SatRad vs. Broadcast vs. DIY

[Paul B. Walker, Jr.]

Satelitte radio reception isn't always perfect, either.

Here in the Northern Allegheny Mountain region of North Central PA, I
regularly drive around with a friend who has satelitte radio is his car.
.I've had it drop out several times when we're in lower terrain or pass
under/by some obstruction, bye bye goes the satelitte signal.

paul



On Mon, Jun 4, 2012 at 11:07 PM, Bob DeMattia <bob.bosra@demattia.net>wrote:

> >
> > Hmmm...really?  No sense of currency?  The day Davy Jones passes, the
> > sixties channel brought in their morning jock (who is very live and very
> > current each morning) to play Monkees tunes, reminisce about Davy Jones
> and
> > the group, and let listeners weigh in.  If that isn't a sense of
> currency,
> > I'm not sure what it.   That is only one recent example, but I could
> > certainly enumerate additional.
> >
>
> That's one example, and I'm sure there are more, but local radio has
> satellite radio beat on a day-to-day basis.  I still stand by my impression
> that the XM music channels
> sound sterile.  You mention the 60's channel, but try listening to some of
> the less popular channels up the dial.
>
>
> > As for "local weather", how do you address that when your audience is a
> > national one?  But when there is something unusual going on somewhere in
> > the country weatherwise, it gets a mention.
> >
>
>
> I don't have to address it; that's my point.  Bringing weather, local
> sports scores, traffic,  and other local community stories is an advantage
> that local radio has over satellite.
> Satellite has advantages too - like reception in mountainous rural areas
> away from major markets.
>
>
> -Bob
>
>
>
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: Bob DeMattia <bob.bosra@demattia.net>
> > To: B-R-I <boston-radio-interest@bostonradio.org>
> > Sent: Mon, 04 Jun 2012 16:07:07 -0000 (UTC)
> > Subject: SatRad vs. Broadcast vs. DIY
> >
> > Sirium XM came installed in my car with a free 1-yr subscription.
> > About the only things I ever listen to are some of the produced-for-TV
> > cable channels.
> >
> > I've tried to listen to the music channels, but it's like listening
> > to an automated station most of the time.  The DJs, when they have
> > them, sound voice-tracked.  There's no sense of currency.  Maybe the its
> > lack of a local stories or local weather forecast; there's just something
> > missing.
> >
> > So while I still have access to these stations, most of the time I find
> > myself listening to broadcast.
> >
> > The one major exception is when driving through areas like central NH
> > or rural PA, where it becomes annoying that the flea-power stations
> > they have in the smaller markets only last for 20 to 30 minutes at a
> > time.
> >
> > When I'm not in the mood for commercials, I have a 4Gb USB stick that
> > plugs into a USB port on my dash.  Set the player to random and it
> > plays from a collection of 250+ tracks, all of which I like.  No DJs,
> > but no  bad songs either.  This is far superior than anything XM has
> > to offer.
> >
> > Another problem with XM is the compression.  There just doesn't seem to
> > be as much "umph" to the sound.   The compression on the non-music
> > channels is even worse.
> >
> > -Bob
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > On Mon, Jun 4, 2012 at 7:53 AM, Sid Schweiger **wrote:
> >
> > > "the formats on Sirius/XM that get ANY ratings at all are the ones that
> > > duplicate the broadcast formats available to anyone on AM/FM."
> > >
> > > The only format on SiriusXM that gets any ratings at all, according to
> > > Eastlan (the only company that includes satellite radio in its local
> > > ratings, in the few markets in which it operates), is Howard 100,
> Howard
> > > Stern's main channel.  No other satrad channels get enough mentions to
> > meet
> > > Eastlan's minimum reporting standards, and Arbitron stopped rating
> > > satellite radio in 2008.
> > >
> > > There is NO satellite channel that duplicates an OTA broadcast station.
> > >  Some of them come close in programming content, but none of them carry
> > > commercials (and the five- to seven-minute stop sets that go along with
> > it)
> > > and all the other clutter that OTA music formats must deal with.  I can
> > > understand why some people think that satrad is evocative of radio's
> > past,
> > > when you could actually hear music on a music-formatted station without
> > > having to wade through all the other formatics, but the idea of paying
> > for
> > > radio hasn't taken hold yet, and probably never will on a mass scale.
> > >
> > > Sid Schweiger
> > > IT Manager, Entercom New England
> > > 20 Guest St / 3d Floor
> > > Brighton MA  02135-2040
> > >
> > >
> >
>