Sirius XM Radio rolled out their new combined line up of channels this morning. I was an XM Radio customer before and inherited the Sirius channels. Highlights for me include:
- Howard Stern — Yes, I grew up listening to him in New York
- NFL Radio
- Elvis Radio
- Jam Band Radio
- Grateful Dead Radio
I can’t imagine commuting without satellite radio. It’s like over the air TV versus Cable TV.
However, their business is getting beaten down pretty badly. Just yesterday, Sirius XM Radio reported a $4.88 billion net loss for the third quarter. Subscriber growth is slowing due to the economy and they are facing $1 billion in debt which comes up next year! Yikes! Last I checked, there was an “issue” with our credit markets. Their stock is hobbling along at $0.25 a share. The satellite-radio company said it ended the third quarter with 18.9 million subscribers. That’s lower than than I expected and growth has been slowing over the past 4 quarters!
I will be very curious to see what happens to the service over the next few years.
Good service but bad business.
