Advanced Television

Sirius-XM: Profits up 38%

May 2, 2012

By Chris Forrester

There’s money in pay radio, implies Sirius-XM’s latest numbers. The broadcaster reported an extremely successful Q1 adding subscribers and boosting profits – although the bottom line was also helped by a price rise.

Sirius-XM’s net income grew from last year’s Q1 of $78.1 million to this period’s $107.8 million. Overall revenues grew 11 per cent from $723.8 million last year to $803.5 million. It added a net growth of 404,596 new subscribers.

The company said it was revising its guidance targets for the year from an anticipated 1.3 million net new subs, to 1.5 million for the year.

However, Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin spoke of the shareholder spat with 40 per cent shareholder Liberty Media, which wants to take control of the company and has applied to the FCC to declare it as having de facto control over the radio company. Karmazin said pointedly: “Forty is not the new 50. Liberty has significant influence, but not control…We believe that is what the FCC will conclude, but we are waiting to hear from them.”

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