XM Radio: The first major satellite radio provider

XM radio features a state of the art broadcast center in Washington, D.C. It is able to bring satellite radio to customers all over the country through its use of two Boeing 702 satellites (providing 18 kW of power--the most powerful commercial satellites ever built), and approximately 800 terrestrial repeaters located throughout the continental United States for seamless transmission. XM radio service is only available in the continental US and is not available in either Hawaii or Alaska. Sirius radio uses three satellites for the same service and is available in the same locations.

Both of the satellite radio providers, XM radio and Sirius radio transmit a signal to the satellites, which bounce the signals back down to the radio receivers in your car or home. These radio receivers are programmed to receive and unscramble the digital data signal, which contains over 100 channels of digital audio.

In addition to the encoded sound, the signal contains additional information about the broadcast. The song title, artist and genre of music are all displayed on the radio. In urban areas, where buildings may block out the satellite signal, XM radio and Sirius radio have ground transmitters to supplement the broadcasting system.

Channel breakdown

XM Radio provides 150 channels, including 67 music channels, all of which are commercial-free, 20 channels for traffic and weather, and over 30 channels of news, sports, talk, and children's channels, that are broadcast coast to coast in digital quality. A basic service is available for a monthly subscription fee of $12.95, with Playboy premium channel available at an additional monthly cost.

Family plans and subscription options

Under the XM radio family plan, subscribers get a discounted rate of $6.99 per month for up to 4 additional radios. Sirius radio also has a subscription requirement that many even be cheaper in the long run:

$142.45 / 1 year (save $12)
$271.95 / 2 years (save $38)
$359.64 / 3 years (save $106)
$479.52 / 4 years (save $142)
$599.40 / 5 years (save $177)