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XM Satellite Radio loses $666.7M in 2005
Washington Business Journal ^ | 2/16/06

Posted on 02/16/2006 2:06:45 PM PST by iPod Shuffle

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To: manwiththehands

DirectTV went over to XMRadio a little while ago. Lots of repeats. I mean, how many times can you listen to "Johnny got a Zero" on the 40s channel? The "old" music channels that DirectTV carried was much better than XMRadio - no talking period.


21 posted on 02/16/2006 2:57:53 PM PST by bwteim (Begin With The End In Mind)
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To: ContemptofCourt
His total contract was $500M....so he has already paid off. Heck, look at the publicity that SIRI gets out of the deal

Are there any reliable figures for the number that subscsribed specifically for the Stern show? How long is his contract for?

22 posted on 02/16/2006 3:01:58 PM PST by Shethink13
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To: ContemptofCourt

Your math fails to take into account that they're still losing money on each new subscriber, Stern hype or not.

Stern (and the accompanying hype) may be more about pumping up the price of the stock than anything else.


23 posted on 02/16/2006 3:03:02 PM PST by iPod Shuffle
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To: appleharvey
If the contract that Stern inked with Sirius is even close to being accurate, can someone explain to me how they can possibly turn a profit even in the long run?

Simple math. To date, the number of Sirius subscribers directly attributed to Stern number above 600,000. At $13 per month, that translates to about $100 million per year, or $500 million over the five year term of the deal. In short, Stern paid for himself, Sirius got a lot of attention and far more than 600,000 subscriber adds. It was a smart business move.

In contrast, XM's growth has flattened out. XM had a year advantage over Sirius on the exponential growth curve, which explained the difference in audience size until about six months ago. Since that time Sirius has been growing faster than XM. Coupled with a more cost efficient delivery system, and Sirius should be profitable sooner.

And yes, for the record I'm a Sirius subscriber (lifer) and yes I'm annoyed at the loss of Fox News -- especially yesterday with Dick Cheney's interview. Will be interesting to see if Sirius and Fox are able to work things out.

24 posted on 02/16/2006 3:05:01 PM PST by HolgerDansk ("Oh Bother", said Pooh, as he worked the bolt.)
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To: Shethink13
5yr contract...and I could not tell you about the subs just for stern....figure that he had between 12M and 18M listeners on terrestrial radio...so it is not too much of a stretch to think that he brought over 1M.

SIRI announces their numbers tommorrow. If they had a significant spike in subs, you can attribute that to Stern.

BTW, I think that both XMSR and SIRI are cash burning machines that are currently overvalued...Not sure that satrad will catch on like cable TV has.

25 posted on 02/16/2006 3:05:32 PM PST by ContemptofCourt
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To: iPod Shuffle

They will generate earnings eventually...just don't know if it will happen before they exhaust their capital....


26 posted on 02/16/2006 3:07:15 PM PST by ContemptofCourt
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To: LegendHasIt

Heck, they just signed a deal with Oprah for 3 years at $55 million.


27 posted on 02/16/2006 3:07:41 PM PST by diverteach
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To: manwiththehands

"I love my XM for the variety and lack of commercials on the music channels ... but they make up for that on the News/Talk channels. It's worse than network TV."

You can say that again!


28 posted on 02/16/2006 3:09:09 PM PST by cody32127 (If Democrats are not evil, then evil has no meaning)
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To: iPod Shuffle
Your math fails to take into account that they're still losing money on each new subscriber, Stern hype or not.

Horsehockey. The marginal cost of adding a subscriber is zero. So every subscriber add brings them closer to breakeven. Plus, every add also increase their advertising reach, increasing their ad revenue.

29 posted on 02/16/2006 3:12:33 PM PST by HolgerDansk ("Oh Bother", said Pooh, as he worked the bolt.)
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To: iPod Shuffle
No wonder I get such crappy reception!

Bender, you idiot! Take off that polar bear coat. That's what is killing your reception!

I get fine reception in my FR Command Post...

Sooooo! Zats ver zat smell comenz fromen...

30 posted on 02/16/2006 3:13:00 PM PST by Bender2 (Redid my FR Homepage just for ya'll... Now, Vote Republican and vote often!)
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To: ContemptofCourt

Harkens back to the doctom era with the way they spend money. Supposedly, XM has offices that remind one of the Taj Mahal.

Consumers have a lot more choices now than they did with Cable TV. Podcasts, Audible.com (audio books), digital radio (when it comes), WiFi radio (only a matter of time).

The sat radio stocks, with their market caps, are priced like they're already profitable.


31 posted on 02/16/2006 3:14:13 PM PST by iPod Shuffle
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To: iPod Shuffle
see here
32 posted on 02/16/2006 3:15:17 PM PST by presidio9 ("Bird Flu" is the new Y2K Virus -Only without the inconvenient deadline.)
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To: iPod Shuffle
Losses widened in the fourth quarter to $268.3 million from $188.2 million in the same period a year earlier. Full-year losses rose to $666.7 million from $642.4 million in 2004.

Pump and dump, suckers.

33 posted on 02/16/2006 3:18:00 PM PST by Prince Charles
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To: iPod Shuffle

The stocks are nothing more than momentum plays....of course, I wish I knew which was SIRI was going tomorrow...LOL


34 posted on 02/16/2006 3:18:54 PM PST by ContemptofCourt
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To: iPod Shuffle

Why in the world would I pay for radio when I listen in the car only and that radio has a scan button?


35 posted on 02/16/2006 3:20:36 PM PST by xzins (Retired Army Chaplain and Proud of It!)
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To: xzins
Why in the world would I pay for radio when I listen in the car only and that radio has a scan button?

Uh... because 99% of FM stations are pop/rap/hip hop that have about 20 minutes of commercials for every hour of broadcast, and screaming DJs with stupid contests.

I'd consider satellite radio if it weren't for the fact that I have my own portable radio station in my little iPod.

36 posted on 02/16/2006 3:27:01 PM PST by iPod Shuffle
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To: iPod Shuffle

Like I said. I have a scan button on my radio. It takes me all of 60 seconds to find Rush, Hannity,....whoever....when I'm out traveling.

Pay for radio???

Come on now --

FREE is my favorite price!


37 posted on 02/16/2006 3:29:34 PM PST by xzins (Retired Army Chaplain and Proud of It!)
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To: xzins

if you're an AM radio listener, then I agree that there's little benefit to having satellite radio.


38 posted on 02/16/2006 3:30:37 PM PST by iPod Shuffle
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To: iPod Shuffle

666? Subterranean satellite!


39 posted on 02/16/2006 3:31:28 PM PST by Revolting cat! ("In the end, nothing explains anything.")
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To: Certain_Doom
Loss of the Beast?

My first thought. XM is the tool of the Devil. Long live free radio!

40 posted on 02/16/2006 3:32:41 PM PST by Tall_Texan (Hey Libs! - Remember how conservatives looked during Clinton? Guess what you haters look like now?)
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