Royalty Rate Hike to Take 18 Months to Hit All Customers, SiriusXM Says

The sizable royalty rate hike instituted by the Copyright Royalty Board last month (see 1712150022) will take about 18 months to trickle down across SiriusXM's various subscriber packages in the form of higher subscription rates, Chief Financial Officer David Frear said Wednesday during an investor presentation. He said the company is a significant beneficiary of recently passed tax reform. He said SiriusXM currently doesn't pay cash taxes, but the reform delays when it does pay to 2020 and will save the company about $200 million a year in tax payments starting in 2021, which is "absolutely huge." Asked about potential mergers and acquisitions, Frear said SiriusXM organic growth opportunities "are still massive" with the number of vehicles on the road with receivers expected to grow from 100 million today to 185 million over the next eight years. He said connected cars could allow for the company's reallocation of bandwidth for potential video or data delivery.