Sirius XM Radio today announced that it plans to release full year and fourth quarter 2011 financial and operating results on Thursday, February 9, 2012.

SiriusXM will hold a conference call at 8:00 am ET on Thursday, February 9, 2012 to discuss these results.  Investors and the press can listen to the conference call via the company’s website, www.siriusxm.com, and on its satellite radio service by tuning to Sirius channel 94 or XM channel 145.  The call will also be available on the Sports Zone channel on SiriusXM Internet Radio as well as through the SiriusXM Internet Radio App for the Apple iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch, and on BlackBerry and Android-powered smartphones.

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.

Sirius XM Radio announced today that it will air BBC Radio 1’s weekly show The Official Chart with Reggie Yates on 20 on 20, channel 3, beginning Sunday, January 15 at 4:00 pm ET.

The weekly countdown show will feature Reggie Yates counting down the UK’s top 40 songs of the week. The Official Chart with Reggie Yates will air on Sundays at 4:00 pm ET.

“We are always looking for ways to help our subscribers discover new music and track rising stars across many of our channels,” said Scott Greenstein, President and Chief Content Officer, SiriusXM. “The Official Chart with Reggie Yates is yet another way we offer our listeners the opportunity to discover the best new talent from an impeccable source, and it’s another way we keep our listeners connected to the BBC Radio 1 programming.”

BBC Radio 1 is available 24/7 on SiriusXM Internet Radio and on smartphones and mobile devices. In addition to being available online, SiriusXM airs “Live from the BBC Vault,” the series featuring concert broadcasts from the extensive and wide-ranging BBC Radio archive, on many of its music channels.

- Subscribers Exceed 21.3 Million, Net Adds of 334,000
– Record Revenue of $763 Million, Up 6%
– Record Adjusted EBITDA of $197 Million, Up 16%
– Free Cash Flow of $75 Million, Up 22%
– Net Income of $104 Million, Up 54%

Sirius XM Radio today announced third quarter 2011 results, including 21.3 million subscribers, net subscriber additions of 334,000, revenue of $763 million, up 6% over third quarter 2010 revenue of $718 million, and adjusted EBITDA of $197 million, up 16% from $170 million in the third quarter of 2010.

Sirius XM Radio will be raising the price of it’s basic service on January 1st 2012 to $14.49 (+ Royalty Fees). This will be the first price increase since 2002. Sirius XM was in a price freeze for the past 3 years since the merger was approved in 2008 but the price freeze was lifted by the FCC earlier this year.

Sirius XM also plans on adjusting prices to their other services on Jan 1st (Second Radio, Best Of…etc..etc..) but no statement was made on which services would be changed.

“This is the first price increase on our basic service packages since the addition of the NFL, NASCAR, Howard Stern, Martha Stewart and many college sports to our programming line-up,” CEO Mel Karmazin said in a statement earlier today. According to Karmazin the price increase amounts to a nickel more per day, which is still a great value for all the programming listeners can access.

Sirius XM plans on launching Satellite Radio 2.0 next month which will include 30 additional channels. There is still no released pricing structure for the new service.

According to Joseph Palenchar at Twice.com, VP of retail sales Mike Roberts announced that Satellite Radio 2.0 will launch next month.

Robert’s said the first universal tuner, intended for in-vehicle installation and connection to multiple brands of satellite-ready head units, will not support 2.0 service, but a new version will be available with 2.0 compatibility next year.

Satellite Radio 2.0 will offer 30 additional channels of service which will be transmitted through XM Radios satellites. Sirius Satellites will not broadcast the new service and Roberts expects auto makers currently offering Sirius receivers to move to the XM platform. It has been a rumor that Sirius XM would slowly transition to the XM platform and Satellite Radio 2.0 looks to be the first step towards the transition.

As previously mentioned the two new Satellite Radio 2.0 receivers will offer replay and time-shift functions (some current models already offer this function). The additional channels will also be available through Sirius Xm online, these On-Demand Music and Talk channels should be available by early next year.

According to Roberts Sirius XM will use “Bandwidth Cloning” technology to offer these 30 additional channels with no loss in audio quality.

More information as it becomes available.

Sirius XM Radio today announced that Mel Karmazin, its Chief Executive Officer, is expected to speak at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Media, Communications and Entertainment Conference in Beverly Hills, CA, on Wednesday, September 14, 2011 at approximately10:30 am PT.

An audio webcast of the presentation will be available via the Investor Relations section of the company’s website, www.siriusxm.com.

According to a report by Billboard.biz SiriusXM Radio, via Music Reports Inc., is attempting to directly license music from record labels, bypassing their current licensing deal with SoundExchange.

SiriusXM is looking to expand it’s licensing which would give more functionality to current subscribers. The new licensing agreement would allow subscribers to record programming blocks and also rewind and fast-forward the recorded segments. Additionally SiriusXM would offer the ability to have music cached locally on Radios (Sirius XM 2.0 Compatible Radios) and Applications (SiriusXM App) that support the feature. SiriusXM would also need to obtain a waiver from the sound recording performance complement of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, which currently limits how many times songs from a single artist can be played within an hour.

According to the report SiriusXM will not allow subscribers to transfer music to other devices and once a subscription expires all cached and recorded content will not be accessible.

Sirius is offering to pay a royalty rate of 7% gross revenues.  SiriusXM currently pays 7.5% to SoundExchange (SoundExchange deducts its overhead costs before paying out collected royalties). According to the report royalty rates are scheduled to increase to 8% in 2012.

According to a statement from SiriusXM ”We’ve had a mutually beneficial partnership with the music industry for years and we welcome the opportunity to strengthen that relationship by entering into direct licenses with all record labels regardless of size. SiriusXM provides a unique opportunity for artists to be heard by a national audience of more than 21 million subscribers and nearly 40 million listeners. SiriusXM listeners have diverse listening interests that are not satisfied by other audio entertainment platforms and regard SiriusXM as an influential platform for new and established repertoire.”

