Radio is one of the old time favorites for the news, music and comedy channels. Before televisions and before HD-TV the radio was king, providing people with an insight to how the rest of the world lives in a time when seeing the rest of the world was very unlikely to ever happen to you.

The radio provided comfort and it also provided sadness what with its news broadcasts, it was and still remains to be one of the best inventions known to mankind all over the world.

Now, just like the rest of the world, radio is evolving and becoming something a lot more powerful and reliable than its predecessor. We're now living in the age of the satellite radio, this is also known as subscription radio.

Satellite radio is a digital signal for radio broadcasted through a communications satellite. This service aims to provide and successfully does provide a larger geographical range than global radio.

The benefit this has is that someone can listen to the same radio station in different states, unlike with terrestrial radio which will change channels depending on the broadcasting area you are in. Being able to listen to the same station wherever you are can be a very attractive feature in the radio, as its often frustrating when the station suddenly decides to change itself which is a common problem with terrestrial radio.

Currently, this type of radio is more widespread and typical in the USA and this is due to the communication satellites available around the USA rather than in the UK and other countries in Europe, while it is cheaper to reach such a large population with a terrestrial radio. But it is said that in the near future, they will become more popular all over the globe.

The differences between satellite radios and terrestrial radios are that terrestrial radio is free to listen to where as the satellite radios may incur a small monthly charge of around $7 but when you consider some of the other features available with this product, it doesn't sound too bank busting.

The availability of signal between satellite radios and terrestrial is significantly different. Satellite radios cover millions of square kilometers making the signal strength fantastic whereas the signal strength of terrestrial signal is quite low often leading to a hiss or scratched sound when listening to a terrestrial radio.

The sound quality of satellite and terrestrial radios can vary depending on area. Often satellite has fantastic quality yet FM radio can also provide high quality sounds depending on where you are at the time of listening and the signal coverage in that area.

One of the most annoying things when listening to the radio is advertisements or DJ's speaking over the music meaning, less quality sound time is heard. This is a common problem for terrestrial radio as this is often how businesses and other marketing companies advertise, which can be frustrating when you just want to hear music.

When listening to satellite radio there are no advertisements due to the subscription fee, this makes the subscription fee seem that all more worthwhile! A radio experience free from aggravating adverts you're not interested in. Generally, satellite radios are the optimum choice yet unfortunately they're currently only available in USA due to their satellite coverage. But let's hope in the future, satellite radio becomes available to everyone.

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Roberto Sedycias works as IT consultant for Polomercantil