Satellite radio is one of those game-changing technologies that come along every so often, offering an easy way to improve the entertainment service in our cars, at home or virtually anywhere we walk.
For the car-borne, the primary benefits include a vastly improved variety of things to listen to (it's like going from the limits of TV from an aerial to the endless choice of a cable connection) on a signal that does not fade as you drive around, and for a very reasonable fee.
All of this I learned in getting my Chevrolet Malibu Maxx kitted out with the necessary XM radio equipment in preparation for general driving around Ontario's Golden Horseshoe and on a business trip to Detroit from Toronto.
Maintaining my neurotic affiliation with the Sixties on a drive from Toronto to Detroit requires the use of four or five AM and FM radio stations.
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Even then, they don't all meet my exacting standards in maudlin melodies, there are lapses in signal strength around the changeover zones and the station in Windsor pushes station-sponsored holidays to Hawaii so hard it hurts.
So imagine my delight when, on a recent trip to the Motor City, I could listen to one endless river of rock 'n' roldies (as I call them) on one station with excellent reception all the way and no commercials. Sure, there was a disc jockey making inane remarks, but that's apparently obligatory and took less time between songs.
If that doesn't turn your dial up to 11, consider unlimited hours of steady-stream country, urban, Christian, classical, kids, comedy, NASCAR, major league baseball and talk programming, among many other choices, pretty much anywhere you drive in the United States or near it without interruption or commercials.
XM has all kinds of content and every week subscribers are e-mailed a list of upcoming special shows.
The variety is so much greater than anything currently available on traditional radio that it's literally hard to get your mind around it.
The problem is, subscription-based satellite radio isn't approved -- read isn't legal -- in Canada yet. But the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission is considering licence applications to provide XM and another to provide Sirius (both costing less than $15 a month) as well as a third, transmitter-based, service. A decision is expected this spring.
Consumer interest in subscription-based satellite radio is growing, with 17 per cent of Canadians -- about four million people -- expressing interest in subscribing to such a service within the next year, according to a study released this month by Decima Research Inc.
The survey found that 8 per cent of respondents -- about two million people -- said they plan to subscribe to a U.S.-based service if the CRTC doesn't license satellite radio within the year. Indeed, thousands of Canadians are reportedly already receiving digital radio through so-called grey market receivers, which pick up U.S. satellite radio signals already being broadcast.
There's no doubt the programming is better by a factor of 10 than what you'll be able to find on the traditional dial, especially if you live beyond the normal range of a radio station. This you can see for yourself with a visit to the XM website.
All of this can probably also be said about Sirius radio, though I haven't tried that service. You can check out http://www.sirius.com to see what programming it offers.
There is competition for content, with Sirius making a big deal of getting Howard Stern and XM recently signing Dr. Laura. Happily, both can beavoided with little effort.
What satellite radio doesn't offer is local programming, so if you're looking for area news, weather or traffic reports, you'll have to jump back to the AM or FM bands.
If you go for satellite radio right now, you probably won't have any trouble getting a signal as long as you stay near the U.S. border. The farther you go from that, the less likely you'll be able to get a signal.
If you drive in the United States a lot, you should pretty much be covered everywhere you go.
And if you live in an area where the signal reaches, satellite radio will absolutely change your mind about radio.