by Andrew Spalter
Courtesy of Consumer Affairs [1]
Seriously, what is Sirius XM [2]?
Sirius XM is a commercial-free listening service that is always in your grasp. Whether it be by smartphone, tablet, computer, home, or even car, you can always listen to Sirius XM radio within Wifi or Cellular range. The channels consist of every genre, play-by-play sports, news and talk, and the biggest/hottest entertainment, 24/7.
Sirius XM has over 175+ channels that range from every genre of music to some of the most listened to entertainment channels in the world, including the wildcard, Howard Stern [3]. With over 26 million subscribers [4] Sirius is one of the largest most subscribed to Music Streaming/Radio service.
Courtesy of Maple Crest for Lincoln Union [5]
Who is in Charge [6] Here?
James E. Meyer (CEO) -Courtesy of SBU.edu [7]
Scott Greenstein (President & Chief Content Officer) -Courtesy of IMBD.com [8]
Dara Altman (Left) (Executive VP & Chief Administrative Officer) -Courtesy of New York Social Diary [9]
Patrick L. Donnelly (Executive VP & General Counsel) -Courtesy of Pli.edu [10]
Closing the previous weekend, Sirius XM (SIRI) [12] is trading at $3.63. Since Sirius XM is a publicly traded company, their total company revenue has sky rocketed the past few years. Going from a $3 Billion revenue to closing at a $3.8 Billion revenue last year. Sirius XM is the largest radio broadcaster [4] and their revenue stream comes from their 26.7 million subscribers. A large amount of their 26.7 million subscribers comes from their vast array of listening devices that their service can be installed on. Everything from a smartphone to a car has the ability to obtain Sirius XM. Along with their multiple ways to be listened to, they have a huge range of genres and entertainment stations including, Howard Stern, Oprah, Pink Floyd, Frank Sinatra, and Tiesto.
-Courtesy of Google Search [13]
Competitors? Who? [14]
Who can compete with a company this large and with fans this loyal and committed into yearly contracts? Not many in fact. Companies such as Pandora [15], or Apple/iTunes [16] (radio), Spotify (Radio) [17], etc., are the closest competitors to Sirius XM. The reason that these particular apps/companies are competitors is due to the fact that you can pay for their radio service. These companies that are competitors to that of Sirius XM are extremely different due to the fact that you cannot instal those streaming services in your car [18] or home. Although, now with new technology you are able to store the application version of these companies into your car, home, phone, and tablet. They are slowly approaching that of the power of Sirius XM, but slowly.
History of Sirius XM
Before Sirius XM was Sirius XM there was a Sirius Radio and a XM Radio, separately. In July of 2008 Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio announced that they had completed their merger [19].
Courtesy of Toplessactions.com [20]
Since then the companies have been called Sirius XM radio and instead of mainly cars only offering Sirius, or XM radio, they offer Sirius XM radio. Before the huge merge, in 2000 the FCC allowed satellite radio to be deployed, thus the launch of three satellites [21] into orbit from Kazakhstan in July. Soon after that Sirius secured partnerships with Chrysler, Ford, and BMW and in 2002 they launched the initial phase of its service in the cities of Denver, Houston, Phoenix, and Jackson, MS [22] in February of 2002, then in July Sirius spread nationwide.
Where can YOU find Sirius XM?
With Sirius covering of 3,717,792 [23] square miles of coast to coast coverage, and with a reach of 200 miles off shore, Sirius XM goes where you go. The satellite radio service can be found in vehicles built by GM, Ford, Chrysler, Toyota, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Hyundai, Honda, Nissan, Audi, and Volkswagen [24].
Courtesy of Siriusxm.com [25]
Not only can you find the satellite radio in 11 car companies but you can listen to the service in your car, home, boat, plane, business, or even on the go from your Smartphone, Tablet, and Computer. Other places that are capable of playing from Sirius XM are Android devices, the Kindle Fire, Blu-ray & Media Players, Home Audio, Custom Audio, and Smart TV’s. [26]
What’s Happening at Sirius XM, What Can You Expect?
