SiriusXM

I’ve had Sirius since 2017 and wouldn’t want to live without it anymore. I’ve been able to negotiate a rate of around $120 a year. I’m glad I learned about the $5/month possibility; may have to bring that up in my next negotiations. I listen to it at home just as much as in my car. I can tune in on my PC; and then I have a small blue tooth speaker I can carry around to any room in my house! The Blend is my favorite channel; but I also love The Bridge, the Beatles channel, Classic Vinyl, Tom Petty or Billy Joel Channel, or sometimes the 60’s or the 70’s channel. On road trips I’ll sometimes listen to one of the comedy channels. In my car, I often listen to CNN. Yeah; I’d miss it a lot! I’m a huge music lover.

 

Totally agree with this. Whenever he came on, I had to change the channel. Never heard anyone talk so damn much - usually about himself. I can not believe nobody has figure that out and shut him up. By the way, I grew up listening to him and would love to listen if he was a "normal" DJ.

 

eBay still has a few older units around with lifetime subscriptions. If you really like XM/Sirius and expect to keep it, worth looking into this option. I really like the internet option so I don't need to worry about placing the antenna. I love knowing that anywhere I travel I'll have the MLB station available.

 

Us too. Can't drive anywhere without Ozzy's Boneyard.

 

I used the free trial and then bought six months for $5 a month. I enjoy it and my resubscribe but I was having a hard time paying for both Apple music and XM in my car.

 

Madison is the DJ I hate. She was on First Wave midmorning or lunch (thankfully prestreaming so I wasn't listening at that time often) and she was so bad. Enough people must have complained because they moved her off that channel. She's still around somewhere but not channels I listen to so I don't care now ;-)

 

I have Sirius. Probably 12 years now. Lease, get a 90 or 180 day free trial each new car. They put my account on hold each time, then reactivate. The service people on the phone have always been very helpful.... even sharing some of the tricks to get lower rates.

It's always on in my car. Programmed into the favorites. Different classic rock stations, standards, classical, jazz, even some elevator music for when I want white noise. Service is very reliable.

My car also came with SD card slots.... I have a good portion of my old CD library on one card, so I can choose what I want if/when I want it. Mostly I'm content with whatever is on Sirius.

I don't stream from my phone. It's set up, but I find the sound quality degrades via Bluetooth, and the uncoordinated volume and other controls between phone and car are maddening. Plus, I refuse to spend money on cell carrier data plans.... I'm on a 2GB plan, unlimited calls, texts, etc. for $30/month. Upgrading my cell plan to stream enough data for music would cost more, be less reliable, and have potential for data plan overages.

So, I'm a fan of Sirius XM.

 

I was just re-reading this thread and forgot to mention this earlier -- pre-merger, Sirius and XM had different technology setups, which could have accounted for the problems. The short version is that XM had a geostationary satellite constellation (i.e., the satellites were always in a fixed location) and a much more robust ground repeater network, whereas Sirius had a constellation in a Tundra orbit and fewer terrestrial repeaters. I believe they've largely adopted the XM technology post-merger.

For what it's worth, I'm probably an outlier in that I like the occasional talking. As mentioned, I've had some form of satellite radio since around 2005, and actually prefer it to things like Spotify and Pandora -- those seem too sterile to me.

 

News has commercials. I think comedy might too? I love listening to Netflix is a joke but they have a "talk show" at 5 pm (right during my normal commute) that is annoying as heck. But there's always something else on ;-)

 

We are on our third day of having SiriusXM.
So far Hair Nation is my favorite!

RICHARD

 

I had a trial, did the 5 buck deal, went to cancel and got a 7 buck deal
It auto renewed for about 23 dollars. I will probably go to cancel and see if I can geta better deal. I would do an annual subscription but they don't offer a discount upfront for it. I think it's a better value now that they've added streaming. I will try and keep it up because I like the talk stations. And some of the sports channels have been switched to music and they have some decent options.

 

I played their game for about 4 years... always got the $5-to-$5.50 a month deal....always "cancelled" and they always extended it...until I just decided not to anymore....which just happened to coincide with my discovery of Pandora!

 

Just put a note in your calendar in the phone. A week prior to expiration. Play the game. What else are you doing? Haha

 

But...it’s on “preview” (as in FREE) mode til at least May 15th, even on the phone, due to many of us being home bound. But can’t get NFL channel in Canada, among others. But 70s on 7 will do me just fine!

 

I have used Pandora for years, and have pretty decently curated channels, but I do like the option to use SiriusXM as well. Pandora sometimes tends to focus on some bands over others and so SiriusXM tends to give a wider base of music.

 

One of my faves as well.

I downloaded the app to my iPad and listen when I’m doing painting or projects around the house using Bluetooth speakers or headphones. Another fave is #49, Soul Town for classic Soul and Motown. On a recent plane trip, I downloaded several Howard Stern interviews and even played the through the aux input of my rental car.

 

And he plays 50’s and 70’s music on the 60’s channel.

 

I have it and use it alot. My wife not so much. I use it for the proprietary channels, news, sports, etc. Road trips almost always end up with the comedy channels on for a while.

 

My renewal was up and I've been playing the cancel game for years. With the lack of people to fight with, if you choose to cancel, it send you to a screen with current "offers". I don't need Stern so took the regular package for $60/year ($82 after taxes). It was much easier than having to deal with a person on the phone.