satelite radio streaming live police and fire audio

[khoelldobler]

Would it be possible for satelite radio such as Sirius-XM to broadcast live streams of audio from police and fire agencies... the answer I believe might be yes, however, I do not know what the legal ramifications might be. I reside in Florida, and would love to listen live to FDNY while driving around town or on my way to work.

What I would really like to hear on Sirius-XM satelite radio would be if they were able to stream live broadcasts of fire or police audio from major metropolitan cities. It would be wonderful if they could do that, as it might even be a way to get around those laws that some states have which cover the carrying of a scanner in a vehicle. Some states are strict about having a scanner in your personal vehicle, and big city audio streaming might be one way to get around the law. Just a thought.

Another angle to view this would be that if your subscription paid satelite receiver were ever tuned into one of those streaming audio channels (if ever offered by the satelite radio company's) in one of those "illegal to carry a scanner in your car" States, could the police or sheriff harass you or arrest you?

Any contributions to this thread might be fun to ponder. Thanks in advance.

[dave042583]

the only problem i see with the idea is that for satellite radio howard stern is a bigger draw then local police talk and if that was possible criminals would be able to access the audio as well as law abiding citizens leaving the police with less stealth tactics they enjoy using now vs having evedryone know where they are and what there doing

[Citywide173]

Couple of key ingredients...bandwidth and advertising. When Sirius and XM merged, they also merged many of their channels to reduce operating costs. This resulted in things like Boston and Philadelphia weather and traffic being moved from separate channels to sharing a channel. I don't see streaming public safety audio generating enough interest to increase the listener base substantially, which means that advertising would have to pay for the streams, and I don't see them being interested in shelling out big bucks to advertise on what is a niche market at best. Can it be done? Sure. Would it be nice? Absolutely. Will you ever see it? Probably not.

[Dak48]

I think there might be an issue with rebroadcasting transmission. Granted it isn't terrestial radio and probably a huge gray area that has yet to be even explored. It's an interesting idea, but from a marketing stand-point, I don't see it being a money maker.

[ab3ai]

I agree with the above posts. What return would they have on there investment? If they picked 5 areas: NYC, LA, DC, Chicago, and Philly, that would be 5 channels in use that probly woun't draw much advertising revenue for a handfull of folks. It would be nice for sure! I wouldn't worry about criminals. They can buy a scanner and headphones and nobody would be the wiser. I buddy of mine has an IPhone and he has an app called "Emergancy Radio" (I think) and you can pick from a few hundred police and fire areas to listen to right on the IPhone. Talk about a scanner!! I think that is a more viable solution.