MLB to Disappear from Terrestrial Radio?

The changes that took place in the way MLB games were broadcast on television
made many think that the same will happen to radio soon enough. Today, local
television stations only broadcast 23% of the MLB games. Also, 7 of the major
league team games are only available on cable, an exclusivity factor that seems
to work well for them. In an interview to WSJ, Edison Media Research's President
Larry Rosin declared that "it is probably inevitable that baseball radio
broadcasts will go to a 100% subscription model... It will happen because
there's too much money in it not to do it." This is an interesting perspective
for the two main digital satellite radio providers, XM Satellite Radio and
Sirius. This potential development sounds excellent for XM especially, as they
would hold the exclusive rights to all major-league baseball games. Of course,
that would be an important step forward for XM, as the MLB generates huge
interest in the US, and it would mean that another building block has been added
to the development of satellite radio.



MLB Radio and XM Radio



MLB also has its own subscription paid online radio channel, and if the same
thing happens to radio as it did to television they would definitely enjoy the
situation. Since experts in the communication field consider that satellite
radio is still in its infancy, the trend of moving broadcasts of such games to a
subscription paid environment would take digital radio broadcasting to the next
level of development. The earnings from XM Radio and MLB Radio are split between
the 30 MLB teams, but they are divided equally. This means that the MLB team’s
interests would be high and the economical and financial factors could speed up
the process of making MLB games exclusive to satellite radio. The statistics we
have today tell an interesting story: presently around 23% of XM subscribers
have signed up to receive the MLB transmission, so there is a lot of potential
for growth. Terrestrial radio can already start to feel the danger of loosing
MLB broadcasts to satellite radio as this revenue driven model is more
attractive for the MLB teams.

Implications of such a transfer

As with anything that reaches such a controversial topic, the opinions are
shared among experts and the general public. Some people are convinced that this
whole movement is nothing more than a bubble of soap. Baseball is mostly a TV
favorite and although there is still a lot of interest in MLB radio broadcasts,
most people will not feel the transfer to digital radio as a major change.
Although radio was the initial growing medium for baseball, television is king
today, and they say that the transfer from terrestrial radio to satellite radio
is not something that will have a significant impact. Other opinions say that
“MLB would loose more audience then it would gain from the exclusive fees”.
Since the format of the terrestrial radio stations is more flexible it also
allows them to broadcast more games than broadcast TV. The same people say that
“the MLB would alienate a lot of local fans if they took baseball off AM radio”.
For other people, there is another comparison to be made – that between the
impact this would have on MLB and the impact it had on NFL, where a similar
process has already started. The Sirius NFL broadcasts brought the company some
new listeners, but the changes were not extreme and since NFL is more popular
than MLB, some expect the same trend to be followed in MLBs case as well. Of
course, there are voices that say this change would have a significant impact on
the way baseball is perceived. Since watching a game on TV can take away a few
hours, many prefer to listen to the game on radio while they are doing something
else. This is especially true during summer months, when many prefer to spend
time in the yard or on the porch, not inside the room in front of a TV set. Of
course, comparisons between the various major sport types in the US can be made
from many perspectives, but most will agree that baseball is a game that can be
followed on radio. For now, al the signs point at a transfer of broadcasts from
terrestrial radio towards satellite radio, but this may change depending on the
response companies and MLB receive from the public.

Read more...

Interoperable Satellite Radios

The satellite radio world is divided among the two major broadcasters, XM

Radio and Sirius. Since they work on different frequencies and need specific
equipment to broadcast, Sirius and XM Radio have divided the market into two
groups. While some are fans of the Sirius channels others prefer XM Radio, and
the debate regarding which of the two is the best could go on forever. Some
however are subscribers to both services, since they love some of the Sirius
programs but also enjoy XM Radio broadcasting. For them and for more people
interested in satellite radio, there are some potential good news. Interoperable
satellite radios are one of the things most of the major players in the
satellite radio industry are talking about. What are they? Basically they are
receivers that can work both with Sirius and XM Radio and everything is enclosed
in a single unit.



