Satellite Radio is a Great Choice for Commerical Free Listening
When the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) allocated a spectrum in the "S" band (2.3 GHz) for broadcasting digital radio services in the early nineties, no one envisioned the impact this would have on radio in the future.
The license to broadcast in "S" band was first allocated to Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio in 1997. Eventually, three companies could provide satellite radio: WorldSpace in Africa, Europe and Asia, plus XM and Sirius in North America. Presently, satellite radio is considered to be one of the biggest improvements in broadcasting since the introduction of FM.
Satellite radio signals can be broadcast for more than 35,000 kilometers (22,000 miles) with complete clarity and high quality sound. The typical noise distrubances tha plague AM and FM broadcasts are non-existent with satellite radio. Crystal clear transmission is one of satellite radio's hallmark traits. Analog radio stations simply cannot broadcast the full range of sounds available through digital satellite radio.
A tremendous amount of music in stored in digital format by satellite radio services. Radio programmers have the task of selecting which song has to be played at which time. All songs and material are transmitted to the satellites in digital format so that the signal contains very high quality sound.
Another unique aspect of home satellite radio is companies approached their service offers from a different perspective than traditional radio broadcasters. Instead of airing commercials, they charged a subscription fee.
For many people, this was actually a better alternative, since they received an almost 100% content broadcast (whether music or talk shows) without the 10-12 minutes per hour of annoying commercials. Satellite radio subscriptions usually cost under . The fact that satellite radio is commercial free for most of its channels is still a major selling point.
Each of the satellite radio companies operating today offers different broadcasting systems, since the radio signal of each is proprietary. This means that consumers must buy different hardware depending on their subscription to one of these companies.
Today, the popularity of satellite radio has exploded due to many technological advancements that enabled manufacturers to offer receivers at very attractive prices.
Today, a small GPS-style antenna is all it takes to receive digital satellite broadcasts. This greatly increased the portability of satellite radio systems and more and more vehicle owners began considering portable satellite radio a good source for music and news on the go.
