As I stated in the XM Satellite Radio overview, the decision of which service to subscribe largely revolves around programming since hardware costs are about the same, both XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio offer approximately the same number of streams and the monthly subscription cost is comparable (XM - $9.95, Sirius - $12.95) Sirius offers 60 commercial-free music streams and 43 non-music streams for a total of 103 streams. Sirius Satellite Radio offers a stronger non-music stream lineup than XM Satellite Radio. Sirius also has a very strong Latin (Spanish language) offering. Let?s have a look at the Sirius Satellite Radio stream lineup.

Sirius Satellite Radio Music
Sirius Satellite Radio offers 61 music channels ranging from decades-based hits to hip-hop. Sirius Satellite Radio?s urban category offering is stronger than XM Satellite Radio?s. Also, Sirius offers a swing stream. Sirius? offers fewer hits streams than XM and only offers one Christian stream versus XM?s two.

Sirius Satellite Radio News
Non-musical content is where Sirius gets serious, if you will excuse the pun. Sirius offers 15 news streams. While most of the news channels are simply TV audio and content, Sirius Satellite Radio goes beyond XM Satellite Radio?s offerings by adding regional weather streams, NPR, PRI, and World Radio Network. It is a bummer that CNET Radio is not offered by Sirius. Finally, Sirius offers BBC Mundo, Spanish language BBC focused on Latin America.

Sirius Satellite Radio Sports
And again, here Sirius shines. Sirius Satellite Radio offers eight sports streams. Unless you are a NASCAR fan, Sirius is the service for you. Sirius Satellite Radio offers all NBA and NHL games in addition to the games that you will find on the likes of ESPN Radio, etc. Sirius also offers Radio Deportivo, Spanish language sports programming. So, again, if sports is your thing and you are not a big NASCAR fan, Sirius is the choice.
Beginning with the 2004 season, Sirius Satellite Radio will be carrying all regular season NFL games and select post-season games. In 2005, Sirius will carry the post-season games as well. This is not an exclusive deal but apparently the cost to for XM Satellite Radio to pick up the games is said to be much higher per Sirius’ contract with the NFL.

Sirius Satellite Radio Talk/Variety/Other
Sirius Satellite Radio offers 20 streams in this category. In addition to all the usual suspects, Sirius Satellite Radio offers several unique streams in these categories including OutQ, a gay/lesbian stream, Court TV, WSM Entertainment, The Word Network, Radio Catholic and two Spanish language streams.

The Bottom Line

After reading through the previous sections, several things probably became apparent:

* Sirius has the NFL, NHL, and NBA games
* Sirius offers stronger non-musical programming than XM
* Sirius offers much stronger Spanish language programming (seven streams) than XM
* Sirius offers strong political programming and covers all areas of the spectrum
* Sirius offers strong alternative news programming (NPR, PRI, World News)

It is clear that this is the overall theme that Sirius is communicating. They offer a lot of music programming but beyond tunes, you will find a very rich experience. Sirius has the best non-musical stream programming of the two services. It is also true that the monthly fee for Sirius Satellite Radio is $3.00 more than XM Satellite Radio but you can effectively lower your monthly rate by purchasing a long-term subscription. You can also activate as many as three additional radios for just $6.99 each per month.

For more information or to check out Sirius’ current offer:

This is Part 3 in a continuing series where I look at the current state of satellite radio technology, satellite radio services, and satellite radio hardware.