Arts & Entertainment

Satellite radio has nonstop streaming

By Michael Twigg
The Daily Cougar

Radio is obsolete, so whatis new?

Hate commercials? Drive a jackhammer and CDs keep skipping? No time to look for and download MP3s? Look no further. Satellite radio, the newest form of listening pleasure, comes to the rescue with 60 channels of 100 percent commercial-free music and 40 channels of news, talk, comedy, arts and bilingual programming.

The benefits donit stop there. Have a house, boat, plane, car, RV or tractor that needs some thump? Well, the answer is here; at the click of a button your radio is streaming a perfect channel, just for you. Program in what you like, and youire set. No matter where you are in the country, even up to 200 miles off the coast, your tunes are accessible and endless.

Really need Teddy "Bear" Pendergrass or Barry White to serenade your little love slave from dusk till dawn? Satellite radio can even be installed in your house. Say goodbye to CDs ending before the love does; even an MP3 disk has nothing on the 24/7 capabilities of satellite radio.

If commercial-free, cheap, high-quality, genre-specific radio has a "catch," it can only be the hardware. If youive ever bought a stereo, the plan is pretty similar. Pick out speakers, tweets, mids, highs, lows, a sub and, of course, a decent amp. Then decide whether you want to upgrade an existing system, or go for the "crème de la crème."

With an upgrade, you will need to purchase a tuner ($160), a modulator unit ($180-$230), which plugs into your current unitis auxiliary port and an antenna ($50-$200).

Pick a new unit ($250-$2,800) that behaves just like any stereo. Most play regular radio channels, CDs and MP3s, but you will also have the convenience of being able to drive from Miami to California jamming techno, hardcore or religious contemporary nonstop.

However, there is a large amount of equipment to buy, one-time activation fees, and the thought of another bill to be added to the group each month.

There are only two companies currently offering this service, www.sirius.com and www.xmradio.com. Both offer the same array of channels, similar features and the same amount of fees.

The benefits, however, outweigh the costs. No more need to peruse Kazaa or Audiogalaxy, no more worry about ID3 tags or whether a song is 128-bit or not. If you hate calling the radio DJ for the name of that song you just heard, with satellite you just look at the unit and find the song and the band displayed for your pleasure.

So get smart, get satellite radio.

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