Opinion/Analysis
It used to be easy to define Radio: "wireless transmission by modulating electromagnetic waves using the frequencies below those of visible light." Okay, well, maybe for some that's still a bit technical but, but at least we had something to set the standard.
Radio and what we perceive as "Radio" has changed and will continue to change. It is in a state of metamorphosis brought on by new technologies that have spawned "new media" pitted against "old media". AM and FM are no longer operating in a vacuum and what is not technically "Radio" today - cold become the most dangerous threat to traditional Radio tomorrow.
Satellite Radio
Satellite Radio companies are Satellite Digital Audio Radio Services (SDARS). They transmit programming digitally using multi-carrier modulation which Whatis.techtarget.com defines as “…a method of transmitting data by splitting it into several components, and sending each of these components over separate carrier signals.
The individual carriers have narrow bandwidth, but the composite signal can have broad bandwidth.” That’s about as technical as I think we should get.
It’s important to note that programming is beamed from earth to satellites, and then is either: 1. Reflected back to earth where it is sent to repeater stations in larger metropolitan areas and re-transmitted to subscribers or…
2. Sent directly from space to the receivers of subscribers who are free of encumbrances of large buildings or objects that might block the signal.
So, Satellite Radio subscribers can get programming either directly from a satellite or from a repeater station on the ground which acts as a terrestrial radio station.
(This brings us to a question recently raised by Jeffrey Krauss, President of Telecommunications and Technology Policy: if some subscribers get their signals from repeater stations, “Are Sirius and XM Radio really terrestrial broadcasters?”)
One way or another, Satellite Radio fits the definition of "Radio".
