Hay River (Feb 2o/06) - Anyone who has listened to the radio while driving on NWT highways knows the sound.

It's a gradually-increasing crackling, which is eventually replaced by a constant buzz, as the vast distances between NWT communities swallow up radio signals.

Hay River's Wayne Korotash likes listening to satellite radio when on the highway. - Paul Bickford/NNSL photo

Until they get in range of a radio station, motorists can drive in silence, listen to CDs, or perhaps sing to themselves.

However, another option - satellite radio - is growing in popularity.

Wayne Korotash of Hay River is one of the fans.

Korotash says it used to be that when he drove out of Hay River it would not be long before radio signals faded.

"Now, you're out by the border and you still got radio," he says.

Plus, he says he now doesn't have to buy CDs for highway travel.

Korotash also likes the variety on satellite radio, everything from country, to rock, to all-talk and all-sports channels.

"You're able to listen to what you're in the mood for," he says.

Satellite radio was officially launched in Canada late last year, and Northerners have been snapping up the units they need to bring the music to their vehicles.

"They're going off the shelves like candy," says Chris Westwell, the manager of The Source by Circuit City in Fort Smith.

Westwell says he has sold about 50 units, and he believes the demand is still growing. The Source outlet in Hay River has sold about 300 units. Besides those numbers, some NWT residents also subscribed to American satellite systems over the last two years, before the service was approved in Canada by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.

Westwell says satellite radios are also popular because there are very few stations in the North.

Plus, he notes people also like the fact there are relatively few commercials. "That's one of the big selling points."

Nationally, there are two satellite radio services - Sirius and XM.

However, Westwell says Sirius is the service of choice in the NWT, because it offers a better Northern signal that uses three satellites, compared to XM's two.

Sirius units cost between $60-$200, plus subscribers pay about $15 per month.

It offers 100 stations, many of them specialized to various styles of music, sports, news and talk radio.

"There's all-Elvis, if you want," Westwell says.