Pay-radio operator Sirius-XM is on a roll. Its Q3 results show that its subscriber base grew by a record 446,000 to a new record total of 23.4 million.  Revenue grew 14 per cent to $867 million. The company paid down $107 million of debt, helping reduce the broadcaster’s overall debt level to the lowest since the merger of Sirius with rival XM Radio.

Some 44 per cent of new vehicle users are converting to a ‘paid-for’ full subscription. Churn is more or less steady at 2 per cent/month (up marginally from 1.9 per cent in the previous quarter).

Sirius-XM is also extremely bullish about the pre-holiday quarter year trading: “We’re excited about the increase in subscriber guidance to 1.8 million net additions that we reported earlier this month, as we believe growth in the fourth quarter will continue. We continue to make investments across our business, particularly in R&D, customer care, infrastructure, and programming.  We are also investing in new businesses, such as the telematics service we announced in the third quarter with Nissan, and we believe these investments will reward our shareholders in the years to come,” said Karmazin.

Free cash flow was $195 million in the third quarter of 2012, an improvement of 159 per cent from the $75 million recorded in the third quarter of 2011.

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