What made you decide to pick Sirius over XM? I haven't
noticed a large preference either way for people who aren't
Stern fans, so I'm curious.
Allow me to answer that question...I walked into the store with the intention of purchasing XM. Upon entering the store, I hadn't even CONSIDERED Sirius.
While I was comparing Sirius and XM at the display, within 20 minutes, 3 people purchased the Sirius unit, and the "kid" told me that EVERYONE is buying Sirius..."nobody is buying XM anymore."
So I said to myself..."self, you don't want to be missing out on anything, if the sales kid says EVERYONE is buying Sirius, then it MUST BE TRUE!"
After all, everyone knows that if it weren't true, the store wouldn't be paying him a mighty $7.00 an hour. I thought, "the kid MUST BE AN EXPERT, because this million dollar corporation wouldn't allow one of their employees to disclose inaccurate information."
This information should make it clear that XM will soon be out of business. Everyone knows that salespeople don't lie, and they always have the correct information about the products they sell.
With the above information in mind, I started to compare the channels listed on both the Sirius and XM units...
Keep this in mind...channels are subject to change...
According to the channels listed on the boxes...
THEY BOTH HAD:
REAL OLDIES
60'S OLDIES
STANDARDS
RADIO CLASSICS
ROCK
JAZZ
FOX NEWS
But Sirius had something XM didn't have on the package...an ALL Swing Station!!! Wow, Standards AND Swing!!!! Two separate channels!! XM only had Standards!
Sign me up!
Upon activating my Sirius unit, I found out that Sirius does not offer Fox News anymore, and the ALL Swing station is not there either...they must have pulled these channels.
However upon looking at the Sirius and XM websites after my purchase, XM does indeed still carry Fox News and Fox Talk.
So I was disappointed. I started to think that the reason EVERYONE was buying Sirius at the store was because of Howard. I don't care about Howard, but it didn't dawn on me at the time that all of the Howard fans would be coming out of the woodwork to purchase Sirius during the week he premiered.
I'm convinced that's the reason 3 people bought it within the 20 minutes I was there, and about another 4 or 5 people were looking at Sirius...no one was looking at XM...so I figured XM must suck. I was probably wrong.
Nevertheless, I am VERY happy with Sirius...granted, I would rather have Fox News, but I don't listen to a lot of talk and news in the car. I want music while I drive.
I still have Fox News on cable, and for talk I enjoy Laura Ingrham and Michael Savage on WNTP. (Laura Ingrham is also featured on Sirius, which I didn't realize until after I purchased the unit.)
Another added bonus...Norm N Night on Sirius 5 (The Real Oldies Channel) live from the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame in Cleveland.
I didn't realize that he was on Sirius either until AFTER I purchased the unit. Norm is interesting, he provides quick interesting facts about the groups and artists. SO long as one is able to "block out" his constant phrase "Rock On," in which he clearly demonstrates his annoying midwestern accent, it's great listening. He plays Red Prysock!
We say "Rock Awn", but Norm says, "rAck Ahn." It's a midwestern thing, but wasn't Norm on CBS in New York?" I'm surprised he hasn't lost his God-awful Cleveland accent...other than that, he is enjoyable.
Another added bonus...does anyone remember "Don Tandler the record handler?" I don't know much about him except for the fact that he used to be on WBUD in Trenton in the 90's.
Don isn't the most POLISHED disc jockey, but it's nice to hear a familiar voice, and he plays more of our regional hits...more early 60's R&B for example.
Other personalities on the channel play deeper cuts from Ricky Nelson and Roy Orbison for example, while here in Philly we aren't used to hearing some of these songs on the radio...so it's a great mix overall.
Some people have said that in Philly, the oldies staions (or former oldies stations) play more R&B than other oldies stations in the land. I didn't really notice this until I bought Sirius...but it's true. Sirius features more white artists such as Roy and Ricky, and they definitely play more Elvis than we were used to hearing on the fomer local oldies stations. It's a nice change.
I would have liked to have had the all Swing Station, but the Standards station plays some swing, so I can't complain.
Overall...a great buy!