Interoperable Technologies – when Sirius and XM work together



Interoperable Technologies is the name of a joint effort funded by both Sirius
and XM Radio, with the declared purpose of bringing dual-subscription satellite
radios to the general market. Founded in 2003, Interoperable Technologies has
started developing the dual-mode satellite radios ever since and progress is
being made with each passing month. Interoperable Technologies gets help from
consultants from both XM and Sirius and their 2005 success of developing a singe
unit that can receive both transmissions was a notable one. Today, Interoperable
Technologies ha a deadline of bringing the developed receiver unit to the
market. The monthly subscription price is estimated to be around $26 – for which
you get over 300 channels from the combined broadcasting list of the two
satellite radio operators.



What the people say…



The news of the interoperable satellite radio development has triggered
interesting responses among XM and Sirius satellite radio subscribers. Here are
some of the things people left on forums and discussion boards regarding this
development:



“$26/month? A hell of a lot cheaper than cable TV.” Says one of the forum
posters. He is right, but, of course, many will question the need to pay $26 for
over 300 radio channels out of which 80% will probably never get listened to.

“Oh man! As a dual subscriber, this would be SO cool to have. Where do I sign
up?” – on the other hand, of course, there are those people that don’t mind
spending a little extra when they can get so much more.

“Cool idea if it ever comes to pass. Even though I only subscribe to Sirius,
I would consider buying this with an eye on the future...” – for people such as
this forum poster, the interoperable satellite radio system is the natural
evolutionary step forward, so it is definitely worth looking into.

Implications of the interoperable satellite radio system

As you can see from the response of the potential customers, the interoperable
satellite radio system is an interesting development. While Sirius and XM are
lucky enough to be the only major players in this field, for now, it seems they
are also ready to work together in order to consolidate their future. Of course,
offering twice the programs on a single unit is a major step forward, and from
the early stages it seems that the target audience is ready to receive the
single receiver unit with applause. On the other hand, is this an initial
enthusiastic response or is it genuine interest? Won’t 300+ channels become too
much and won’t people start to feel like they are paying for something they are
rarely using? There will also be some interesting things to follow as far as
exclusivity rights go, because each of the two broadcasters have their own
original approaches to common things. Another interesting aspect to follow will
be how the sales for individual Sirius and XM units will go after the dual
receiver hits the market. For many, the combined efforts of Sirius and XM tend
to look like a first step towards a large scale joint venture that will lead to
an absolute monopoly of the satellite radio market.

Read more...

How does satellite radio work?

Satellite radio is one of the biggest improvements in broadcasting since the

introduction of FM. Satellite radio signal can be broadcasted for more than
35,000 kilometers (22,000 miles) with complete clarity and high quality sound.
You will never get static interferences while listening to over 100 radio
channels. The idea behind satellite radio has appeared in 1992, when the United
States Federal Communications Commission granted a spectrum of the S band (the
2.3 GHz frequency) for Digital Audio Radio Service. The license to broadcast in
that band was allocated to Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio in
1997. Now there are three companies that provide satellite radio in the world:
Sirius and XM in Northern America and WorldSpace in Asia, Europe and Africa.



Each of these companies offer different broadcasting systems, since the radio
signal of each is proprietary. This means that you will have to buy different
hardware depending on your subscription to one of these companies. However,
there are three components common to all satellite radio services: the
satellites, the ground repeaters and the radio receivers. Different satellite
radio companies broadcast the radio signal in different ways. For instance, XM
satellite radio uses geostationary satellites which have orbits that are
synchronized with the movement of Earth. These satellites are located above the
equator. In order to allow subscribers to receive crystal-clear signal despite
obstacles such as buildings, hills or bridges, XM satellite radio service has
installed a network of repeaters antennas that receive the radio signal from the
satellites and retransmit it to the subscriber’s receiver Sirius, on the other
hand, uses satellites that have unique elliptical orbits around Earth. These
kinds of orbits allow satellites to get higher in the sky than geostationary
satellites and this prevents loss of signal. This is the reason why Sirius has
fewer terrestrial repeaters than XM.



