Posted on 07/27/2006 12:44:18 PM PDT by iowamark
XM Satellite Radio has cut its forecast for subscriber growth for the second time and reports a wider loss for its latest quarter.
However, subscriber gains last quarter did help push revenue up 82 percent.
The District-based broadcaster, which earlier this month lowered its goal for subscribers from 9 million to 8.5 million, now says it expects to end the year with between 7.7 million and 8.2 million, citing "marketplace dynamics and regulatory uncertainties."
Both XM and rival Sirius have stopped sales of some radios after the Federal Communications Commission questioned whether they complied with rules.
For the quarter, XM's loss grew to $229.1 million, or 87 cents per share, compared with a net loss of $146.6 million, or 70 cents per share, a year ago.
XM (NASDAQ: XMSR) had quarterly revenue of $228 million, up from $125 million. It reported a net gain of about 398,000 subscribers and says it now has more than 7 million subscribers.
Sirius (NASDAQ: SIRI) has said it added more than 600,000 subscribers last quarter, for a total of about 4.7 million.
How long will it be before they tire of Howard Stern's dirty jokes?
How long before the banks have to stop loaning XM hundreds of millions to cover the losses?
xm is owned mostly by the car companies honda, gm and toyota.
regarding the receivers, I own one and the home unit broad casts about 300 feet which is probably too far.
the receiver plugs in and then any fm radio in you house can pick up your signal although your neighbor 50 yards down the street probably can too.
As a Sirius stockholder, this pleases me. As far as losing millions, satrad is still paying off their costs of putting up satellites. SIRI is expected to have positive cash flows by the end of the year.
"XM's net loss for the second quarter of 2006 was $229 million compared to a net loss of $147 million during the second quarter of 2005."
Here we have a company that's losing a lot of money but is bragging about the increase in subscribers.
In fact, not only is the number of XM subscribers increasing but it's costing the company more money to land each one. I could do this, and without an MBA from Wharton.
"For the second quarter of 2006, XM's subscriber acquisition cost (SAC), a component of cost per gross addition (CPGA), was $64 compared to $50 in the second quarter of 2005. CPGA was $112 compared to $98 in the second quarter of 2005."
Baseball is the only reason I would consider XM.
Music sounds absolutely awful on XM. Every song sounds like a low-density MP3 file. I'd guess Sirius is the same.
I always thought they leased channels on existing satellites like most of the other sat. services.
My parents just got an XM in their new car, and I turned to "America Right" - it was pathetic. No Rush. Laura is good, but I won't buy a set for just her. Their lineup:
Wall Street Journal
10AM-11AM ET G Gordon Liddy
Noon-3PM ET The Laura Ingraham Show
3PM-6PM ET Dr. Laura
6PM-9PM ET Michael Reagan
They'll lose one more subscriber in Jan '07 when NASCAR leaves XM and goes to Series.
That broadcast range is too far and is why the FCC is giving XM and Sirius heat about the FM modulators in their radios.
I just signed on for a year with XM. I hope I didn't make a mistake by doing so. Local radio sucks where I live and I've really enjoyed XM's music selections.
Actually, I love the sound of music on Sirius, although I bought it almost exclusively for the NFL and Texas Tech basketball.
"As a Sirius stockholder, this pleases me. As far as losing millions, satrad is still paying off their costs of putting up satellites. SIRI is expected to have positive cash flows by the end of the year."
Do yourself a favor and sell on an up-tick. The 2 companies have similar products and business plans. Siri will experience the same problems as XM. Eventually it will be killed by Ipods, multimedia cell phones, and universal wifi access.
I don't know what these guys are talking about.
I Have had XM for almost 2 years and I LOVE IT. I'll never go back to terrestrial radio.
The digital music sounds better, I have hundreds of choices for music, and I get Fox News broadcasts.
What more could I want?
I think there will always be a demand for radio. iPods can't give you live programming (yet) and universal WiFi is a pipe dream. In 5 years, every new car will have either XM or Sirius devices installed as standard equipment. SIRI will be the first to make a profit, and if the subscriber rates continue the way they are, Sirius should pass XM sometime next year.
I'd look for Sirius to acquire XM by the end of 2008.
I agree with you although I was less inclined to continue subscribing. They just had nothing real to offer. The sound quality was much better than FM, but the offerings were very little over what I hear on the radio.
For example: the 80s station played Duran Duran (some of their worst stuff, incidentally) plus a lot of nobodies. I swear to you I heard a ton of so-called music I haven't heard before on there, and if I can out in the '80s and I'm not familiar with it, it wasn't worth anything. Not saying that I had to like it, but I heard virtually everything that came out that sold more than, say, 100 copies. I would listen for a couple of hours and not hear a song I was familiar with.
I'll go with whichever has all the Major League Baseball games...best thing to happen to radio since the demise of the grotesquely misnamed 'Fairness Doctrine'...
I tend to agree with your assessment.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.