SiriusXM delivered a “truly outstanding” second quarter, but Liberty Media’s earnings were still hit by settlement costs related to the satellite radio company.Liberty, which owns nearly 60% of SiriusXM, recorded a charge of $108 million in connection with a $210 million settlement reached in June with five music labels over royalty payments for music recorded before 1972. That took a bite out of Liberty’s operating income, dropping to $171 million from $231 million in the year-ago quarter. Net income was $50 million, down from $61 million in the year-ago quarter. Liberty Media’s total revenue grew 8% to $1.12 billion.Despite the charge, the overall picture at SiriusXM is bright, according to Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei. The sat-radio service added 692,000 subscribers in the quarter, reaching a total of 28.4 million, and recorded its lowest subscriber churn rate, 1.6%, since 2008. Liberty Media is continuing to increase its stake in SiriusXM, he said.Maffei was pressed about the long-term future of SiriusXM, which remains largely rooted in older subscribers who listen in their cars. Maffei said Liberty had looked at a range of possible businesses in the same general sector — undoubtedly referring to streaming music services — but that they all had “relatively unattractive” cost structures when it comes to content.
