How Serious is Sirius?

Before I got my new car, I had not really listened to satellite radio all that much, and I did not know what all the buzz was about. All I knew was that it was commercial-free, but I didn't know why it was so much greater than regular FM radio. I couldn't understand why people would actually pay money for it, when they have a perfectly good FM radio to listen to for free! But when I got my new car about a year ago, it came with a free 3-month subscription to Sirius radio. I thought that once the free subscription was up, I would just go back to FM radio. But I quickly realized that I couldn't do that, I was hooked! I loved the radio stations that were sorted by categories, I loved that it was commercial-free music, I loved the morning shows and countdowns, but the best part was that I could listen to the same stations no matter where I was driving. This was especially useful for me when I was driving from New York to Maryland. I quickly fell in love with my Sirius radio, and I am happy to pay $12.95 a month to have it.

Satellite radio differs from FM or AM radio in a few ways. As I mentioned earlier, satellite radio does not have any commercials, while FM and AM radios have a lot of commercials. Since satellite radio charges its customers a monthly subscription fee, so they do not have to get advertisers to make money. Satellite radio is also available to more people per area than FM or AM radio. Sirius' satellites can reach large areas, whereas FM can only reach a small area. FM needs a densely populated area for the streaming to be effective.

Sirius radio has faced with many changes in the past few years. In 2007, the company started to merge with its competition, XM radio, to avoid bankruptcy and decrease competition. Both companies were in financial trouble, so they decided to merge to stay alive. When the companies merged, they became Sirius XM Radio Inc. and had over 18.5 million subscribers. This made them the second largest radio company in the country. Immediately after the merger, stocks went down and some subscribers were unhappy because their XM lifetime subscriptions were no longer valid, but the company has thrived. Here is a brief article about the merger:
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gWpqqvwgW00Q9TWlFXCqFL7ccIxw

Sirius XM Satellite Radio is continually pushing to meet the needs of radio listeners. They have pre-installed radios in a wide variety of car brands (Ford, Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, Nissan, Audi, Kia, Chrysler, etc.), home radios, portable radios, internet radio on mobile devices, marine and aviation applications, and subscriptions for businesses. They stream music, news, sports, entertainment, and traffic & weather. They provide affordable subscription rates, and they are committed to not raising their prices. The company is "committed to integrity, excellence, and diversity among its employees." This company seems to continue to move in the right direction, as they receive new subscribers every day. I know I'm a fan!