2008 Woodie Awards
'Sirius'-ly Gaining Popularity
Satellite Radio Making Waves Across the Country
Tim Keenan
Issue date: 11/14/05 Section: Tempo
- Page 1 of 2 next >
What do you normally do when you're driving in the car and listening to the radio when there is nothing but commercials on? Do you turn the radio off? Put on a CD? Flip through the dial until you eventually find something? What if you could avoid all the hassle and have one hundred different channels at your disposal? Good news, the option is out there. The catch? You have to pay.
Now don't runaway screaming, "We have to pay to listen to the radio?" By now you've probably heard of the two big satellite radio companies Sirius and XM. Both companies are relatively new with a pretty healthy competition. Satellite radios have been gaining a lot of attention recently due to one person, Howard Stern. It was on October 6, 2004, when the "King of All Media" announced he was leaving regular radio to move to Sirius Satellite Radio. Since then, the switch has been talked about by almost every radio and television show in United States.
Stern, who has been involved with radio for 20 years, broadcasts live every morning from New York City and can be heard on 105.9 WCKG from 5 to 10 am Monday to Friday. His announcement to leave regular radio was mostly due to ongoing battles with the FCC and his consistent fines. If you have ever listened to one of his shows, then you know why. He doesn't leave anything untouched and is willing to talk about pretty much anything.
In the early months of 2004, Clear Channel Communications took Stern off the air in six different markets after many complaints were filed by enraged fans over some of the topics that Stern discussed. Since these fines, Stern has backed off these controversial topics that caused the fines and has somewhat toned down his normal routine. His move to Sirius will allow him to pretty much do whatever he wants and, most importantly to him, say whatever he wants. The big question that remains, and will be interesting to see, is how many people plan to follow him?
The current prices of some of the Sirius radio products range from $49.99 to $129.99. But there is more after that. Say you purchase your Sirius radio for the car, there is then a monthly fee which you have to pay for, around $12.99 a month. The price of XM is around the same for the radio, also with a monthly fee of $12.99. This does not seem so bad if you know what Sirius and XM both offer you. With around 130 different types of channels, Sirius provide its listeners with a little bit of everything. Sirius offers several talk stations, including Howard Stern starting Jan. 1, 2006, and many other comedy-type talk stations. Music, you name it Sirius has it. Sports, Sirius carries the NFL, NBA, NHL, and many others. They also carry sports talk.
Now don't runaway screaming, "We have to pay to listen to the radio?" By now you've probably heard of the two big satellite radio companies Sirius and XM. Both companies are relatively new with a pretty healthy competition. Satellite radios have been gaining a lot of attention recently due to one person, Howard Stern. It was on October 6, 2004, when the "King of All Media" announced he was leaving regular radio to move to Sirius Satellite Radio. Since then, the switch has been talked about by almost every radio and television show in United States.
Stern, who has been involved with radio for 20 years, broadcasts live every morning from New York City and can be heard on 105.9 WCKG from 5 to 10 am Monday to Friday. His announcement to leave regular radio was mostly due to ongoing battles with the FCC and his consistent fines. If you have ever listened to one of his shows, then you know why. He doesn't leave anything untouched and is willing to talk about pretty much anything.
In the early months of 2004, Clear Channel Communications took Stern off the air in six different markets after many complaints were filed by enraged fans over some of the topics that Stern discussed. Since these fines, Stern has backed off these controversial topics that caused the fines and has somewhat toned down his normal routine. His move to Sirius will allow him to pretty much do whatever he wants and, most importantly to him, say whatever he wants. The big question that remains, and will be interesting to see, is how many people plan to follow him?
The current prices of some of the Sirius radio products range from $49.99 to $129.99. But there is more after that. Say you purchase your Sirius radio for the car, there is then a monthly fee which you have to pay for, around $12.99 a month. The price of XM is around the same for the radio, also with a monthly fee of $12.99. This does not seem so bad if you know what Sirius and XM both offer you. With around 130 different types of channels, Sirius provide its listeners with a little bit of everything. Sirius offers several talk stations, including Howard Stern starting Jan. 1, 2006, and many other comedy-type talk stations. Music, you name it Sirius has it. Sports, Sirius carries the NFL, NBA, NHL, and many others. They also carry sports talk.
