Sirius XM earnings, etc.

LINKING WITH LISTENERS: Two news flashes came out of Sirius XM yesterday, as the only satellite radio provider in town reported continued growth for its fiscal Q1 and announced that interim CEO Jim Meyer now has the job permanently. The company continued to gain subscribers despite a rare price increase last year, adding 453k in the quarter to bring the total to a robust 24.4 million. Sirius XM’s subscriber ranks have grown 19% in the last two years. Meyer, who’d been President of Sales and Operations for Sirius since 2004, got the interim gig in December after the Mel Karmazin left the building. He was named permanent CEO by Greg Maffei, who became Chairman on April 10. You’ll recall that Maffei is President/CEO of John Malone’s Liberty Media, which took over the company last year. As for the numbers, revenue rose 12% to $897 million year over year but was lower than the $906 million analysts had predicted. Net income increased 15% to $124 million, while EBITDA—adjusted to eliminate some charges including the effect of the 2008 merger between Sirius and XM—were $262 million, up 26%. Sirius XM earned 2 cents a share, one cent less than analysts had predicted. (5/1a)