Who owns Sirius XM? Sirius XM Holdings is composed of two businesses: SiriusXM and Pandora. SiriusXM transmits music, talk shows, sports, and news via its two satellite radio networks, primarily to consumers in vehicles who pay a subscription fee. The firm’s radios come preinstalled on a wide range of light vehicles in the U.S. and Canada.
The firm acquired Pandora Media in February 2019 via an all-stock transaction. Pandora is a streaming music platform that offers an ad-supported radio option and a paid on-demand service as well as a robust and growing podcast library. Liberty Media owns 81% of SiriusXM, traded through its Liberty SiriusXM Group tracking stock.
Who owns Sirius XM?
Liberty Media Corp has taken majority ownership of Sirius XM Radio Inc, a securities filing showed, after months of trying to wrest control of the satellite radio broadcaster.
John Malone’s Liberty Media bought another 50 million shares of Sirius stock at an average price of $3.15 per share, according to a company filing made with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Thursday.
After that purchase, Liberty owns about 1.9 billion shares of Sirius XM’s common stock. It also separately owns about 1.29 billion preferred shares. Including the convertible preferred shares, Liberty Media holds about 50.7 percent of Sirius XM’s outstanding common stock.
Liberty has been trying for months to take control of Sirius. In January, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) gave Liberty Media permission to do so.
Malone’s firm wanted control of Sirius because it believed Mel Karmazin, who left as CEO of Sirius in December, did not adapt quickly enough to changing technologies.
Liberty has argued that Sirius should more aggressively pursue better technology and international expansion.
Liberty acquired an initial stake of about 40 percent in Sirius in 2009 as part of a deal in which it loaned the satellite radio broadcaster $530 million to help stave off bankruptcy.
Sirius ended the year with 23.9 million subscribers and maintains an estimated 70 percent market share of in-car radios sold in the United States.
Sirius XM hasn’t been around that long
Although we’ve heard the name Sirius XM for a few decades, and they’ve been good at advertising their product, Sirius Satellite Radio has only been in business since 1990. It all started under the name of Satellite CD Radio. The first company was located in Washington, DC.
It was founded by Martine Rothblatt, Robert Briskman and David Margolese. It seems like they’ve been around longer because we’ve seen the brand almost everywhere we go in magazine advertisements, television, radio and more.
Sirius name was changed in 1999
There was a lot going on in the new company during the first 12 years of its development from the idea that the trio had to develop it in 1990 until July 1 of 2002. The marketing chief was Ira Bahr and he caught David Margolese’ ear and convinced him to change the name of the company because he saw that CD technology was soon going to be outdated.
It was changed to the familiar name that we all now know as Sirius Satellite Radio. It was important that the name of the company reflected their ability to stay current and up to date with the latest technology and having a name that showed outdated technology simply wouldn’t be good for business.
Sirius expanded rapidly within a few short months
There was a lot of work that had to take place behind the scenes before Sirius would be able to grow to the giant that it has become today. Margolese and his crew of marketers were busy throughout the year 2002.
They worked with automakers which included Ford, Chrysler and BMW to secure deals for installation of Sirius Satellite Radio technology in their vehicles. This was a major undertaking, but they were able to present the product in a way that made the big automakers take notice.
The first phase of Sirius XM service was launched in February of 2002 with just four cities being served. By July 1 of 2002, Sirius had expanded their service to all of the contiguous states in America. This was a major undertaking but it all went off without a hitch.
Sirius XM Radio formed by a merger
In July of 2008, Sirius Satellite Radio, Inc, was granted approval of the FCC to acquire XM Satellite Radio Holding, Inc. This is one of those big business deals that took a full 17 months to be approved. The FCC doesn’t quickly grant such petitions because they must look at all of the facts about the companies which are to be joined.
If there is any chance of the merger creating a monopoly situation that could violate anti-trust laws, the petition is delayed and in some cases denied. When Sirius Satellite Radio, Inc received the go-ahead on July 29 of 2008, Sirius XM Radio for officially developed.
