XM & Sirus are the two companies that have a FCC license to broadcast via satellite. XM has two satellites in orbit over the US ("Rock" and "Roll"), Sirius has three for better coverage.
XM got rolling earlier than Sirius due to technical issues. XM has commericals, Sirius does not. Checking the website, I see that Sirius is available in 37 states.
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NEW YORK, May 30 -- Sirius Satellite Radio (Nasdaq: SIRI), the satellite radio broadcaster, today announced service will be available beginning this week in nine additional states and the District of Columbia, bringing the total number of states to 37.
"As part of our accelerated nationwide service roll out, Sirius will launch on June 1 in Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, upstate New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia and Washington, D.C." said Guy Johnson, Executive Vice President, Sales and Marketing, for Sirius. "As of tomorrow, we will be available in more than three-quarters of the United States and we'll be heading down the homestretch with only 11 more states to activate. Sirius remains on target for our expected nationwide service availability date of July 1."
Service is already available throughout the western, Midwestern and southern parts of the country including Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
Sirius radios can be purchased at national retail stores such as Circuit City and Best Buy, as well as local audio retailers in selected markets.
About Sirius
From its three satellites orbiting directly over the U.S., Sirius (
http://www.sirius.com) broadcasts 100 channels of digital quality radio to motorists throughout the continental United States for a monthly subscription fee of $12.95. Sirius delivers 60 original channels of completely commercial- free music in virtually every genre, and 40 world-class sports, news and entertainment channels. Sirius has agreements to install AM/FM/SAT radios in Ford, Chrysler, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar, Volvo, Mazda, Dodge, Jeep, Volkswagen, Audi, Nissan and Infiniti vehicles. Kenwood, Clarion and Jensen satellite receivers, including models that can adapt any car stereo to receive Sirius, as well as home and portable products, will be available at retailers such as Circuit City, Best Buy, Good Guys, Tweeter, Ultimate Electronics and Crutchfield.
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I have friends that working for both companies and may do some voice work for XM or possibly Sirius (it's all about the benjamins).
I would have to say that my money will go toward Sirius, since if I am paying to hear satellite radio, I don't want to sit through commericals too. I do not think this will become a Betamax/VHS sort-out. I read in the trades that there is a radio that will pick up both (although you will still need to subscribe) coming soon.