As of December 31, 2017, 32.7 million people subscribe to SiriusXM. Net subscriber additions in 2017 were 1.39 million. The company also announced it has 27.5 million self-paying subscribers, which keeps the cost-per-customer down. The company added 1.56 million self-payers in 2017. Although it has not yet reported Q4 earnings the company also announced it expects to meet or exceed its 2017 guidance.
During the Q4 earnings call we will probably hear more from the company about how the new CRB rates will be passed on down to those 32 million customers. Back in December, the Copyright Royalty Board announced new rates for satellite-delivered services, which includes SiriusXM, for 2018 to 2022. The 2018 rate will jump to 15.5% of gross revenue, up from the current rate of 11%.
In a press release announcing the increase in subscribers, CEO Jim Meyer said 2017 was a remarkable year for the company. “I congratulate our team on its hard work and efforts to achieve these results. In addition to ending the year with a record number of subscribers and setting new high-water marks for revenue, adjusted EBITDA, and free cash flow, we made substantial progress in our efforts to win business in used cars and deploy our next-generation 360L platform. We also continued to return significant capital to stockholders in 2017 via stock buybacks and an increased dividend, and we have set ambitious targets for continued growth in 2018.”