Satellite radio services have digital broadcast centers where a huge amount of
music in digital format as well as CD format is stored. Radio programmers have
the task of selecting which song has to be played at which time. There are also
a lot of studios managed by digital radio companies where artists perform live.
All songs and material are transmitted to the satellites in digital format so
that the signal contains very high quality sound. The signal is encoded by the
satellite and then retransmitted to the repeaters antennas, which then transmit
it to the radio receiver which decodes it and plays the sound. The entire
process is very quick and reliable. Satellite radio would not be possible
without digital compression. Digital compression is a technique that uses
sophisticated algorithms to compress as much material as possible on the
available bandwidth. Once you make a subscription to a satellite radio provider
you will need the appropriate radio equipment. Traditional radios cannot decode
the signal received from satellites so you will need special equipment.



The popularity of satellite radio has exploded due to many technological
advancements that enabled manufacturers to offer the receivers at very
attractive prices. The fact that satellite radio is commercial free for many of
its channels is also a major selling point.

Read more...

Features of the XM Radio

XM Radio provides over 150 programs that include music, sports and

entertainment, traffic and weather channels.



The music area has the largest number of channels. Here are 68 music channels
that you can enjoy and where you can listen to your favorite music whether is
from the 60s, the 90s or it’s the new released music. There are
music-by-the-decade channels that include the 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s
songs which are mostly pop/rock outlets, the Top 20 channel, Love Songs, Movie
Soundtracks, Show Tunes, MTV, VH1, and a Global hits channel. For those you
prefer new music there is the Unsigned channel and the XMU channel. The last one
can be compared to a college station. If you are a jazz fan, XM offers you live
music from the Blue Note club and the B.B. King Club in New York City.



There are entertainment shows on XM radio hosted by Tom Perry, Snoop Dog or
Quincy Jones. Comedy shows may be found on the High Voltage channel where shock
jocks Opie and Anthony do their job now uncensored. In totally, XM has three
comedy channels including a family comedy channel. Beside these, there are more
radio channels like Playboy Radio and Public Radio hosted by Bob Edwards which
includes a line of NPR shows that you can enjoy whenever you like.



If you are a sports fanatic you can choose from a good variety of channel
dedicated to sports that are provided by XM radio. This includes college
football and basketball, NASCAR and Major League Baseball. You can easily listen
to the Bowl Championship Series to find out which team is going to the next
level, the NCAA Division I football champion.



With a subscription from XM, you will have 38 channels of sports, news and talk
channels. For example, ABC News & Talk, BBC World Service, CNBC, Court TV,
C-Span, CNN, CNN Headline News, Discovery Channel, E Entertainment, two ESPN
channels, Fox News, NASCAR Racing are a few talk station to which you can
listen. Local weather and traffic channels are provided too and in totally, they
are 22 channels.



Sound clearance depends on the subscription you have. If you have satellite
radio from XM, the sound has more quality than the one from Sirius, but still
you can’t say that is the same as a CD. You can say that the sound is somewhere
between the sound of a CD and AM radio. Hopefully, in the years that will come,
the sound quality will improve.



As this technology appeared so did a new line of hardware that can match
people’s desires.

And XM has new things to offer like the Delphi XM MyFi which is a small
receiver, actually the smallest in the world that can include up to five yours
of XM content to which you can listen anywhere you like. Another is the Delphi
SkyFi2 which has a TiVo-like 30-Minute Replay feature so, you can rewind, push
the pause button or just play it forward to hear music, news or anything else
you stored on the it. This equipments are also produced by Sony, Alpine, Pioneer
and of course others.

Read more...

