Sirius Satellite Radio has announced its financial results for the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2002.
For the quarter, Sirius reported an EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization and non-cash stock compensation) loss of $60,078,000 and a net loss applicable to common stockholders of $119,675,000 or $1.56 per share, versus an EBITDA loss of $37,529,000 and a net loss applicable to common stockholders of $57,406,000 or $1.06 per share, for the 2001 quarter.
Sirius launched its service nationwide on July 1, 2002, and had 11,821 subscribers on Sept. 30, 2002 and 16,136 subscribers as of Oct. 31, 2002. Subscriber revenue, which consists of subscription and activation fees, was offset by amounts accrued in connection with a mail-in rebate program. Mail-in rebates are paid by Sirius directly to subscribers and are recorded as a reduction to subscription revenue in the period the subscriber activates service. The mail-in rebate program resulted in negative subscriber revenue for the quarter, and reduced subscriber revenue for the nine months ended Sept. 30, 2002.
Advertising revenue was recognized from sales of spot announcements to advertisers on the non-music channels. Satellite and transmission expenses decreased to $8,140,000 from $8,294,000 for the 2001 quarter. Programming and content expenses increased to $4,199,000 from $2,377,000 for the 2001 quarter. This increase was primarily attributable to the cost of on-air talent and amounts paid to acquire programming.