Sirius Satellite Radio is more than just music. Some of the 12 million listeners prefer television-like content delivered right to their morning commute to help them stay awake. Whether you need a good laugh from Monty Python, some acerbic criticism from Hannity and Colmes, a world report from Barbara Walters, or the latest traffic and weather updates, Sirius Radio has it all, amid 130 incredible channels.

Political animals, beware! You have many options for heated debate from your Sirius radio satellite. Catch GOP debate recaps on either "Sirius Left" or "Sirius Patriot," including highlights, opinions and analysis. Hannity & Colmes take their show from television to the "Sirius Fox News" station and "Sirius CNN" offers a combination of US and world news.

Both "CNBC" and "Bloomberg Radio" stations offer financial and business news from around the world. For world and international news, choose from eight different stations in multiple languages and a variety of perspectives: International Talk (French), Info Plus (French), The Korean Channel (Korean), CNN En Espanol (Spanish), BBC World News, World Radio Network, Premiere Plus (Canadian News) and CBC Radio One.

Lighter Lifestyle reports and Entertainment are plentiful on Sirius Radio as well. Whether you'd like the latest home decorating tips from Martha Stewart (channel 112), inspirational motivation from Mary O and Deepak Chopra ("Stars" channel 102), or the latest from Maxim Magazine and Cosmo Magazine, you will find it amid the 130 channels it has to offer! Other specialty channels focus on Court TV programming (110) or Gay and Bisexual culture (109), or news and information related to truckers (147).

Perhaps you want to just kick back and laugh. On Channel 104 "Raw Dog," catch Dave Attell, Dane Cook, Jim Breuer, Mojo Nixon and Bob Saget. Channel 103's "Blue Collar Radio" will give you everything from College Football and Nascar to Ralphie May and PJ Walsh. Channel 105 "Laugh Break" is a riot with Jerry Seinfeld, George Carlin, Weird Al, Dane Cook, Bill Cosby and Monty Python.

Channel 106 "The Foxhole" is comedian Jamie Foxx's own station for news-related comedy. Of course, there's always Howard Stern on channels 100 and 101 offering his madcap viewpoints.

Sports Junkies won't miss a game when they sign up for the sports weekly newsletter from it. With radio receivers like The Streamer or The Sportster, they can receive Game Alerts directly from their radio satellite and also pause and rewind for up to 44 minutes of game play! College Sports, Canadian Sports, poker, tennis, soccer or horse racing.

Catch airport delays, pollen reports, smog reports, weather conditions, construction updates, collision reports and sporting event traffic build ups on Sirius Satellite Radio channels 148 - 158. Updated every four minutes, the Traffic and Weather stations service over 20 major metropolitan regions from New York City, Washington DC and Chicago to Los Angeles, Phoenix and San Diego.

Channel 185 covers coast-to-coast Canadian traffic and weather. Channel 184 gives you a national weather summary from region to region, along with beach reports, boating and golfing conditions, as well as storm watch updates. In extreme cases, this channel also provides life-saving news related to hurricanes, blizzards, mudslides, wild fires and emergency evacuations.

Sirius Satellite Radio was ranked the #1 Fastest Growing Company in 2007 by Deloitte Technology. This is in part due to its growing selection of specialty channels and unique programming, but also because the prices are so fair. For just /month and for as little as for the satellite radio receiver, you can have over 130 channels of music, news and entertainment to suit your every whim!

Satellite Radio is the future of broadcasting

Satellite Radio, in short, can be described as commercial-free music, news, sports and talk shows. Many of the biggest players and events are now available from Sirius radio and XM radio like Howard Stern, Fred Schneider (the B52s), NFL, English Soccer, NBA, NASCAR, NHL, Major League Baseball, INDY, and the PGA.

Satellite radio began in 1992, when the 'S' spectrum was allocated by the FCC to four companies. The two main ones, Sirius and XM paid a pretty penny (in fact almost million dollars worth) to buy a license. Satellite-based radio began on May 15th, 2001 when XM Radio completed their satellite system. Sirius followed shortly when they launched in July, 2001. Since then, expanded products and competition has changed the radio landscape.

While automobile manufacturers started installing satellite radio in 2001 and 2002, most new vehicles come equipped with one now. XM has two satellites (called 'Rock' and 'Roll') in parallel orbits to cover the mainland US market, while Sirius has three. Both have recently been awarded licenses for the Canadian market.

So what are the differences between the two providers?

XM has a flat .99 a month fee with no contracts to sign. They have the latest portable equipment. XM offers some of the best varieties of programming available today. They offer 68 commercial-free music channels; 32 channels of News, Sports, Talk & Entertainment; and 21 channels of instant Traffic & Weather in major metro areas. Here's the latest information of channels:

15 channels of Rock music

11 News channels (Fox, CNN, ABC, CNBC, MSNBC, BBC, C-SPAN, Bloomberg)

11 Talk & Variety channels (Discovery, E!, Experts & advice, African American Talk, Christian Talk)

10 channels of Pop music & Top Hits

7 Country music options

7 channels of Blues & Jazz music

7 Hip Hop and Urban

6 different channels of music by the Decades (40's through 90's)

5 Sports channels (ESPN, Fox, Sporting News, NASCAR)

4 Dance music channels

4 World music channels

3 Christian music choices

3 Comedy entertainment channels (adult comedy, family comedy)

3 Classical music channels

2 Kids entertainment channels (Disney)

2 Latin music choices

Sirius offers a .95 per month fee and you can pre-pay for a full year for a discount (works out to .99 per month). They offer better sports coverage with play-by-play of the NBA, NHL, and NFL. Sirius has signed some great talent of celebrity DJs. Sirius offers 60 channels of music with no commercials, 50 channels of News, Sports, Talk and Entertainment; and 20 channels of 24/7 Traffic & Weather in major cities. Here's how Sirius stack up with their channel line up:

