Guest JMT Posted February 20 Report Share Posted February 20 Sirius Widens 4Q Loss to $311.4 Million © 2006 The Associated Press NEW YORK — Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. reported a wider loss in the fourth quarter Friday as costs for building its rapidly growing base of subscribers mounted.The company, which added shock jock Howard Stern to its roster last month, lost $311.4 million compared with a loss of $261.9 million in the same period a year ago.The loss per share came in at 23 cents, a penny lower than analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial had been expecting and 2 cents greater than the loss of 21 cents a year ago. Revenues more than tripled to $80 million from $25.2 million.Despite the relatively in-line results, the shares of both Sirius and its rival XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. fell on Friday, a day after XM disclosed the sudden departure of one of its board members, who warned of a looming "crisis" at that company if it didn't rein in costs.XM also posted a much wider than expected loss on Thursday as it spent heavily on marketing to counter the threat from Stern's arrival at Sirius. XM executives said they expected that spending to decline sharply going forward.Sirius' shares fell 39 cents, or 6.9 percent, to close at $5.26 Friday afternoon after heavy trading, while XM's shares dropped $2.41, or 10 percent, to close at $21.57, also in heavy trading. Both issues trade on the Nasdaq.Sirius and XM are spending heavily to expand their businesses, which charge about $13 a month for dozens of channels of commercial-free music, as well as talk, news and sports.Sirius reported that its costs for acquiring new subscribers more than doubled to $145.2 million from $64.9 million in the same period a year ago. Its average cost for adding each subscriber, however, fell to $113 from $124 in the same period a year ago.Sirius ended 2005 with 3.3 million subscribers, triple the level from a year ago of 1.1 million. XM has more than 6 million subscribers.Sirius, which is based in New York, said it added a total of 1.27 million subscribers in the fourth quarter, the leadup period before it added Stern to its lineup in early January.The company also said it expected to be profitable next year, and to generate about $3 billion in revenue and $1 billion in free cash flow, after expenditures, in 2010. Sanford C. Bernstein analyst Craig Moffett called the forward projection "very positive" in a note to investors.Sirius' five-year contract with Stern was originally worth $500 million, but its value swelled to $600 million due to the appreciation of Sirius' shares. XM has also signed big-ticket programming deals, including a $650 million pact with Major League Baseball.Sirius also announced Friday it had reached a new agreement to carry the Fox News and Fox News Talk channels beginning March 15. The previous agreement had expired at the end of 2005.For the full year, Sirius lost $863 million, or 65 cents per share, versus a loss of $712.2 million, or 57 cents per share, in 2004. Full-year revenues jumped to $242.2 million from $66.9 million. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Spankmeister Posted February 20 Report Share Posted February 20 I heard that Sirius is courting Oprah to do a talk show as well...We will see if the street can take these huge losses long enough for them to reap the benefits of having this content...Should be interesting..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
all4tribal1414779019 Posted February 20 Report Share Posted February 20 yo! i cant hear youim @ the crobar!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Spankmeister Posted February 20 Report Share Posted February 20 yo! i cant hear youim @ the crobar!! They are dropping the MegaMix!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
all4tribal1414779019 Posted February 20 Report Share Posted February 20 yo! i cant hear youim @ the crobar!! They are dropping the MegaMix!!!! :o Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest trancelator Posted February 20 Report Share Posted February 20 I heard that Sirius is courting Oprah to do a talk show as well...We will see if the street can take these huge losses long enough for them to reap the benefits of having this content...Should be interesting.....She signed on with XM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobbyTrendy Posted February 20 Report Share Posted February 20 i want sirius.. i think i can get a lifetime membership for $500.. that'd be sweet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest coach Posted February 20 Report Share Posted February 20 i want sirius.. i think i can get a lifetime membership for $500.. that'd be sweet.Till they get killed in a couple years. If iPod had any brains, they would get all the cars to come with an iPod jack like they do sat-radio ready these days. That would kill sat radio right quick. The only problem with that is that most digital music players have similar jacks, so iPod would technically be helping its competitors, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Civs Posted February 20 Report Share Posted February 20 sat is great thing. it is only a matter of time for them to be profitable. once you try it you will love it. terrestial radio is getting boring and the good content will eventually be feautured on sat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ILLMATIC Posted February 21 Report Share Posted February 21 I can't wait till Oprah goes on XM radio. That is going to be sooooooooo exciting!!!! ...................................................................NOT! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Cosmigonon Posted February 21 Report Share Posted February 21 I can't wait till Oprah goes on XM radio. That is going to be sooooooooo exciting!!!! ...................................................................NOT! I thought you were excited about that... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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