Why I Chose to Pay for Radio - a Review of the Sirius Satellite Radio System

When I recently bought my new car, one of the perks I received was 6 months of Sirius Satellite radio for free. Coming from the old school, I balked at first. Wasn't radio supposed to be free? How can they charge for what comes over the air? And how could I trust any company that would give the likes of Howard Stern his own commercial-free channel?

Given the fact that it WAS free- for 6 months anyway - I decided to go ahead and bite the bullet and have a Sirius receiver installed. After all, it would add to the resale value of my new Mazda.

Now that I have had Sirius for 2 months, I don't know how I lived without it. Before I got Sirius, I used to arrive at work stressed out and overburdened with commercials for everything from Sleep Number beds to furniture. Music calms the soul, and with a zillion commercial-free channels to choose from, I can easily switch back and forth if and when I want to. If I am particularly stressed, I can listen to Classical, Pops, Broadway, or even the Spa channel with soothing New Age music. If I need to wake up, I tune to Buzzsaw - which is classic metal.

Classic Vinyl plays rare tunes from the 60s, 70s, and 80s - and Classic Rewind gives me yet another choice for Classic Rock. Many of these tunes bring back great memories, and are rare.

There are many talk channels to choose from, and several comedy channels with the latest and greatest on the comedy circuit. If I am down for some reason, I tune in to Blue Collar Radio and listen to side-splitting routines that lift my spirits in no time.

My older daughter can, to my great dismay, tune into the Hip-hop channel and drive me crazy with what she calls music. My youngest loves Elvis, and there is a great Elvis channel.

I have Dish Network also, and typically had just bypassed the Sirius channels on Dish. Now that I know what each channel is, I tune in while doing housework or making dinner. It really helps the time to go by more quickly.

If you have a Sirius subscription, you can also tune in on the Internet - making your work go by quicker and easier to the beat of your favorite tunes. There is a lot of variety, so you will never get bored with the same songs over again.

I am really happy I got Sirius!