Satellite radio broadcasts are being heard in far-flung fields and mountain pastures across the United States and they are coming to Canada.
Longer hours spent in the cabs of farm equipment mean that entertainment such as music, drama and talk radio are in high demand in rural communities. Satellite radio developers are hoping to cash in on that need and develop a listener market across Canada.
CBC’s Jason MacDonald said the “appeal for rural communities is obvious. We expect to see significant interest from these areas.”
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Because the digital satellite broadcasts don’t have to compete with the curve of the earth and other obstacles, they reach the ground in good condition.
Resulting broadcasts, once converted from digital signals, are high quality and don’t compete within the normal radio frequency bands. The lack of crowding means hundreds of compact disc quality channels are possible.
Rural residents, often used to the scratchy, variable signals delivered by AM radio, and usually too far from urban FM transmitters to receive those stations, will soon be able choose from more than 220 nearly flawless radio channels from Bach to baseball, all commercial free. Buying subscriptions to the services is key to offering the services advertising free.
Applications to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission detail subscription services costing about $12 a month.
Three companies are planning to offer the subscription radio service. Two will be available via satellite nationwide, including the northern, mountain and ocean regions. The third plans to use terrestrial transmitters to distribute its digital service in larger urban areas.
U.S. rural residents now have a choice of two companies delivering about 250 separate broadcasts. Those companies have joined with Canadian businesses to provide many of the same services with Canadian content stations being added.
The CBC is a partner with a Canadian private radio company Standard Broadcasting and U.S. satellite provider Sirius Satellite Radio. The group plans to offer CBC Radio 1 and 2 content, as well as Canadian music and talk programming in addition to a mix of news, music and talk from the U.S.
Similarly, XM Satellite Radio in the U.S. has taken as a partner Canadian Satellite Radio, and will provide new domestic talk and music combined with the U.S. offerings.
Variety attracts subscribers. Both ventures will offer more than 60 advertising-free music channels from classical music to a variety of country, folk, jazz and popular music. Radio dramas, comedy, call-in shows, news and foreign content will also be available.
What won’t be beamed into the tractor cab is local information and detailed weather that would compete directly with the local and regional AM and FM stations and would be too variable for national broadcasts.
Digital radios are available as in-dash models as well as portables that can be moved from vehicle to vehicle, taking advantage of the FM radio or tape player already present.
Both providers hope to have licence approvals from the CRTC by early in the new year, in time for spring planting.
For those not wanting to wait for the Canadian versions, satellite radios are for sale in Canada, but a U.S. address is required to sign up for the service. Sellers of the units often provide some addresses that Canadian users can use for the initialization of their stereos, with monthly billings placed on buyers’ credit cards.