Sirius XM Radio serves millions
When the two companies merged to form Sirius XM Radio, this brought together a subscriber base that topped 18.5 million subscribers. This shows how popular the service was from its inception, and this was just the beginning of their success.
The merger deal was valued at an estimated $3.3 billion and they continued to gain more subscribers and by the second quarter of 2017, Sirius XM Radio subscriptions had grown to over 32 million.
The merger of Sirius and XM was necessary
Had the merger between XM Satellite Radio Holding, Inc and Sirius Satellite Radio, Inc not taken place the company would not likely have survived. The Satellite radio industry was brand new and it was still in its early infancy states. It was necessary to join the two large companies to establish a stable base as the industry was being carried on the shoulders of the two.
It took some careful planning and convincing, but the two companies were finally able to show the FCC with solid evidence why the merger was necessary for the Satellite radio industry to survive.
They own Pandora
Pandora is another popular streaming music service. They also happened to be the competition for Sirius XM satellite radio. In a brilliant move, Sirius XM completed a purchase agreement to become the owners of Pandora and accomplished the feat in September of 2018. Pandora is a site that brought yet more millions of users with subscription services into the fold.
Sirius launched in the same location as Sputnik
Here is a fun fact about Sirius XM that most people aren’t aware of. Sirius XM used the same facility to launch their Satellite that the Soviet Union used to launch their famous Sputnik, which was the first satellite in the world to be launched into orbit. What makes this fact so interesting is that the first satellite was launched from Kazakhstan in 1957.
Sirius made the launch in July of 2000 which is 43 years later than the famous Sputnik. Sirius followed their initial launch with two more which gives them a total of three active satellites in orbit which deliver high-quality radio programs.
Sirius offers access to exclusive music
Have you ever been disappointed on a long road trip because none of the available stations were playing the music that you want to hear? With Sirius XM, you can gain access to more than 140 different channels and you can choose the kind of music that you want to listen to.
You can choose among a variety of genres but they also have stations that broadcast specialty programs including live broadcasts from a variety of music festivals and more. Its like customizing your playlist to make long or short road trips more entertaining.
Sirius can help you win at Fantasy Football
Here is another quick fact about Sirius XM Radio. You can manage your subscription to include the station called Fantasy Sports Radio. If you’re a Fantasy Football fan, this is ideal because it keeps you up to date with what’s going on with your favorite teams and individual players as well.
It can actually save you time because you’ll hear all the latest news about teams and players including scores, plays, updates on injuries, who’s set to play, who’s going to be out and they also provide the expert’s spins on the situations involving Fantasy Football teams.
Sirius wasn’t as popular as XM in the beginning
Here’s another interesting fact about Sirius XM that most people don’t know. Before Sirius and XM Satellite Radio merged, Sirius wasn’t as popular as XM. XM Satellite Radio was in the game two years before Sirius so they were a little better known among satellite radio users.
It didn’t seem to matter to the public that Sirius had launched its three satellites first, they seemed to just gravitate towards XM, but this problem was solved with the merger of the two companies.
FAQs
Who bought SiriusXM?
The Liberty SiriusXM Group comprises our ownership in SiriusXM. We own approximately 83% of SiriusXM as of July 31, 2023, which operates two complementary audio entertainment businesses, SiriusXM and Pandora.
Has SiriusXM ever made a profit?
Sirius XM Holdings gross profit for the twelve months ending June 30, 2023 was $4.778B, a 1.2% decline year-over-year. Sirius XM Holdings annual gross profit for 2022 was $4.873B, a 3.07% increase from 2021. Sirius XM Holdings annual gross profit for 2021 was $4.728B, a 5.99% increase from 2020.
Who is the CEO of SiriusXM Radio?
Jennifer Witz is the CEO of SiriusXM, a quietly fascinating company.
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