If SiriusXM moves to direct licensing the full royalty rate will be paid directly to the labels. Currently SoundExchange makes payments and splits royalties evenly between the artist and the label. Labels that directly license music to SiriusXM would then be responsible for paying the artist.

The most important part of this deal for SiriusXM is the ability to add the new functionality to subscribers, royalty payments aside moving to Direct Licensing is the most important aspect for Sirius XM 2.0.

It was also mentioned earlier this week that SiriusXM would be raising prices due to the FCC lifting the merger price freeze, expect the 1% Raise in Royalty Fees to be passed on to listeners once this deal is complete.

Without any warning or reason it appears that Sirius XM Radio has dropped the popular BBC Radio 1 from it’s channel lineup.

As of this morning BBC Radio 1 is no longer on Sirius XM Radio. There was no warning that the channel would be removed and the only mention is on the BBC Radio 1 page that states

A Note to BBC Radio 1 Listeners BBC Radio 1 is no longer available on SiriusXM. Many of the songs heard on BBC Radio 1 can be heard on SiriusXM Hits 1 (Ch. 2) or 20 on 20 (Ch. 3),Alt Nation (Ch. 36), The Heat (Ch. 47) and BPM (Ch. 51). For a British perspective on the news you can listen to BBC World Service (Ch. 118).

BBC Radio 1 which operated out of the U.K. by the BBC  broadcasted current popular music, chart hits and news updates throughout the day. The Sirius XM station was time shifted five hours so that U.S. and Canadian listeners in the Eastern Time Zone could hear Radio 1 at the same time as UK listeners.

This post will be updated if any more information becomes available. As of right now the Sirius XM CSR we spoke to has no information on the removal.

Update: BBC Radio 1 will be replaced by Classic Dance “Studio 54 Radio” on 8/15.

• Subscribers Exceed 21 Million, an All-Time High
• Record Revenue of $744 Million, Up 6% Over Second Quarter 2010
• Record Adjusted EBITDA of $185 Million, Up 20% Over Second Quarter 2010
• Company Raises Guidance; 1.6 Million Net Subscriber Additions and Free Cash Flow Approaching $400 Million Expected in 2011

Sirius XM Radio today announced second quarter 2011 results, including revenue of $744 million, up 6% over second quarter 2010 revenue of $700 million, and adjusted EBITDA of $185 million, up 20% from $154 million in the second quarter of 2010.

“Our results in the second quarter were strong, and we are proud of our record levels of subscribers, revenue, and adjusted EBITDA and growth in free cash flow. SiriusXM continues to perform well, and we are pleased to raise our subscriber guidance and, for the second time this year, our free cash flow guidance,” said Mel Karmazin, Chief Executive Officer, SiriusXM.

Highlights from the quarter include:

Subscriber growth continues. Auto sales growth and higher OEM penetration year-over-year drove ending subscribers as of June 30, 2011 to 21,016,175, up 8% from the 19,527,448 subscribers reported as of June 30, 2010. Self-pay net additions in the second quarter of 2011 were 362,663, up 19% from 304,043 in the second quarter of 2010.
Churn stable. Average self-pay monthly churn was 1.9% in the second quarter 2011, compared to 2.0% in the first quarter 2011 and 1.8% in the second quarter of 2010.
SAC improves. Subscriber acquisition cost (SAC) per gross subscriber addition was $54 in the second quarter of 2011, an 8% improvement from the $59 reported in the second quarter of 2010.

“Demand for satellite radio continues to grow, with gross additions reaching the highest level of any quarter since the merger of Sirius and XM. Our all-time high OEM penetration rate is a reflection of the automakers’ satisfaction and their commitment to offer our service to their customers,” said Karmazin. “We intend to drive future growth through innovations to our satellite and internet platforms, with the goal of better delivering our unparalleled content to our valued customers. We’re also excited to launch a variety of additional new music and talk channels later this year.”

Free cash flow in the second quarter of 2011 was $165 million, a 53% improvement from the $108 million reported in the second quarter 2010. These improvements were driven by cash received from the Canada merger, a decline in satellite capital expenditures, and improved adjusted EBITDA. Net income in the second quarters of 2011 and 2010 was $173 million and $15 million, respectively, or $0.03 and $0.00 per diluted share, respectively.

“We ended the second quarter with $528 million of cash and cash equivalents after using approximately $75 million to repurchase debt in the second quarter,” said David Frear, SiriusXM’s Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. “We continue to make steady progress toward reaching our leverage target. Our net debt to adjusted EBITDA declined to 3.7x at the end of the second quarter of 2011 from 5.2x at the end of the second quarter of 2010. The company is examining ways to start efficiently returning capital to shareholders beginning in 2012,” added Frear.

The discussion of adjusted EBITDA excludes the effects of stock-based compensation and certain purchase price accounting adjustments. A reconciliation of non-GAAP items to their nearest GAAP equivalent is contained in the financial supplements included with this release.

2011 GUIDANCE

“With the excellent subscriber performance recorded in the first half of 2011, we are now confident that we will exceed our previously announced 1.4 million net subscriber addition guidance for 2011. Today we are raising our full-year guidance to a projected 1.6 million net subscriber additions,” added Karmazin. “After a strong first half, we now expect free cash flow in 2011 will approach $400 million, up from our prior guidance of approaching $350 million.”

In 2011, the company continues to expect full-year revenue of approximately $3 billion. SiriusXM’s adjusted EBITDA projection remains at approximately $715 million. Full year self-pay churn and conversion rates for 2011 should be broadly similar to those seen in 2010.

To read the full press release click here (PDF).