Mel Karmazin isn't very happy about the stock price of Sirius, but compared to XM? "We suck less," he said at today's shareholder meeting.

Sirius' shares are up just 8 percent since September 2004, but Karmazin noted that wasn't nearly as bad as the 61 percent decline in share price over the same period by XM Satellite Radio.

The Sirius CEO blamed the poor stock performance on the overly negative view of the satellite radio industry, despite the achievements both companies have made getting closer to profitability.

Karmazin also defended Howard Stern's $500 million pay package signed with Sirius in 2004, saying: "He earned it."

[AP Newswire] 

At this morning's shareholder meeting, Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin said that their merger is XM is an merger is an "uphill battle," though he continues to believe that it will be approved by regulators.

Karmazin also acknowledged that Wall Street estimates there is an "80 percent likelihood that the merger is not going to happen." In a generalized response to Senator Kohl's comments denouncing the merger, Karmazin said, "There are some people out there that think that any combination [merger] is bad."

He also noted that "the NAB is a very powerful lobbying organization and we are a relatively small company. We are fighting a very well-oiled lobbying organization in the NAB."

"Why are they hiring John Ashcroft and hiring all these advisors? It’s simple... because we do compete with them. They believe that if we combined, our company would be better, it would be stronger," Karmazin added.

When asked about the prospects of the company should the merger not be approved, Mel said, "Our business model is very much on track. I believe not only are we going to not be out of business, we’ll be a very successful profitable company down the road."

It's good to see Mel taking a somewhat "realistic" (for lack of a better term) approach to the merger prospects. To ignore the cynicism over the deal doesn't instill anymore confidence than if he acknowledges it. People expect management to remain positive over regulatory approval, but also don't want everything to be sugar coated. Mel does this well.

[TWICE] 

Sirius is webcasting their Annual Meeting of Stockholders on Thursday, May 24, 2007 at 9am ET and you'll be able to listen to it here. 

While Sirius Satellite Radio subscriber first quarter 2007 numbers were well above many analyst's expectations, analysts seem mixed over the implications of their results.

In a recent note to investors, Jacoby highlighted that the source of the high subscriber numbers was the OEM channel. Jacoby said that since Sirius counts subscribers at the time of vehicle production rather the time of sale, this is less indicative of true consumer demand.

"This suggests the biggest boost to the subscriber base in the first quarter has come from "car-lot" subscriptions," Jacoby wrote in a research note.

Craig Moffett, with Sanford C. Bernstein, said in a note to investors that Sirius' subscriber gains were also ahead of his expectations, indicating that "demand for satellite radio is far from dead." Moffett cautions that customer acquisition costs still remained "stubbornly high" and that churn was higher than he had expected, although in line with forecasts.

[Wall Street Journal and BusinessWeek]

I'm live blogging the Sirius Satellite Radio (SIRI) 1Q07 earnings call for those of you who can't listen in, or who just want to read some quick notes about the call.

Just keep hitting that "refresh" button to see the updates...

• Right now it's just hold music...
• And we're beginning
• Over to Mel
• "2007 is off to a great start for Sirius"
  

Sirius Satellite Radio (SIRI) just announced their 1Q07 results, showing a 61% increase in revenue to a record $204 million from the year ago quarter, strong first quarter subscriber growth of 556,490 driving ending subscribers to approximately 6,581,045 subscribers.

Sirius ended 1Q07 with almost 6.6 million subscribers up 61% from the 4.08 million subscribers at the end of the year-ago quarter.

During 1Q07, Sirius added 556,490 net subscribers consisting of 192,978 from the retail channel and 364,674 from the OEM channel. In 1Q07, Sirius captured 66% of satellite radio segment share, marking the sixth consecutive quarter for leadership.

Total revenue for 1Q07 increased to $204.0 million, up 61% from $126.7 million for the year-ago quarter. Advertising revenue was $6.7 million during first quarter 2007 and average monthly revenue per subscriber (or "ARPU") was $10.46. Average monthly subscriber churn was 2.3%, and was consistent with previously provided 2007 churn guidance. SAC per gross subscriber addition was $104 for the first quarter of 2007.

Sirius reported a net loss of ($144.7) million, or ($0.10) per share for 1Q07 - a 68% improvement from a net loss of ($458.5) million - or ($0.33) per share for 1Q06. The adjusted net loss for 1Q07 (adjusted to exclude stock-based compensation) improved to ($120.5) million, or ($0.08) per share, a 31% improvement from the adjusted net loss for first quarter 2006 of ($174.0) million, or ($0.13) per share.

Sirius reaffirmed their 2007 guidance of more than 8 million subscribers for the full year of 2007; total revenues approaching 1 billion dollars; average monthly subscriber churn of approximately 2.2 - 2.4%; and SAC per gross subscriber addition of approximately $95.

Full financials after the jump...