More of this Feature • Part 2: Specifics, Prices

Related Resources • Freewheeling On Satellite • XM Gets Serious, Sirius Gets Panasonic

Elsewhere on the Web • XM Radio • Delphi

Survival of the fittest. There is no escaping that truism of nature. The big guy usually beats the little guy or more specifically the better evolved guy beats the lesser evolved one.

In Radio, this has also been true: in the early days, the more powerful AM stations grabbed more listeners because their reach was larger. When FM came along, the the power of quality music transmission beat the lesser prepared static-prone, low fidelity AM signal.

But, terrestrial-based stations, those with a physical antenna, now face a growing challenge: the antenna of the World Wide Web reaches around the globe through a series of cables and phone lines and satellite radio has the biggest antenna of them orbiting around earth.

Both have yet to overcome traditional AM/FM Radio mainly because they are younger technologies still getting past a few hurdles.

With Web Radio, the antenna is there but the receivers are not. Sure, anyone with an internet connection can listen to Web Radio but it still is not as convenient as a car radio or a walkman. Let's face it: we just can't always sit in front of a PC when we want to hear our favorite music channel. But, if someone or some company put together an affordable, wireless system that fed Web Radio via satellite to a portable receiver, an enhanced digital phone or wireless PDA, then Web Radio might truly be a player against terrestrial Radio.

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