The answer to this question is a fuzzy yes and no. Local radio stations in the classic sense of a radio station, with an transmission covering a specific market, are not available. However, the bandwidth that the merged XM and Sirius satellite radio brings to the table allows for specific information streams to be targeted to specific markets. For example, local traffic and weather reports for a market like Los Angeles can be streamed 'round-the-clock There are also regional streams. Also, national stations like CNN can be broadcast in other languages, like Spanish.
Regional Content
In addition to the local weather and traffic for major markets, there is regional content ranging from content with a local flavor, like Texas honkey tonk music and new U.K. pop music, to regionally originating stations like the U.K.'s BBC World Service and Ireland's RTE. There is continent-wide content like ATN Asian Radio, and there are many sports channels which allow for regional game or event coverage in multiple languages. American LeMans racing was recently aired live.
Picking a Plan
Plans are geared towards individual consumers, multiple radio families, small business and special applications like aviation, marine and disaster response. There is also an online plan and options for iPhones. Not every plan will carry the local weather and traffic stream. For example, the Mostly Music plan doesn't, so check.
Choosing a Radio
Explore radios based on where you will be listening to the programming. There are specific radios geared towards home use, in the car use and on the go use. You can read about them and buy them at the XM Radio website. Some vehicles have radios built in. You can also visit a consumer electronics retailer to buy one.
Special Applications
XM Sirius has specific display applications for weather that allow local weather conditions to be shown in near real time. You can identify the areas you need to know about and zoom in it it or them. There is also a device which performs similar functionality, but for traffic.
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