TORONTO – Canadian Satellite Radio said today that subscriptions are rolling in faster than anticipated.
"To date, our subscriptions are running ahead of management expectations, but we maintain a position of providing prudent guidance to the market, potential investors and our shareholders," said John Bitove, the CEO of CSR and XM Canada.
Bitove will say tomorrow at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas that XM Canada will end fiscal 2006 (August 31st) with 75,000 subscribers. CSR projects to achieve one million subscribers by August 31, 2010. The service launched in Canada on November 22, 2005.
"We are excited to be a Canadian public company participating in the world’s largest trade show, where the technological changes that consumers will embrace in the near future are on display," added Bitove.
Competitor Sirius Canada has not made any public statements on sub numbers and doesn’t have to since it is a private company owned by Standard Broadcasting, the CBC and SIRIUS (U.S.)
CSR went public late in 2005.
XM Canada’s guidance figures provided “are based on subscriptions to date, management projections of future subscriptions, auto manufacturers’ factory installs and the growth of XM Satellite Radio Inc. subscriptions in the U.S. XM Canada(TM) has an exclusive Canadian license from XM Satellite Radio, the leading satellite radio provider in the U.S. with more than six million subscribers,” says the company.
Bitove will provide the CSR guidance figures during an XM Satellite Radio investor forum at CES on Friday.
"Although many will consider CSR’s projection of one million subs by 2010 a very conservative number, given our brief history as a public company, we prefer to be conservative," said Bitove.
On January 4, 2006, as reported here, XM Satellite Radio projected that it would exceed nine million subscribers in the U.S. by the end of 2006.
CSR and XM Canada(TM) expect to eventually leverage and benefit from numerous recent announcements by XM Satellite Radio Inc. and hardware manufacturers. The announcements include:
* Samsung announced three new portable audio models that combine the content and capabilities of XM radio and a high-quality MP3 player.
* Pioneer Electronics (USA) unveiled a portable XM2go satellite radio that plays live satellite radio "on the go" and both MP3s and WMAs.
* XM Satellite Radio is introducing the XM Advanced Services vehicle at the 2006 Consumer Electronics Show. Working with several partners, this concept car features in-car video (On2 Technologies), voice command (VoiceBox Technologies), weather alerts (WxWorx), parking spot locator (Nu-Metrics, Inc. and InfoGation) and other innovations.
* Audiovox presented the XM Passport, a tiny portable tuner that delivers XM to an expanded selection of XM-ready products for home, auto and portable use utilizing XM Connect and Play technology.
* Advanced Global Technology, LLC (AGT) introduced the Sportscaster, the latest plug and play satellite radio for enjoying XM in the car, at home or on the go. The receiver has unique functions and portable options designed for sports fans.
"CSR and XM Canada(TM) are excited about all of these new products and technological developments for XM listeners throughout North America, and we will work with XM, manufacturers and retailers to bring the receivers into Canada as soon as possible," said Stephen Tapp, XM Canada’s president and COO.
