Satellite radio is it worth the money?(FM to Sirius)

The signals have never been stronger for satellite radio, the subscription service that beams hundreds of "stations" to your car or home. Shock jock Howard Stern has just moved from FM to Sirius, one of the two satellite providers. And Bob Dylan recently signed with XM, the other provider, to host a weekly radio show, his first ever, starting this March.

Is it time to consider satellite radio? To help you answer the question, we surveyed a nationally representative sample of several hundred current subscribers who listen in their cars, where most satellite radio is heard. Overall, 71 percent said they were highly satisfied with their service. That's comparable to the satisfaction levels satellite-TV subscribers recently reported to us, and it gives satellite radio a high ranking among all services we have rated. They also gave satellite radio high marks for ease of setup and use.

But paying for radio rankles even satellite's devotees. The cost of the service--$12.95 per month or $142 per year from either provider--topped the list of their complaints. More than a third considered satellite radio to be only fair or poor for cost. Still, a whopping majority said they plan to continue getting satellite anyway; 89 percent said they would definitely or probably renew their current satellite subscriptions.

Other points to weigh if you're considering satellite radio:

Expect to discover new content. Half of survey respondents said that satellite had made them more likely to listen to types of music they had not listened to before, especially country, rock, and jazz. Satellite's hundreds of channels are remarkably diverse, exploring not only genres but multiple subgenres; for example, XM's flavors of country music include traditional, bluegrass, and progressive. With that many choices, it's hard not to stumble on unfamiliar ones as you surf, and it's easy to find a few that stick with you.

Many, but not all, channels are commercial-free. While all music channels are commercial-free, most other satellite-radio channels such as sports, news, and talk aren't.

Sports is a main attraction. Sports was a major draw for 10 percent of respondents. Both Sirius and XM provide play-by-play of most games for the professional sports they cover. Thirty-three percent of the respondents to our survey said they had taken advantage of this capability to follow their favorite teams.