Siruis Satellite Radio now has more than one million paying customers. When cable television first entered the marketplace many thought no one would be willing to pay for television programming when you could get it for free over the air. Well with the proliferation of cable and satellite we know how that turned out.

Now it seems many Canadians are willing to pay for satellite radio as well.

It can be an uphill battle to get consumers to pay for something they normally think of getting for free. But Sirius has reached a major turning point. President and CEO of Sirius Satellite Radio Canada Mark Redmond says it now has one million paying customers in Canada.

Redmond says, "it clearly reinforces the acceptance of satellite radio in the marketplace and this is our biggest milestone to date."

With access to more than 120 radio stations, many with exclusive content, it seems more listeners are willing to pay a monthly subscription service to have commercial free music, sports and news channels.

Sirius' main competitor is XM Radio, which has about 400,000 paying customers.

While the two companies have merged in the U.S., they continue to operate separately here. Sirius listener Brad Compton says for him, it's worth the $15 monthly subscription fee.

He says, "I like the choice I find on satellite radio. On terrestrial radio it's really just the same songs over and over again."

He also likes to tune into Howard Stern, one of satellite radio's biggest stars.

Growth is due in part to alliances with the automotive industry. Most new cars are satellite radio ready and come with free trial periods. You can also listen to satellite radio on the Internet and on portable devices you can move from your home to your car. Compton says "it's great, I listen to hits all day and then when I have to pick up my wife at work I can just pop this satellite unit into the car while I'm commuting and keep listening."

When consumer reports studied satellite services it found that many subscribers are satisfied with the service.

Mark Kotkin said, "survey results found that people were listening to types of music they weren't interested in before. country music and folk music for example."