Sirius Lowers Subscriber Guidance

NEW YORK, Dec. 8, 2006/Satnews Daily/ ― Sirius Satellite Radio (NASDAQ:SIRI) has lowered its year-end 2006 subscriber guidance after sales during the Thanksgiving holidays didn’t reach the expected numbers.

Sirius said last year, with Howard Stern's move to the company, Sirius added 500,000 subscribers in the last 10 days of the year, representing nearly 25 percent of the year's net additions and clearly demonstrating the dramatic pace of holiday sales.

But this year, Sirius said, retail sales results since the Thanksgiving weekend have not been at the pace we had anticipated.

“We are updating our year-end 2006 subscriber guidance to between 5.9 million and 6.1 million. At the lower end of our range we will still add almost 20 percent more subscribers in 2006 than we did in 2005, a record year for Sirius,” said Mel Karmazin, CEO of Sirius. “We have consistently focused on disciplined growth and continue that focus as we look to generate positive free cash flow this quarter.”

But Sirius said the guidance range represents total net subscriber additions of approximately 2.6 million to 2.8 million in 2006, or year-over-year subscriber growth of approximately 80 percent to 85 percent.

Last month, Sirius reported that its total revenue increased 150 percent year-over-year to $167.1 million for third quarter 2006, reflecting nearly three million new subscribers added in the last twelve months.

Sirius ended the third quarter 2006 with 5,119,308 subscribers, 135 percent above third quarter 2005 ending subscribers of 2,173,920. During the third quarter of 2006, Sirius added 441,101 net subscribers, a 23 percent increase over third quarter 2005 net subscriber additions of 359,294.

Recent Stories:

Sirius Revenue Increases 150% to $167.1-M; Net Loss Drops 21% to$162.9-M

Sirius to Launch its Internet Radio Service

Sirius Gains 0.441-M Subscribers vs. only 0.285-M for XM in 3Q

SES Sirius Clinches Major Contract for Occasional Satellite Capacity