Not for Me

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One of the things that came with the new car was a three-month trial of SiriusXM satellite radio. They dangle the bait, hoping that you’re hooked by the end of the trial and will take the $16.99 a month splurge to subscribe. I can already tell you the answer to that. It’s not for me. Why? Oh, the reasons are numerous. Six metal channels, four hip-hop/rap channels....and ONE classic country station? Really?? Of course, country isn’t all I listen to. Three of my favorite channels have been First Wave (70s/80s punk, new wave, and alternative), The Bridge (mellow classic rock), and Deep Tracks (the old album cuts they used to play on FM radio). However, last week they dumped Deep Tracks for a “limited engagement” channel. Deep Tracks, while still available on the $5 a month app, is gone from the $17 a month car radio. Strike two. Oh, and that brings up another thing: sports. With baseball finally returning I thought how cool it’d be to have SiriusXM’s coverage of baseball games. Well.....they didn’t let me pick the feed I wanted for the one game they had, and they didn’t have every game available on the car version. (Again, they DID on the much cheaper app version.) I have a subscription to the MLB app, which gives me the option to listen to games on the radio (meaning I can pick whether I want to listen to the home team or the away team’s feed....and trust me, listening to the Dodgers’ Charley Steiner is infinitely more enjoyable than listening to the Reds’ announcers....and, if given the option, ALWAYS go for Bob Uecker of the Brewers’ announcing staff!). Oh, and here’s another interesting thing.....while I did have some cell phone reception on my trip a couple of weeks ago, there were places in Virginia and Tennessee where I had NO satellite radio service. I have other apps that do the same thing that SiriusXM does. I find TuneIn’s selection of stations great and expansive. I have a friend who has her online radio station on TuneIn, where she plays classic country, bluegrass, and Western swing. There are “real” radio stations on TuneIn, too, so if something’s happening (like when Hurricane Dorian hit the Bahamas last year) you can listen to the news coverage. And TuneIn is free. So I’ll just let that SiriusXM trial lapse when the three months are up. But, as they say, “thanks for playing.” One of the songs I did hear from SiriusXM’s “Deep Tracks” channel....the title track from my favorite Jackson Browne album: