Count The Spots…

The programming is a big part of how consumers will be able to tell the difference between Sirius and XM and both claim they’ll have fewer spots than commercial terrestrial radio. Sirius has increased the amount of music channels it’s offering to 60 (from 50) and will keep them commercial free. XM has 71 music channels; more than 30 are commercial-free and the rest will have up to 5 minutes per hour.
Sirius says research shows consumers don’t want to hear commercials, at all, on music channels. XM disagrees. “It’s not that people hate commercials. It’s when you have 10 in a row” that becomes a problem,” said an XM spokesman.
Neither has discussed the projected spotload on the non-music channels.