NEW YORK, May 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- SIRIUS Satellite Radio today reaffirmed its guidance of more than 6.2 million subscribers by year-end 2006, representing an 87% increase over the company's subscriber base at the end of 2005. The company continues to expect to add more than 2.8 million net subscribers during the year.
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"We continue to experience dramatic growth and strong demand for our service across our retail and automotive OEM channels," said Mel Karmazin, CEO of SIRIUS. "This supports our expectation that we will capture the majority of retail satellite radio net additions in 2006."
According to The NPD Group*, SIRIUS achieved 54% retail market share in April 2006, compared to 38% retail market share in April 2005. For 2006 year-to-date, SIRIUS has achieved 58% retail market share, compared to 40% retail market share through April 2005. Also according to The NPD Group*, SIRIUS achieved 55% year-over-year retail unit growth in April 2006 and a 120% increase year-to-date.
SIRIUS' first quarter of positive free cash flow, after capital expenditures, could be reached as early as the fourth quarter of 2006, and the company continues to expect to generate positive free cash flow for the full- year 2007.
*Source: "The NPD Group. POS retailer information does not include sales
from Wal-Mart, Clubs, and direct sales."
About SIRIUS
SIRIUS delivers more than 125 channels of the best programming in all of radio. SIRIUS is the original and only home of 100% commercial free music channels in satellite radio, offering 67 music channels available nationwide. SIRIUS also delivers 61 channels of sports, news, talk, entertainment, traffic, weather and data. SIRIUS is the Official Satellite Radio Partner of the NFL, NBA and NHL and broadcasts live play-by-play games of the NFL, NBA and NHL. All SIRIUS programming is available for a monthly subscription fee of only $12.95.
SIRIUS products for the car, truck, home, RV and boat are available in more than 25,000 retail locations, including Best Buy, Circuit City, Crutchfield, Costco, Target, Wal-Mart, Sam's Club, RadioShack and at shop.sirius.com.
SIRIUS radios are offered in vehicles from Audi, BMW, Chrysler, Dodge, Ford, Infiniti, Jaguar, Jeep(R), Land Rover, Lexus, Lincoln-Mercury, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, MINI, Nissan, Scion, Toyota, Porsche, Volkswagen and Volvo. Hertz also offers SIRIUS in its rental cars at major locations around the country.
Click on http://www.sirius.com/ to listen to SIRIUS live, or to purchase a SIRIUS radio and subscription.
Any statements that express, or involve discussions as to, expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, assumptions, future events or performance with respect to SIRIUS Satellite Radio Inc. are not historical facts and may be forward-looking and, accordingly, such statements involve estimates, assumptions and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements. Accordingly, any such statements are qualified in their entirety by reference to the factors discussed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2005 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Among the key factors that have a direct bearing on our operational results are: our dependence upon third parties, including manufacturers of SIRIUS radios, retailers, automakers and programming partners, our competitive position and any events which affect the useful life of our satellites.
G-SIRI
Contact: Jim Collins
SIRIUS Satellite Radio
212-901-6422
