Whether you’re driving alone or with others, riding in a car without music can be boring. Fortunately, you have options: satellite radio and streaming. Both provide a wide selection of programming, but there are pros and cons to each.
Satellite radio is a subscription service that sends programs to your car or home using a satellite. Your satellite receiver decodes the encrypted digital signals and turns them into audio you can listen to. You can choose from a variety of channels, including music, sports, news and talk. Most of these channels are advertisement-free because the subscription model pays for them.
The biggest selling point of satellite radio is the breadth of its programming. Its broadcast coverage extends well beyond the reach of local radio stations, covering the entire United States and parts of Canada and Mexico. And it provides hundreds of music, entertainment, talk and news channels.
Most satellite radio services offer a wide variety of music channels, including classic rock, classical, jazz and modern rock. Many also offer specialty channels, such as country, blues and Latin. The best satellite music channels sound great. The worst, though, are those that rely on a talk feed for their content. The resulting low-fidelity sound is comparable to an MP3 song processed for storage purposes and played over a poor radio signal.
For those looking for more political or social commentary, you can get it with Sirius XM Progress. This network is the heir apparent to Air America, the now-defunct liberal talk radio network that never really took hold. It tries to fill the void with progressive programming that includes shows like “Affirmative Reaction” and “Signal Boost.” It’s unlikely these progressive voices will radicalize American truck drivers, however.
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