Reversing subscriber losses from a year earlier, Sirius XM Radio reported that it added 583,249 net subscribers in Q2 of 2010. That brought net additions for the first half of the year to 754,690, a dramatic improvement from the loss of 590,421 in the first half of 2009.
The addition of well over a half million new subs in Q2 compared to a loss of 185,999 for the same quarter a year earlier.
Sirius XM noted that ended the second quarter with a record-high 19,527,448 subscribers, an increase of more than 1.1 million subscribers from June 30, 2009.
With auto sales rebounding and its own marketing efforts making headway, the satellite radio company increased its full year 2010 subscriber guidance for the third time. The company said it now expects net additions of approximately 1.1 million subs in 2010.
“Our subscriber results mark the best quarter of gross additions, deactivations and net additions since the merger of Sirius and XM in July 2008. The strong execution in both adding subscribers and retaining them resulted in our record-high 19.5 million subscriber milestone, despite continued economic uncertainty,” said CEO Mel Karmazin. “The further improvement in our guidance reflects the attractiveness of satellite radio but maintains a cautious outlook for continued improvement in the economy,” he added.
Sirius XM said it plans to release full second quarter 2010 financial results in August.
Sirius XM also announced the following additional Q2 subscriber metrics on Wednesday:
— Gross additions increased by 46% and deactivations decreased by 8% compared to the second quarter of 2009;
— Self-pay churn improved to 1.8% for the second quarter of 2010 from 2.0% for the second quarter of 2009; and
— The conversion rate from a trial subscription included in the sale of a vehicle to a self-pay subscription improved in the second quarter of 2010 to 46.7%, up from 44.3% for the second quarter of 2009.
RBR-TVBR observation: Even as it grows subscribers, revenues and (likely) cash flow, Sirius XM has seen its stock price slide back down below a buck. If it stays there for a while we could see another delisting dance with Nasdaq, which would probably be drawn out long enough for the stock price to recover. Spanish Broadcasting System is in the same boat, but both SBS and Sirius XM would need only a modest rally to get back above the $1.00 threshold..
