Consumer Tips: TV & Radio

(NOTE: These tips come from the Consumer Reports electronics staff. You can read the electronic staff's blog by clicking here.)

Satellite radio: More interesting, more complicated

The merger of XM and Sirius satellite radio has started to bear fruit.

Subscribers to each service can now add a select group of channels from the other (called Best of Sirius and Best of XM) for about $4 more per month, which brings the total monthly cost to $16.99. While the selections are limited to a handful of channels that may not suit everyone's taste, Sirius XM Radio says that more new packages are on the way, although it's not yet clear how many of those will graft channels from one service onto the other.

For XM subscribers, the Best of Sirius package available now adds two full-time Howard Stern channels, NASCAR races and shows, NFL games, Martha Stewart Living, and Playboy. For Sirius, subscribers, the Best of XM adds Oprah and Friends, NBA games, the Virus (which includes Opie and Anthony), and NHL games, the PGA Tour, College Sports, and XM Public Radio.

Both services now also offer various packages of their own, such as "mostly music," "news sports and talk," for $9.99 per month. Sirius offers an a la carte package, starting at $6.99 per month, which lets you choose 50 channels (this requires a la carte-capable receiver, such as the Starmate 5 radio and vehicle kit, $130.)

Even with these new offerings, there is still no radio on the market capable of receiving both services in their entirety and there probably won't be anytime soon. As a condition of receiving approval for their merger last summer, XM and Sirius agreed to make it possible to produce such an interoperable radio by next summer.

For now, if you're looking for a satellite radio receiver, you'll be limited to models that access just one service, with the option to add a few channels from the other service for a few dollars more per month. Be sure to check out our Guide to Mobile Electronics for more on audio, video, and GPS systems for your car.