SiriusXM sees Q2 sub losses
August 6, 2024
By Chris Forrester
North American pay-radio operator, SiriusXM, is suffering a loss of subscribers which has driven its share price into negative territory.
The subscriber loss for its quarter ending June 30th totalled around 173,000 and made up of 100,000 so-called ‘self-pay’ (conventional) subscribers, and 73,000 promotional subscriptions. These were considered major losses but when compared with the same period last year were slightly better. Nevertheless, SiriusXM’s share price crashed 7.5
per cent.
SiriusXM’s total revenue for Q2 amounted to $2.18 billion (€1.99bn), down 3 per cent, while net income rose slightly to $316 million.
The broadcaster is 84 per cent controlled by Liberty Media which acquired the business in 2009. Liberty is in the process of merging SiriusXM with a Liberty tracking stock. The deal is expected to close after the market closes on September 9th.
SiriusXM also owns music streaming service Pandora, which reported losses of 41,000 subscribers and ending the quarter year with 6 million subs.
The company used the results to announce ‘Free Access’ an ad-supported plan offering consumers with its Internet-connected 360L car radio receivers dozens of channels across music genres, along with a variety of talk and sports channels.
The new ‘free’ transmissions comprise a comprehensive choice of channels including SiriusXM Hits 1, Alt Nation, xL Hip-Hop Nation, Y2Kountry, Latin Vault, ’90s on 9, and Classic Rewind among those offered. Spoken word channels include ESPN Radio and Fox Sports, plus various news channels such as CNN and MSNBC, comedy channels such as Comedy Central Radio and Conan O’Brien Radio, and special interest channels including NPR, Fox News Headlines and The Catholic Channel. Each channel also carries advertising and this service is a long way from the original concept of ad-free music channels.
“Ultimately, we want customers to be able to listen on the device of their choice, so we are repositioning our business
for the future,” SiriusXM CEO Jennifer Witz said on an analysts’ conference call, while suggesting it may expand on the plan should it be successful. “Although small in scale at the outset, free access is expected to grow in future years, providing us an opportunity to increase trials, win back listeners, and explore the potential for a broader ad supported tier of SiriusXM.”