SiriusXM CEO James Meyer says he quickly made the decision to consolidate the G&A functions and have the Pandora business units report directly to him. “My goal is to streamline decision-making, increase the speed of integration, and manage the businesses holistically from day one.” The entire Pandora management team will depart when the deal officially closes, which is expected to happen Friday.
Despite saving $50 million per year after making cuts, Meyer said acquiring Pandora was never about cost synergies. “Let me reiterate my vision here. We see tremendous opportunities to create attractive and unique audio packages that combine our strengths — SiriusXM’s in-vehicle position with Pandora’s strong position out of the vehicle. There are strong prospects for cross-promotion across our combined North American audience. Quite simply, I’d like to monetize at some level every single one of the close to 23 million SiriusXM trials we are running annually. Over the next decade, the vast majority of Americans will have experienced one of these trials, and I am thrilled to now have a complete stack of compelling offerings to offer consumers, from paid to free.”
Meyer says the combined company will reach over 100 million listeners in North America, with nearly 40 million self-paying subscribers and 75 million trialers and ad-based listeners. He said the auto industry is also excited about the Pandora acquisition “and the prospect of new, compelling packages for their car buyers.”
It’s clear Meyer plans to use Pandora to increase the SiriusXM share of listening outside the vehicle, which is where its priority has been for years. “We intend to capitalize on cross-promotion opportunities between SiriusXM’s more than 36 million subscribers across North America and Pandora’s approximately 70 million monthly active users. In early February, we will begin a targeted promotion to SiriusXM subscribers and Pandora listeners. Select Pandora listeners will receive an offer to obtain a unique $5-a-month mostly news — mostly music or News-Talk package — in their satellite-equipped vehicle. SiriusXM subscribers will also receive an extended 14-day trial to Pandora Premium. By midyear, we expect to deliver a new Pandora-powered channel to our SiriusXM app users based upon their favorite artist and a new radio channel, driven by the latest trend from Pandora’s billions of thumbs.”
