There's a coming war in digital radio -- HD Radio vs. satellite radio.
The question is, which will be the winner.
I think the answer is “none of the above.”
Why would I say this?
Let's look at some pros and cons.
First, satellite radio is national. You can lock onto your favorite channel and keep listening to it as you drive from LA to New York. That's a definite plus. On the other hand, HD Radio is terrerestrial broadcast radio and as such, is strictly local. Once you drive out of, say, LA, you won't be able to hear your favorite LA-based station until you drive back to within the station's range. Depending on your travel habits, that could be a real minus.
However, there's a downside to national radio and that's the fact it cannot deliver local information or local programming. If you travel a lot between cities or even states, national radio can be a real boon. However, if most of your driving is within the same city, local HD Radio would make more sense – especially if you like local news, weather, sports scores and talk radio.
Satellite radio's second big advantage over terrestrial radio is that most channels are commercial free. However, HD Radio broadcasters have said that HD2 subchannels will also be commercial free for at least the first 18 months.
What happens after these initial months is anyone's guess. On the other hand, in the long run, satellite radio may not be able to stay commercial free either. XM and Sirius continue to lose money even though they are adding subscribers and there may come a time when there just aren't that many people left who are willing to pay for satellite radio.
In the meantime, most of the car audio system manufacturers who are incorporating HD Radio into their systems are also including provision for either Sirius or XM. I think this probably reflects the future of radio which is that you, the listener, get to choose. You can choose either HD Radio or satellite radio. Or you can choose both.
So, the ultimate winner is ... you.
To learn more about HD Radio, just go my Web site, http://www.hd-radio-home.com. And while you're there, be sure to sign up for my mini-blog so you can stay on top of all HD Radio news.
Douglas Hanna is a retired marketing executive and the author of more than 100 articles on HD radio, the Internet and family finances.
Article Source: ezinearticles.comIn Part 3 we covered the monthly subsciption costs of satellite radio and a little about the programming that is available. But let's talk a little bit about sports on satellite radio.
Sports programming is just exploding in the US and there is a constant demand for even more and better coverage of sporting events. Both satellite radio providers have seen this need and moved to fill it with plenty of sports broadcasts that cover everything from the major sports themselves and actual events to just sports talk. Every single game of the NFL is broadcast besides over 1,000 NBA games and lots of hockey action too. If you are a sports fan, you will absolutely love satellite radio as there is always something interesting being broadcast on sports pretty much 24 hours a day.
So how do you get all of this satellite radio programming anyway? Well, the first thing you need to do is select which provider you wish to subscribe to. In the US your choices are either Sirius or XM. Both have great programming available so the best thing to do is just visit their website, look over the offerings that they have and decide which one fits what you like to listen to best. It's important that you decide on which service to use beforehand since you have to buy receivers that are specific for that service. You can't switch from one provider to another and use the same receiver at this point, so choose carefully.
After selecting your provider, decide where you will be listening to radio broadcasts most, in your car, boat, RV, or just at home? There is plenty of equipment available that will let you listen to satellite radio, some mobile, and some not mobile. There are also products that allow you to take your receiver and use it both at home and when you travel, so there is lots of flexibility on satellite radio receivers and equipment depending on where and how you plan to listen. Keep in mind too that some satellite TV companies include satellite radio in their offerings so you may already have it available at home.
Our viewpoint about satellite radio is that it is a great product that you just have to experince to fully appreciate, and once you enjoy the convenience and quality of satellite radio broadcasting, you probably won't want to listen to radio any other way.
Jim Johnson is a successful author and publisher on consumer related matters. You can find out more about satellite radio and satellite car radio by visiting our Satellite Radio Review website.
Article Source: ezinearticles.com|
|