late...but, news none-the-less...........
Wednesday March 27, 8:32 pm Eastern Time
Sirius Targets 100,000-200,000 Subscribers By Year End
NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Sirius Satellite Radio (SIRI) expects to have about 100,000 to 200,000 subscribers by the end of the year as the company rolls out broadcast service nationwide, said President and Chief Executive Joseph Clayton on Wednesday.
For more than a decade, the New York satellite radio broadcaster had been a development-stage company, before launching service this past Valentines' Day and securing its first subscription last month. From its incorporation on May 17, 1990 , through Dec. 31, 2001 , Sirius incurred capital expenditures, excluding capitalized interest, of about $939 million and total losses of about $505 million, on no revenue. At Dec. 31 , the company listed total debt at $672 million.
Now, after testing its technology in four metropolitan markets, Sirius is hard at work battling for market share against XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. ( XMSR), a competitor that beat Sirius to the market.
Sirius's launch in four cities on Feb. 14 came after months of delays that let XM Satellite roll out its service nationwide in November for $9.99 a month. XM Satellite, which had more than 27,000 subscribers on Dec. 31 , expects to have 70,000 subscribers by the end of the first quarter and 350,000 customers by the end of the year.
Chief Financial Officer John Scelfo said the company expects acquisition costs of about $155 per new subscriber in 2002, higher than analysts' expectations, because Sirius had to catch up to XM Satellite's head start.
Clayton hopes to have service in 18 more states in the next 30 days, and a total of 39 states within the next 60 days. Full nationwide distribution is slated for July 1 .
In the meantime, Sirius is spending substantial funds on advertising and marketing and in deals with car and radio manufacturers to attract subscribers.
Sirius radios are currently available at nearly 200 electronic retail outlets, including Circuit City and Best Buy (NYSE: BBY - news) . By July 1 , that figure is expected to grow to about 3,500. Sirius also has alliances with automakers DaimlerChrysler, Ford, BMW and Volkswagen/Audi to include Sirius radios in their vehicles. On Wednesday, Japanese automaker Nissan Motor Co . (NSANY) said it would install Sirius and XM Satellite radios on some 2003 Nissan and Infinity vehicles through distribution agreements with the two companies.
