SiriusXM Adds Approximately 1,700,000 Net Subscribers in 2011

admin

Administrator
Staff member
Oct 7, 2008
1,382
4
38
newsiriusxmlogo.jpg


Sirius XM Radio at a conference today announced that it ended the year with nearly 21.9 million subscribers, reporting approximately 540,000 net new subscribers in the fourth quarter and approximately 1,700,000 for the full year 2011.

“Based on preliminary subscriber data, we are very pleased to announce that SiriusXM exceeded its subscriber guidance for the year.* Our subscriber growth accelerated in 2011 as net additions grew approximately 20%, delivering our best year for net additions since the merger and demonstrating the strong continuing demand for our unmatched audio content,” said*Mel Karmazin, Chief Executive Officer, SiriusXM.

The company reiterated its existing financial guidance for 2011 and 2012 and expects to announce 2012 subscriber guidance and complete 2011 results in February.




---
View the original Article at Digital Radio Magazine or discuss it here.
 

DAB

Mod Emeritus
Oct 9, 2008
9,434
149
63
Louisiana
I am amazed at their subscriber numbers and they continue to add with very low churn. What will be interesting is to see the next 3 to 6 months if churn goes up with the price increase.

I just renewed mine, which I am usually on a quarterly plan. When I called in, I wanted to make sure they didn't bill me for a full year since I was on a promo and notice online that when they did the promo they switched me to a yearly renewal. Needless to say the guy offered me another deal and I never even said I was canceling. I got 6 months for the price of 3, which is fine by me. Now they have me on a semi-annual renewal, so I'll call in again in July.
 

Vargas

Molon Labe!
Oct 16, 2008
3,426
153
63
Western, PA
I wonder how many of these are INTERNET only? If I did not travel so much, I would do the Internet only in a second.

Glad the numbers were good. And think, they did that with NO new radios or technology in 2011.

Interesting to see if the LYNX adds any subs.
 

MAJ Badmotherfarker

is drinking a beer.
Oct 11, 2008
8,461
211
63
Washington D.C.
I wonder how many of these are INTERNET only? If I did not travel so much, I would do the Internet only in a second.

Glad the numbers were good. And think, they did that with NO new radios or technology in 2011.

Interesting to see if the LYNX adds any subs.

Pretty much every new car now comes with Sirius-XM. That has to be a huge driving force.
 

Vargas

Molon Labe!
Oct 16, 2008
3,426
153
63
Western, PA
Pretty much every new car now comes with Sirius-XM. That has to be a huge driving force.

I wonder if I"m counted in this.

New company car had sirius xm.

Free preview ran out in december. I cancelled my Stiletto SATELLITE sub but kept the internet portion on it and activated my company car.

Does an account transfer to a new radio count?
 

TSS Taylor

DRC Fan
Oct 9, 2008
3,501
202
63
Chicago, IL
www.tss-radio.com
New and Used Cars are where all the new subscribers come from. The internet would be a fraction of those and then something like the Lynx even in 6 months time would probably only be a very small fraction of the Internet subscribers. It's a very niche product.
 

geosync

Well-Known Member
Oct 13, 2008
2,471
500
118
Portland, Or
Wow almost 22 million. The price increase will be interesting. Most folks I suspect won't know about it til they get the bill to pay.
 

Vols44

Well-Known Member
Oct 18, 2008
1,228
143
63
The XM side is the new cash king. The portion of Sirius subscribers being held hostage due to separate billing departments keeps cancellations to a minimum.

Since more folks are buying new American brand (some foreign models have satrad) the bottom line looks better.
 

Jon

Well-Known Member
Dec 16, 2008
15,259
5,279
168
They won't pull a Netflix, they're not that stupid. But they're going to have to get some synergy with the billing departments and who has what service and what equipment, and throw a bone to the lifetime subscribers who need to switch over.
 

DAB

Mod Emeritus
Oct 9, 2008
9,434
149
63
Louisiana
I wonder what percentage of people even check their bills. I bet a lot of people with recurring bills don't even look.

I think in the case of semi annual and annual recurring charges that most would take notice. It isn't like a monthly charge that just shows up every month and you eventually just don't pay attention. If you bill suddenly goes up by $200 you are likely going to pay attention to that.