Delphi XM Roady Radio

The Delphi XM Roady Radio Receiver is the smallest radio receiver available

on the market. It’s the next generation of radio, not only for being America’s
most popular satellite radio service but for its power of choice, giving the
listener the pleasure of choosing what kind of songs he wants to hear –
wherever, whenever he wants. In short terms, you can listen to more than 170
digital channels, live concerts, daily news, live commentary on sports, etc.
Plus, listening to music on your radio without any commercial is like a dream
come true. The receiver is somehow smaller than SkiFi XM Receiver but it has a
sharper look. Being able to use it with no major problems. The interface is
user-friendly and the installation of additional accessories lie the Roady FM
Modulator or the power adaptor is very easy. As for the price, where you can use
it and on which system, you can take a look below:



Price: $119.95

Use: Car or Home

System: XM Satellite Radio



The features of the Delphi XM Roady Radio are plenty:

- plug and play: you can easily connect to your home kits, car or audio systems,
whenever you want

- you can search for channel, presets or category

- seven color displays

- smallest radio available on the market, together with the smallest antenna

- optional home audio

- the possibility of saving a total of 15 songs information





When buying a full kit, you will find in the box the following: receiver,
micro-antenna, three faceplates, cigarette lighter power adaptor, cassette
adaptor, universal mounting bracket and manual. It is told that the Delphi XM
Roady is the direct competitor of Terk XM Commander, being slightly less
expensive if you buy the Commander without the FM Modulator. As for the
receiver, well.. how small can it be? It is very small. Like I said, it is the
smallest receiver you can find out there to buy. The colors are quite brilliant,
so that we could spoil our looks by watching red, green, sky blue, orange, night
blue, purple and pink. If you’re really a fashion maniac, you can combine the
colors with the three colored faceplates for a dazzling look. A very nice option
on the Delphi XM Radio is the TuneSelect, where you can save a total of 15
songs, with detailed information upon them.



As for accessories, you can buy an additional home kit (base, antenna, power
adaptor, mini-stereo to RCA output cable), Power / FM Modulator (rebroadcasting
on the following frequencies: 88.1, 88.3, 88.5, 88.7, 107.1, 107.3, 107.5,
107.7, being available on the market since December 2003), FM Modulator (which
can be found at a price of $49.99) or Mini Stereo to dual RCA Cable (with that
you can connect your Delphi XM Roady to your stereo CD, in case that you don’t
have a CD player).

As a conclusion, I can say that the Delphi XM Radio Receiver is a pretty good
gadget to buy, the reviews being generally positive. That doesn’t mean you can’t
buy something that won’t work as you would expect, but, if you choose the right
place to buy (where customer service is a really important thing to notice), you
would be very pleased of the acquisition. Overall, for its price it is an
extraordinary unit.

Read more...

Canadian satellite radio

While the United States initiated the satellite radio evolution, Canada is

now hot on their trails. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications
Commission (CRTC) began hearings in 2004 for applicants ready to develop
Canada’s first satellite radio broadcasting. The Canadian satellite radio
industry received quite a lot of interest and in the end three main applications
were filed: XM filed one in partnership with Canadian Satellite Radio and Sirius
filed an application with Standard Broadcasting and the CBC. The third
application belongs to CHUM Limited and Astral Media and to many came as a
surprise. That was mostly because CHUM Limited and Astral Media came up with a
different solution that that proposed by Sirius and XM Radio. CHUM applied for a
subscription radio service that is to be delivered through the already existing
terrestrial DAB transmitters. In other words, the transmitters would be the ones
receiving the satellite transmission, from where they would continue the
broadcast to consumer owned receivers. While the CHUM Limited and Astral Media
proposal offers an entirely Canadian approach, the first two bring in a blend of
US based technology and Canadian broadcasting channels. XM Radio and Sirius had
a slight advantage in the fact that the coverage area of their satellites
already existed in parts of Canada, so a small audience was already using their
services.



The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) approved
all three applications in June 2005, but with a series of conditions imposed to
the three solicitants. Here they are as required by the CRTC:

• A minimum of 8 channels must be produced in Canada and for each Canadian
  channel 9 foreign channels can be broadcast.


• At least 85% of the content on the Canadian-produced channels (whether
  musical or spoken word) must be Canadian.


• At least 25% of the Canadian channels must be French-language stations.


• At least 25% of the music aired on the Canadian channels must be new
  Canadian music.


• At least 25% of the music played on the Canadian channels must be from
  up-and-coming Canadian artists.