Recently you may have heard that Sirius XM and their competitor Pandora have been slammed with a series of lawsuits over older recordings. The reason beyond these lawsuits is due to the fact that neither company pays record labels or artists for songs that were recorded before the year 1972. This was due to the copyright protection that was first applied to recordings via Federal copyright protection [27].
Courtesy of Bloggless.com [28]
Overall both companies lost their lawsuits but this is a big awakening and a step forward for music subscription via satellite. When one door closes another one opens and due to these lawsuits Sirius XM will be paying artists and labels appropriately, creating lasting business relationships.
Upcoming News/Numbers
Contrary to popular belief, Sirius XM was not always so profitable. Only a few months after their merger in 2008, Sirius was on the cusp of declaring bankruptcy but with the help of a $530 million loan from Liberty Media in 2009, Mel Karmazin was able to negotiate a deal for 40% equity stake in Sirius XM. Then in their fourth quarter of 2009, Sirius XM reported a profit of income of a little over $14 million [29], since then it has all been up hill. They even released a statement via their companies investor site stating, “We expect to double factory installed vehicles to over 100 million by 2018 and plan to offer our unique content and valuable entertainment to even more customers in the future.” (Jim Meyer, President, Sirius XM) [30] In 2012 this statement was released and during that time, Sirius XM was in over 50 million cars. Their goal is coming into fruition with adding nearly half a million subscribers per quarter. Maybe it won’t hit 100-million vehicles, but they are constantly raising the bar higher and higher. The company Sirius XM has made a complete turned a complete 180 from being nearly bankrupt to a company that substantially increases profit each quarter.
Sources:
1. Sirius XM Logo, Consumeraffairs.com, RT: 11/20/2014
2. What is Sirius XM?, Siriusxm.com, RT: 11/20/2014
3. Howard Stern Info, Siriusxm.com/howard100, RT: 11/20/2014
4. Subscriber Info, Siriusxm.com/corporate, RT: 11/20/2014
5. Channel Listings, Maplecrestfordlincolnunion.com, RT: 11/21/2014
6. Executives, Siriusxm.com/bios, RT: 11/20/2014
7. James E. Meyer, Sbu.edu, RT: 11/20/2104
8. Scott Greenstien, Imdb.com, RT: 11/21/2014
9. Dara Altman, Newyorksocialdiary.com, RT: 11/21/2014
10. Patrick L. Donnelly, Pli.edu, RT: 11/21/2014
11. Sirius XM Financials, Investor.siriusxm.com, RT: 11/21/2014
12. Sirius XM Stock, Finance.yahoo.com, RT: 11/21/2014
13. Sirius XM Stock Google, Google.com, RT: 11/21/2014
14. Competitors, Fool.com, RT: 11/21/2014
15. Pandora Info, Pandora.com, RT: 11/21/2014
16. Apple Info, Apple.com, RT: 11/21/2014
17. Spotify Info, Support.spotify.com, RT: 11/22/2014
18. Apple In Car Display, Apple.com, RT: 11/22/2014
19. Merger Info, Investor.siriusxm.com, RT: 11/22/2014
20. Sirius Satellite & XM Picture, Topclassactions.com, RT: 11/22/2014
21. Satellite Info, Archive.fortune.com, RT: 11/22/2014
22. Where Sirius Started, Radiomagonline.com, RT: 11/22/2014
23. Sirius Mileage Coverage, Siriusxm.com/whatissiriusxm, RT: 11/22/2014
24. List of Vehicles Sirius is in, Siriusxm.com/internetradio, RT: 11/22/2014
25. Image of Vehicle List, Nytimes.com, RT: 11/22/2014
26. List of Devices, Siriusxm.com/internetradio, RT: 11/22/2014
27. Lawsuit, Nytimes.com, RT: 11/22/2014
28. Copyright Image, Bloggless.com, RT: 11/22/2014
29. Revenue, Nytimes.com, RT: 11/22/2014
30. Jim Meyer Quote, Siriusxm.com, RT: 11/22/2014