American TV/Radio seems quite good (shock!) )

[Minio]

In Texas currently visiting relatives and I've been watching the tele. There is a DirectTV box which gives me BBC World which is like a rejigged BBC News channel with a few adverts.

Go down a couple of channels and there's one called AXS which has had loads of good stuff. Great Rock docs, concerts, muso interviews and so on. Rolling Stones, Cat Stevens, Ringo Starr etc. Luvvin' it!

Get in the car and it has Satellite Radio including channels for 50s 60s 70s 80s 90s and so on. Seems a lot better than the DAB at home. No drop outs even driving hundreds of miles out in the sticks of rural Texas.

Great sound and vision. And the adverts are surprisingly sparse so don't spoil the entertainment.

It's a vast improvement on past memories of US broadcasting and I'm thinking, better than the UK?

 

[Derek Wright]

The satellite radio drops out when you go through a tunnel, covered car park, canopy of a gas station or under overhanging trees. At one time there were some BBC Radio stations on the satellite radio - however it is not free.

 

[Minio]

I'd be surprised if the car rental company was paying for it.

They are a bit mean with their extras. Eg GPS/Satnav would be very helpful. Shame its not included.

 

[cutting42]

The satellite decade channels 70's etc all play a strict rotation of the same stuff, gets boring quite quickly but there are lots of weird stations, about a million country and a load of god squad stations as well. I drive a lot in the USA and often get Satellite radio included in the rental cars. I generally listen to the local stations drifting in and out of range as I drive around.

 

[sean99]

There's some good stuff on national public radio (NPR) in the evenings and weekends. There's usually a local station carrying NPR. This American Life is my favourite, but TED radio hour, "Wait,Wait don't tell me" and "Car talk" are also good.

If you like interesting documentaries / life stories I recommend this radio show / podcast:
https://www.thisamericanlife.org/

This is a particularly good episode:
https://www.thisamericanlife.org/634/human-error-in-volatile-situations
and the transcript (makes a good read)
https://www.thisamericanlife.org/634/transcript

 

[Minio]

I probably won't get bored with that number of stations in the period of time I'm here. I like the info on the screen giving title, artist and date of recording.

They don't have many tunnels in Texas. Its like one big wide open space, good for reception.

I'll have a surf around for some of those stations on my streamer when I get home.

 

[Pete MB&D]

Did you drive past the Stop N Shop with the radio on?

Pete