Sirius Satellite Radio is now available nationally.The service went nationwide—covering the continental US—on July 1, following a ten-year development period and a few months of availability in some areas. Earlier this year, between April 1 and June 1, Sirius added 37 states to its coverage area. By July it had added the remaining ones, mostly in the West and Northeast. Sirius claims that its signals can be received clearly not only throughout the states but "hundreds of miles off the coast."Featuring 60 channels of commercial-free music and 40 channels of news, sports, talk, and entertainment, the service went nationwide during Independence Day week with a "Declaration of Consumer Independence from Commercial Radio" celebration, featuring special programming honoring America and American music legends on many of its music channels.Proclaiming itself "the only commercial-free satellite radio service," Sirius is offering an introductory "free" three months of service to new subscribers who sign up between now and the end of August and prepay for a year's worth of Sirius. The service offers music in most genres, from "smooth jazz" and classical to bluegrass, country, Latin, rock, and rap. Non-music channels include CNBC, Fox News, CNN, NPR, BBC, Radio Disney, La Red Hispana, Discovery Radio, and E! Entertainment Radio.
Sirius claims to offer far better sound quality than FM radio, thanks to a new version of the PAC v4 Audio Codec, developed by iBiquity Digital for the nationwide launch. Developed under the leadership of Dr. Deepen Sinha, the new codec is derived from the latest research in psychoacoustics and is said to be based on a "deeper understanding of hearing physiology." Sound quality is also said to be enhanced by a proprietary bandwidth-allocation technique called "S>PLEX" that increases bandwidth "in real-time to music channels with more demanding sound, such as classical, jazz, and rock."The new version of the PAC v4 Audio Codec is "the most advanced audio compression software available on the market, and a significant advance over the previous generation of perceptual codecs," according to Dr. Sinha. "It responds rapidly to the dynamics of audio signals to provide an 'open sound-stage' effect, with high dynamic range and stereo separation. It also uses a sophisticated model for encoding audio signal harmonics to achieve higher coding efficiency for complex signals. The result is that Sirius listeners will experience brilliantly clear, rich sound quality." Columbia, MD–based iBiquity Digital, backed by some of the largest and most prestigious companies in the technology and communications sectors, is the sole developer and licenser of digital AM and FM broadcast technology in the US.With its primary studios in New York City's Rockefeller Center, Sirius covers the US with three satellites in geosynchronous orbits. The subscription fee is $12.95 per month. Like satellite television, the service requires the purchase and installation of special receivers. Several automakers are offering Sirius receivers as options in new cars. Approximately 3500 retailers now stock Sirius electronics, including many aftermarket autosound installers.
