All being well, Canadians will be able to switch to one of the two Canadian providers by the middle of December
Peter Wilson
Sun
CREDIT: Ian Lindsay, Vancouver Sun Wynne Powell, president and chief operating officer of London Drugs, previews two models of the satellite radio systems that the store will be launching in Canada, hopefully in time for Christmas.
The long wait for satellite radio in Canada is over. Well, okay, it’s almost over.
The best guess is that we’ll be able get our hands on legal satellite radios for our cars and homes by Christmas.
That’s if the two Canadian providers, Sirius Canada and Canadian Satellite Radio (CSR), can get their eight channels each (four English, four French) of home-grown programming in place quickly enough.
And that’s also if no major technical problems get in their way.
So, all being well, by the holiday season, average, everyday rule-observing Canucks will at last be able to join the estimated 100,000 grey market satellite radio subscribers in Canada already tuning into U.S.-based services.
Everything from the actual content of the Canadian channels to the cost of the service remains up in the air, but that doesn’t mean we don’t already know a lot about what’s coming.
Herewith, then, our frequently-asked questions about satellite radio:
Q: Why would I want it?
A: First, because the all-digital service even on the least expensive of the satellite radios sounds darn good in your car and even better pumped through your home entertainment system.
The wide variety of music is crisp, clear and gives as good as what you get from a CD. And that music is commercial-free.
Initially in Canada, you’ll get 80 channels of music, news, talk and sports (including the NHL, major league baseball, the NFL and the NBA) and at the same time be able to listen to, with a simple punch of a button, local AM and FM stations.
