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Revenue for Sirius Satellite Radio nearly tripled in the first quarter of 2006, but the company’s loss also grew, due largely to stock options paid to Howard Stern, Sirius announced May 2.

Sirius revenue jumped from $43.2 million in the first quarter of 2005 to $126.7 million in the first quarter of 2006, driven by a $73.3 million increase in subscriber revenue and a record $7.3 million in advertising revenue. Sirius reported 4.1 million subscribers March 31, picking up an additional 761,000 subscribers during the first quarter of 2006, up 149 percent from the same period in 2005. Subscriber acquisition costs per gross addition were $113 for the first quarter of 2006, a 41 percent improvement over the same period a year ago.

“Based upon our growth we are pleased to be raising our subscriber guidance for 2006 to more than 6.2 million and we continue to believe we could be free cash flow positive as early as the fourth quarter of 2006 and for the full year 2007,” Mel Karmazin, CEO of Sirius, said in a statement.

While the revenue and subscriber figures were positive, Sirius reported a net loss of $458.5 million in the first quarter of 2006, up from a loss of $193.6 million in the first three months of 2005. The company reported stock compensation expenses of $286.4 million, with about $225 million of that paid to Stern, who began broadcasting on the satellite radio providers in January.

Stern also drove the Sirius’ subscriber gains and the company’s adjusted loss from operations increased by $9.6 million to $136.7 million, driven by a $42.1 million increase in subscriber acquisition costs. Programming and content expenses were $56.4 million for the first quarter of 2006, compared to $24.3 million for the first quarter of 2005.

Sirius also recorded a $4.4 million loss for its share of Sirius Canada Inc.’s net loss.

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