XM Radio

One minute of commercials per hour on SOME of the channels to get great programming sure beats commercial-free christina aguilera all day long. Also hate to disappoint you mankie but sirius does not have an equivalent for U-Pop.

As for the market, XM is a somewhat controversial stock. Yesterday's selloff was a ridiculous over-reaction to standard insurance negotiating tactics. Full disclosure: I've got a huge position in it and I slept well last night, as unpleasant as it was during the day.

I've visited XM a few times for various reasons and it sure seems like a wonderful place to work.

Paige – who are you on the air?

Originally posted by J'Mal:

As for the market, XM is a somewhat controversial stock. Yesterday's selloff was a ridiculous over-reaction to standard insurance negotiating tactics. Full disclosure: I've got a huge position in it and I slept well last night, as unpleasant as it was during the day.

It recovered 13% today. Now would be a good time to buy shares.

Originally posted by Member 656:

Originally posted by J'Mal:

As for the market, XM is a somewhat controversial stock. Yesterday's selloff was a ridiculous over-reaction to standard insurance negotiating tactics. Full disclosure: I've got a huge position in it and I slept well last night, as unpleasant as it was during the day.

It recovered 13% today. Now would be a good time to buy shares.

Wouldn't if have been better to buy shares BEFORE the 13% recovery?

Also, let me expand on one of my comments for J'mal….I'm not favoring Sirius over XM or vice versa….I just have a problem with paying for a service that is getting ad revenue at the same time. I listen to public radio sometimes to get the news, and the car talk blokes of course, but have never sent any money during one of their membership drives simply because they pretend they don't have ads, but I hear this all the time, …'this portion of the show brought to you by a grant from schnurglebergers, providing widgets to the IT industry'… What's that if it's not an ad?


I pay for my cd's and happily play those in my car…better selection than any radio station could come up with, as your personal cd collection would be the same for you.

No biggie, just a pet peeve of mine.

Mankie, XM doesn't have sponsored programs like "brought to you by" anywhere. The commercial free channels are commercial free.

If you buy a newspaper or a magazine or cable TV, you are definitely "paying for ads." Relative to other media, the ads on XM are symbolic. Believe me, after the crap radio you've become accustomed to, it is difficult to imagine just how ad-free XM really is. They're not stupid, they know nobody will pay for the same crap that's on the air right now.

Also, I beg to differ about the depth of selection on XM v. that of your CD collection. It couldn't be more opposite than you imagine. As I'm sure Paige would confirm for you, XM is committed to having every single CD ever released in its system, and I believe they're up to something like 25 or 30 terrabytes – well over 2 million songs in their library not including a big room full of CDs. Whatever obscure request you can imagine, they will probably play it for you in very short order. (Also unlike crap FM).

With your CDs you are already familiar with everything. XM does what radio may once have done a long time ago, and is supposed to do: it introduces you to new music. Because the selection is so vast, there is very little repetition, except for maybe 20 on 20, which is designed to play the top 20 as voted on constantly.

I have definitely been buying fewer CDs since getting XM, but the ones I do buy are usually things I've heard on XM that I would not have necessarily heard anywhere else without some serious internet exploration (my previous way of learning about new music).

Finally, as for catching the bottom in the stock before it shot back up, that's a tricky thing to do. Most people who aren't glued to the screen and don't have a feel for technical analysis aren't going to pick such sweet spots. The absurd selloff did confirm very solid support at 10, a previous support level from which the stock bounced hard on massive volume. This is as good a time as any to buy.

Originally posted by J'Mal:


Also, I beg to differ about the depth of selection on XM v. that of your CD collection. It couldn't be more opposite than you imagine. As I'm sure Paige would confirm for you, XM is committed to having every single CD ever released in its system, and I believe they're up to something like 25 or 30 terrabytes – well over 2 million songs in their library not including a big room full of CDs. Whatever obscure request you can imagine, they will probably play it for you in very short order. (Also unlike crap FM).

With your CDs you are already familiar with everything. XM does what radio may once have done a long time ago, and is supposed to do: it introduces you to new music. Because the selection is so vast, there is very little repetition, except for maybe 20 on 20, which is designed to play the top 20 as voted on constantly.

