Howard Stern Coming To the Net 334
theodp writes, "To promote an Internet radio service Sirius is launching this week, Howard Stern's 4+ hour program will be made available live online for free on October 25 and 26. The new Sirius service will offer 75+ channels of CD-quality programming for $12.95/month with no need to buy a Sirius satellite receiver."
"CD quality programming" (Score:2, Informative)
CD-quality programming . . .Yeah right (Score:5, Informative)
CD-quality should imply a real and quantifiable level of quality . . . not "it sounds like a CD to the casual listener (that doesn't know that analog FM radio music is typically compressed in dynamic range and frequency and that radio broadcasts are already equalized for cheap car stereos and boomboxes)."
Re:13 bucks a month? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:"CD quality programming" (Score:1, Informative)
For now, it's Pandora.com for me. It's the best sounding internet radio / streaming music station I've heard.
Hoo Hoo I invented Internet Radio, tell em Fred. (Score:2, Informative)
Re:CD-quality programming . . .Yeah right (Score:5, Informative)
Stern's broadcasts on Sirius as received by the hardware satellite receivers isn't at talk quality (~32kbps), but at the same quality as their music channels (~128kbps).
The Internet service you get with Sirius that's standard is ~32kbps for all channels, which makes it sounds a little off. Doesn't matter to me all that much, but some people notice the difference. The new service that is being offered gives the channels at the higher quality bitrate.
For those of you that think that now Stern is just 4-hours of 4-letter words, it's not. They're in there, and the discussions get a bit more frank than before, but it's like the terrestrial broadcast without the bleeps for the most part. At one point early on, Stern yelled at someone (Ronnie?) and told him to quit swearing all the time because it wasn't funny.
Don't like Stern? That's fine. My dad hates him with a passion. A few months ago he asked me about my Sirius and a few weeks later he had his own radio in the car. He loves it. It's like cable TV - listen to what you want, there's a lot of variety. An unexpected gem is radio classics, playing radio shows from way back when. Jack Benny's humor still stands the test of time.
Re:"CD quality programming" (Score:3, Informative)
http://www.smgradio.com/core/audio/ogg/live.pls?s
(Though they are a UK Ad supported pop music channel so the quality of the content is not guaranteed)
Re:People said the same thing about Cable TV. (Score:3, Informative)
http://www.mediabuyerplanner.com/2006/10/04/sirius _subscribers_surpass_5/index.php [mediabuyerplanner.com]
Seems you got it wrong bub.
Re:"CD quality programming" (Score:2, Informative)
Re:"CD quality programming" (Score:3, Informative)
As far as Howard, his show is quite amusing for the guests he has and the non-standard questions he asks them. Even though on satellite he is not censored, the language is not overused. Bubba is also quite interesting in a dirty sexist sort of way.
Howard is a good reason to get Sirius, but I presonally like Hard Attack channel where I can listen to new death metal and interview for which I would have no access over coventional radio.
I don't care about CD quaity, I grew up in the tape-swap 80s and scrambled premium channel over airwaves decade, so I think my brain is trained to smooth out and unscramble stuff I hear and see
I also listened to XM with the dish I had and their channels are not very diverse, XM feels like their channels are part of some genre-based market study (and very generic feeling); but that's just me. All Sirius needs is a 24/7 Pink Floyd channel and I will be happy.
I think over time the bitrates will improve and I am hoping 3rd party software will allow me to record shows so I could listen to them when I have time.
Re:"CD quality programming" (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Howard Stern? Is it still 1995? (Score:2, Informative)
Sirius knew what they were doing, and they made a good deal.
To all commenting on Stern "not being relevant" (Score:2, Informative)
Re:"CD quality programming" (Score:3, Informative)
Wow. Talk about bullshit. No, Stern wasn't "paranoid" about internet broadcasts (as long as they're paid for - this is a subscription-based business). He was talking about how they needed an Internet stream from virtually the day he arrived on the air.
Stern and Sirius are no more "paranoid" that people will steal their shit than anyone else who has a service they're trying to tell - in other words, they don't want you to steal their shit.