News and musings on Sirius, XM, DirecTV and the DISH Network.

Taking satellite radio for a spin

f you’re a long-haul trucker, stop reading, polish up your big belt buckle and just go buy one.

If you’re a troll living under a bridge where reception’s bad, save your dough.

For the rest of us, deciding whether to shell out for satellite radio - and if so, which one to pick - is a little more complicated. So I did some legwork and test-drove a couple of satellite setups to find out more about the pros, the cons and the differences between the two options, Sirius and XM.

Canadian Satellite Radio awarded licence to offer XM satellite radio service in Canada

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) today granted Canadian Satellite Radio (CSR) a broadcasting licence to deliver commercial-free music and premier news, sports, talk and entertainment to Canadians from coast-to-coast-to- coast, subject to certain programming requirements.

“This is a tremendous opportunity for all Canadians and an evolutionary milestone in maintaining our country’s leadership position within the global broadcasting industry,” said John I. Bitove, chairman, CEO and founder of CSR. “We have the potential to reach out to all areas of our country with the industry’s most exceptional audio content and technology.”

“We are very excited about being licensed and we appreciate the balanced and progressive approach the CRTC has taken in making this decision. We now have to sit down with our partner XM to discuss the new and incremental programming conditions of this licence which were not contemplated in our original application,” continued Bitove.

CSR is a Canadian-owned and operated company who first applied for the licence in August 2003. It has partnered with XM Satellite Radio (XM), the No. 1 satellite radio service in the U.S. with more than four million subscribers. CSR applied to the CRTC to launch a satellite radio service and develop Canadian programming for broadcast to all regions of Canada and the U.S. through XM.

Satellite ISP delivers top-notch speed and service

Can’t get cable or DSL where you live? Look up. The answer is circling the globe above you.

Reliable high-speed Internet connections will be available across the entire lower 48 states beginning July 1 via the newly rebuilt and re-launched Wildblue satellite Internet service.

And this isn’t like any satellite Internet service you’ve ever seen before. While previous incarnations like DirecTV’s DirecWay were slow, unreliable, and outrageously expensive — both for the required equipment and the subscription — Wildblue’s offering is pricey, but still more in line with traditional wired broadband options.

The equipment still isn’t cheap, but it’s better: $299 for the purchase and installation of a rooftop dish and a modem-like and -sized interface box that gets you online. The monthly service runs $49.95 for a 512-kilobit package, $69.95 for a 1-megabit package and $79.95 for a 1.5-megabit package. The last is roughly equal to most home DSL speeds.

The good news: It delivers.

Ford Extends Alliance With Sirius

Ford Motor Co. said Monday it’s extending through 2011 its exclusive contract with Sirius Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. to offer Sirius radios as factory-installed options in select models.

Ford’s agreement with Sirius was originally scheduled to end in 2008, Sirius vice president Jim Collins said.

“Ford is a very important strategic partner with us. We’re delighted,” Collins said.

Ford is offering Sirius as a factory-installed option on the 2006 Ford F-150, Ford Explorer, Lincoln Mark LT and Mercury Mountaineer. The company is targeting another 17 models for the option in the 2006 and 2007 models years. Satellite radio also is available as a dealer-installed option on various models.

Sirius change for cuz Brucie

Bruce Morrow - a familiar New York radio voice for decades until being unceremoniously bounced last week from WCBS-FM - signed a five-year deal with Sirius Satellite Radio yesterday to anchor three shows a week, beginning next month.

“I am riding so high - I’m on a rocket ride; I’m above a satellite,” Morrow gushed yesterday. “They’ve given me a national audience.”

The Brooklyn-born Morrow, 67, blasted his former employer for notifying him at 3 p.m. last Friday that the station was ditching its oldies format - and its deejays - for a iPod-like format called “Jack” in 90 minutes.

Bridges TV Launches Nationwide on DISH Network at Ceremony at Islamic Center

Muslims of America now have a new venue for television programming with the announcement today that Bridges TV, the American Muslim lifestyle network in English, is now available nationwide on DISH Network. EchoStar Communications Corporation’s (NASDAQ: DISH) DISH Network(TM) satellite television service has added Bridges TV to its programming lineup on channel 578.

XM Satellite Radio Adds Audio Books to the Mix

In 2006, consumers can expect to use a handheld, portable device to listen to XM Satellite Radio’s music stations, and after Tuesday’s announcement, to audio books and other spoken-word tracks courtesy of Audible Inc.

The two aural entertainment providers on Tuesday announced their exclusive partnership, which will bring together XM’s 150 music and talk-radio channels and Audible’s 70,000 hours of audio content, which includes material from audio-book publishers, broadcasters, entertainers, and magazine and newspaper publishers. Audible’s audio content is currently available for download on computers, MP3 players, PDAs and other devices.

“XM is widely recognized for having the best content and the best technology in satellite radio,” XM Satellite Radio CEO Hugh Panero said. “Audible and XM are the leaders in our respective businesses, so it’s logical for us to work together on content distribution and technology.”

Napster, Yahoo and XM Radio Compared

Ever since Napster’s Super Bowl half-time commercial I have been thinking I should take another look at subscription based music services. I decided to try out Napster, Yahoo, and XM Radio services. Each service is different but they all give you some type of unlimited music each month for a monthly fee. […]

First, XM Radio is really not a contender in my mind. To pay $12.99 a month for only a 100 or 150 channels is way too limited. XM has the opportunity to add some original content that may bring subscribers but I don’t think they can make it against a Napster or Yahoo service.

Yahoo certainly seems to be the winner on price but I didn’t like their initial selection of music. Their Music Engine software wasn’t that impressive either but nobody is really winning in the category in my mind. I’ve also read and heard some things that make me believe that this low-low price will not last beyond the first year.

Napster is the winner in my mind – the interface isn’t great but it works well enough to get the music you want. The best thing about Napster is the music selection which I thought was very solid.

Ford Extends Its Alliance With Sirius

Ford Motor Co. said Monday it’s extending through 2011 its exclusive contract with Sirius Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. to offer Sirius radios as factory-installed options in select models.

Ford’s agreement with Sirius was originally scheduled to end in 2008, Sirius vice president Jim Collins said.

“Ford is a very important strategic partner with us. We’re delighted,” Collins said.

Ford is offering Sirius as a factory-installed option on the 2006 Ford F-150, Ford Explorer, Lincoln Mark LT and Mercury Mountaineer. The company is targeting another 17 models for the option in the 2006 and 2007 models years. Satellite radio also is available as a dealer-installed option on various models.

Sirius said satellite radio should be available in 90 percent of Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles by the 2008 model year. Ford has said it expects to generate up to 1 million Sirius subscribers over the 2006 and 2007 model years.

The kind folks at ColorMatchAntenna recently sent me a Sirius antenna color-coded to my car, a Mazda 6 S in grey metallic. The package came in a USPS envelope and appeared to be the standard Sirius radio car antenna. It was carefully wrapped in cloth within a well-packaged box.

After unwrapping it, I placed it on my car and let me tell you, this thing blends in! Wow, I was dutifilly impressed not only by the perfect paint match, but also by the quality of the paint job they did on the antenna. While I haven’t had a chance to yet install the antenna, I do like the look a lot better on my car than the standard black Sirius antenna.

This service turns the standard XM Radio ($69.99) or Sirius Satellite Radio ($74.99) antenna into something that looks like it was factory-installed. If you’re serious about your new car’s look and not wanting the look of a tacked-on satellite radio antenna, I highly recommend checking out the ColorMatchAntenna folks. I think it’s worth the few bucks it costs for the improved, sleeker factory-standard look.