It would also depend on how tight ones funds are too. If folks are on a tight budget then they would be more likely to notice.

My visa check card I hardly pay any attention too, but my regular charge cards I go over like a fun tooth comb. I probably should do the same with check card too, but I don't.
 

HecticArt

Administrator
Oct 19, 2008
49,832
17,485
168
Toledo, Ohio
They won't pull a Netflix, they're not that stupid. But they're going to have to get some synergy with the billing departments and who has what service and what equipment, and throw a bone to the lifetime subscribers who need to switch over.

Yeah, after the Netflix fiasco, the CEO came out and said, Um, oops, we got cocky and screwed up. Um, sorry?

It looks like Sirius is starting to let people switch over. They just aren't going out of their way to let people know that they can do it, or how to do it.
 

Jon

Well-Known Member
Dec 16, 2008
15,259
5,279
168
Yeah, after the Netflix fiasco, the CEO came out and said, Um, oops, we got cocky and screwed up. Um, sorry?

It looks like Sirius is starting to let people switch over. They just aren't going out of their way to let people know that they can do it, or how to do it.

And I didn't really have an issue with what Netflix did since I wound up switching to streaming-only for $8 a month. Been worth every penny. Seems to me Sirius has that kind of loyalty. If half the subscribers quit because of bad customer service a lot of companies would be screwed. Not an excuse, but that doesn't make it less true.
 

HecticArt

Administrator
Oct 19, 2008
49,832
17,485
168
Toledo, Ohio
And I didn't really have an issue with what Netflix did since I wound up switching to streaming-only for $8 a month. Been worth every penny. Seems to me Sirius has that kind of loyalty. If half the subscribers quit because of bad customer service a lot of companies would be screwed. Not an excuse, but that doesn't make it less true.

I don't really have an issue with them either, but I haven't ever tried them since I'm an old guy. ;)
You've got to keep in touch with your customer base no mater what you're selling.
 

DAB

Mod Emeritus
Oct 9, 2008
9,434
149
63
Louisiana
And I didn't really have an issue with what Netflix did since I wound up switching to streaming-only for $8 a month. Been worth every penny. Seems to me Sirius has that kind of loyalty. If half the subscribers quit because of bad customer service a lot of companies would be screwed. Not an excuse, but that doesn't make it less true.

The big thing with Netflix was them going up on their price, failing to offer any kind of discounted tier for those that wanted both streaming and DVD/Blu-Ray Service. Then suddenly saying we are going to spin off the DVD service under a new domain and oh yeah all that stuff you have in your cue won't be copied over, so you'll have to start over. They just clearly didn't think this who deal through.

I have the streaming service only which I had already switched too long before they did this change. It is a great service!

Sirius XM isn't known for doing things in a dramatic fashion, in fact most of the time they have to be skull drug to get them to change for the better.

Hec I've never heard of anyone being too old for Netflix. I am almost 53 and watch it a great deal, love the old movies!
 

HecticArt

Administrator
Oct 19, 2008
49,832
17,485
168
Toledo, Ohio
The big thing with Netflix was them going up on their price, failing to offer any kind of discounted tier for those that wanted both streaming and DVD/Blu-Ray Service. Then suddenly saying we are going to spin off the DVD service under a new domain and oh yeah all that stuff you have in your cue won't be copied over, so you'll have to start over. They just clearly didn't think this who deal through.

I have the streaming service only which I had already switched too long before they did this change. It is a great service!

Sirius XM isn't known for doing things in a dramatic fashion, in fact most of the time they have to be skull drug to get them to change for the better.

Hec I've never heard of anyone being too old for Netflix. I am almost 53 and watch it a great deal, love the old movies!

Wow. You are old. :jj:
Maybe I'm just too cheap then......

Actually, our new TV has the Netflix app included. I think we need to upgrade our internet speed a bit for it to work well. I'll get around to checking into it one of these days.
 

Grüpsaar

DRC Forum Bum
Oct 11, 2008
2,361
100
63
36
Anytown, WI
www.youtube.com
Good to see the number exceed what they project. I agree, churn and number growth this coming year will be interesting to see as the service fledges out into 2.0 more and the rates are officially raised and people start seeing it on their bill.