after the Stern deal was announced. If Stern moves to XM, I do to. Since I bought my Sirius receiver I've found a lot of other things that I like about the programming and not much that I don't (I hate the Wiseguys on Raw Dog). I can't speak for XM programming since I've never listened to it or know anybody that does. You have to go with the service that has the content that you want. If you see progamming as equal, then go with the less expensive service.

I have to say the only negative to Sirius for me, aside from that god-awful Wiseguys show, is the fact that there are no terrestrial repeaters in my area (Ventura/Santa Barbara CA.). I'm prone to signal loss in trees and while driving under overpasses.

 

I don't like the Wise guy's either. As far as going where ever Stern goes , I won't. I had it before and probally after. Check out the Mike Church Show 142 until the 29th then I think the change put's it on 145 maybe? Around 3 pm Pacific time Monday thru Friday.

 

Here's a good read for you:
one of the biggest pro-sirius analysts explains how the NFL is basically a $518 million dollar deal

Assuming they are being honest about that sub number (which many people don't think they are), many people believe they will fall short of that number. That is the big gamble everyone is watching. If wall street thought there was a good possiblity the stern deal would be the savior that sirius is claiming it to be, one would think there would be a big jump in trading as they roll into holiday season Q4 right before Stern hits the air. Sirius stock would be going through the roof. But it's not. There's no doubt the first day stern is on sirius will be one of the most important events in the short history of Sat. radio; WHO it is important for is still a guess at this point. Most of the folks with the money are banking it on xm right now. Q4 will really be feast or famine for either company.

Clear channel? I highly doubt it. Clear channel dabbled in sat radio, but they've been doing whatever they can to get out of it. CC originally owned a large chunk of XM. They used their position to get a lot of their regional terrestrial content nationwide. Over the years, they've been parting their ways and are basically gone from xm, although they do still have a comparitively tiny piece. If one company goes belly up, you're right, someone will have to take over and do a major revamp. Whoever it is though probably won't be a big player in the traditional radio world (clear channel, infinity, etc.) They would only be competing against themselves. There's no question sat. radio is here to stay. It's face may change, but it's not going away. Same deal with terrestrial radio. Ter. radio is extremely worried about the sat. industry, as well they should be, but they won't be going away anytime soon.

Extremely well said.

 

I did the 3 day trial of both XM and Sirius. I am more into it for the music only so I chose Sirius. I liked some of there channels better.. I just got mine installed Sunday so am new to it all. But so far I love it!! I actually was looking for a forum on Kenwood for my new car stereo and came across this one about satellite. The guy who installed my stuff said he likes XM better someone I work with has XM in there new Honda Pilot. I've had others tell me they like Sirius better.. But I love how you can listen online. Rose

 

I was at Best Buy today talking to one of the radio guys about Sirius or XM. He said XM was better by far. He told me the same stuff I've heard in this thread actually. How Sirius doesn't have a dime to its name, etc. But he also said that XM's equipment is so much better, as well as their Customer Service. He said when you call a Sirius guy and ask a question, their answer usually begins with..."Well XM had a problem with this...etc." He also said that shortly after a new XM product comes out, Sirius tries to copy it comes out a little later.

 

I see why the guy works at Best Buy and not at a brokerage house. Neither company is going out of business any time soon. Pick a service based on programming, not a financial statement, which the BB guy obviously hasn't read or doesn't know how to read. You're choosing programming, not a stock.

Everybody likes the service they have, be it XM or Sirius. Best Buy likes the service that puts more cash to their own bottom line. It would be interesting to find out what, if any, incentives are offered to BB by Sirius and XM.

 

I was already set on XM anyway, so even if he said Sirius I wouldn't have switched. I just found it coincidental that he said roughly the same thing. Believe me, I don't really take Best Buy associates as expert opinion. I just try and gather as much information as possible before shelling out a lot of money.

 

If the company can't afford to get/keep their programming, then yes, available cashflow is an issue.

 

First off I have both XM and Sirius. Most people will tell you that what they have is better, that is normal. I have both.

I got Sirius in July of 2002, when they first rolled the service out. Sirius was the only commercial free service, and they included online streaming for $12.95 a month. Sirius has partnered with Ford, D/C and BMW, XM with GM and Honda.

XM had commercials on the music channels and did not offer online streaming at the time. When Sirius began to take off, XM followed Sirius lead with Commercial Free Music, and online streaming for $12.95.

Sirius has a higher market cap then XM, anyone that beleives that either service will fail does not know what they are talking about. Both services are still losing money, but both will be cash flow positive by the end of 2006. Look for additional companies to enter the market, I think that there was 4 spots carved out intially by the Feds.

If you want to decide you should do so yourself by going to www.sirius.com and www.xmradio.com and signing up for a free trial. There are also two good fan boards, www.xm411.com and www.siriusbackstage.com You will find many people at SBS like me that have both, for whatever reason some people that have XM look at Sirius as the enemy, the real enemy is FM.

I love Sirius for talk, and music. I like XM for MLB.

Sirius has the NBA, NHL, and the NFL. Nascar in 2007. XM has the NHL, MLB and Nascar next year. Both have college football, check to see if they have your favorite team.

I get better reception with Sirius, but XM is not bad either. Sirius sounds better to me, then again that is my opinion.

Having both is the best way to go, but if I only could keep one it would be Sirius, since I listen to it 90% of the time anyway.

 

Inbred,
Your well informed, hard line stance toward XM has turned me off. This Christmas, it's going to be Sirius. I'll enjoy Howard Stern, non-mainstream music, NBA, NFL, and Red Wing hockey and Tiger baseball on my local channels next year. It's my opinion, but I think Howard Stern does a better job of the Opie and Anthony gig. Relax, in one way or another, they both will survive their growing pains. I'm a listener, not a stock owner.
Ward

 

I would suggest XM. Howard Stern has got a battle ahead of him that he cant handle. He is in a world of trouble. Catch the virus!!!!!!!!

 

I'm not going to throw stock numbers and such at you. I did my own little study. All I did was ride aroung for a few hours with friends that had XM and Sirius. Keep in mind that I was buying for the music, I don't like talk shows, and I hardly ever listen to sports on the radio. For the music line up, They both were similar, but I leaned a little towards Sirius, but it was close. The kicker was that reception in my area was MUCH better from Sirius. It could just be the recievers that my friends had, or it could just be the area of the country I live in, but Sirius didn't break up as often as XM. For me the choice was clearly Sirius, but that could all change in a couple years when I move back up north.