XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:XMSR) announced this morning it has topped the subscriber mark of 7.6 million paying customers, as it added more than 1.7 million new subscribers in 2006.XM's paying customer total now stands at over 7.6 million subscribers. During the holiday shopping quarter that just ended, the company added more than 442,000 new subscribers. While this information is all relevant, are these good numbers or not?
Rival Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. (NASDAQ:SIRI), which lagged XM severely in subscriber numbers, finished 2006 with more than 6 million subscribers, after spending the last 18 months in rapid-fire catchup mode after. Not any more, although XM still has a lead of about 1.6 million customers. XM CEO, Hugh Panero, said, "XM completed another year of significant subscriber growth, despite retail softness, and did so with continued cost controls, achieving positive cash flow from operations during the fourth quarter."
With over 13.5 million paying satellite radio subscribers now in the U.S., is the terrestrial radio business doomed? Not yet, but if the growth rate of both XMSR and SIRI continue, and we see 25 million paying subscribers by 2010, watch how things start to change in the radio business. For now, though, I'll stick with my Archos Gmini 402 for my portable and car tunes use since it has my entire music collection.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
1-05-2007 @ 10:59AM
Stan said...
OMG! XM couldn't even make their own MUCH lowered subscription goal of 7.7 million subscribers. In 2006, SIRI adds 2.7 million subscribers XM adds 1.7. Me thinks XM is (or should be) crapping bricks!
Subscription-wise this past quarter, or year for that matter, can't possibly reflect well on XM.
1-05-2007 @ 1:16PM
Stan said...
BTW why doesn't this artical Mention that XM couldn't even meet their own MUCH lowered subscription expectations?? Isn't this an important part of the story?
1-05-2007 @ 12:01PM
George Lozynsky said...
The day will eventually come when Sirius will surpass the subscription count currently enjoyed by XM. Extrapolate new adds into the future, and you can confirm this. All things considered, Sirius has much better (and balanced) content then XM. Word of mouth marketing will ensure this occurs. I would welcome a merger between the 2, under the helm of Mel Karmazin. The stockholders would benefit immensely, along with the listening public. Terrestrial radio will continue to exist, but to a smaller extent. I only listen to it for the news!
1-05-2007 @ 1:29PM
Allan said...
It is amazing to me that even with the recent gains by Sirius, and hte failure of XM to mee LOWERED targets, you dog on Sirius, I am now sure you are in the back pocket of XM or Free FM radio, amazing. Has the SEC contacted you yet for your bankruptcy comments last time? Funny how that has gone away since Sirius announced it will be cash positive in the 4th quarter!! - You amaze me!!
1-05-2007 @ 6:03PM
Stan said...
Allan - The Author of this thread isn't that idiot Doug McIntyre.
But this still doesn't explain the constant XM bias. Perhaps it has smething to do with the business relationship between AOL and XM. (after all, these blogs are sponsored by AOL.)
1-05-2007 @ 7:14PM
Brian said...
It just amazes me how hateful and vindictive some people can be without a shred of provocation. Yes, AOL and XM have a relationship, but I cover *the news*, and XM's results are news. There is no bias in anything written here (just opinion -- disagree if you'd like), and us "idiots" just call the shots as we see them. There is no editorial direction here -- we are free to write about whatever we want (and we do). There is no "behind the scenes" gladhanding like what is constantly charged in some comments.
Good grief. Like the saying goes, "you can't please everyone all the time". Oh well :-)
BTW -- Mr. McIntyre is not an "idiot", but a well-qualified individual to be writing here.
I've also covered Sirius and that service is splendid (I like it better than XM). Do I currently subscribe to either? Nope -- no need.
Thank you for playing.
1-05-2007 @ 10:28PM
Stan said...
Brian – My apologies to you as well as Douglas. A re-read of my posts would readily reveal that I’ve been talking as much trash as I have been accusing Doug of doing. Time to throttle back a bit (a lot). While I do feel that DM was unjustified and misguided in his opinion and pieces there was no reason for my tone.
It is my opinion that if you are going to be reporting on the “news” of a thing, you need to paint as accurate a picture as possible. Not committing sins of omission to paint as rosy a picture for one stock while exaggerating the business picture to trash another.
I will however be at the ready to point out what ever biased reporting I notice with hard facts, numbers and comparisons as I see them. I’m sure that he others posters will be intelligent enough to identify any disconnects of opinion pieces from the actual facts of the matter.
Again, my apologies for my previous tone.
P.S. Why won’t this merger rumor just die already?