Report: Content Gives SiriusXM An Edge

Howard Stern

Consumers can obtain some of the content that is available on Sirius XM from free terrestrial radio stations or an Internet-enabled service like Pandora or Apple's  iTunes Radio for free or through small subscription fees. However, a Motley Fool article says a large portion of the content available on Sirius XM is available exclusively on the satellite service, and the company has a large amount of its own content in its channel line-up.

In addition to being a high-quality content distributor, Sirius XM creates its own content and this gives the company a big competitive advantage over rival offerings, whether through Internet services or free radio. A number of the 150 channels which are available from Sirius XM are exclusive and very different from others.

Very popular Sirius shows that feature Howard Stern have done very well to keep the subscriber base tuning in to the company's service. The number of subscribers who listen to the uncensored shows on Howard Stern's channels is not crystal clear, but he previously had approximately 12 million listeners on terrestrial radio before joining Sirius XM. His long-term affiliation with Sirius XM is a big plus for the company, as the firm spends a lot of money for his channels.

An estimated 60% of Sirius XM users have been listening to his highly controversial shows. Since Sirius XM has more than 25.8 million subscribers, that is a substantial amount of viewers for the company. However, that's not all. Sirius XM is constantly adding more live events, music shows, and concerts to its programming line-up and keeping its large subscriber base highly engaged.

The company has a massive line-up of sports, talk, and music channels in its offerings that offer users a distinctly different experience from free radio. Such a broad array of differentiated content has enabled Sirius XM to have a very low monthly average churn rate of 1.9% among paying subscribers, and this is a very good churn rate for a subscription business under most scenarios.

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