The three companies had to accept these conditions as they are part of the
Canadian broadcasting regulations. The US companies and their Canadian partners
began negotiations for tilting the rules in their favor. One of the main offers
of both the Sirius and XM Radio partnerships was that they would play 50% French
content as opposed to the 25% required by the CRTC. AS a results of the
negotiations, XM Radio received 5 channels of National Hockey League
Play-by-Play in addition to the channels they already had – XMs part of the deal
was to cover the Canadian National Hockey League games. The fact that the US
satellite industry giants were both allowed to broadcast on Canadian territory
determined CHUM to appeal the decision. They motivated their action by saying
that the two US companies would simply “suffocate” CHUM with their presence in
Canada, not allowing any room for development for the all-Canadian company. CHUM
also complained about the deals that were cut with the two US companies. As a
response, Canadian Satellite Radio and Sirius Canada said that CHUM is in fact
trying to obtain monopoly over the Canadian satellite radio market for
themselves.

Today’s Canadian satellite radio

One of the main complaints of the people of Canada was that the CRTC decision
did not require sufficient Canadian content. This made the broadcasters come out
with promises of additional French and Canadian content. The Canadian Federal
Cabinet accepted the CRTC decision on September 10, 2005. XM satellite radio was
launched on the 29th of November 2005 and Sirius was next on December 1. Monthly
subscription rates are $12.99 for XM with a one time activation fee of $19.99
and $14.99 for Sirius, without any activation fees. Both companies are expecting
rapid increases in the numbers o subscribers, although, in spite of the extra
Canadian content they added to their air time, there are still quite a few
voices protesting against the potential monopoly the two companies may get to in
the near future.

Read more...

The advantages of satellite radio

One of the great advantages of satellite radio is the fact that the programs

are not interrupted by commercials. This is because the provider’s income comes
from listeners and not from advertisers. Satellite radio services offer around
70 programs of commercial fee music channels each and you have a great variety
of choices, from mainstream rock, hip-hop and dance music to folk music, opera,
blues and many more.

Another great thing about satellite radio is the absence of static. You can be
driving from the West Coast to the East Coast in the United States of America
and you will not get any static at all on the way. The satellite radio signal is
digital, which means that you will get crystal-clear sound wherever you go.



Satellite radio tuners receive, along with the actual radio programs, an influx
of metadata that consists of information regarding song title, artist, radio
program and radio channel. This means that your satellite radio receiver will
display all the necessary information about what you are listening to. For
instance, if you hear a great song and you want to know which artist sings it,
you just look at the receiver‘s display.

All satellite radio programs are uncensored. This is one of the reasons why
artists like Howard Stern chose to move their shows on satellite radio. You can
also listen to your favorite hip-hop songs without the interruption of those
annoying ‘beep’ sounds.

Satellite radio programs also offer information about local traffic and
weather conditions. The information is very detailed especially for those who
live in big cities. If there is a major national calamity and other terrestrial
radio stations will not work, you can always count on getting accurate
information from satellite radio program. You can also listen to satellite radio
online on your computer.



If you still are not convinced on why you should pay money for something that
you can get for free, think about how much time you have wasted listening to
commercials and all kinds of other boring stuff on terrestrial radio programs.
Traditional radio is not free, despite the popular belief. It is time-consuming
and irritating because you have to listen to five minutes or more of commercials
so that you can finally hear a song you like. The satellite radio subscriptions
are very affordable and, for around 13 dollars per month, you get exactly the
programs you want, which you can listen to wherever you are, at the best sound
quality.



Satellite radio is great for you especially if you travel a lot. If you are
traveling across the United States of America, for example, you can listen to
the channel or channels you want during your whole trip, without losing signal
or getting static. If you have a traditional radio, you will have to keep
changing channels every hundred miles, but if you are using satellite radio you
do not have to do that because the geographically availability of programs is
not a problem. Satellite radio subscribers will soon get the chance to watch
video programs as well. Both Sirius and XM services have announced their
intention of introducing in the near future a variety of video satellite
channels that will have some of the great advantages that are currently
available to satellite radio: commercial free programs, great quality of sound
and vast geographical availability.

Read more...