Neither one is doing well. But Sirius has secured financing to operate into the second quarter of 2004.

I forgot one of the big reasons I chose Sirius.

Each company has taken a different approach for satellite transmitters. XM has 2 satellites in geosynch orbit which puts them over the equator. This means you have to have a veiw of the souther hemisphere to see the satellites. Just like DirectTV.

Sirius uses 3 satellites in an eccentric orbit that has each of them directly over the US about 16 hours a day. Being directly overhead for most of the day means fewer dropouts due to terrain. At GOX I had it dropout maybe half a dozen times. Twice in heavy foilage and the other were terrain related. Like being up against a cliff face that is blocking half the sky. The overhang going up to Yankee Boy was the worst.

Both use ground based repeaters to boost signal around large metro areas, but I was more concerned about reception in BFE.