Satellite Radio.....XM vs. Sirius....which is better?

anniecat · Post by **anniecat** » Dec 28th, 2007, 6:27 pm

I want to get my husband satellite radio since he spends so much time on the road.....any users out there want to give me your opinion on which is better...XM or Sirius??

Southern Comfort · Post by **Southern Comfort** » Dec 28th, 2007, 8:27 pm

If he likes hockey, get him X, otherwise there's not a heck of a lot of difference. X has play by play of every single NHL game and a good hockey talk show all day long. Sirius has better football and college sports coverage, but they both have great music channels.
I love my satellite radio, I only listen to local radio when I first get up in the morning to hear the local news which comes mainly from the RCMP press releases...then it's on to satellite.

sheepy · Post by **sheepy** » Dec 30th, 2007, 9:46 am

Musically they are very similar - the big differences are in talk and sports. I have XM so I a a bit biased but here are the main differences -

XM - NHL hockey, every game and 24 NHL talk, every major league baseball game and 24 MLB talk, PGA channel has all PGA tourneys and 24 hour golf talk, Opera Winfery and friends channel, BBC, The Viruis (Shock jock talk radio Opie & Anthony, Ron & Fez) amongst others

http://www.xmradio.ca/onxm/full-channel-listing.cfm is the full lineup.

Sirius - NBA basketball 24 hours and all games, NFL and CFL football 24 hours and all games, Nascar channel and all races, CBC, Martha Stewart channel, And 2 Howard Stern chanells (shock jock radio).

http://siriuscanada.ca/en/channels/channel_all.aspx full lineup.

Personally I am not intrested in NBA or Nascar and NFL football is, for the most part, just 1 day a week so on the sports side it was an easy choice. Also, the CBC can be received most anywhere already and the music is very similar so I chose XM and am very happy with it.

There are also some great deals now on the Delphi MyFi portable XM unit. When I bought my first one they were close to $300 now you can find them as low as $69 with 3 months free programming.

anniecat · Post by **anniecat** » Dec 30th, 2007, 5:25 pm

Wow, thanks to both sheepy and Southern Comfort for their responses to my satellite radio query......I'm leaning towards XM since he is definately a hockey fan (as opposed to NBA or Nascar) and enjoys listening to "hockey talk". So, thanks again for helping me out.....and I'm sure my husband will be thanking you also! Happy New Year!

shadowball · Post by **shadowball** » Dec 31st, 2007, 1:12 am

doesn't matter because they merged.

sheepy · Post by **sheepy** » Dec 31st, 2007, 8:13 am

shadowball wrote:doesn't matter because they merged.

Actually it does matter because XM Canada is an independent company that has the exclusive rights to XM programming in Canada.

"XM Satellite Radio Inc. and Sirius Satellite Radio in the United States have announced their intention to merge subject to U.S. shareholder and government approval. Many of you have asked us, "What does this mean for subscribers to XM Radio in Canada?"

There will be no change in the service we deliver to our Canadian Subscribers.

This U.S. development has no immediate implications for Canadian subscribers. XM Canada is an independent Canadian owned company that holds the exclusive license to provide XM satellite radio services in Canada. We remain committed to providing you with the finest digital audio entertainment and information services in the country.

The stated intent of our XM U.S. partner and Sirius is to maintain two separate satellite delivery systems which will ensure that your XM radio will continue to operate as it does today for the foreseeable future. There will be no disruption or change to the availability of your XM service as we continue to deliver the best in commercial free music, comedy, talk, news, and sport ï¿½ including coverage of the NHL, and exclusive coverage of MLB (Major League Baseball) and the PGA (Professional Golf Association).

Future Communications
We will continue to provide you with full information about XM Canada through our existing communication channels including our monthly e-mail newsletter, XM Signal, and our website http://www.xmradio.ca.

Thank you for choosing XM Canada.

Sincerely,

John Bitove
Chairman and CEO
XM Canada"

And the merger has still not been approved in the US either.

mott.hoople · Post by **mott.hoople** » Jan 10th, 2008, 9:32 pm

Sirius is the better choice if you are traveling north of Edmonton - XM's coverage is weak past this point due to satellite positioning that the feed comes from.