Shadow404 wrote:

] / If FM didn't suck so bad I wouldn't of gotten XM. Besides,
] how exactly does XM violate government regulations when FCC
] licenses the sattelite spectrum and the FCC is a gonvernment
] run branch.

The FCC has regulations against providing "local programming" over wide area networks. The rules were created for the DSS TV services. They can't serve you ABC/NBC/CBS/FOX unless you are too far away from the local transmitter to pick up those stations with an antenna. The theory is that it harms diversity of programming by cutting small local stations out of the market. The reality is that people simply choose to not watch those stations anymore when they get DSS as a result. Furthermore, the regulations are written such that DSS can't offer you the channels if you could pick up your local stations with a big backyard antenna, which literally puts a lot of suburbia in a no man's zone which simply cannot be reached in a practical way by these networks.

RE: XM VS. FM