Two things:
1. I am on channel 42 (Liquid Metal) from noon-2ish with Manny.

2. XM uses this database called Dalet. It literally has at least one sony by ANY band, obscure or not. this is because they actually do stand behind their claim of diversity and variety on every single channel. the music library is this crazy room that holds everything. if there aren't 2 million songs, i think there are more. and because each channel doesn't play the same things you are used to hearing, your ears are exposed to new music all the time. which isn't a bad thing. ;)

yeah i have it and love it…..they do tend to repeat a lot of songs though (nothing has bad as regular radio)…but for example, XMU is still playing some of hte same songs I heard when I subscribed a year ago…several times. still though, well worth the investment.

if i had to do a drive in commute every day, this would be mandatory on my car purchase. no doubt about it.

anyone read though about the satellite problems? apparently boeing did a crap job building the satellites and now the insurance xm has isn't paying out because the faulty equipment. it was in the post the other day. let me see if i can find it and i'll post.

here we go:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A31533-2003Aug7.html

Originally posted by lily1:
if i had to do a drive in commute every day, this would be mandatory on my car purchase. no doubt about it.

lily, you CAN get it in your house too :p

Considering that radio around here sucks except for WRNR and WMDT in Towson it's a great concept and a good stock to own.

I bought it back in March and think by next year it should be in the $18 - $20 range. That insurance news is just a minor glitch.

I just got back from a road trip to Cleveland. XM radio successfully entertained me for 16 hours of round trip driving this weekend. I'd highly reccomend it…only problem is that every once in a while a big truck'll drive up next to you and the signal is lost…and that always happens right in the middle of a song that you are jamming out to.

Originally posted by MaLo:
I just got back from a road trip to Cleveland. XM radio successfully entered me for 16 hours of round trip driving this weekend. I'd highly reccomend it…only problem is that every once in a while a big truck'll drive up next to you and the signal is lost…and that always happens right in the middle of a song that you are jamming out to.

all the truckers have xm radios it seems. every day they call liquid metal just to talk. weird.

The satellite thing is a non-issue. All satellites have to be replaced eventually. XM has to replace their two a bit earlier than planned due to Boeing's screw up, which is what satellite insurance is for.

XM has the bucks to launch #3, planned for the end of next year, and could easily raise the cash to launch #4, not needed until 2007 or 2008, even without the insurance payments.

i know, but i'm hardly home long enough to enjoy it. now, if they made it in a walkman version, that'd be great! i spend more time on metro than i do in my own house! but out of curiosity, how much does a boombox cost? its still the $10 rate, yes?

Originally posted by paige:

lily, you CAN get it in your house too :p [/QB]

Originally posted by sniper10:
Considering that radio around here sucks except for WRNR and WMDT in Towson it's a great concept and a good stock to own.

I bought it back in March and think by next year it should be in the $18 - $20 range. That insurance news is just a minor glitch.

*cough* WMUC 88.1 fm college park.

and mankie, even college stations have to do psa. So shove it.

Lily, if you're never in the car and never in the house, are you often…. in front of a computer?

You should consider the XM PCR. Satellite radio for your computer. Plugs in through USB and you use your mouse to select channels, can see what's on all 100 channels on the screen, etc., but because it is a satellite signal – NO INTERNET is being used by it. You get the sound through your computer speakers or soundcard or whatever else you want to rig up. It's $70 (plus the service, of course):
http://www.xmradio.com/xmpcr/

get this, i work for an internet company, but we are not allowed soundcards at work! whacked, i tell ya!

i'm thinking i'll save up and buy the boombox for my bedroom since the computer is in the alcove and the stereo in the living room.

why not move the stereo to the bedroom since you never listen to it anyway? the home adapter for your stereo is cheaper than the boombox and you'll probably get better sound…

you've got a point about the sound quality but the stereo needs to stay in the living room as it won't fit in the bedroom with its current setup. damn odd shelving system i have. this is when i wish i owned my place and i could just rewire the joint and fix this problem all together!

i think J'Mal knows more about xm than i do. :p