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Tag: Noah Samara

  • Worldspace satellite radio to launch in Italy

    Worldspace satellite radio to launch in Italy

    BANGALORE: Worldspace satellite radio announced that WorldSpace Italia S.p.A. has received approval from the Italian ministry of communications to launch a subscription satellite radio service in Italy.

    With this authorization, the ministry has granted WorldSpace Italia the right to provide a subscription-based satellite radio and data service to consumers in Italy, and to use the frequency band 1479.5-1492 MHz for the operation of the corresponding hybrid satellite/terrestrial network.

    WorldSpace Italia anticipates launching the satellite digital radio and data service to portable and vehicular devices in 2007, using one satellite already in orbit, and a terrestrial gap-filler network to be rolled out in all major cities throughout Italy.

    WorldSpace Italia S.p.A. is a majority-owned subsidiary of Worldspace’s European holding company, Viatis Satellite Radio. WorldSpace Italia’s other partner is New Satellite Radio S.r.l., an Italian company whose primary shareholder is Class Editori S.p.A., an Italian financial, media and broadcast corporation based in Milan.

    According to an official release, New Satellite Radio, which holds a 35 per cent interest in WorldSpace Italia, has been instrumental in obtaining the Italian regulatory authorization and is expected to play an integral role in operational execution of the service in Italy, including distribution arrangements, such as OEM partnerships, content supply and acquisition and marketing.

    WorldSpace Italia intends to start rolling out this complementary network as soon as its installation plan, currently under finalization, is approved by the Ministry. At the service’s maturity, subscribers in Italy will have access to approximately 50 channels of diversified sports, talk and commercial-free music programming, the release adds.

    “We are very pleased to receive these authorizations from the Italian Ministry of Communications for the launch of our service,” says WorldSpace, Inc. chairman & CEO Noah Samara. “We look forward to working closely with our partner, New Satellite Radio S.r.l., to implement our service and establish a new generation of WorldSpace subscribers across Italy. Italy is an attractive market for us. Our research shows it to be one of the two top markets for satellite radio in Europe.”

    According to Samara, the strategy has been to roll out a European service on a sequential, country-by-country basis. “Our goal was to obtain our first terrestrial authorization in one country in 2006. We have accomplished this in Italy, which we consider to be the best near-term market for a mobile satellite radio service. We will continue to seek similar approvals in the rest of Europe to achieve our goal of a pan-European satellite radio service.”

    “We welcome the opportunity to partner with WorldSpace at this exciting time for satellite radio in Italy,” says CEO and director of New Satellite Radio S.r.L. and board member of Class Editori S.p.A. Luca Panerai. “We are confident that coupling Class Editori’s extensive Italian media experience and broadcast capabilities with WorldSpace’s technology and unique platform offerings will provide a first-of-its kind listener experience in Italy. The authorization also paves the way for the Italian car manufacturing industry to be the first in Europe to provide digital satellite radio service.”

    Italy’s population is more than 58 million and nearly two-thirds of these are within the target age demographic for satellite radio service.

  • Worldspace subscription revenues up 160 % in Q4

    Worldspace subscription revenues up 160 % in Q4

    MUMBAI: Radio satellite service provider Worldspace has reported its financial and operating results for the fourth quarter and year ended 31 December, 2005.

    It finished the year with 115,306 subscribers. The company added 40,235 subscribers in the fourth quarter of 2005, an increase of approximately 160 per cent over the 15,545 subscribers added in fourth quarter of 2004.

    In India, the company had 74,574 subscribers at the end of the fourth quarter of 2005, up over 100 per cent from 35,670 at the end of the third quarter of 2005 and up nearly 800 per cent from 8,335 at the start of the year.

    At the end of the fourth quarter of 2005, WorldSpace had rolled out its satellite radio services in nine cities in India — Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kochi, Pune, Ahmedabad and Chandigarh.

    Service in Kolkata, India’s second largest city, was launched in February 2006. Worldspace’s market distribution is now available to a population of nearly 63 million, including nearly 35 million people in the top three economic segments targeted by the company.

    Worldspace chairman and CEO Noah Samara says, “Worldspace made important progress against all of our key operational metrics during the fourth quarter of 2005, especially in delivering strong subscriber growth. We believe we have gained significant traction in our efforts to acquire new subscribers, and will continue to do so as our visibility and brand awareness grow with the roll-out of our service to additional metropolitan areas, supported by targeted marketing campaigns. We also have made great strides in building our senior management teams, internationally and at the corporate level, by adding quality people with key areas of expertise that will be critical to our forward momentum.”

    The firm introduced 19 new programming channels, including the first India sports talk radio channel and many regional language channels in India, as well as the world’s first global hip hop channel, bringing the total number of channels broadcast on WorldSpace’s global system to 220 by the end of the year.

    It also completed an initial public offering (IPO) in August 2005, raising net proceeds of approximately $221 million; It raised strategic capital from and formed a technology sharing partnership with XM Satellite Radio in July 2005, including an investment of $25 million by XM Satellite Radio.

    Also, three-year warrants valued at $37.5 million were issued to XM Satellite Radio exercisable at the IPO price provided XM has made substantial technological contributions to WorldSpace, including in the areas of products, chipsets and terrestrial repeater development and deployment;

    The firm continued the expansion of the distribution and geographic presence in India, with over 650 retail points of presence in nine cities at the end of the year covering approximately 30 million people in Worldspace’s target market segment of the India population; It managed to obtain terrestrial repeater licenses in United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, the first L-band terrestrial repeater licenses for satellite radio.

    Samara adds, “2006 is a pivotal year for WorldSpace.
    We are working hard to gain key regulatory approvals for the delivery of mobile services in certain of our markets, and to increase the variety of our receivers.

    We are moving into more cities in India and we are gaining strength in other countries where subscribers can be added at little incremental cost. We started the year well with the FCC’s approval of our license application for our Afristar-2 satellite, which when launched, will enable us to broaden our offerings in Europe and the Middle East.”

    For the fourth quarter of 2005, WorldSpace reported quarterly revenues of approximately $4.4 million, representing a 95 per cent increase compared with revenues of approximately $2.3 million for the fourth quarter of 2004. Subscription revenue increased approximately 160 per cent to approximately $1.1 million for the fourth quarter of 2005 compared with subscription revenue of approximately $0.4 million for the fourth quarter of 2004. On an annual basis, total revenues for 2005 were $11.7 million in 2005, a 36 per cent increase over 2004 total revenues of $8.6 million. Subscription revenue in 2005 was $3.7 million, a 255 per cent increase over $1.0 million in 2004.

    Worldspace recorded a net loss for the fourth quarter 2005 of $33.2 million compared with a net loss of $418.2 million for the fourth quarter of 2004, a period that included stock compensation expenses and other costs associated with an inter-company consolidation and subsequent debt restructuring.

    For the year, the company’s net loss was $79.9 million compared to a net loss of $577.4 million in 2004. In the fourth quarter of 2005, WorldSpace spent approximately $9.6 million on sales, marketing and subscriber acquisition expenses globally, including $8 million in India compared with $4.9 million and $4.1 million respectively in the third quarter of 2005.