Sirius XM, TRA Report

Sirius XM Holdings, Inc. (Sirius) is the largest satellite radio operator in North America with more than 33 million subscribers as of September 2024. Despite its subscriber base and market dominance in satellite radio, the company faces long-term challenges related to how end users want to consume content.

Sirius competes directly with terrestrial radio company iHeartMedia, as well as streaming peers like Apple and Spotify, which offer comparable content without the need for a capital-intensive satellite constellation to broadcast to user’s vehicles and specialized receivers.

We were curious about the credit of a company like Sirius after it announced it acquired content from podcaster and influencer Alex Cooper, who runs the Call Her Daddy podcast and the Unwell Network. Ms. Cooper stands to earn up to $125 million, according to media reports, if all performance clauses are met on her contract. It appears that Sirius is using Ms. Cooper to draw in new subscribers to reverse attrition in its user base since the pandemic’s onset.

We invite you to read the report below for a full picture of Sirius’s credit profile.