New Reports Says XM, SIRIUS Both Meeting Satellite Radio Subscriber Goals

According to the SkyWaves Research Report both satellite radio companies enjoyed robust holiday sales and easily surpassed their most recently issued year-end targets. SkyWaves Research Report is an Ann Arbor, Michigan-based research publication covering the satellite radio industry.

Based on extensive channel checks, SkyWaves Research estimated that XM Satellite Radio booked 360,000 to 400,000 new subscriptions during the fourth quarter, for a year-end total of 1.29 million to 1.33 million subscribers. SkyWaves Research believes that XM will add at least 20,000 more subscribers during the first week of January due to post-holiday activations.

SkyWaves Research also estimated that Sirius Satellite Radio added 95,000 subscribers during the fourth quarter, for a year-end total of 230,000 to 240,000 subscribers. SkyWaves Research believes that Sirius will add 10,000 subscribers during the first week in January due to the post-holiday lag.

XM has consistently predicted more than 1.2 million subscribers by the end of 2003; Sirius had been predicting 330,000 subscribers by the end of 2003, but more recently lowered its prediction to more than 200,000 subscribers.

- from a SkyWaves Research Press Release