By
Graig Uhlin
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Quick, name the most common activity that happens in a car.
No, it is not cursing out the driver of the car that cuts you off.
No, it is not that most detestable act of talking on a cell phone.
In actuality, it is listening to the radio. More people tune in to the radio when they are in their cars than in any other place, so much so that radio stations program around the listening habits of automobile drivers.
But all of this is about to change.
Why? Because of a company called Sirius Broadcasting, who will be the first to provide the listening public with satellite radio in their cars.
Satellite radio basically consists of hundreds of channels of commercial-free music of nearly every genre imaginable beamed directly from space into your car.
Sirius already launched the first of three satellites needed for transmission at the end of June, with plans to put the final two into orbit in November and December. Customers should be able to use the service by 2001.
And car companies are happy to help the public do that. Ford, Chrysler and BMW are just some of the car companies working with Sirius to get satellite radio up and running, with some of them even offering the receiver as a standard feature in their 2001 models.
Well, that's great, you say. And you would be right. Satellite radio represents an important - and welcome - trend in the way technology is changing the way we receive our entertainment.
Satellite radio is programming on demand. The customer will be in charge as to what s/he wants to hear and, eventually, when s/he wants to hear it. There will be no more of the endless repetition of unwanted Britney Spears songs shoved down the throats of the listening public by radio stations who cater only to the bottom line and ratings.
In fact, radio stations as we know them will have to evolve, no longer able to do business under the same paradigms as before. Mostly likely, we will see the move toward a greater focus on local events, seeing as a radio station's familiarity with its geographic region is its only real advantage over satellite radio.
Sirius will do its best however to pull as many of FM's listeners away as possible, just as FM did years ago to AM. Big music industry names like Sting and Grandmaster Flash will even have their own shows (satellite radio will continue, like regular radio, to have DJs).
Of course, the biggest draw is that satellite radio will broadcast no commercials. Instead, in addition to the cost of the receiver, listeners will have to pay a $9.95 monthly subscription fee.
And don't worry if you are a poor, starving college student who cannot afford to have satellite radio in your car. No one expects you to be able to. Therefore, being the only audience left for regular radio stations, they might actually listen to what it is you want to hear.
Or take out a loan, buy the receiver and cruise down Speedway Blvd. to all the obscure German folk music your little heart desires. Just please put down the cell phone.
