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Satellite radio has been a long time coming. Whether it was having to put up with intrusive commercials, a lack of options or unrelenting product placement inside the programs themselves there were many things people never liked about the radio. How many times did you have to turn the volume down because an annoying, loud commercial came on? How many times did you flip around the dial and notice that no stattion was playing a song that could interest you? With satellite radio those complaints are a thing of the past.

There are as of this writing two main choices for satellite radio: XM radio and Sirius radio. I would be doing you a disservice if I did not first tell you that these two products have a lot more in common than different. They cost about the same with $12.95 per month for a single account. The discounts are similar, with a slight edge going to XM which offers prepaid monthly rates of ten dollars a month instead of Sirius' ten dollars a month. They both charge a ten dollar activation fee.

The installation is plug and play for both services. They both have a wide variety of channels, numbering about 180 each. Both have Internet radio access, traffic and weather report channels, and almost all the same sports programs such as ESPN Sports and ESPN News. They have many of the same Kids' Shows such as Radio Disney. They both contain about ninety music channels with the same wide variety.

One small difference crops up here: some of the channels on XM Radio have short commercials during the programming. It is very rare but does happen a small percentage of the time. Sirius has absolutely no commercials.

In terms of rebroadcasts Sirius has none whereas XM rebroadcasts four popular Clear Channel music stations. XM sees this as a way to allow user to access the most popular stations at will while still having enough other options that they get all the benefits of both public and satellite radio. Sirius has no relationship with Clear Channel whatsoever. Whether this is a benefit or not either way is completely subjective.

The one major, tangible difference between the two services is found in its entertainment programs aimed at adults. More than any other factor this is what you should base your decision on, and if talk radio entertainment is negligable to you in general you might as well flip a coin.

They both have access to the "E!" Entertainment channel but that is where the similarities end. Among the more popular programs on XM radio are: VH1, MTV, Opie and

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