Sirius XM Adds Listeners

Sirius XM Radio Inc's first-quarter revenue was boosted by more subscribers, but it said lower car sales in the wake of the earthquake in Japan could hurt its subscriber growth this year, according to a story by Liana B. Baker at reuters.com.

The company, home to programming by Howard Stern and Major League Baseball, depends on the car industry to attract new subscribers from new car owners who receive free radios in their vehicles. Its services are featured in several car brands, including Toyota Motor Corp.

About half of the listeners who receive a few months of free radio with their new car later sign up for the full service.

It added a better-than-expected 373,064 subscribers in the quarter, bringing its total listener base to 20.6 million people. Analysts were expecting additions in the 200,000s, according to Lazard Capital Markets analyst Barton Crockett.

The company left its subscriber forecast unchanged at 1.4 million additions this year. It would have raised its forecast were it not for supply issues stemming from the earthquake and tsunami in Japan two months ago, it said in a statement.

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