How often have you been listening to your favorite radio station in your car, only to have it slowly dwindle away as you drive out of range of the transmitter? The answer to this problem came in 2001 when a new way to receive radio made its debut—a national service beamed from outer space that, in return for a subscription fee, offered 100 different channels, none of which would be interrupted by poor reception.
The coverage, provided by two or three high-orbit satellites, came as a strong signal requiring no satellite dish, just an antenna the size of a matchbox. Although the broadcast could be dampened by skyscrapers or long tunnels, the signal was bolstered by transmissions from ground-based towers.
Two companies were originally granted licenses to provide satellite radio in 1997: XM and Sirius, with XM getting off the mark first in the U.S. in September 2001 and Sirius following in 2002. For the monthly subscription fee of $10 the XM service offered a wide choice: some channels were dedicated to specific topics such as news, sports, traffic, and weather reports; music channels had no commercials, and even no DJs, and talk shows were less censored than the free terrestrial radio broadcasts. What is more, satellite radio receivers displayed the name of each artist and song as it played. Soon receivers were being made that could betaken out of cars and carried into the home.
Initial uptake was slow. At launch it was estimated that there were only four listeners per channel, but by 2008 a total audience of over 16 million had been garnered. Despite legal wrangles over music copyright and complaints about the content of some chat shows it seems that satellite radio is here to stay.
