Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. accelerated gains against larger competitor XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc., adding more customers for the third straight quarter.
Sirius gained more than 600,000 net subscribers in the second quarter compared with 398,000 additions at Washington-based XM Satellite, the companies said Thursday. XM’s customer total rose to 6.89 million, while New York-based Sirius had 4.68 million.
XM Satellite struggled to win subscribers as its new portable radios failed to meet regulatory standards and Sirius made gains with shock jock Howard Stern. XM Satellite will have to add 1.61 million subscribers in the next six months to meet its goal of 8.5 million by year-end.
“They were pretty handicapped this quarter,” said David Bank, an analyst with RBC Capital Markets. “Sirius took some market share from them, particularly as XM didn’t have as much inventory in the channel and didn’t support it with promotional spending.”
Related Posts
- Everyone’s Aiming at Satellite Radio
- Satellite radio goes upstream via Web
- Stern freebie kicks off new online radio service
- Is the Sirius & XM satellite radio merger good for rural America?
- Sprint, Sirius unveil wireless music deal
Loading ...
