Sirius’ Loss Widens as Content Costs Increase

Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. said its second-quarter loss widened as programming costs rose. The company increased its forecast for revenue and subscribers.

The loss expanded to $177.5 million, or 13 cents a share, from $136.8 million, or 11 cents, a year earlier, as programming expenses soared 55% to $16.2 million. Sirius said it added shows to 120 channels. Sales almost quadrupled to $52.2 million.

New York-based Sirius said it had 1.8 million subscribers as of June 30, up from 480,341 a year earlier. The company said it would have 3 million customers by the end of the year, up from a previous estimate of 2.7 million.

The second-quarter loss was narrower than the 15-cents-a-share average estimate of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.

Nonetheless, the company’s shares fell 20 cents to $6.75. They are down 11.4% year to date.