16 Talk & Variety channels (Discovery, E!, Talk for Women, CourtTV, Air America, Gay/Lesbian, Body/Mind/Spirit Talk)

14 channels of Rock music

12 channels of Pop music & Top Hits

10 News channels (CNN, CNBC, Fox, NPR, PRI, C-SPAN, BCC, World Radio, Bloomberg)

9 Hip Hop and Urban music choices

7 Sports channels (ESPN, play-by-play channels)

6 Country music choices

6 Jazz music channels

5 Dance music channels

4 different channels of music by the Decades (50's through 80's)

3 Classical music channels

2 Christian music choices (Catholic)

2 channels of Blues & Reggae

2 Latin music choices

2 Comedy entertainment channels (regular and uncensored)

2 World music choices

1 Kids entertainment channels (Disney)

Now the Satellite technology has introduced the Satellite radio for the entertainment. You have to subscribe the radio for making it available to you. The main benefit of this radio is that you can enjoy the programs without the interruption of commercials. There are no commercials in that because they use the subscribers fund for their broadcast not the money from the commercial. They provide twenty-four hours of entertainment without commercial interruptions.

You subscribe to the this radio and enjoy the uninterrupted entertainment. The subscription amount is not a huge amount; you can just give twelve dollars for enjoying the programs for a month. The geostationary satellites are providing this service; they transmit the digital radio signals. These digital signals can be received at a wider range. This is a reliable choice for you because you can enjoy the uninterrupted service just by spending a few dollars.

There are also portable satellite radios. Carry on with your entertainment wherever you go. They provide a variety of music, weather report, news updates, sports news, chat shows and talk shows. The portable radio work with batteries and they are also provided with an antennae to receive the signals wherever they go. There will not be any static in the programs; they ensure a clear broadcast even if the person is travelling. The area of coverage of this radio is such wide that you can enjoy the same program while travelling within a continent. There is also an option to get the information regarding the song which is played if you are listening to a satellite radio. The programs broadcast on these satellite radios are not censored. If you are living in a busy place then it is very wise to listen to the traffic in your area from the satellite radio before you start from your home.

You have probably heard of the two satellite radio companies, Sirius Radio and XM Satellite Radio, but you may not know a lot about them such as how much each costs or what radio talent is available on each. Many people are tired of listening to regular AM and FM radio stations for several reasons. It may be that they are tired of being bombarded with commercials. It may be that they do not like the programming available to them. On the other hand, it may simply be that they are in a rural area and tired of losing their radio signal all the time. Regardless of the reason, many consumers are turning to satellite radio as a viable alternative to regular radio stations.

Both companies are able to offer you static free radio due to satellites. XM (based in Washington D.C.) has two and Sirius (based in New York) has three satellites across the United States. Both companies offer users commercial free radio. Sirius offers over 125 channels and XM offers 160 different channels. There are dedicated channels for genres of music such as jazz, folk, country and pop for diehard fans. One cool feature of satellite radio is you can see the name of the artist playing as well as the song title. So never again do you have to spend time wondering just who sang that song you just heard! There are also channels for local weather and traffic, sports, comedy, women's issues, talk shows, even old time radio shows. Soon, you may be able to see video as well as hear audio on your satellite radios.

There are also celebrity shows for both satellite radio companies. Martha Stewart recently signed a deal to launch a 24-hour radio channel on Sirius Satellite Radio. And most everyone has heard that Howard Stern is on Sirius as well - uncensored. Having gotten in trouble with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for his radio talk show, he decided to jump to the uncensored airways of satellite radio. Since his show started, the Sirius subscriber base has increased by at least 2.7 million. If have satellite radio and want to hear National Public Radio (NPR), you will have to subscribe to Sirius as they are the only one offering NPR. But XM is not to be left behind by Sirius. XM signed Snoop Doggy Dog, but the big coop is Oprah. In September of 2006, XM users will be able to tune in to Oprah & Friends. The new channel will offer broadcasts of The Oprah Winfrey Show, O, the Oprah Magazine and programming on fitness, health and self improvement.

All this sounds great, but what do you actually need to be able to receive satellite radio? You will need either a Sirius or an XM radio. This does not necessarily have to be a radio only for use in your car either. There are also home radios available today and there are even radios you can use both at home and in your car. The price for a basic radio offered by both Sirius and XM is as low as .99. You will also need to subscribe to a service. Both Sirius and XM charge .95 a month for you to receive satellite signals on your radio. However, if you have several cars with satellite radios, you can save by choosing the family plan available from both companies.

Just how popular is satellite radio becoming? In March of 2005, Hyundai announced that it would be the first automaker to put satellite radios in all of its models sold in the United States. Each Hyundai, including the popular Sonata, Santa Fe, and Elantra models, will come equipped with an XM satellite radio. When this was announced, shares in XM's parent company rose by more than 8 percent. Jaguar and Mercedes-Benz also announced in March 2005 that Sirius radios would be a dealer-installed option on some of their models.

So which satellite radio should you choose? That depends on you. You should check out the stations available by visiting each company on the web before making a decision. Both offer radios at comparable prices, so it really comes down to what you want to hear. Are you a Stern fan? Then you have to go with Sirius. But if you love Oprah, you can only hear her on XM. Regardless of which one you choose, you will no doubt be very pleased with the services and reception of satellite radio.