"D Ray" wrote in message
m...

We got a Sirius satellite radio last fall and are very pleased with the
service and programming. Sirius has two NPR and one PRI stream as well
as
Sirius Left, a politically left oriented talk station. In addition
there is
Sirius OutQ that has a lot of politically left leaning programing.
Sirius
carries Air America, also. The competition, XM satellite radio, is
partially owned by Clear Channel. The last time I looked, Clear Channel
was
the fifth largest stock holder and their CEO is on the board at XM
radio.
That is a deal killer for me.

You should get yourself more informed. Clear Channel has hedged their
entire position and have been trying to get out of XM for more than a
year now. They no longer have a board member.

It doesn't matter, however. XM was never a strategic partner for CCU;
and CCU has had zero influence on the programming. XM's music is far
superior to Sirius', and EITHER is far superior (as in multiple orders
of magnitude) to anything you'll find on FM.

It is sort of bizarre to proclaim your opposition to a product on the
basis of who the company's shareholders are. While you can boycott
for whatever reasons, you do so at your own disadvantage.

I'm going on the information they filed with the SEC at the time I made my
purchase. Everyone should do their own research. If you look at their
quarterly report filed on March 31, 2004, you will see that there is still a
very tight knit relationship with Clear Channel and it's Premiere Radio
network. That same report states the following: "Randall Mays, a member of
our board of directors, is Executive Vice President and Chief Financial
Officer of Clear Channel Communications. " The fact that they are involved
with XM is enough for me. I don't claim that Clear Channel is micromanaging
the show content, but I think we all know Clear Channel's political agenda
and that going against the interests of one of your major stock holders and
the wishes of a board member isn't a good strategy. I don't care to
contribute to the RNC or the Bush reelection campaign. Since Clear Channel
is or was a major stock holder and occupies a seat on the XM board, it only
makes sense that part of the proffits or appreciaiton in the stock value
would benefit Clear Channel. I don't look at this as a boycott. It is
making a choice based on my personal value system. I haven't listened to
XM, so I can't personally comment on the quality of their music programming.
Let's face it, there is only so many recording by so many artists. When you
have over 120 streams of music and entertainment going 24/7 I don't see how
there could be much difference. I also understand that XM has commercials
on their music streams and Sirius does not. Frankly, I didn't get satellite
radio to listen to music. The right wing gleefully boycotts everything
Disney, and I have no problem with that. I think everyone should be aware of
the consequences of making a purchase. There is no point in spending money
that will eventually be used to support cases that you don't agree with or
which you feel will cause harm.

You can see the XM quarterly report and all their other filings on the SEC's
website. Here is a link to the report
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/da...82454/d10q.htm