Q2 Conference Call: Sirius Comments On Impact Of XMSR's Oprah Launch In September
On the Q2 earnings conference call, James Dix of Deutsche Bank asks:
"In the fourth quarter, are you assuming a better than parity share this quarter? One follow-up on that would be your competitor certainly expected an impact last fourth quarter from your launch of Howard Stern.
What impact do you expect from their launch of Oprah in September?"
Mel Karmazin answers:
"Yes, we fully expect to have more than parity share at retail in the fourth quarter. By the way, we see no signs that that is not the case and that is not going to happen. We were particularly focused on looking at what happened in the second quarter because again, our competitor has baseball. If content were going to drive a subscriber, baseball in that second quarter -- much like the NFL in the fourth quarter -- would be a driver. So we see no reason to believe that we won't have better than parity, which means better than 50%.
Jim Meyer adds:
Just one thing to add on the content side in relation to Oprah. We feel, as Mel mentioned, not only is the programming strong but with women we have very strong exclusive women's programming that is on a consistent 24/7 basis, whether it is the Martha Stewart channels, the Cosmopolitan channel, now the launch of the Barbara Walters specials, Candace Bushnell's show mixed with other assets that are very significant to women, whether it is our music programming, Howard Stern, and other assets. So we feel we are very pleased with where we are versus that demo.
Secondly, our exclusivity as opposed to what you can and can't get on TV and other places is a factor that we feel confident with."
Additionally, Billboard Radio Monitor points out that:Howard Stern is “mobilized for an aggressive campaign in the fourth quarter to bring on some of the fans that he didn’t get” from traditional radio last year, Sirius Satellite CEO Mel Karmazin said while delivering his company's Q2 results on Tuesday (Aug. 1).
It’s a tactic Karmazin said he couldn’t use a year ago, since Stern wasn’t under contract yet, but that he plans to exploit this year to help achieve a total subscribership level of 6.3 million by the end of 2006.Sirius also has the National Football League games as another major enticement for prospective subscribers. Stern and football are two crucial players for Sirius this holiday season to help the company build a competitive edge in the retail market against rival satcaster XM. Karmazin wouldn’t give any details about the planned marketing campaign, other than to say “The best salesman on radio is going to be selling for us this holiday season.”
8/01/2006 01:46:00 PM
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