After all the fanfare, what really matters is programming. It's that simple. Regardless of the technical quality of the broadcasts, it's the content that makes the difference. One of the things we think you'll find is that satellite radio offers news, features, and music that just aren't found on conventional stations. This is because the recent trend in commercial radio has been toward competition for a larger share of the same market. The result of this trend has been that just about every area of the country has stations that feature new rock, oldies, new country, rap, news, and talk. That's about it. There's no jazz, very little classical, some old country, and practically no blues.
Satellite radio has a better idea. Instead of trying to compete for a big piece of a small market, these systems are trying to provide something for everyone and gambling that nationwide distribution will make their services competitive. (That plus about thirteen bucks a month per subscriber should just about do it!) Unfortunately, the wonderful technology that allows listeners to drive across the country tuned to the same station really doesn't amount to very much if the content's not there. The majority of radio listeners spend most of their time within the same metropolitan area so if satellite programming can't compete with local radio, the medium will be about as popular as Iridium.
Fortunately, both Sirius and XM offer some pretty good programming alternatives to local radio. Both can be expected eventually to offer up to 100 channels of news, sports, financial services, and entertainment. Both are going to offer the services of NPR, the BBC, Bloomberg, and Headline News. Sirius, however, offers more original programming than XM, which tends more toward strategic alliances with other organizations such as Salem.
Let's take a look at some of the specifics.
In addition to the services mentioned above, Sirius plans to offer news from the World Radio Network, the FOX News Channel, TechTV, and E! Entertainment. In contrast, XM offers a complete set of services from CNN including news, sports, and financial reports as well as USA Today. They're also featuring reports by The Weather Channel and C-SPAN. When it comes to sports, Sirius plans to feature Sports Byline, Speedvision, and Outdoor Life. In addition to sports from CNN, XM is featuring One-on-One Sports. They've also recently announced the availability of the Associated Press All-News Radio network, the CNET technology news service, and CNBC. So even if you can't see the "Money Honey," you'll at least be able to hear her voice. For the real news and sports junkie, XM definitely has the edge over Sirius. We're happy to learn that both XM and Sirius have recently signed agreements with ABC and will carry their news service and ESPN, America's sports authority. To keep things interesting, Sirius announced that they would be carrying an audio feed from the SciFi Channel, just in case you get abducted by aliens while driving and don't know what to say. They recently added the UK's UBC Media and Oneword. This is clearly such stuff as dreams are made on.
When it comes to entertainment, Sirius appears to hold the upper hand for now. They've got a complete lineup of talent in a variety of formats including Sting, jazz with Kenny Washington, Steve Warren with country music, rock presented by Pat St.John, formerly of New York's WNEW as well R&B with Felix Hernandez. They even have Swedish Egil, Grandmaster Flash, and MC Lyte. XM, however, is rapidly catching up. They began by offering only alliances with radio services such as BET, Radio One, ASIAONE, and the Hispanic Broadcasting Corporation. But now they're diversifying. XM has added children's programming from the Sesame Workshop just in case the kids get a little rambunctious on those long drives. They've also got movie reviews from the ever hip Harry Knowles. We're very impressed with XM's continually growing list of programming. They've hired the services of Jonathan Schwartz, a New York radio icon and the son of famous composer Arthur Schwartz. He has an encyclopedic knowledge of music, good taste, and the world's largest collection of Frank Sinatra records. He's doing a show called "Frank's Place," dedicated to the music of the late "Chairman of the Board." They have also announced an agreement to carry an audio feed from MTV.
As both systems prepare to commence
programming it appears that XM has the upper hand. Although Sirius was the first to put
satellites in orbit, technical difficulties put them behind XM in scheduling the start of
service. Ultimately programming may determine which service proves to be the best. The
Financial Times of London recently published a review of the new Sirius programming strategy. As
a consequence of this new strategy, some of the information and revews on this page may be in
error.
Sirius Satellite Radio and XM are trademarks of their respective corporations. RUsirius.com is affiliated with neither.