[Updated 10/27/05] There’s a new war brewing in the electronics world.  With satellite radio finally catching on (thanks in part to Howard Stern moving to Sirius), consumers are having to choose between Sirius or XM.

Up until now I never had a real problem with either one.  I would sign up with Sirius because I like their channel line-up better.  They carry Sirius OutQ, a channel devoted to LGBT programming.  XM has nothing like it.  Sirius also lets subscribers listen to their channels via their computer for free, something that XM charges extra for.  Lastly, Sirius carries two "left" or progressive talk stations as well as two conservative right.

Thanks to Engadget, I just learned that XM is carrying Dr. Laura Schlessinger.  Yes, that Dr. Laura… the one that called gay people a "biological mistake."  Also, XM carries a channel Family Talk that carries a show by Focus on the Family and others.  Focus on the Family is an extremely vocal anti-gay group.

While I certainly believe in free speech, I don’t like the idea of XM putting anti-gay rhetoric on a channel they label as being guidance for families.  Shouldn’t it be under religion channel moniker?  Is anti-gay rhetoric pro-family?  XM must think so.

As a consumer, I can vote with my dollars.  I certainly don’t want to patronize any business that does business with a lying, hypocritical bigot Dr. Laura.  I know that Sirius carries a fair amount of conservative programming as well, but they carry and equal number of liberal stations and they don’t mislabel their programming.

Oh… and I know Howard Stern has said some pretty offensive things about gay people.  That doesn’t bother me so much because Howard Stern says offensive things about all people.  He’s a pretty big jerk.  I don’t listen to him, but he doesn’t bother me in the way Dr. Laura does.

If you are considering satellite radio, these are just some things you may want to consider before you make a choice.  Just my two cents.

UPDATE: Wow. I wrote this post way back in January, but it still gets a fair amount of hits and every once in awhile a comment. I know that things have changed quite a bit on both XM and Sirius since then I wrote this. For one thing, XM I believe now offers online listening for free. Also, Sirius debuted several new channels, but lost Air America to XM.

Now it’s a toss up as to which one is better. I like Sirius because I have it, but I am sure XM is fine too.

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