Clark Howard's Tips

June 16, 2008

Several months ago, Clark first spoke about the Sirius/XM merger. Many people in rural areas love satellite radio, but Clark doesn't get it. Why would you pay money for something when there's a cheaper option?

The alternative is called HD Radio, and it's a free service that's only being used by about 1 million people. Think of HD Radio as a digital TV signal for your radio -- that's the quality of the broadcast.

Every station can get up to 3 channels of HD and then deliver multiple kinds of content. So a rock station, for example, may be able to expand its format to include classic rock and alternative rock with the extra channels.

All of this is free -- you just need the receiver that can be up to $150 installed. The sound you'll get is phenomenal -- equivalent to a CD.

So who cares about the satellite merger? You have better and cheaper choices out there. In the future, more car radios will allow you to listen to Internet radio. This development really promises to threaten terrestrial radio in a way satellite never did.

Consumer advice courtesy of